PAN-AMERICANISM MISUNDERSTOOD

Pan-Americanism has long been misinterpreted and mistrusted by the people of South America. The prevailing idea seems to be that the United States purposes to maintain a predominating position in this hemisphere by means of the Monroe Doctrine. For this reason, the recent statement of Dr. Carlos Gibson, until recently secretary of the Peruvian embassy in Washington, is most gratifying. He declared that he had discovered that it was the "thought of brotherhood, of mutual help and benefit, which was the keynote' of this doctrine.

The misunderstanding of the attitude of the United States by South American nations is probably due to a lack of accurate knowledge of this country by their people. They do not realize that despite her practical character, America is a land of high idealism. There is hope, however, that this false opinion may be eradicated. The present economic ties between the United States and South American countries is a basis upon which may be built a better and a more sympathetic political understanding. The people of South America through more intimate relations are gradually coming to know the United States. Their erroneous conceptions of our people and our political aims will undoubtedly, by such means, disappear.

As a step toward a closer and more intimate relationship between the United States and South America, Dr. Gibson's recent statement is valuable. We hope that he will help to further the friendship between his people and our own, upon his home going, by spreading his own sentiments and by disseminating what he himself has discovered.