Simon Bolivar's dream of a closely-knit union of Pan-American states faded when only four delegates appeared at his first conference in 1826. The notion persisted, however, and inspired the first American International conference called by the United States fifty years later. That and succeeding conferences failed alike to produce a union, and probably nothing definite of that sort will result from the fifth Pan-American Conference, now in session at Santiago.

Two plans for drawing American states together have been offered by the delegates. Chile proposed an agreement to limit naval armaments following the example of the Four Power Treaty, and Uruguay suggested an American league of nations modelled after the lines of the World League. Together these plans might have gone far toward the realization of Bolivar's dream; but they have been dropped, and the conference, like its predecessors, becomes no more than an opportunity to create "mutual understanding."

If this and nothing more is accomplished the meeting will have served a purpose, for it was through a lack of understanding that the plans for a union were rejected. Brazil would accept no reduction of her navy to the size demanded by Chile's plan, claiming that Chile, with her mountainous coastline, is sacrificing nothing in cutting her navy. The league plan failed because some states favored the existing League of Nations and others, notably the United States, considered that the Monroe Doctrine already adequately fulfills the purpose of a league.

The conversation about the assembly tables at Santiago has been on a lower plane than some of the delegates desired, but perhaps for that reason more cordial. Discussion of language schools, shipments of merchandise, and rates of exchange provides a safe meeting ground for Pan-American states, and agreement on small matters may bring about understanding in larger affairs.