Evening star., 1938-12-26
BY ANDRUE BERDING,
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent

BY ANDRUE BERDING,
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
LIMA, Peru, Dec 26-The Eighth
Pan-American Conference will close
next Tuesday after 10 days of dis
cussion during which many far
reaching proposals will have been
accepted, hundreds of thousands of
words pronounced in favor of amity
and several pitfalls of quarrel skill
fully avoided.
Before the conference closes some
further attempts may be made to
answer the question which some one
will ask about 20 years hence when
he runs across history book men,
ton of the meeting: We'll, what did
they do?" This is a review Of what
has been done so far.
When the conference opened five
major subjects faced the delegates
of 81 American republics:
l. Further reduction of trade bar
riers.
2. A league of American nations.
g. An inter- American court of JUS
tice.
T. Unification of existing Ameri-
can peace agreements.
S. Continued solidarity and de-
fense.
OF these a resolution of the first
was adopted, the next three were
postponed and declaration on the
fifth was signed by all the 81 Ameri-
can republics today.
Hull Trade Policy Followed.
The economics resolution followed
the traditional lines of United States
Secretary of State Hull's trade policy
of ever lower trade barriers, ever
greater removal of other commercial
restrictions, equality of economic
opportunity and bilateral trade
agreements.
Along the line of this trade meas
ure the conference also recon-
mended that Colombia's resolution
for a pan-American treaty of eco
nomic aggression be submitted
to American governments for study.
The proposal of league of Amer
lean nations met with too much op-
position from the large countries
which, despite all their professions
of belief in juridical equality of
American republics, did not want to
see themselves placed on the same
voting level with little republics in
vital matters
The conference, however, de-
clared the firm determination of
the American continent to arrive
at constitution of an inter- Amer
ican tribunal when the nations
recognize the opportunity of reach
ing it, certain of complete achieve
ment."
That provided greater hope for a
court than for a League of Amer
ican Nations.
No Time for Deep Study.
The conference had not enough
time to consider the United States
project for unifying all existing
Western Hemisphere peace instru-
ments in fundamental constitu-
ton of peace or the Mexican code
of peace which sought much the
same thing, but also included an
inter- American court of justice
Consequently these measures were
submitted to American nations for
further study.
The declaration on continental
solidarity and defense, coming at a
time when most American nations
firmly believed in the existence OF
an ominous threat to this hemi-
sphere from ambitious totalitarian
states of Europe and Asia, over
shadoWed the conference. Yet all
negotiations for such a declara ton
were carried on outside the con-
ference.
The chiefs of delegations met
among themselves, several at time
or all together, and considered many
projects along the line of solidarity
before they settled on one.
These discussions brought into
the light some factors which may
have a profound effect on the fu-
ture of Pan-American politics.
Argentina still believed in the
possibility of a threat to Latin
America from the United States
remained antagonistic to the Mon
roe Doctrine and cordial to the
Roosevelt good neighbor policy and
would like to be the leader and
spokesman for South America.
II Delegations Backed U. S.
Only two South American coun-
tries followed Argentina and they
not all the way-Uruguay and Para
quay. The other II republics came
out with an astonishing unanimity
behind the United States thesis OF
continental solidarity and many OF
them enthusiastically wished to GO
further than did Hull.
Argentina lost rather than gained
in South America by the stubborn
ness with which she stuck to her
own declaration on continental soil
darity, telling other nations, in ef-
feet, they could take it or leave it.
Central American and Caribbean
nations were Fundamentally behind
the United States. Some Of their
statesmen made the most fiatterins
speeches of the conference IN favor