in and around the Caribbean aroused
the suspicion and alarm of Hispanic Americans, who still feared
imperialistic designs on the part of that country now more than ever the
Colossus of the North. "The art of oratory among the Yankees," declared
a South American critic, "is lavish with a fraternal idealism; but
strong wills enforce their imperialistic ambitions." Impassioned
speakers and writers adjured the ghost of Hispanic confederation to rise
and confront the new northern peril. They even advocated an appeal
to Great Britain, Germany, or Japan, and they urged closer economic,
social, and intellectual relations with the countries of Europe.

It was while the United States was thus widening the sphere of its
influence in the Caribbean that the "A B C" powers--Argentina, Brazil,
and Chile--reached an understanding which was in a sense a measure of
self-defense. For some years cordial relations had existed among these
three nations which had grown so remarkably in strength and prestige.
It was felt that by united action they might set up in the New World
the European principle of a balance of power, assume the leadership
in Hispanic America, and serve in some degree as a counterpoise to the
United States. Nevertheless they were disposed to cooperate with their
northern neighbor in the peaceable adjustment of conflicts in which
other Hispanic countries were concerned, provided that the mediation
carried on by such a "concert of the western world" did not include
actual intervention in the internal affairs of the countries involved.

With this attitude of the public mind, it is not strange that the
Hispanic republics at large should have been inclined to look with scant
favor upon proposals made by the United States, in 1916, to render the
spirit of Pan-Americanism more precise in its operation. The proposals
in substance were these: that all the nations of America "mutually agree
to guarantee the territorial integrity" of one another; to "maintain a
republican form of government"; to prohibit the "exportation of arms
to any but the legally constituted governments"; and to adopt laws of
neutrality which would make it "impossible to filibustering expeditions
to threaten or carry on revolutions in neighboring republics." These
proposals appear to have received no formal approval beyond what is
signified by the diplomatic expression "in principle." Considering the
disparity in strength, wealth, and prestige between the northe