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American Republics together are of wax and will melt away under the fire of this world struggle?

The day after the United States declared war on Germany I was asked in almost a patronizing way by a prominent editor; "what will the other American Republics do now that one of their sister nations has entered the field of war; will any of them break relations; will any of them by chance declare war?" He asked as if he had no confidence in such developments. Without the slightest hesitation but with the confidence born of a little knowledge of the history and the record of the other American Republics and of the characteristics of the Latin American press and peoples, the reply was made that I believed that within fourteen months from that time, that is, by July 1, 1918, over onehalf of the Latin American governments would have broken relations with the enemies of the United States and that over one-third of them would have entered the war. It was also stated that, although a small group of governments might remain neutral, there was little question but that their attitude of neutrality would be a sincere one, not intended as lack of respect for or sympathy with the United States, but inspired by a conscientious belief of the statesmen of such countries that they were doing what was best in international relationship.

Without expressing any opinion whatever as to the wisdom of the action of the various American Republics, and without commenting upon whether such action is praiseworthy or not, it is permitted to make a summarized statement of just how these governments stand according to official records. These figures and facts will confound the enemies of Pan American solidarity and demonstrate that the attitude of the Western Hemisphere taken as a whole is undoubtedly favorable to the triumph of the just principles of democracy.

Of the twenty Latin American Republics which reach from Mexico and Cuba on the north to Argentina and Chile on the south, thirteen have officially broken relations with the Central Allies. Given alphabetically they are: Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,

Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Uruguay. Of the thirteen which have broken relations, nine have declared war. These include Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Two other countries, namely, Uruguay and Peru, have taken steps equivalent to a declaration of war, but as their attitude has not been thus officially treated by Germany, they still are to be classed technically as only having broken relations. Were they considered as having declared war, eleven of the Latin American countries could be described as actually being in the midst of the conflict.

Seven countries remain officially neutral: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Salvador and Venezuela. Some regard the action of Paraguay as classing her among those which have broken relations, but this is not accurate according to strict official interpretation.

Summed up it therefore can be said that technically speaking a good majority of the Latin American countries have broken relations with the Central Allies; morally speaking a majority have declared war, while barely onethird remain neutral. There should be fairness, moreover in judging the neutral countries. It is, in the opinion of high authorities, unjust to say that any of them are favorable to the enemies of the United States or are against this country and the Allies. It is the opinion of many of those familiar with the situation that the administrative officers of all the neutral countries, in determining the policies of their governments, are doing what they honestly believe to be right. They contend that there has been no actual official cause for their governments declaring war, and therefore their present attitude is justified. None of them, however, denies the right of each country to act as it sees best in the premises. It must be borne in mind also that the neutral countries of Latin America are placing their vast material resources at the disposal of the United States and the Allies, and are aiding in this way almost as much as if they were actually in the conflict.

Careful scrutiny of the leading newspapers in the neutral countries shows that a large majority of them are friendly to the United States and the European Allies. Only a small minority can be classed as anti-American and anti-Allies. Consideration of the editorial comment in the representative papers in all parts of Latin America, the special articles which are appearing in its press, the expressions of opinion which are being made in the various congresses, special addresses that are being delivered, and pamphlets and books that are being distributed, would lead to the inevitable conclusion that the war has justified beyond all expectations the best principle of Pan Americanism and proved the actual solidarity of the western hemisphere.

It now behooves every American, whether he comes from the northern or southern continent, to be studying more than ever before how the American Republics can work together in harmony, in sympathy, in mutual respect and in the preservation of the world peace which must follow this mighty struggle. It is a remarkable fact that since the Pan American Union, whose constituency includes all the American Republics, was reorganized in 1906-1907 there has been no war between any two American Republics, and the sentiment has grown stronger each year that no two shall engage in a conflict against the sentiment and will of the other nineteen. Around the governing board table of the Pan American Union there assembles on the first Wednesday of each month, except those of the summer, the high diplomatic representatives of all the American Republics. There they sit, shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, each having equal authority with the other and all actuated by a common purpose which means the coöperation of all the American nations for the development of friendship, good understanding, better acquaintance, commerce and peace among them. While this board has not actual authority to settle Pan American political problems, such as the prevention of wars, its moral influence is undoubtedly a mighty factor in this direction. A great European statesman recently entering the Pan American Building at Washington, noting the practical work which the Pan American

Union is doing for Pan American solidarity, and then finally seeing its governing board room, its great council table and the chairs arranged about it carrying each of them the name and coat of arms of a particular country, and finally looking at a photograph which showed the Secretary of State of the United States and the diplomatic representatives of the other American Republics seated there, remarked that he believed that if there had existed in London or Berlin, in Paris or Vienna a Pan European Union organized on the basis of the Pan American Union in Washington, and having a similar council chamber and council, this world war would never have taken place. Possibly this is an optimistic view point, but it carries a suggestion of immeasurable significance. May it not be true that the American Republics, through their Pan American Union and through the example of their council which forms its governing board, are showing the way to the world for international coöperation and a league of nations which shall preserve forever that peace which all men and all nations now hope will be inaugurated at the conclusion of this war.

THE BALKAN TRAGEDY

By David Starr Jordan

I

After the Turkish Janizaries who served as the guard of the Greek Empire in the fifteenth century broke loose and seized Constantinople, they also encountered and subdued the "grim, raw races" of the districts, mostly south of the Danube, known collectively as "The Balkans."

Over the Balkan peoples, as over all others included in the Ottoman Empire, the Turks have ruled by force and fear alone -about four million Turks (all the men actual or potential soldiers) against twenty million or more subject Bulgarians, Serbians, Albanians, Roumanians, Vlacks, Armenians, Mesopotamians, Macedonians, Kurds, Syrians, Egyptians, Moors, Arabs, Jews and Greeks. The conquerors forming chiefly an army of occupation, these subject multitudes have lived continuously under martial law. This at the best is not law at all; in the hands of the Turk it has taken the form of utter neglect alternating with savage slaughter. Extermination of heretics has always been proclaimed as a religious duty of the Moslem, though through inertia and sometimes through humanity he has often fallen far short of his theoretical obligations.

Under such conditions it is evident that any degree of selfgovernment or even of ordinary tolerance would mean the dissolution of the Turkish Empire. For if the people themselves were allowed to rule, they would insist upon the "bearable life" which no race under Turkish control has ever attained. The average high-class Turk to be met with in Constantinople is, to be sure, a soft-spoken, leisurely gentleman, but hard and cold nevertheless under the surface, and quite impervious to the feelings of others. Now, as in Byron's time, he is likely to prove as "mild-mannered a man

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