Evening star., 1939-09-17
avoided He declined to support the
Argentine sureestion.

4V0oed.st ne oeCuncd 10 support tne
Argentine suggestion.
On November 10 Peru proposed to
the United States, Argentina, Brazil
and Chile that the American gov
ernments take joint action to guar
antee the inviolability of their trade
routes" A committee was set up
through the Pan-Ameyican Union
for studying the problems for neu-
trails arising from the war in Eu-
rope. Both Mr.. Wilson and Mr..
Bryan saw to 1t that the committee
never did more than study.
This Government received other
proposals from Latin-American gov
ernments for cooperation between
1914 and 1917, but the United States
held to its disinclination to lead the
Americas toward solidarity. The
speed with which the Panama con-
ference was arranged and the alac-
rlty with which the republics ac-
cepted the invitation to attend show
how vastly different Is the feeling
between the Americas Of 1914 and
1899.
President Wilson took an entirely
different tack with the other West
ern Hemisphere republics as soon
as our relations with Germany be-
came critical. On February 3, 1917,
when he announced that the United
States had broken of diplomatic
relations with the German empire,
he announced that he hoped the
remaining neutral nations would go
along with us. He meant especially
the American neutrals.
Wilson Changed His Tune.
Two months later, when the
United States declared war, the
Wilson administration intensified
its efforts to have the other Amer
ican republics retreat from their
positions as neutrals. The Presi-
dent and Secretary Lansing brought
the pressure which put Cuba and
Panama into the WARRIOR strategic
reasons almost a necessity to this
country. But the most in the way
OF cooperation it could get from
Argentina, which had been the
leader for cooperation three years
earlier, was polite and we'll
phrased note signifying nothing:
The government of the Argen-
tine Republic, in view of the causes
which have prompted the United
States to declare war against the
government of the German empire,
recognizes the justice of that de-
ciSion, founded as it is on the viola
ton of the principles of neutrality,
established by the rules of inter-
national law, which have been con-
sidered a definite accomplishment
of civilization"
BY the time the war was over,
these Latin American republics had
joined in it: Brazil, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras,
Nicaragua and Panama. These five
broke off diplomatic relations with
Germany: Bolivia, Peru, the Do
minican Republic, Ecuador and
Uruguay. Only Brazil and Cuba
actually engaged in combat. These
ii Latin American nations were
represented at the postwar Paris
Peace Conference: Bolivia, Brazil,
Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala Haiti,
Honduras, Nicaragua Panama, Peru
and Uruguay.
Recent political discord operating
against cooperation with the
United States has been softened In
South America by Germany's en-
trance into the present war. This
country's forward strides econom-
ically in the Western Hemisphere
countries to the south were i'm
peded by German economic activi-
ties. Now, Of course, German eco
nomic hopes In South America are
nullified. The hopes were built on
bilateral trade, and trade for Ger
many with South America, as with
North America, is out Of the ques-
ton except on the most limited Of