PAN AMERICANISM
The Pan American movement, which has for its object the promotion of
closer social, economic, financial, and political relations between the
independent republics of the Western Hemisphere, has attracted much
attention in recent years. The Pan American ideal is an old one, dating
back, in fact, to the Panama Congress of 1826. The object of this
congress was not very definitely stated in the call which was issued by
Simon Bolivar, but his purpose was to secure the independence and peace
of the new Spanish-American republics either through a permanent
confederation or through a series of diplomatic congresses. Henry Clay,
who was secretary of state at the time, was enthusiastically in favor of
accepting the invitation extended to the United States to participate in
the congress. President Adams agreed, therefore, to the acceptance of
the invitation, but the matter was debated at great length in both House
and Senate. In the Senate the debate was particularly acrimonious. The
policy of the administration was denounced as dangerous, and it was
asserted that a participation in the congress at Panama could be of no
benefit to the United States and might be the means of involving us in
international complications. One of the topics proposed for discussion
was "the manner in which all colonization of European powers on the
American continent shall be restricted." The Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs objected strenuously to the United States in any way
committing itself to guaranteeing the territory of any other American
state. The slavery question also projected itself into the debate,
mainly because the negro Republic of Haiti was to be represented and
because most of the other states had proclaimed the emancipation of
slaves. The Senate finally agreed to the nomination of Richard C.
Anderson, of Kentucky, and John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, as envoys
extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the assembly of American
nations at Panama, and Congress made the necessary appropriation. The
delay proved fatal to the plan, however, for the American delegates did
not reach Panama until after the congress had adjourned.
In view of the opposition which the plan encountered in Congress, the
instructions to the American delegates were very carefully drawn by
Secretary Clay and their powers were strictly limited. They were
cautioned against committing their government in any way to the
establishment of "an amphictyonic council, invested with power finally
to decide controversies between the American states or to regulate in
any respect their conduct. Such a council might have been well enough
adapted to a number of small contracted states, whose united territory
would fall short of the extent of that of the smallest of the American
powers. The complicated and various interests which appertain to the
nations of this vast continent cannot be safely confided to the
superintendence of one legislative authority. We should almost as soon
expect to see an amphictyonic council to regulate the affairs of the
whole globe. But even if it were desirable to establish such a
tribunal, it is beyond the competency of the government of the United
States voluntarily to assent to it, without a previous change of their
actual constitution."
The delegates were also instructed to oppose the formation of an
offensive and defensive alliance between the American powers, for, as
Mr. Clay pointed out, the Holy Alliance had abandoned all idea of
assisting Spain in the conquest of her late colonies. Continuing, he
said:
Other reasons concur to dissuade the United States from
entering into such an alliance. From the first establishment
of their present constitution, their illustrious statesmen
have inculcated the avoidance of foreign alliances as a
leading maxim of their foreign policy. It is true, that in
its adoption, their attention was directed to Europe, which
having a system of connections and of interests remote and
different from ours, it was thought most advisable that we
should not mix ourselves up with them. And it is also true,
that long since the origin of the maxim, the new American
powers have arisen, to which, if at all, it is less
applicable. Without, therefore, asserting that an exigency
may not occur in which an alliance of the most intimate kind
between the United States and the other American republics
would be highly proper and expedient, it may be safely said
that the occasion which would warrant a departure from that
established maxim ought to be one of great urgency, and that
none such is believed now to exist. Among the objections to
such alliances, those which at all times have great weight
are, first, the difficulty of a just and equal arrangement
of the contributions of force and of other means between the
respective parties to the attainment of the common object;
and secondly, that of providing beforehand, and determining
with perfect precision, when the _casus foederis_ arises,
and thereby guarding against all controversies about it.
There is less necessity for any such alliance at this
juncture on the part of the United States, because no
compact, by whatever solemnities it might be attended, or
whatever name or character it might assume, could be more
obligatory upon them than the irresistible motive of
self-preservation, which would be instantly called into
operation, and stimulate them to the utmost exertion in the
supposed contingency of an European attack upon the
liberties of America.[273]
The British government sent a special envoy to reside near the congress
and to place himself in frank and friendly communication with the
delegates. Canning's private instructions to this envoy declared that,
Any project for putting the U. S. of North America at the
head of an American Confederacy, as against Europe, would be
highly displeasing to your Government. It would be felt as
an ill return for the service which has been rendered to
those States, and the dangers which have been averted from
them, by the countenance and friendship, and public
declarations of Great Britain; and it would probably, at no
distant period, endanger the peace both of America and of
Europe.
The Panama Congress was without practical results, and it possesses
merely an historical interest. As a matter of fact, only four republics,
Colombia, Central America, Peru, and Mexico, were represented. Several
treaties and conventions were drafted with the view mainly of combined
defense against Spain, but ratification was withheld by all of the
states except Colombia, which gave only a partial approval to what had
been done. Before adjourning, the Congress of Panama decided to meet
again at the town of Tacubaya, near the city of Mexico, and to continue
its sessions at stated intervals. But as the result of the failure of
the states represented at the congress to ratify the agreements arrived
at, and as the result of internal disorders, the plan was not carried
out, although Mexico issued invitations for another congress in 1831,
1838, 1839, and 1840.
In 1847 the republics of Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, New Granada, and Peru
held a so-called "American Congress" at Lima, which drafted a treaty of
confederation, one of commerce and navigation, a consular convention,
and a postal convention. These treaties were not ratified and,
therefore, the congress was without practical results. The preamble of
the proposed treaty of confederation referred to the nations assembled
as being "bound to each other by the ties of a common origin, a common
language, a common religion, common customs, and the common cause for
which they have struggled, as well as by their geographical position,
the similarity of their institutions, and their analogous ancestors and
reciprocal interests." It is evident, therefore, that this particular
congress was Spanish-American rather than Pan American.[274]
In 1856 the republics of Peru, Chile, and Ecuador signed at Santiago a
treaty of confederation, known as "the Continental Treaty," for the
purpose of "cementing upon substantial foundations the union which
exists between them, as members of the great American family, which are
bound together by the ties of a common origin, similar institutions, and
many other signs of fraternity." This treaty was not ratified. It seems
to have been dictated by a spirit of hostility to the United States as
the result of the filibustering enterprise of William Walker in Central
America.
The question of a "continental" league was discussed between Costa Rica
and Colombia in 1862. After stating that, "There are not always at the
head of the Great Republic moderate, just, and upright men as those who
form the administration of President Lincoln," Costa Rica continued:
If our Republics could have the guaranty that they have
nothing to fear from the United States of North America, it
is indubitable that no other nation could be more useful and
favorable to us. Under the shelter of her powerful eagles,
under the influence of her wise institutions, and under the
spur of her astonishing progress our newly-born
nationalities should receive the impulse which they now
need, and would be permitted to march with firm step,
without experiencing the troubles and difficulties with
which they have had to struggle.... In view of the above
considerations, the idea has occurred to my government that
a new compact might be draughted by which the United States
of North America should bind themselves solemnly to respect,
and cause others to respect, the independence, sovereignty,
and territorial integrity of the sister republics of this
continent; not to annex to their territory, either by
purchase or by any other means, any part of the territory of
the said republics; not to allow filibustering expeditions
to be fitted up against the said nations, or to permit the
rights of the latter to be in any way abridged or
ignored.[275]
In January, 1864, the government of Peru issued invitations to all the
governments of the Spanish nations of America to join in a congress to
be held at Lima. The objects of the meeting as stated in the invitation
were "to declare that the American nations represented in this congress
form one single family," to improve postal facilities, to exchange
statistical data, to provide for the settlement of all boundary
disputes, and "to irrevocably abolish war, superseding it by
arbitration, as the only means of compromising all misunderstandings and
causes for disagreements between any of the South American republics."
In accepting the invitation to the congress Colombia expressed the
opinion that "the United States ought not to be invited, because their
policy is adverse to all kind of alliances, and because the natural
preponderance which a first-class power, as they are, has to exercise in
the deliberations, might embarrass the action of the congress." So far
as definite results were concerned, this congress at Lima was of no
greater importance than its predecessors.
The French invasion of Mexico and the war between Spain and the
republics on the west coast of South America in 1865-66 brought about a
realization of their danger on the part of the Spanish-American
republics and a fuller appreciation of the friendship of the United
States. In the war between Spain on the one hand and the allied
republics of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador on the other, the United
States declared its neutrality as usual, but at an early period of the
struggle Secretary Seward offered to mediate between the warring
nations. Spain refused to accept this offer, and the war dragged on in a
state of "technical continuance" merely. The offer of mediation was
again renewed by Secretary Fish, with the result that a conference was
held at the State Department in 1870 attended by the representatives of
Spain, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. While it was found impossible to
conclude a formal peace, the delegates signed an armistice April 11,
1871, by which the de facto suspension of hostilities was converted into
an armistice which was to continue indefinitely and could not be broken
by any of the belligerents without three years' notice, given through
the government of the United States, of intention to renew
hostilities.[276]
Within ten years of the signature of this perpetual armistice, war broke
out between Chile, on the one hand, and Peru and Bolivia, on the other
(1879-83). The subject of dispute was the nitrate deposits of northern
Chile. In 1880 Chile signed with Colombia an arbitration treaty which
provided that in case the two parties should be unable in any given case
to agree upon an arbitrator, the matter should be referred to the
President of the United States. Article III of this treaty was as
follows:
The United States of Colombia and the Republic of Chile will
endeavor, at the earliest opportunity, to conclude with the
other American nations conventions like unto the present, to
the end that the settlement by arbitration of each and every
international controversy shall become a principle of
American public law.
A few weeks later, without waiting for the ratification of this treaty,
Colombia issued invitations to the other Spanish-American republics to
attend a conference at Panama for the purpose of securing their
adherence to the treaty. The failure to include the United States in
the invitation to the conference was explained by our minister to
Colombia as being due "to the reason that the position assigned to the
government of the United States by the proposed treaty is to maintain
and exercise a friendly and judicial impartiality in the differences
which may arise between the powers of Spanish America."[277] The
continuance of the war between Chile and Peru led to the indefinite
postponement of the conference.
On November 29, 1881, Secretary Elaine extended "to all the independent
countries of North and South America an earnest invitation to
participate in a general congress, to be held in the city of Washington
on the 24th day of November, 1882, for the purpose of considering and
discussing the methods of preventing war between the nations of
America." He expressed the desire that the attention of the congress
should be strictly confined to this one great object, and he expressed
the hope that in setting a day for the assembling of the congress so far
ahead, the war that was then in progress on the South Pacific coast
would be ended, and the nations engaged would be able to take part in
the proceedings.[278] In this expectation Mr. Blaine was disappointed.
The war between Chile and Peru continued, and the invitations to the
conference were withdrawn.
Toward the close of President Cleveland's first administration, the
Congress of the United States passed an act authorizing the President to
invite the republics of Mexico, Central and South America, Haiti, Santo
Domingo, and the Empire of Brazil, to join the United States in a
conference at Washington on October 2, 1889. Among the subjects proposed
for discussion were the adoption of a customs union, the improvement of
the means of communication between the various countries, uniform
customs regulations, a uniform system of weights and measures, laws for
the protection of patents and copyrights, extradition, the adoption of a
common silver coin, and the formulation of a definite plan for the
arbitration of international disputes of every character. When the
conference assembled, Mr. Blaine was again secretary of state, and
presided over its opening sessions. The conference formulated a plan for
international arbitration and declared that this means of settling
disputes was "a principle of American international law." Unfortunately
this treaty was not ratified by the governments whose representatives
adopted it. The most lasting achievement of the conference was the
establishment of the Bureau of American Republics in Washington. While
the conference was in session Brazil went through a bloodless
revolution, which converted the empire into a republic. Thus disappeared
the only independent monarchy of European origin which ever existed on
American soil.
Scarcely had the Washington conference adjourned, when the United States
and Chile got into an ugly wrangle and were brought to the verge of war
over an attack on American sailors on shore leave at Valparaiso. During
the civil war between President Balmaceda and the Congressional party,
the American minister, Mr. Egan, admitted to the American legation
certain adherents of the President. The people of Chile resented the
action of the American minister, and were further aroused against the
United States by the detention of the _Itata_, a vessel which left San
Diego, California, with a cargo of arms for the Congressional party and
was overhauled by an American warship. The United States cruiser
_Baltimore_ was lying in the harbor of Valparaiso when news of this
incident was received. Members of her crew who happened to be on shore
leave were attacked by the populace and several of them killed. As this
attack upon American sailors appeared to be due to resentment against
the official acts of their government, an apology was immediately
demanded, but refused. After considerable delay, President Harrison had
just laid the matter before Congress when a belated apology from Chile
arrived, and war was fortunately averted. The charge that the United
States had interfered in behalf of one of the parties in a civil strife
created an unfavorable impression throughout Latin America and
counteracted, to a considerable extent, the good effects of the
Washington conference.
The Second International American Conference was held in the city of
Mexico 1901-02. This conference arranged for all Latin-American States
to become parties to the Hague Convention of 1899 for the pacific
settlement of international disputes, and drafted a treaty for the
compulsory arbitration of pecuniary claims, the first article of which
was as follows:
The High Contracting Parties agree to submit to arbitration
all claims for pecuniary loss or damage which may be
presented by their respective citizens, and which cannot be
amicably adjusted through diplomatic channels and when said
claims are of sufficient importance to warrant the expenses
of arbitration.
This treaty was signed by the delegates of seventeen states, including
the United States of America.[279]
The Third International American Conference was held at Rio de Janeiro
in 1906. Among other things it extended the pecuniary claims convention
drafted by the previous conference for another period of five years, and
recommended to the governments represented that they invite the Second
Hague Conference, which had been called for 1907, "to examine the
question of the compulsory collection of public debts, and, in general,
means tending to diminish between nations conflicts having an
exclusively pecuniary origin."[280] Added significance was given to the
Rio conference by the presence of Secretary Root who, although not a
delegate, made it the occasion of a special mission to South America.
The series of notable addresses which he delivered on this mission gave
a new impetus to the Pan American movement.
The Fourth International American Conference was held at Buenos Aires in
1910. It drafted treaties relating to patents, trade-marks, and
copyrights. It extended the pecuniary claims convention for an
indefinite period. And finally, it enlarged the scope of the Bureau of
American Republics and changed its name to the Pan American Union.[281]
A fifth conference was called to meet at Santiago, Chile, in 1914, but
was postponed on account of the European war.
The conferences above described were political or diplomatic in
character. Besides these there have been held two Pan American
scientific congresses in which the United States participated, one at
Santiago, Chile, in 1908, and one at Washington, December, 1915, to
January, 1916. There have also been held two Pan American financial
conferences in the city of Washington, the first in May, 1915, and the
second in January, 1920. These conferences have accomplished a great
deal in the way of promoting friendly feeling and the advancement of
science and commerce among the republics of the Western Hemisphere. The
First Financial Conference recommended the establishment of an
International High Commission, to be composed of not more than nine
members resident in each country appointed by the Minister of Finance of
such country for the purpose of carrying on the work of the conference.
This recommendation was adopted by the various countries, and the
Congress of the United States, by act of February 7, 1916, authorized
the establishment of a section in this country. The International High
Commission carries on its labors largely through the various national
sections. Its first general meeting was held at Buenos Aires in April,
1916.
The American Institute of International Law, organized at Washington in
October, 1912, is a body which is likely to have great influence in
promoting the peace and welfare of this hemisphere. The Institute is
composed of five representatives from the national society of
international law in each of the twenty-one American republics. At the
suggestion of Secretary Lansing the Institute at a session held in the
city of Washington, January 6, 1916, adopted a Declaration of the Rights
and Duties of Nations, which was as follows:
I. Every nation has the right to exist and to protect and to
conserve its existence; but this right neither implies the
right nor justifies the act of the state to protect itself
or to conserve its existence by the commission of unlawful
acts against innocent and unoffending states.
II. Every nation has the right to independence in the sense
that it has a right to the pursuit of happiness and is free
to develop itself without interference or control from other
states, provided that in so doing it does not interfere with
or violate the rights of other states.
III. Every nation is in law and before law the equal of
every other nation belonging to the society of nations, and
all nations have the right to claim and, according to the
Declaration of Independence of the United States, "to
assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's
God entitle them."
IV. Every nation has the right to territory within defined
boundaries, and to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over its
territory, and all persons whether native or foreign found
therein.
V. Every nation entitled to a right by the law of nations is
entitled to have that right respected and protected by all
other nations, for right and duty are correlative, and the
right of one is the duty of all to observe.
VI. International law is at one and the same time both
national and international; national in the sense that it is
the law of the land and applicable as such to the decision
of all questions involving its principles; international in
the sense that it is the law of the society of nations and
applicable as such to all questions between and among the
members of the society of nations involving its
principles.[282]
This Declaration has been criticized as being too altruistic for a world
in which diplomacy has been occupied with selfish aims.
On the same day that the above Declaration was made public, President
Wilson delivered a notable address before the Second Pan American
Scientific Conference then in session at Washington. In the course of
this address he said:
The Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed by the United States on
her own authority. It has always been maintained, and always
will be maintained, upon her own responsibility. But the
Monroe Doctrine demanded merely that European governments
should not attempt to extend their political systems to this
side of the Atlantic. It did not disclose the use which the
United States intended to make of her power on this side of
the Atlantic. It was a hand held up in warning, but there
was no promise in it of what America was going to do with
the implied and partial protectorate which she apparently
was trying to set up on this side of the water, and I
believe you will sustain me in the statement that it has
been fears and suspicions on this score which have hitherto
prevented the greater intimacy and confidence and trust
between the Americas. The states of America have not been
certain what the United States would do with her power. That
doubt must be removed. And latterly there has been a very
frank interchange of views between the authorities in
Washington and those who represent the other states of this
hemisphere, an interchange of views charming and hopeful,
because based upon an increasingly sure appreciation of the
spirit in which they were undertaken. These gentlemen have
seen that, if America is to come into her own, into her
legitimate own, in a world of peace and order, she must
establish the foundations of amity, so that no one will
hereafter doubt them. I hope and I believe that this can be
accomplished. These conferences have enabled me to foresee
how it will be accomplished. It will be accomplished, in the
first place, by the states of America uniting in
guaranteeing to each other absolute political independence
and territorial integrity. In the second place, and as a
necessary corollary to that, guaranteeing the agreement to
settle all pending boundary disputes as soon as possible and
by amicable process; by agreeing that all disputes among
themselves, should they unhappily arise, will be handled by
patient, impartial investigation and settled by arbitration;
and the agreement necessary to the peace of the Americas,
that no state of either continent will permit revolutionary
expeditions against another state to be fitted out in its
territory, and that they will prohibit the exportation of
the munitions of war for the purpose of supplying
revolutionists against neighboring governments.
President Wilson's Pan Americanism went further than some of the
Latin-American states were willing to go. A treaty embodying the above
proposals was actually drafted, but some of the states held back through
the fear that, though equal in terms, it would in fact give the United
States a plausible pretext for supervising the affairs of weaker
states.[283]
President Wilson has not hesitated to depart from many of the
fundamental ideas which have hitherto guided so-called practical
statesmen. His handling of the Mexican situation, although denounced as
weak and vacillating, has been in full accord with his new
Latin-American policy. On February 18, 1913, Francisco Madero was seized
and imprisoned as the result of a conspiracy formed by one of his
generals, Victoriano Huerta, who forthwith proclaimed himself dictator.
Four days later Madero was murdered while in the custody of Huerta's
troops. Henry Lane Wilson, the American ambassador, promptly urged his
government to recognize Huerta, but President Taft, whose term was
rapidly drawing to a close, took no action and left the question to his
successor.
President Wilson thus had a very disagreeable situation to face when he
assumed control of affairs at Washington. He refused to recognize Huerta
whose authority was contested by insurrectionary chiefs in various parts
of the country. It was claimed by the critics of the administration that
the refusal to recognize Huerta was a direct violation of the well known
American policy of recognizing _de facto_ governments without
undertaking to pass upon the rights involved. It is perfectly true that
the United States has consistently followed the policy of recognizing
_de facto_ governments as soon as it is evident in each case that the
new government rests on popular approval and is likely to be permanent.
This doctrine of recognition is distinctively an American doctrine. It
was first laid down by Thomas Jefferson when he was secretary of state
as an offset to the European doctrine of divine right, and it was the
natural outgrowth of that other Jeffersonian doctrine that all
governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Huerta could lay no claim to authority derived from a majority or
anything like a majority of the Mexican people. He was a
self-constituted dictator, whose authority rested solely on military
force. President Wilson and Secretary Bryan were fully justified in
refusing to recognize his usurpation of power, though they probably made
a mistake in announcing that they would never recognize him and in
demanding his elimination from the presidential contest. This
announcement made him deaf to advice from Washington and utterly
indifferent to the destruction of American life and property.
The next step in the President's course with reference to Mexico was the
occupation of Vera Cruz. On April 20, 1914, the President asked Congress
for authority to employ the armed forces of the United States in
demanding redress for the arbitrary arrest of American marines at Vera
Cruz, and the next day Admiral Fletcher was ordered to seize the custom
house at that port. This he did after a sharp fight with Huerta's troops
in which nineteen Americans were killed and seventy wounded. The
American charge d'affaires, Nelson O'Shaughnessy, was at once handed his
passports, and all diplomatic relations between the United States and
Mexico were severed.
A few days later the representatives of the so-called A B C powers,
Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, tendered their good offices for a peaceful
settlement of the conflict and President Wilson promptly accepted their
mediation. The resulting conference at Niagara, May 20, was not
successful in its immediate object, but it resulted in the elimination
of Huerta who resigned July 15, 1914. On August 20, General Venustiano
Carranza, head of one of the revolutionary factions, assumed control of
affairs at the capital, but his authority was disputed by General
Francisco Villa, another insurrectionary chief. On Carranza's promise to
respect the lives and property of American citizens the United States
forces were withdrawn from Vera Cruz in November, 1914.
In August, 1915, at the request of President Wilson the six ranking
representatives of Latin America at Washington made an unsuccessful
effort to reconcile the contending factions of Mexico. On their advice,
however, President Wilson decided in October to recognize the government
of Carranza, who now controlled three-fourths of the territory of
Mexico. As a result of this action Villa began a series of attacks on
American citizens and raids across the border, which in March, 1916,
compelled the President to send a punitive expedition into Mexico and
later to dispatch most of the regular army and large bodies of militia
to the border.[284]
The raids of Villa created a very awkward situation. Carranza not only
made no real effort to suppress Villa, but he vigorously opposed the
steps taken by the United States to protect its own citizens along the
border, and even assumed a threatening attitude. There was a loud and
persistent demand in the United States for war against Mexico. American
investments in land, mines, rubber plantations, and other enterprises
were very large, and these financial interests were particularly
outraged at the President's policy of "watchful waiting." The President
remained deaf to this clamor. No country had been so shamelessly
exploited by foreign capital as Mexico. Furthermore it was suspected and
very generally believed that the recent revolutions had been financed by
American capital. President Wilson was determined to give the Mexican
people an opportunity to reorganize their national life on a better
basis and to lend them every assistance in the task. War with Mexico
would have been a very serious undertaking and even a successful war
would have meant the military occupation of Mexico for an indefinite
period. President Wilson's refusal to become involved in war with Mexico
convinced the world of his sincerity and gave him a hearing during the
Great War such as no political leader of any nation ever before
commanded.
It has been charged that there was a lack of consistency between the
President's Mexican policy and his Haitian policy. The difference
between the two cases, however, was that the Haitian situation, if taken
in time, could be handled without bloodshed, while the same method
applied to Mexico would have led to a long and bloody conflict. It would
be easy enough to go into Mexico, but exceedingly difficult to get out.
The most novel feature of the President's Mexican policy was his
acceptance of the mediation of the A B C powers and his subsequent
consultation with the leading representatives of Latin America. This
action has brought the Pan American ideal to the point of realization.
It has been received with enthusiasm and it has placed our relations
with Latin America on a better footing than they have been for years.
It has been suggested by more than one critic of American foreign policy
that if we are to undertake to set the world right, we must come before
the bar of public opinion with clean hands, that before we denounce the
imperialistic policies of Europe, we must abandon imperialistic policies
at home. The main features of President Wilson's Latin-American policy,
if we may draw a general conclusion, have been to pledge the weaker
American republics not to do anything which would invite European
intervention, and to secure by treaty the right of the United States to
intervene for the protection of life, liberty, and property, and for
the establishment of self-government. The test of such a policy is the
degree of unselfishness with which it is carried out.
The loyalty of the Latin-American states to the principles of Pan
Americanism was put to a severe test when the United States entered the
Great War. When President Wilson announced to Congress the severance of
relations with Germany and declared his intention of protecting our
commerce on the high seas, he expressed the confident hope that all
neutral governments would pursue the same course. He probably had
especially in mind our Latin-American neighbors, but if so, his
expectation was not fully realized. Only eight of the twenty
Latin-American republics eventually entered the war: Brazil, Costa Rica,
Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Five others
broke off relations with Germany: Bolivia, Peru, the Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, and Uruguay. Seven remained neutral: Argentina, Chile,
Colombia, Mexico, Salvador, Venezuela, and Paraguay.[285]
Only two Latin-American states, Brazil and Cuba, took an active part in
the war. At the request of the British government in December, 1917,
Brazil sent two cruisers and four destroyers to European waters to
cooperate with the British navy, and a few months later a group of
Brazilian aviators took their place on the Western front. A number of
physicians and several Red Cross units from Brazil also cooperated with
the Allies. Cuba turned over to the United States several German
steamships interned in her waters. A compulsory military service law
was passed and a number of training camps established. In October, 1918,
the Cuban government announced that it had 25,000 troops ready to send
to France, but the armistice was signed before arrangements could be
made for their transportation. The only active service rendered by
Cubans was in the field of aviation, where several individuals won high
distinction.
Of the A B C powers Argentina and Chile remained neutral. So also did
Mexico. Brazil was thus the only one of the larger states that actually
entered the war. The relations between Brazil and the United States have
almost always been peculiarly close and friendly. From the outbreak of
the European war strong sympathy for the allied cause was manifested in
Brazil, and a league for aiding the Allies through the agency of the Red
Cross was organized under the presidency of Ruy Barbosa, the most
distinguished statesman of Brazil and one of the most brilliant orators
of Latin America. Brazil's experience during the period of neutrality
was very similar to that of the United States. Her commerce was
interfered with and her ships were sunk by German submarines. A few
weeks after the United States entered the war, Brazil severed relations
with Germany and seized the forty-six German ships interned in Brazilian
harbors. In a circular note of June 2 the Brazilian government declared
to the world that it had taken this step because the Republic of Brazil
was bound to the United States "by a traditional friendship and by a
similarity of political opinion in the defense of the vital interests of
America and the principles accepted by international law," and because
it wished to give to its foreign policy, in this critical moment of the
world's history, "a practical form of continental solidarity--a policy
indeed which was that of the old regime on every occasion on which any
of the other friendly sister nations of the American continent were in
jeopardy." President Wilson's reply to this note expressed the deep
appreciation of the United States and the hope that the act of the
Brazilian Congress was "the forerunner of the attitude to be assumed by
the rest of the American states." On October 26, 1917, on the receipt of
the news of the torpedoing of another Brazilian ship by a German
submarine, a resolution recognizing "the state of war initiated by the
German Empire against Brazil" was adopted by the unanimous vote of the
Brazilian Senate and by a vote of 149 to 1 in the Chamber of
Deputies.[286] Brazil's enthusiastic support of the United States and of
the allied cause has been recognized by those powers in giving her
representation on the Council of the League of Nations. In fact at the
first meeting of the Council in London in February, 1920, Brazil was the
sole American power represented.
Argentina, the largest and most important of the states of Spanish
origin, remained neutral throughout the war, notwithstanding the fact
that a large part of the population and some of the leading newspapers
were strongly pro-Ally. When the United States declared war, Senor
Drago, the former minister of foreign affairs and author of the doctrine
that bears his name, issued a statement in which he said:
The war between Germany and America is a struggle of
democracy _versus_ absolutism, and no American nation can
remain neutral without denying its past and compromising its
future.
About the same time a note was sent through Ambassador Naon stating that
"in view of the causes which have prompted the United States to declare
war against the government of the German Empire," the Argentine
government recognizes "the justice of that decision." But German
propaganda, which had its headquarters in Buenos Aires, and the attitude
of President Irrigoyen kept the country out of the war. Popular
indignation was aroused by the Luxburg disclosures, which revealed the
fact that the German representative, after coming to an understanding
with the President, had advised his government that two Argentine ships
then approaching the French coast "be spared if possible, or else sunk
without a trace being left" (_spurlos versenkt_). The Senate and Chamber
of Deputies passed by large majorities a resolution severing relations
with Germany, but to the surprise of everybody President Irrigoyen
expressed himself as satisfied with Germany's disavowal of Luxburg's
conduct and continued his policy of neutrality.
Chile was so far removed from the scene of the war in Europe and had so
few ships engaged in European trade that her government did not have the
same provocation that others had. Furthermore, German propaganda had
made great headway in Chile and the Chilean army, trained by German
officers, was strongly pro-German. In the navy, on the other hand,
sentiment was strongly in favor of the Allies. This was a matter of
tradition, for since the days of Lord Cochrane, whose exploits have
been described in an earlier chapter of this book, the Chilean navy has
followed English ideals. Under these circumstances Chile remained
neutral, though before the end of the war public sentiment had shifted
to the side of the Allies.[287]
Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Uruguay in severing relations with Germany
proclaimed their adherence to the principle of American solidarity.
Paraguay's neutrality was due to her isolation. Colombia, still smarting
under the loss of the Isthmus, was not disposed to take sides with the
United States. In Venezuela most of the government officials were under
German influence. Panama and four of the five Central American republics
declared war on Germany, Salvador alone remaining neutral. Cuba and
Haiti also declared war on Germany, while the Dominican Republic severed
consular relations. Mexico proclaimed its neutrality, but permitted its
soil to become a hot-bed of German intrigue and President Carranza
exhibited at times a spirit of hostility to the United States which
tended to increase the tension that already existed between the two
countries.
In an article on "The European War and Pan Americanism"[288] Ambassador
Naon of the Argentine Republic draws the following interesting
conclusions, conclusions that are all the more interesting because his
country was not one of those that took the course to which he gives his
approval. He says: "The political action developed by the different
governments of the continent in the presence of the European conflict,
especially since the breaking out of hostilities between the United
States and Germany, has not been either the best advised or the most
propitious for achieving the consolidation of Pan Americanism." The
situation created by the European war, he continues, "affected the
entire continent in the same manner and with the same political and
economic intensity as the United States, and both self-interest and
moral obligations ought to have counseled the consummating of
solidarity, here and now, by making common cause and endorsing the
attitude of the United States to the extreme limit, until the disturbing
force should be overcome. The political action of America did not take
this direction, however. Some of the most important governments of the
continent, going counter to the political aspirations and doubtless to
the political interests of their own countries, adhered to the policy of
neutrality. In America this was equivalent to a policy of isolation, and
thus the solidarity of the continent was broken, with consequent
prejudice to Pan Americanism. Yet even if in those countries, the action
of the governments could not be counted upon, nevertheless, the
sentiment, expressed in eloquent manifestations of public opinion and in
complete disagreement with that attitude of the governments, persisted
throughout the crisis. Thus the _spirit_ of Pan Americanism was saved,
and we are justified in believing that there will come a reaction which
will restore the disturbed equilibrium and save the mighty interests
involved."
Ambassador Naon believes, however, that Pan Americanism has many
obstacles in the way of its complete realization. Among them he
mentions "the recognition of politico-intellectual inferiorities" by the
peace conference at Paris in the classification of nations as great
powers and small powers. The fundamental principle of Pan Americanism he
believes to be the doctrine of equality. He further points out that as
long as American states remain, whether as the result of their own
shortcomings or not, in these conditions of inferiority in world
politics, "there will continue to exist for the United States the causes
that gave rise to the Monroe Doctrine and consequently all its
objections will continue to exist." Finally he says that "the idea of
solidarity is being weakened or thwarted by another idea, the
unwholesome one of Latin Americanism, which is a Teutonic idea in its
tendencies, and which is trying to replace it, basing itself upon
supposed antagonisms of interests and ideals between the other countries
of America and the United States. This purpose, which is anarchical,
might cause American solidarity to fail if, in virtue of neglecting to
foster this tendency, it should succeed, by pandering to paltry
prejudices and flattering national vanities, in gaining a footing in the
thought of the other governments of the continent to the extent of
constituting itself a political force, capable of replacing the system
of solidarity which Pan Americanism seeks, by a system of a continental
equilibrium: a system which has just failed in the European conflict."
This summary of the views of the distinguished Argentine statesman is
sufficient to show that his analysis of the situation is correct. The
weakness and backwardness of certain states, specifically those in the
zone of the Caribbean, lies at the heart of the difficulty. As long as
they remain in their present condition the United States must continue
to protect them against European intervention and, when occasion arises,
supervise their affairs in order to prevent them from provoking such
intervention. As long as it is necessary to pursue this course the
United States will have to rest under the suspicion of having
imperialistic designs on its weaker neighbors, and it is this suspicion
which perpetuates the spirit of Latin Americanism which in turn must be
overcome before we can fully realize the ideal of Pan Americanism.
FOOTNOTES:
[273] International American Conference, Vol. IV (Historical Appendix),
p. 122. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890.
[274] International American Conference, Vol. IV (Historical Appendix),
p. 202.
[275] International American Conference, Vol. IV (Historical Appendix)
p. 208.
[276] Moore, "Digest of International Law," Vol. VII, pp. 9-10.
[277] International American Conference, Vol. IV (Historical Appendix),
p. 217.
[278] _Ibid._, p. 255.
[279] Second International American Conference, English text (Mexico,
Government Printing Office, 1902), p. 309.
[280] Third International American Conference, Minutes, Resolutions,
Documents (Rio de Janeiro, Imprensa Nacional. 1907), P. 605.
[281] Bulletin of the Pan American Union, Vol. 31, p. 796.
[282] _Am. Journal of International Law_, Vol. 10, p. 212.
[283] John Bassett Moore, "Principles of American Diplomacy," pp.
407-408.
[284] "Affairs in Mexico," Sixty-fourth Cong., First Sess., Sen. Doc.
No. 324. The World Peace Foundation has issued two pamphlets containing
documents on Mexico under the title of "The New Pan Americanism," Parts
I and II (February and April, 1916).
[285] Percy A. Martin, "Latin America and the War" (issued by the World
Peace Foundation, August, 1919).
[286] Martin, "Latin America and the War," pp. 13-15.
[287] Enrique Rocuant, "The Neutrality of Chile and the Grounds that
Prompted and Justified It," (Valparaiso, 1919).
[288] Reprinted in International Conciliation, Inter-American Division,
Bulletin No. 20 (April, 1919).