RIVAL REPUBLICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21253, 5 August 1932, Page 11

RIVAL REPUBLICS

MENACE OF HOSTILITIES BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY} DISPUTE OVER BOUNDARY BOTH SIDES MOBILISING [ " • V By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright WASHINGTON. Aug. 3 Despatches from La Paz, Bolivia, state that the Ministry of War to-day ordered the mobilisation of all classes of Bolivian youths between the ages of 22 and 29 in anticipation of war with Paraguay in the Gran Chaco region. ; / < A high official states that Bolivia will inform the League of Nations that an immediate settlement of the Gran Chaco dispute must be reached or she will gt» to war. A message from Asuncion, Paraguay, •states that hundreds of excised Paraguayan women—society belles, debutantes and broad-shouldered farm wives—besieged the Government to-day demanding tho right to go to war. They came by dozens, hanging on to trucks and waggons and crowding out trains. On reaching the city they rushed for the stadium where recruiting activities, in case of war with Bolivia, are centred. The women demanded active service on the battlefront. The Government, however, regarded thi s as impossible in, the deep Gran Chaco wilderness, where even the mildest non-combatant service is considered too severe for women. The officials tried to suggest service in civilian capacities at home by filling the positions vacated by men, but the women scoffed at this idea. If Paraguay goes to war, they said, their place should be in Gran Chaco, not at home. In a proclamation the President, > Dr. Guggiari, called upon the army to prepare to achieve deeds of prowess. Five hundred Paraguayan soldiers, the first to leave Asuncion for the front, started up the river to-day toward Gran Chaco. There -was considerable confusion, and nearly a disaster at "the start, so eager were the men to join up. Three hundred volunteers stormed the vessel, which nearly capsized. They were ejected; During the night 1200 men and boy» reached the capital in answer to the mobi- / lisation order. Most of them were college students and schoolboys. > r Captain Aimonacid, the Argentine flier, who served with the French during the war, has "arrived from Buenos Aires to train the Paraguayan Air Corps. The Gran Chaco is in the very centred America and.its territory of about 116,000 square, miles has been a soured of dispute between Bolivia and ' Paraguay ever since they became self-governing powers. The district is partly enclosed by the rivers Paraguay and. Pilcomayo, the latter marking thei frontier of Argentina, which also 'St times has claimed an interest in the region. The population is sparse, consisting of a small number of whites and people of mixed races and a larger number of Indians. The area is rich in natural resources, the soil affords excellent pasturage for cattle, there is much wooded country, and from the quebracho tree tannin is extracted and sent to Paraguay. Chloride of soda is fojmd and deposits of petrol are reported to exist. Bolivia contends she has always maintained that her territorial rights extend to the Paraguay Biver, a claim which Paraguay has denied,'following the denial with peaceful penetration until, in 1928, when the last big dispute arose. Bolivia asserted that Paraguay had occupied the whole of the Chaco. Frontier incidents while the question of boundaries was in dispute led to Bolivians breaking off diplomatic relations in December, 1928. These were not fully resumed until May,' 1930, when a judicial body, chosen by the PanAmerican Union, took up the dispute. TROOPS FOR FRONTIER I.— . ; ARGENTINA'S INTERESTS PRESERVATION OF NEUTRALITY BUENOS AIRES, Aug. S Twenty battalions of Argentine infantry, and one battalion of engineers were ordered to-day to proceed to the Bolivian frontier to maintain the neutrality of Argentina in the dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay. • PEACE EFFORTS REQUEST FROM LEAGUE ATTITUDE OF BOLIVIA ' ' . : •• ' .r '■ > y <: ;. ) " • WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 A message from La Paz, Bolivia, states that the Bolivian Foreign Office informed the League of Nations to-day that Bolivia does not decline pacific means for a solution of the controversy with Paraguay over the Gran Chaco territory. Besponding to the League's-communications asking that war be averted the . Bolivian Government recited its version of the conflict, concluding that these facts place Paraguay outside the law and oblige her to defend herself energetically. Bolivia and Paraguay have been requested to end hostilities and to submit to neutral proposals to avoid war, in a joint Note signed to-day by representatives of the United States and 18 South America® Republics. BRITISH ANXIETY EFFORT TO AVOID WAR DIPLOMATIC APPEALS British Wireless . RUGBY, Aug. 3 It was announced by the Foreign Office this evening that the Acting-Secretary-General of the League of Nations has suggested that the 'British, French, German, Italian and Spanish Governments should support, through their diplomatic channels, the appeal issued on August 1 by the President of the Council of the League to the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay. The British representatives at La Paz (Bolivia) and Asuncion (Paraguay) have been instructed to inform the. Governments of those republics that the British Government is anxious to give all possible support to tha appeal of the president of the Council and to the moderating; action of the friendly nations of the . Assembly. The British Government informed the: United State* of the above;action.-