New-York tribune., 1896-11-29
THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
ILLUSTRATING TWO EXTREMES or EMU
IJsH OPINION RESPECTING 1T AND
THE pROTECTORATE OF THE
TWO AMERICAS.

London. November 10
The Monroe Doctrine was regardeu III i'"3
,.na ,or generation as q characteristic ex-
on,r,a os Yankee braggadocio. Lord Salisbury
daat exhaustively with the subject year ago.
contending that il had no bearing upon 'ie
6;u,ana- Venezuela boundary dispute; tha'
vos not international law; that II had never
been taken I'D by the State Department III
Diplomatic negotiations. and that IL was Vi "o
practical Importance; and all these views "e'e
accepted and reaffrmed by the EhSnS" p..''
when President Clevelands message
the United Kingdom with menace Vi
Strange revolutions are made d! 'he WIFI 'e'e
NJ ,ine. The Venezuela settlement has been
followed by general recognition OF 'he es'e"''"'
fact that the Monroe Doctrine has been sa"o-
toned by Great Britain in the extreme ior"'
Of an American protectorate over <he "eS'e''
Hemisphere.
One quotation from the English press may
be cited in place Of a hundred ioeht'oa' III
meaning ."The Monroe Doctrine remarks
''The Daily Chronicle" "is now officially recos-
nized by European Power. and that Power
too. which has the largest interests on the TWO
American continents From this time forth
the Republics of South America, whether they
like it or not, are under the wing OF the Amer
Venezuela settlement as expressed by all 'he
leading London and provincial journals; ana IL
,s a logical deduction from Lord Sailsburys
own diplomatic argument. year ago he con-
tended that the boundary dispute concerned
Great Britain and Venezuela alone, ana tha'
the Monroe Doctrine had nothing 10 90 Win It,
He has now recognized the right or the Chiteo
States to intervene in this instance and 10 ar
range the conditions Of arbitration Enghsh
opnion accepts the logic Of the situation. The
management Of the foreign relations OF Nenez-
ueIa has passed into American hands Great
Britain has recognized and sanctioned the right
Of the United States Government to redress the
grievances of a Spanish American Republic.
The protectorate may be disclaimed by both
Venezuela and the United States: but in the
Judgment of the English press 1t has been ex-
ercsed under threat Of war in President Cleve-
lands message. and II cannot be restricted 70
the swamps and forests on either side OF the
schomburgk line It embraces ihe entire West
ern Hemisphere.
The English press while frankly conceding
that the Venezuela settlement is victory for
the Monroe Doctrine, warns Americans that
they have vastly increased their own burdens
and responsibilities The rest of the world
remarks THE Daily Chronicle does not fol-
low us in our recognition OF the Monroe DOC
trine and the leading French and German
journals have specifically warned the United
States that President Monroe's doctrine has
not become International law because England
has recognized it. Still we fancy that hence
forward it will be very difficult for any Power
to refuse TO do so. Therefore. the policy OF the
United States has taken a big stride ahead. for
better or for worse" The Spectator" declares
that what the Americans have done for NeneZ-
uela they will have to do for other States: they
will have 10 start with war with spain for
Cuba, and some time they will have TO fight
for South America. because the swarming mill
ions of the European Continent must settle
somewhere; and the Government at Washing
ton is the natural and legal protector OF
the two Americas far Cape Horn Quota
tiors might be multiplied but these char
acterstic expressions of English opinion re-
specting the tendencies Of the Monroe Doctrine.
which has received the sanction Of the British
Government in the Venezuela settlement
APPRECIATION OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
The contrast between the cynical indifference
formerly displayed in England to the principal
canon Of American diplomacy and the keen in
terest now shown in magnifyng the conse-
quences Of diplomatic settlement based upon
1t is so remarkable as to excite suspicion that
the other The pendulum has suddenly swung
through a long from contemptuous neglect
Of the Monroe Doctrine to exaggerated apprecia-
tion of the obligations imposed by American
protectorate The Monroe Doctrine now appeals
10 English Imagination because IL has been off,
cjally recognized by a Prime Minister 0ho de-
MED a year ago that IT had ever been accepted
by Europe as having the moral force of interna-
tional law; but 1t has been respected as an
American principle ever since II was proclaimed
over seventy years ago, and has been opera ting
silently but effectively. to prevent the over
throw of republican institutions and the estab-
ishment Of European rule and dominion In the
southern half of the American continent
The proof Of this assertion is supplied by the
maps Of the Western Hemisphere in President
Monroe's and Presiden. Cleveland's time Posi-
bly, Belize is a little larger as a Crown colony
than il was as a log cutters settlement seventy
years ago: but the Mosquito Reservation has
passed definitely under Nicaraguan control. and
all British territorial claims in Central America
have been renounced. No European Power dur
ing that period has permanently Increased its
holdings upon the Western Hemisphere Mexico
was invaded by France during the American
civil war; but was speedily evacuated as soon as
Secretary Seward was in position 70 give warn
ing that the Monroe Doctrine was In force.
Alaska has become an American possession. and
the SWAY Of the Portuguese Imperial house has
ended In Republican Brazil. During those sew
enty wears while maritime Europe has been con-
ouernC colonizng and dividing Asia. Africa and
the South Sea Islands and extending its poiti-
cal sway over vast territorial areas, II has made
no appreclable advance on the American conti-
reni Whether the Monroe Doctrine has been
International law or not it has been respected
as an American tradition. and has excluded the
Spanish American republics from territorial
raids and campaigns Of conquest which have
beer in progress throughout the world.
1t "a true that the republics Of Tropical Ameri-
in did not fnlly appreciate their obligations to