The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-07-28
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.
Imperialism and Miliiarism Twin Brothers
In opon Conflict With the Monroe Doc
irine--The Felicity of Insular Situation
Washngion's Solemn Warning.



Special Correspondence of the Advocate
wAsaINUroN Jniy &c. la1
Ihe Nebraska orator who nominated sir Bryan
at kansas city promised his speech with the follow
ing catchy phrase: The United States is bnun,ied
oil tie north by the Constitution onthe east by the
Monroe Doctrine, on the south by the Declaration
oil Independence, and OH the west by the Ten Com.
mandments." The phrase would have gained preg-
nancy of meaning at the xpense of euphony of ex
preston If it had said THE United States is bounded
on the north, south, east and west by that imper-
ishable monument of our national policy. the Mon
roe Doctrine, which monument is based on q great
foundation stone in which the Ten Command
ments, the Declaration of Independence aud the
Constitution are firmly blended together
The Monroe Doctrine, in Its essence and in the
full scope of its meaning may be truthfully said to
be the Corner stone of republican government
upon which rests for its chief and only permanent
support.
Having promised this much, let us inquire what
is the essence of the Monroe Doctrine2 II is not
the mere defamation by President Monroe that the
extension of Mcimrchs rule on this continent
would be deemed in conflict with our national
y iicy. The principle thus declared only
cor'til'ry ar Iraeiici application Of the great doc
trihe watch iii. fathers ut Que constitution had
writie ali ihr ugh IT. lii white IL ct.iI rct-l The
maine "f Mr NJ nroc with the oa.Is = i,d iormi
previous rtsai.I, in the H,ii a,idI,ss Nash
iiistn and ~ the wrinSpf oiiier itners uf ,i,s
| Republic.
| The essence of the Monroe Uoctrine is what Lord
Macauey calls the singular felicity of i,lsuiar sit
uation." II lakes COUNSEL from the hlupr, OF all
previous attempts at free popular government, and
aims To preserve the is1Iat OF American Re-
public from increased contact with inoiiarchial
| governments. and thereby avoid the necessity of
| large Standing arnies--those dr., AIDED incubuses
which have always worked the ownflll of popular
| liberty.
That accomplished statesman ii istorian, Lord
Mscauley, in his luminous history of England, has
this to say regarding the effect of standing armies
| OH popular liberty:
'Ifany state forms great regular army, The Dor
| dering states must initiate the example or must
submit to foreign yoke. But where n regular
army exists, limited monarchy, such It was in
the middle ages, can exist no longer The sovereign
| is at once emancipated from what had been the
| chief restraint on his power and he invariably be
comes absolute unless he is subjected to checks such
as would be superhuOus in society where all are
soldiers occasionally and none permanently"
| Lord Macauley then goes on show that the
Magma Charter and other fragmentary concessions
of popular liberty extortei by the English people
from time to lime from their unwilling sovereigns
which. taken together. go TO make up what is
called the English constitution, were only made
possible by the fact that the mitry of the ma
| ton during those ages consisted chiefly of the
militia. and not of a standing army "Ths singular
felicity. he says. 'she owed chiefly to her insu lar
situation which dispensed with the necessity OF
large Standing armies"
II was in holy horror of militarism and largo
standing armies that our scheme of free government
was conceived, and its constitution written by the
fathers of the Republic. THAT well regulated
tot la
| government" and 'that large standing armies are
dangerous To liberty and ought not To be raised -
| are expressions which found in the constitu-
tons OF nearly all the original thirteen States and
are in effect written in the Federal Constitution
The fundamental principle of our national policy
therefore, is to maintain the felicity of our iso-
lated situation on continent separated from
monarchal influences by restraining the ex tension
of monarchial rule to shores, and thereby to
dispense with the necessity of large standing
armies: and This is the essence of what is known MS
the Monroe Doctrine.
George Washington is his famous farewell adj
dress, which the Senate of the United States com
memories by having read annually on Washing
CONS birthday from the Vice-Presidents desk by
one of its most distinguished members, only once
lays aside the attitude of a calm counselor and as
sumes that of urgent entreaty, and that is here
he touches upon the "insidious wies of foreign
influence" in the following paragraph:
Against the insidious wies of foreign influence
Il conjure you to believe me. fellow citiZens) the
jealousy of free people ought to be constantly
awake; since history and experience prove that
foreign influence is of the most baneful foes of
Republican government. Europe has
II set of primary interests which to us have none,
or a very remote relation. Hence she must be en-
gagged in frequent controversies the of which
essentially foreign to concerns Hence
therefore, it must be unwise in to impicate our
selves by artificial ties in the ordinary vcissitudes
of her politics the ordinary combinations and
collisions of her friendship or enmity. Our de-
tIched and distant stua invites and enables us
TO pur- ne a different course"
The messages of the Presidents the debates in the
early Congresses, and the tenor of all the early
state papers alike in the expression of one
paramount idea-that large standing armies are
dangerous to popular liberty, burdensome to the
people, and antagonistic to our theory of govern
ment; and that the preservation of the geographic
isolation of position by avoiding foreign entan
clements and the further extension of monarchy ON
our continent is a matter of selfpreser yation-a
first law of our political nature.
Thus are Imperialism aud Miliarism shown to be
twin brothers the one the necessary coueamtant
of the other-and both alike Numerically opposed
to our political traditions and constitution.
Those who advocate this great departure from
well defined policy of the past, will find, as the
campaign progresses, that they have undertaken
large contract. AS the people gradually understand
the real magnitude of the so called Expansion
policy, such arising of the masses, and such
tidal wave of patriotic fervor will pass the
country as has not been experienced in a third of
century. vERITAs