The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-24

The policy advocated of building
up the navy Of the United States
to an actual equality with those of
the European powers, whose jealousy
obliges them to maintain immense es-
adjustments, has been knocked on
the head by a series Of unanSWerable
facts. The latest of these is the init
nation understood to have been re-
ceived from all the governments OF
Europe, except Austria that interfer-
ence by the United States in behalf of
Cuba would not be resented by them.
1t has been claimed by those who favor
prOdigal expenditures that this coun-
of attack by nations differing from us
in policy, jealous of our growth and
grandeur, and anxious to give a set
back whenever opportunity offered to
the extension Of republican principles.
We have had within the short pc
Rod of two years, at least three sep
,
the United States would have met the
armed opposition of one of the great
powers, or of all of them combined.
The first was the Venezuela difficulty.
Mr. Cleveland and Mr. Olney, in that
case, reasserted and extended the Mon
roe doctrine in form most offensive to
England in particular, and to all other
nations that might find their interests
similarly involved in the future. We
said that the United States would in
terfere in a dispute over territorial
boundaries between Great Britain and
Venezuela, and would guarantee the
integrity of the latter state. If ever we
were to be attacked by England it
would have been upon this issue. In
stead of that, regardless of the relative
strength of the two navies, the British
cabinet submitted the whole question
ted our new and positive Interpretation
of the Monroe doctrine. 1t was not
our navy that did that. it was the
knowledge of our immense resources
and the deliberate determination,
which Great Britain shared with all
the rest OF the world, not to get into a
quarrel with the United States unless
forced to by unjust aggression on our
part.
The next case in point is that of Ha-
wall. The administration has express
ed in plainest terms it's purpose, not
merely to prevent any other country
from obtaining an ascendancy in Ha-
country, if possible. We were told that
neither Great Britain nor Japan would
permit this, and have had all the hor-
rors of battle held up to us as a con-
sequence. Again our naval strength
did not come into consideration. The
fact that the United States exercises
a virtual protectorate over the Sand
witch islands is admitted by every gov
eminent, and there will be no attempt
to dispute with us the execution of any
policy that we may see fit to declare.
The last case is the strongest of the
three In taking a position in behalf
of Cuba we go a step further than we
have ever gone before. Venezuela is
an independent state, and Hawaii has
been, nominally, the same since the
Dole revolution. Cuba is and has al
ways been a dependency of Spain. For
the United States to say that this
province, which has been in rebellion
against the sovereignty of the mother
country, must be allowed its independ-
ence is, although a just and a
necessary act, such an intervention in
the affairs of European state as
might be expected to provoke resent
ment and reprisal. On the contrary,
we find that Spain, if she attempts to
antagonize US, will stand alone in Eu-
rope No more complete demonstra-
ton could be desired Of the indisposi-
ton of any European state to put a
finger in our pie, or even to protest
when we adopt a new and more vigor-
Gus policy as long as that policy is
confined to the Western hemisphere.