Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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who deemed the conference of so great importance that he attended it person- ally. and Charles Lindbergh went to allay the fears of the Latin Americans against the growth of another imperial- ism. Their attendance strengthened our position and dispelled all fears of us. The advent of the Good Neighbor Policy exorcised the last vestige of hate and imperialism. The institution of our Good Neighbor Policy was simul- taneous with the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt. In his opening message he allayed the fears of Latin America with a declaration of our in- tentions: we would seek no more land, wc would not force sales by dollar diplomacy, and we would not interfere with the internal affairs of any country. Further evidence of our receding im- perialism was the abolishment of the hated Platt amendment and the planned liberation of the Philippines. Roose- velt made a special trip to Buenos Aires in 1936 to assure the Peace Conference that “America will protect the hemisphere from all aggression. This precedent of an American administra- tion supporting so ardently a Pan American Conference was very pleasing to Latin Americans. The one device, however, that has done more for encouraging friendlier relations than doctrines and protection is the reciprocal trade treaty which was proposed by Cordell Hull together with his broad interpretation of a clause in the Smoot Hawley Tariff. This tariff was originally designed to raise duties. This clause allowed the President to raise or lower concessions on the goods of another country if we received similar concessions from that country. So we made treaties with each country reducing greatly the import levies and simultaneously the bitter feling against us. The industries of South America are booming now that the United States market is open and our war pro- gram calls for increased production. The people of Latin America are in sympathy enough with us to drive out enemy spies and break relations with our enemies, and the sympathy is a direct result of reciprocal trade. New, through the efforts of Cordell Hull, Sumner Wells, and other pro- gressive statesmen, the United States enjoys a closer harmony of governemnt, business ,and friendship with the people of nearly every country in Latin Ameri- ca than any other nation has ever re- ceived. As time goes on, more people are being converted to Pan American unity and cooperation which will prob- ably blossom into a Western Hemisphere coalescence. But significant is the example to the world of what can be done when sincere peoples unite to ad- just their differences and to work to- gether for their mutual benefit. 26

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last barrier that for so long had kept nations apart. Although our progress in Pan Americanism started rather slowly, it has gained momentum with each con- ference. We have been converted from a nation which believed in taking ad- vantage of every other nation, exploit- ing its resources, and abandoning any enterprise that involves any risk, to a country which treats smaller countries as equals, which helps them with their problems, and which offers protection from any aggressive force. The bit of progress we made was in gathering the representatives of the different countries and actually working out recommenda- tions of paramount importance. The first few conferences pioneered in liberal plans for hemispheric union. An arbitration commission, where all dis- putes between countries were to be settled, and a Pan American Customs Union, which would start the flow of trade again, were among the many plans the conference evolved. But the old feelings of nationalism prevented every nation from signing the adoptions. Later the Latin American countries realized their danger from European nations if they failed to support these measures. The Drago Doctrine was the first result of a unified effort of a Con- flerence. Everyone agreed to its im- portance and its creed. Under the Drago Doctrine no nation could collect its debts by force of arms unless the debtor refused to arbitrate. This pleased our Southern neighbors, and when we stopped German and British gunboats from taking over Venezuela to collect loans, they were delighted at the way we dispersed them. Another conven- tion resolution which met with much approval was the Non-intervention Policy. We supported this to the nth degree because we wanted no other nation acquiring a foothold in Latin America, and to prevent it we assumed the responsibility of foreign property. These two resolutions which we have assumed to be a part of international law have helped to drive out the mem- ories of our imperialism of former years and in the first two decades of the twentieth century our business with Latin America increased 500 per cent. This false prosperity was due, however, to the recession of European countries w ' hich were preparing for the World War. During this period we augmented our position substantially; we became better acquainted with the people, and they were friendlier toward us than ever before. These friendly ties helped defeat the Europeans when they strove for their old markets and for our new business. Britain and Germany sought to repel us by false propaganda, by dis- crediting our goods, and by taking advantage of the uneducated people. But the reputation built up during the early part of the century and the added impetus given at the Pan American Conferences defeated their purpose. We really won over many dubious Latins in the Havana Conference be- cause Calvin Collidge, the first president 25

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1. H. S. IN CIVILIAN DEFENSE By James Olds O protect a nation ' covering such a 1 large area and with such a coast as our own requires more than the en- listed armed forces and therefore de- pends upon the civilians of each and every town and city. These civilians must sacrifice time and effort to help make our shores safe from invasion. In view of the necessity of large numbers in these Civilian Defense Organizations it was found that many of the working people could not give their time without disrupting their business. The next available group of people to fill in in these jobs were the high school students of our country. In this town of Ipswich the degree to which the students of the Ipswich High School have offered their time and dispensed with their pleasure is grati- fying. When the army asked Mr. Conary, as a past leader of the American Legion, to organize an Observation Post in this section he sought contacts with all the townspeople to find out who could give and would give their time until the end of the war in organizing an Army Observation Post. The response was great but the number needed was greater. He then went to the students of our high school and requested many of them to volunteer to assist as ob- servers or plane spotters. Although to discourage quitters and whiners he made the picture as black as he possibly could without exaggerating, the response which the pupils made was amazing. Through the cold of winter and the rains of spring, while several of the older people dropped off for sickness or various reasons, the students of the Ips- wich High School have continued to do their part. Of the two hundred ob- servers and spotters now affiliated with the local Army Observation Post, over fifty of them are high school students. To be a plane spotter or an observer is by no means a simple job. One must be constantly on the alert with one’s eyes and ears straining for signs of planes. To do this task most effi- ciently it is necessary for each spotter to determine by hearing or by sight, the number of planes, the number of motors of each plane, and the direction the planes are flying. From the time that the planes are spotted to the time that all this information is sent into the Filter Center not more than ten seconds should intervene. This takes coopera- tion and quick thinking. The largest number of high school students in any one Civilian Defense Organization, as compared with the whole, is enrolled in the Messenger Corps. The duty of these messengers is to keep the Air Raid Warden, to whom they are assigned, in constant touch with the local Report Center. In case all other means of communication fail, the responsibility rests on their shoulders. 27