Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-01-23
Restatinr the Monroe Doctrine

The attempt now being made in the
United States Senate to give new form
and force TO the Monroe doctrine is the ma
tural outgrowth of the conditions that
have prevailed during the past few years
The feeling of Indignation aroused by the
tame submission Of the Cleveland admin
istration to snubs from Great Britain and
other countries became so intense that 1t
developed into a grand wave of popular
sentiment which finally swept Mr.. Cleve-
land himself off his feet, and the now ia
nous Venezuelan message was the result
The president not only made an utterancc
unnecessarily war-like, but he was also
guilty of n great blunder in asserting that
under the Monroe doctrine this country
could not interfere II Great Britain and
Venezuela came to terms or reached an
agreement which might ALLEVIATE a large
ing to this Interpretation of the Monroe
doctrine, an amicable agreement for the
sale of Cuba by Spain to England could
not be prevented, and we could only inter-
fere when some European power attempt
ed to take possession of the island by
force.
This was of course a fatal admission on
the part of President Cleveland, and the
correction of this error is one of the OBJ
jects of the present attempt to formulate
anew the Monroe doctrine. The great
danger at the present time is that the
wave of Americanism upon which some
of our public men are riding may carry
them too far Being possessed of great
their patriotic zeal and political aspra-
lions misinterpret public opinion and the
demands of the situation, and plunge the
country into international complications
of the most embarrassing nature.
President Cleveland's error Of statement
ought to be corrected, but it should be
done in diplomatic though courageous
manner. The United States can not afford
to indulge in a clustering pronuncamento
that will array against US united Eu-
rope. Neither can we with profit make
such declaration as shall encourage the
republics of South and Central America
to presume upon our protection for the
purpose of making license out of liberty.
in dealing with foreign powers, and thus
keep us perpetually embroed.
1t can be seen, therefore, that the re-
statement of the Monroe Doctrine is a
serious step, especially at this time when
we are seeking to effect peaceable set
Element of the Venezuelan boundary dis
pute with Great Britain. Two courses
are open to Congress in dealing with
this question. One extreme is represented
by Senators Lodge. Davis and Cullom
who insist that the doctrine to be adopted
by Congress as a formulation Of the Mon
roe declaration should forbid any Euro
pean power to acquire territory in the
Western Hemisphere In any manner what
ever. They insist that the declaration
should be made SO broad and sweeping
that John Bull shall know that we are in
earnest.
On tho other hand Speaker Reed and
Chairman Hit OF the House foreign COM
mittee are said to be agreed that any
such pronunciamento would at any time
be ridiculous and would now threaten
harm to the peaceful conclusion of the DIFF
ficulty which we now have on hand with
England Chairman Hit is credited with
holding to the Calhoun view that the
wisest thing to do Is to leave the Monroe
measure. a traditional rule, and then deal
with each case arising under It according
to the circumstances and merits of the
case in hand.
The adoption of the Davis resolution
dealing with the Monroe Doctrine would
be well nigh equivalent to the establish
mont of a protectorate over all the ter
rltory on this continent including that OF
Great Britannia step which we cannot af-
ford to take. The nations of Europe now
have a fairly adequate idea of Uncle Sans
attitude regarding the acquiring of new
territory on the American continent by
them, and Congress should confne itself
to the case in hand rather than invite
fresh complications by adopting a resou-
ton 80 sweeping as to involve all possible
international troubles that may hereafter
involve any portion of the American con-
| tinent.