Evening star., 1945-11-30

On Uruguay Proposal
Principle Might Have Nipped
Hitlerism in Bud, Says Writer
BY Dapid Laurence
More than meets the eye ct frst
glance is involved in the announcement
by Secretary Byrnes of his unqualified
adherence" to the proposal made By
the Uruguayan government that here
after those internal concerns Of Amer.
ican republics which have an interna-
tional impact could constitute = basis
for joint Intervention by the ether
countries Of this hemisphere.
Here at last is an acceptance Of Q
principle which II applied to Europe
might have nipped Hitlerism in the bud
In 1888 or 1884 and prevented World
War II. Mr.. Byrnes and the adninis-
tration are to be congratulated for
having accepted the proposal of Uru-
quay to apply to this hemisphere. For
obviously 1T could later be discussed
in the light Of wider application 70
the rest Of the world.
The conference at Mexico City and
San Francisco" says DR.. Alberto Rodri.
guez Larreta, Uruguayan Foreign Min
lister, which took place at the close Of
this war, gave . still frmer and more
definite proof Of the common deter
mination to make effective, to any
necessary extent, the defense Of the
democratic ideal and Of the individual
as the essential objective. Thus the
nations became bound, not only BY
international duties, but by internal
duties having an international effect.
Multilateral Action.
'Nonintervention' cannot be con.
verted into right to invoke the prin-
ciple in order to be able to violate
all other principles with immunity.
Therefore. q multilateral collective &C.
ton, exercised with complete unselfish.
ness by all the other republics Of the
continent, aimed at achieving in
spirit of brotherly prudence the mere
re-establishment of essential rights and
directed toward the fulfillment Of freely
contracted juridical obligations, must
not be held to injure the government
affected. but rather it must be recog-
ntzed as being taken for the benefit OF
all, including the country which has
been suffering under such q harsh
regime"
In brief, the proposal means that no
one nation would pass judgment on the
internal behavior OF another nation,
but that group Of nations acting
within the Chapultepec Declarations as
an international organization might
consider the international effects of an
internal policy Of any country.
Plainly the proposal is aimed ut
situation such as has arisen in Argen-
tina where the people are being deprived
Of constitutional processes and can only
| obtain their full rights by the violence
| OF revolution. The United States has
expressed in outspoken manner its de-
nunciation of the Fascism OF the Peron
group in Argentina which controls the
government there. But the United
States alone cannot take action and
should not. Whatever policy is promul-
gated should necessarily be the action
OF all the American republics except, Of
course, Argentina itself.
Not New Concept.
The program suggested by the Uru-
| guAyan foreign minister is not 4 new
concept. At the San Francisco Confer
'er,ce. the so-called vandenberg amend
ment, sponsored by Senator Vanden-
berg, Republican, Of Michigan, and
finally written into the United Nations
Charter, makes possible an examination
Of any situation which could conceiv.
ably lead to breach of the peace
| Likewise the Catholic bishops of the
United States year ago in their formal
pronouncement of policy argued that
internal concerns should not be com,
pletely free from international observa-
ton. The principle has been growing
in strength ever since peoples every.
where have begun to realize that the
real danger Of war does not arise from
the attitude of peoples but from the
behavior Of individuals or groups who
manage by totalitarian methods to get
possession Of an army and navy and
air force Of people who are denied .
means of expression through a national
legislature chosen in free elections.
1t is plainly apparent now that there
was time when the Japanese people
were captured by the militarists and
propagandized for war. Internal con-
Germs can no longer be disregarded and
that's why Secretary Byrnes' statement
this week is of such profound impor.
tance in the evolution of world affairs.