Minus their leader but confident of their ability to maintain a stand against the Colossus of the North, the Argentinian delegates to the Inter-American conference landed at Rio de Janeiro late Monday afternoon to find an immense crowd lining the seawall which overlooks the airbase. Thousands of expectant Brazilians were waiting for something, but it was not for the Argentine delegation. Five minutes later, however, while the Buenos Aires representatives were still on the scene, a huge, forty-ton Yankee clipper zoomed out of the skies an disgorged its immaculate cargo, Under-Secretary of State Sumner Welles, complete with walking stick. This was what the crowd was there for; they greeted him enthusiastically. "Hats were thrown in the air and shouts of 'Viva America' and 'Bravo Welles' resounded as the tall, dignified diplomat debarked," reported Joseph Driscoll to the Herald Tribune. The Argentine delegation was caught in the multitude and forced to listen to the celebration.

Catching Argentina by using the multitudes of Latin American republics will continue to be the keynote of Mr. Welles' political program for the conference. already, even before formal proceedings have begun, nineteen of the twenty-one American republics have signified their eagerness or their willingness to comply with the desire of Washington, that hemisphere sever diplomatic relations with the Axis as a bloc. Hot gossip has it that the twentieth, Chile, will fall in line today or tomorrow or as soon as Mr. Welles can convince the Chileans that the United States has enough of a Pacific fleet to guard their protracted but unprotected coastline.

Nevertheless, the repressive, reactionary government of Argentina, which is economically as well as governmentally inclined to align itself with the New Order, is playing the lone wolf. Ramon Castillo, with his autocratic inclinations and his Axis-minded military pals, is unlikely to come around to a cooperative point of view. Nazi pressure, which is reported to have taken the form of a direct note promising retribution and economic ruin for any nation which has not "behaved discreetly" at Rio, has more influence in the Pink House than in any other Latin American capitol. As long as United States beef interests insist that Argentine steers have hoof-and-mouth disease, for one small example, the Republic will be dependent on Europe for its existence.

Even twenty nations can do a good deed for the cause of the democracies by axing relations with the Axis. Each Nazi diplomatic and consular post in this hemisphere is a nest of intrigue and a center of information, and tossing out all their staffs would deprive Germany of one of its chief military and ideological weapons. Enemy agents would have less chance to spy on the defenses of the Americas, and the sources of funds and propaganda which have supported the many, cells of fifth columnism in south America would be virtually wiped out.

Certainly the absence of Argentina in the democratic lineup will be sorely felt, but that is no reason for compromising with her. The State Department has indicated that it has abandoned the five-year policy of meaningless compromise with the Argentine isolationists. That policy vitiated the Havana Conference, and its application at this time, considering the tendencies of the government in power in Buenos Aires, would be no less than isolation.

Another hope remains an ever-present possibility--the overturning of the Castillo regime. Barely legal, opposed by a more legitimate president, a rebellious Chamber of Deputies, and eighty-five per cent of the people, Castillo is riding for a fall. Since the last week in December the country has been in a state of siege. A severe censorship has hit not only the newspapers, which have several times appeared with blank editorial pages, but also the foreign correspondents and press services. The Administration has set the stage for some sort of violence, and the Rio conference may raise the curtain. Pressure, exerted not directly by the United States, but by the community of Pan American nations, could turn the tide for some pro-Ally pronunciamento. If it does, Sumner Welles, the United States, and the cause of the democracies can each chalk up a victory.