Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-05-02
ENGLAND AND THE MONROE
DOCTRINE.

the fine has not yet been paid.
English warships have ostenta-
tiously gone to certain ports on
the Pacific and the Atlantic
coasts of the Central America
republic; but American vessels
have gone to the same ports also
and to Britain's clustering de-
mands the Nicaraguan govern
ment has courteously but firmly
replied, offering to submit the
dispute to arbitration but not Of
fering to pay damages awarded
by one party alone.
The United States is making
no clustering demonstrations;
but the State Department is
keeping both eyes fixed on the
situation, as there is always need
to do when our dear British cou-
sins are in our neighborhood.
The London St. James Gazette,
which represents the lingo"
spirit of England, denounces the
Monroe Doctrine and says that
Americans who invoke it ire ig-
norant of diplomatic law, because
the Doctrine, while promulgated
sixty-two years ago, has never
been acted upon. That, how
ever, may be only because no
European power has openly de-
fed it. If England be anxious
to test it's vitality she has an ex-
cellent opportunity now. Let
her seize an acre Of Nicaraguan
territory as security for the pay
ment of her claims, and the Gov
eminent at Washington will
bring the case promptly into
court. The whole people of the
United States will be behind the
Administration in upholding the
principles Of Monroe, and not
very sorry for the chance to de-
demonstrate that the Doctrine is
no more a dead letter to-day than
it was sixty-two years ago.
Nica1 Ugua is a small country
with a population of only AGO.
OOO-just the kind Of an adver-
sary which England delights in
brow-beating and conquering;
but even little Nicaragua proved
a formidable enemy to British
aggression as long ago as 1850,
when an expedition under Colo
mel Poison, and Captain, after
wards Admiral Horauio Nelson
assembled the river San Juan
from Greytown, and attacked the
fortress of San Carlos cammand-
ing the entrance of the lake.
According to Captain Bedford
PIN, of the Royal Navy, the ex-
petition was bafhed by the cour-
age and address of a sixteen
year old girl, Donna Rafaela
Mora, daughter Of the comman-
der of the fort. The garrison
had fed on the approach of the
invading fotilla; the commander
lay on a bed of sickness. The
girl, resolved to strike at least
one blow for her country, fired
the battery, gun after gun, as
the boats drew near. Nelson was
wounded by the first shot, and
the whole fotilla fed in panic
down the river, SO hotly pressed
on their retreat that only ten
men of the two hundred com
prising the force returned in
safety to their ships. If Eng
land, with all her prestige, found
Nicaragua so hard to conquer
115 years ago, she is not likely
to find the task less difficult at
the present time when her first
act of usurpation would mean a
declaration of var against the
great nation which stands spon-
sor to the Monroe Doctrine.
Meanwhile, should buster fail,
England is prepared to adopt the
always ready recourse of arbitra-
ton, claiming all and trusting
to win a good deal, no matter
what the decision may be. She
will promptly waive her insolent
proviso that no citizen Of the
United States shall be represent
ed on the court of arbitration, if
Nicaragua and the United States
decline to let her pack the jury.
She will do anything. in short,
to crawl out of an humiliating
position, because she is no longer
the Dick Turpin of the worlds
highway, but only Noah Clay
pole, the sneak-thief, whose am
billions ran towards what his
master Fagin called the kin-chin
lay"
1.-The kinchins, z explained Mr..