The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-08-03
(From oau- Sp>cial Correpondent)
National Capital Letter.
IMPERIALISM & MILITARISM TWIN BROTH
ERS--IN OPEN CONFLICT WITH THE
MONROE DOCTRINE-THE FELIC-
ITY OF INSULAR SITUA-
TION-WASHINGTONS S
SOLEMN WARNING.

mated Mr.. Bryan at Kansas city COM
menced his speech with the following
catchy sentence: "The United States
is bounded on the north by the Consti-
tuition on the cast by the Monroe
Doctrine on the south by the Declar
alton of Independence, and on the
west by the ten commandments" The
sentence would have gained pregnancy
of meaning, at the expense Of euphony
of expression, if it had said: "The
United States is bonded on the north,
south, east and west by that impersh-
able monument of our national policy
the Monroe Doctrine, which monu
ment is based on a great foundation
stone in which the Ten Command
ments, the Declaration of Indepen-
dence and 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 corn
er stone of our republican government
upon which it rests for its chief and
only permanent support.
Having promised this much, let us
inquire what is the essence of the Mon
roe Doctrine? 1t is not the mere de-
claration by President Monroe that
the extension of Monarchial rule on
this continent would be deemed in con-
hict with our national policy. The
principle thus declared was only
corrollary or practical application OF
the great doctrine which the fathers
oi our Constitution had written all
through it; and, while it connected the
name of Mr.. Monroe with the doctrine,
had found previous expression in the
farewell address of Washington and in
the writings OF other fathers of the Re-
public.
The essence of the Monroe Doctrine
is what Lord Macauley calls the "sin-
gular felicity of insular situation. 1t
takes counsel from the history of all
previous attempts at free popular gov
ernment, and aims to preserve the iso-
lation of our American Republic from
increased contact with monarchial
government, and thereby avoid the ne
ccssity of large standing armies-those
dreaded incli,i>,.> which have always
worked the downfall of popular liberty.
That accomplished statcsman-hi -histo
rian, Lord Macauley, in his luminous
history of England, has this to say re-
yarding the effect of standing armies
on popular liberty:
"If any state forms great regular
army, the bordering states must imi-
tate the example, or must submit to
foreign yoke. But where a regular
army exists, limited monarchy, such
as it was in the middle ages, can ex-
ist no longer. The sovereign is at
once emancipated from what had been
the chief restraint on his power, and
he invar, .oly becomes absolute, unless
he is subjected to checks such as
would be superfous in a society where
all are soldiers occasionally and none
permanently"
Lord Macauey then goes on to show
that the magma charta and other frag
mentary concessions of popular liberty
extortc,l hy the English people from
time to tim, from their unwilling SOW
ereigns, which, taken together, go to
make up what is called the "English
constitution, were only made possible
by the fact that the military arm Of
the nation during those ages consisted
chiefly of the militia, and not of a
standing army. This singular felici-
tyn he says, .'she owed chiefly to her
insuar situation, whic! dispensed with
the necessity large standing armies. J"
Itwas in holy horror of militarism
and large standing armies that our
scheme OF free government was con-
ceired, and its constitution written by
the fathers of the Republic. That a
well regulated militia is the proper
and natural defence of a free govern
mcnt," and, "That large standing ar
mics are dangerous to liberty and
ought not to be raised, are express
sions which ar. found in the constitu-
tions 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 main
tain the Felicity of our isolated stu
alton on continent separated from
monarchial influences, by restraining
the extension of monarchial rule to
our shores, and thereby to dispense
with the necessity of large standing
armies; and this IS the essence of what
is known as the Monroe Doctrine"
George Washington, in his famous
farewell address, which the SeEate of
the United States commentaries by
having read annually on Washington's