St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-11-08

dent Monroe in the year 1928.
What does it amount to? This
that the United States will not
allow the European Powers to con-
quer and hold, directly or indirectly,
any new possessions on the Ameri,
can Continent. That Monroe in lay
ing down this principle, and the
American people in making it, as it
were, a fundamentallaw of the state,
were perfectly justified, we do not
doubt for a moment. The Americans
valued intensely and still value, their
isolation and aloofness from the
quar:els and alliances of Europe.
Their geographical position frees
them from all care as to foreign
entanglements. But this freedom
would cease were France to take
Mexico, Germany Brazil, and Italy
the Argentine Republic. At once the
United States would be forced to live
under the conditions which have
made Europe an armed camp. The
Americans realized that they must
make stand against such POSSIBLE.
ties from the very beginning, and
herein they were boldly prudent.
But if we compare this, the true
Monroe doctrine, with that now put
forward in certain quarters in Ameri-
ca. it will be seen that very wide
difference exists. 1t is one thing to
forbid the conquest and annexation
of American states by European
Powers, quite another to say that
European Power shall not demand
redress for injuries from a Spanish
Republic, or prevent that republic
from including within her boundaries
territory which in reality belongs to
the European Power in question. We
may feel sure thatin reality the United
States will never do more than for
bid bona-hde extensions of territory
by the European Powers. And this
principle they will enforce, not by
interfering in the details of squabbles.
but by waiting till the squabble is
over, and then, if necessary, by apply
ing the Monroe doctrine.
AS Engllshmen we have no sort Of
objection to the true Monroe doc
trine We want no extension of ter
ritorv on the American continent for
Great Britain, but we do want the
Anglo Saxon to be supreme there,
and to be left to develop unmolested,
and this the Monroe doctrine secures.
We have sometimes thought, indeed,
that the Monroe doctrine might be
] uSGu DIS OIC VI lllO SlOllNS pun w hiNh
TO build up the Anglo-SaXon alliance
which will some day give the control
of the world to the Engllsh-speaking
PEOPLES. An excuse will be wanted
tor beginning the foundations OF that
alliance, and it might be found in the
Monroe doctrine. England and the
United States might agree to guar
antee their possessions in America,
and to apply the Monroe doctrine to
all other powers. This would imme-
diately insure America to the Anglo
Saxon, and on it might later be
based the arrangements tor further
and closer alliance. This, however,
is a distant dream. Meantime, there
is only one serious danger to the
Monroe doctrine. II England ever
| lost command OF the sea, and that
command passed to France or Rus
STA, America would find the Monroe
doctrine waste paper, While Eng
land holds the command OF the sea,
the United States has nothing to
fear; but were she to lose it, America
must either reconquer it from the
victor or give up all hope of enforc-
ing the doctrine which he so boldly
announced in 1923 London Spec
tatOr.