Tacna-Arica

Chilean legislators fulminated last week before the Chamber of Deputies at Santiago, demanded modification of the "Monroe Doctrine," cheered vociferously the slogan "Latin America for Latin Americans!"

Deputy Estay cried: "Chile must repudiate the slander of the U. S.

Major-General Lassiter: that a plebiscite to determine the sovereignty of Tacna-Arica cannot be held (TIME, June 21) because of coercion by Chile of Peruvian voters. . . . "Lassiter has no right to accuse us of such an offense, the U. S. robbed and took by force the territories that she now owns and which before belonged to Mexico and other nations. Nor should we forget that she usurped territory from Colombia. It is not, then, a General of that nation who has the right to accuse us."

At Arica, General Lassiter quietly wound up the affairs of the U. S.-chairmaned Chile-Peruvian plebiscitary commission (TIME, Nov. 26, 1923 et seq.). He was hissed and booed by a Chilean mob. The Chilean member of the Commission, Senor Augustin R. Edwards, refused to attend its last session. The Chilean police refused to open the Commission hall. General Lassiter made use of a nearby office. Finally he embarked with his staff aboard the U. S. battleship Galveston, prepared to sail for the U. S.

At Washington the Chilean Ambassador informed Secretary Kellogg that: 1) Chile considers General Lassiter's conduct "illegal and exceeding the powers vested in him"; 2) Chile will no longer participate in the informal Tacna- Arica negotiations instituted at Washington by Secretary Kellogg (TIME, April 19 et seq).

Alessandri Rampant. Former President Alessandri of Chile, now a guest of the Chilean Embassy at Washington, declared to news gatherers: "President Coolidge has shown himself incapable of carrying out his decision, as announced in his award*--the Judge has been unable to carry out the sentence--with the result that increased misunderstanding has arisen between Chile and Peru.

"The people of the United States know nothing of what has been going on in Arica. They do not understand the question. This is, in part, due to the secret negotiations which Secretary of State Kellogg has been carrying on in Washington, only releasing what he thought suitable to the press. . . .

"All my work as President has been broken. I had favored American aid toward bringing about a settlement in face of the opposition of public opinion in my country, and I prevented the question from being presented to the League, having faith in the United States.

"I shall now employ all the energies which I still possess to preach before the American world the postulate that, in opposition to the Monroe Doctrine, we must stand and proclaim, all together and united, 'Latin America for Latin-Americans.' "

Significance. Since 1882 Chile and Peru have been attempting to hold a plebiscite to determine which shall possess in perpetuity the region of Tacna-Arica, wrested at that time by Chile from Peru. During the Harding and Coolidge administrations, the U. S., acting by request of Chile and Peru, sent first General Pershing and then General Lassiter to Tacna-Arica, there to supervise the holding, if possible, of a fair plebiscite.

Unquestionably the U. S. has lost a certain amount of prestige in Latin America through the failure of negotiations thus far. The U. S. position was sufficiently set forth by General Lassiter in his speech to the plebiscitary commission, released at Washington last week: "Flagrant as have been the outrages to which Peruvian electors and sympathizers have been subjected and pitiful as have been the sufferings of the helpless victims it it not these outrages themselves that in my opinion have constituted the most serious phase of the long continued course of violence, oppression, persecution and discrimination that "has marked the past year in this territory.

"The vital factor in the situation has been the attitude of the Chilean authorities as shown conclusively by their continued failure to take adequate action to secure to Peruvians the due and equal protection of the law or a reasonably free and equal opportunity for the exercise of plebiscitary rights."

* Decreeing that a plebiscite be held.