The herald., 1895-12-18

I DuSl It's lIlleTDDSltlOIl 1uTtueF WOuiu DC uu-
becoming and undgnified and might we'll
subject it to the charge O. impertinent in
termedding in affairs with which it has no
rightful concern.
On the other hand, if any such right and
duty exist, their due exercise and dis
charge will not permit of any action that
shall not be efficient and that, it the power
| of the United States is inadequate, shall
not result in the accomplishment of the
end in view. The question thus presented
as matter of principle, and regard being
had TO the et'led national policy, does not
seem diff .ult of solution. Yet the mo-
mentous practical consequences depend
ent upon its determination require that it
should be carefully CONSIDERED and that
the grounds of the conclusion arrived at
should be fully and frankly stated.
THE LAW OF NATIONS.
/ The secretary lays it down as a canon of
international law that nation may
| justly interpose in n controversy between
other nations whenever "what is done or
pro posed by any of the parties primarily
concerned is a serious and direct menace
to its own integrity, tranquility or well
fare"
| The propriety of the rule, when applied
in good faith, will not be questioned in any
quarter, though he says it has been given
wide scope and too often made a cloak for
schemes of wanton spoliation and aggran-
dizement.
This leads him up to an elaborate review
of the Monroe doctrine, and Secretary
Olney, stating that the proposition that
An, i, ;,,Y ~ t,,, n, MA
has very long been conceded, says that
our present concern is with the other prac-
teal apple alton of the Monroe doctrine,
viz: That American non-intervention in
Europe necessarily implied European nom
intervention in American affairs, the dis
regard of which, by any European power.
is to be deemed an act of unfriendliness
toward the United States.
THE AMERICAN STATUS.
On this point the S, crelary says: 1.-THE
precise scope and limitations of this rule
cannot be too clearly apprehended. 1t does
not es tablish any general protectorate by
the United States over other American
states. 1t does not relieve any state from
| its obligations, as fixed by international
law, nor prevent any European power, di-
rectly interested, from enforcing such OBJ
legations, or from inilcting merited pun
ishment for the breach of them. 1t does
not contemplate any interference in the
international affairs of any American state
nor the relations between it and other
American states. 1t does not justify any
attempt on our part to change the estab-
lished form of government of any Ameri-
can state or to prevent the people of such
state from altering that form according to
| their own will and pleasure.
1.-THE rule in question has but single
object. II is thought no European power.
or combination of European powers, shall
forcbly deprive any American state of the
right and power of self-government and of
shaping for itself its own political fortunes
and destinies.'
The secretary says that it is manifest
that rule which has been openly and uni
formly acted upon by the executive bra oh
of the government for seventy years must
have had the sanction of congress. Nor, he
adds. if the practical results of the rule be
sought for, is the record either meager or
obscure. Its first effect WAS indeed mo-
mentions and far reaching, It was the
component factor III the emancipation OF
South America, and to it the Independent
states of that region are largely indebted
for their very existence.
ESTABLISHED BY PRECEDENT.
Since then the most striking single
achievement to be credited to the rule is
the evacuation of Mexico by the French.
But we are also indebted to 1t for the Clay
ton-Bulwer treaty. neutralzng any inter-
oceanic canal across Central America and
excluding Great Britain from any dominion
there. 1t has been used in the case of
Cuba, as if ju,tifying the position, while
the sovereignty of Spain will be respected,
the island will not be permitted to become
the possession of any other European
power. 1t has been influential in bringing
about the definite REIMBURSEMENT of any
supposed protectorate by Great Britain
over the Mosquito coast.
President Polk relied upon it, though
perhaps enormously, to prevent the trans
fer of Yuca tan. General Grant, in the
same spirit, declared that existing depend
encies were no longer subject to transfer
from one European power to another, and
another development is found in the objec-
ton to arbitration of South American con-
troversies by European power, and Sec
rotary Bayard resisted the enforcement of
the Pelliter claim against Hayti, declaring
that 'serious indeed would be the conse-
quences if European hostile foot should,
without just authority, tread those states in
the new world which have emancipated
themselves from European CONTROL
REVERSING THE d CTRINE
"American questions, it is said, are for
American decision" says Secretary Olney,
and then applying this doctrine in the re-
verse, he says:
"lf all Europe were suddenly to fly to
arms over the fate of Turkey, would it not
be prepostcrou5 that any American state
should find itself ineXtrcabIy involved in
the miseries and burdens of the contest?
"What have the states of America to do
with the vast armies and fleets of Europe,
and why should they be imp pvershed by
wars in which they have no concern? The
moral interests of Europe are peculiar TO
her and entirely adverse from those which
are peculiar to America
REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES.
Europe is, with a single important eXcep-
ton, committed to the monarchial princi-
pie. America is devoted to the idea that
every people has an lnalienable right of
self government. Any European control
of our interests is necessa lily both incon-
-. =.