The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-12-10

In speaking of the Panama Canal and
the stand which the United States has
taken in regard 70 the control of it when
completed, reference is constantly made
to what is styled the Monroe doctrine"
and it is not perhaps thoroughly or uni
versally understood exactly what the term
means The Monroe doctrine is clearly
enough defined by President Monroe
in one of his messages to Congress
His attitude on the subject was the out
growth of an agreement between our
government and England in regard to
French and Spanish occupation of the
then colonies of South America AS po-
litical matters stood then France was in
vadine Spain and South American colonies
and had taken advantage of this to revolt,
1t was plain that Spain could never hope
to regain an aseendency over them but it
was thought that France would endeavor
to obtain control To prevent this Mr.
Canning, the British Foreign Secretary
proposed to Mr.. Rush, our Minister to
England that the United States and Great
Britain should should unite in manifesto
that while they did not desire to acquire
any of the colonies themselves, or hinder
any friendly negotiations with Spain:
They could not see the transfer eff
any portion of them to any tother
power with indifference "Mr Rush
took the responsibility of agreeing to this
| declaration and communicated it to his
/ own government. MT.H Jefferson warmly
| advocated it and the cabinet eencurred in
his opinion. In his message to congress
in 1928, President Monroe supported ii
| and said. osg9555f seq leEl af1 So ~
| 1--WE owe it therefore to candor and to
the amicable relations existing between
the United States and those powers to de
clare that we should consider any attempt
on their part to extend their system to any
portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to
our peace and safety, With the existing
colonies or dependencies of any European
| power we have not interfered, and shall
not interfere. But with the governments
who have declared their independence and
maintained ii, and whose independence we
have on great consideration and on just
principles acknowledged, we could not
view any interposition for the purpose Of
expressing them, or controlling in any
manner their destiny, by any European
power, in any other light than as mani
festation of an unfriendly disposition to-
ward the United States"
This was the declaration in regard to
Spanish America. In another part of the
message, referring to negotiations with
Russia about the boundaries of the two
powers on the northwestern coast of the
continent, President Monroe said:
In the discussion TO which this interest
has given rise, the occasion has been judg-
ed proper for asserting as principle IN
which the rights and interests of the Unit
ed States are involved, that the American
continents, by the free and in dependent con-
dition which they have assumed and main
tain, as heneeforth not to be considered as
subjects for future colonization by any
European power"
These two passages form what is known
as the Monroe doctrine, and it can be
briefly stated to be a refusal to allow of
European control of any portion of the
two American continents, further than |
they do now. - .-.