Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-01-03
THE WAY AN ENGLIsHMAN SEES IT
He Claims That Great Britain Has M,
Attempted Encroachment.

He Claims That Great Britain Has Nj
Attempted Encroachment.
From the English point of view Great
Britain has never attempted to encroach
upon venezuela, says H. Somers Somer-
set in the Nineteenth Century. II she
has done so, when the demands of Vene-
zuela become reasonable enough to al
low OF a boundary commission, she will
withdraw. But until such time arrives
1t may be granted that we have not en-
croached. Senator Lodge, however. has
told America that "the supremacy of
the Monroe doctrine should be estab-
lished at once, peaceably if we can, for
chilly II we must" If it were generally
accepted that we had set the pet idea
OF American diplomacy at defiance, this
utterance would have been warrant
able; but even these stirring words are
as nothing when compared with the out
cry of the copy hunting sec
ton of the press. 1t is not only against
Great Britain, in the Venezuelan COM
plication, that these threatenings, have
been poured forth. Every European ma
ton has had it's equal share of abuse,
and the press has done all that so DOW
erful a force can do to rouse the hatred
or the American citizen against the old
er countries of the world. 1t is this anti
European attitude Of the lingo party
in the United States that makes the dis
pute with Venezuela more than a mere
question of boundary, and we are con-
fronted by the far larger question of the
responsibility Of the United States in re-
gard to the future of the whole of the
South American continent
The question of the Venezuela boun-
dairy Is only important to the world in
so far as it's points out, and will in the
future show more clearly still, what is
and what will be the attitude of the
United States in regard to these corrupt
sister republics. Now that all thought of
European conquest (or at least an Eng
fish conquesD of the southern continent
has passed away, the United States has
not the right to throw upon the world
these children whom she has in a meas
ure reared up. The strength Of Ameri-
can influence in these southern states
is more real than apparent The state
OF south and Central America is a dis
grace to civilization. There we have
some of the richest and, agriculturally,
most valuable lands on the face of the
globe, only waiting to be developed for
the good of mankind till such time as
their government be stable enough to
allow capitalists to invest without dan
ger of losing all through the play of the
party differences of an unsettled coun-
try. Even as it Is, Europe and Ameri-
can money has poured into investments
in these regions. Maritime Europe has
taken possession of their import mark
cts; England, Germany, and France
have opened rapid steamship communi-
cation with their coasts. The trading
instincts of the Old World have led them
to study the requirements of the coun-
try. The superiority Of English pack
ing and shipment and the regular and
punctual attendance to orders have
vastly increased British trade; whilst
the slipshod and grinding habit of the
American trader, combined with the alb
sence of American shipping, has done
much to destroy the southern commerce
of that country.
Commercially, then, as distinct from
politically, the European interests pre-
dominate. Someone must guard this
great mass Of capital from the childish
tricks of irresponsible revolutionists. In
her speeches and actions the United
States shows an inclination to protect
these countries; but she must do more
than this-she must protect herself and
Europe from their corrupt practices
She must give us her ideal of a new
world Of friendly commemorative,
united in the cause Of liberty, and ready
to protect one another from the sup
posed assaults Of the degenerate mon
archial countries of Europe. For prac-
tice has shown that the reality has made
her directly responsible for the greatest
and most unjust tyrannies on earth.