1940: Arbitration

Central and South American Disputes.

Acceptance by Great Britain and Guatemala of President Roosevelt as arbiter advanced the solution of their eight year territorial dispute over Belize (British Honduras). When Guatemala became independent in 1821, it claimed jurisdiction over the present British Honduras. This Great Britain rejected because of British settlers already established there. An Anglo-Guatemalan Convention of 1859 first defined the boundaries of the two territories and provided that Great Britain build a road or waterway to give Guatemala access to the Atlantic. Guatemala's claim to the territory was revived on the ground that, by not building the road, Great Britain had not carried out the terms agreed upon. The British held that non-performance of one provision did not invalidate the whole convention, and that the boundary dispute was closed. Great Britain's other territorial dispute in the Western Hemisphere concerns the Falkland Islands, persistently claimed by Argentina. With these disputes in mind, both Guatemala and Argentina made reservations to the action on European colonies taken at the Habana Conference in July. Argentina also contests some European claims in the Antarctic and disputes with Chile the ownership of the Beagle Islands at the southern tip of South America. The latter disagreement the two states have agreed to refer to arbitration by a justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Mexican Oil Question.

The Mexican Government on May 4, in reply to the United States' note of April 3, again refused the proposal to arbitrate the oil dispute on the ground that the issue is of purely domestic concern and still before the Mexican courts. It contended that no denial of justice exists and stated as 'the unanimous will of the continent that international action in favor of foreigners is only proper when, domestic legal resources having been exhausted, a case of denial of justice can be shown.' The note also refused the request to submit to an umpire the nonadjudicated general claims from the period before 1927; the reason given was that an arbitral commission had not yet passed on these claims and thus that who is creditor or debtor is yet unknown. On May 9 it was announced that the Mexican Government had agreed to pay the Sinclair Oil Company $8,500,000 in cash within three years for its expropriated property, which was estimated to amount to much less than half of all the expropriations. This agreement marks the first break in the united resistance of the oil companies to the Mexican action and strengthened that Government's contention that a settlement could be made with the oil companies without intervention from the United States. With regard to farm properties that have been expropriated by Mexico since Aug. 30, 1927, the two members of the joint Agrarian Claims Commission (United States and Mexico) have been completing their work of studying and evaluating the claims filed with them. The results will determine definitely the total amount owed by Mexico on these claims.

State of Washington Claims against Canadian Company.

An international arbitration board was considering in December claims presented by the State Department for damages suffered by farmers in the State of Washington from sulphur dioxide fumes caused by the giant smelter at Trail, British Columbia, which is owned by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited. The claims cover the period from October, 1937, to the present, after an interim award in 1938 concerning damages from 1932 to 1937. The United States seeks a permanent remedy for the situation, as well as financial compensation for the injuries.