New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-25

much in the line OF historical Development that
it may be deemed. II not certain. YET at any
rate highly probable A canal constructed and
policed by the United States Government win,
OF course. draw considerable number OF Amer
lean officials 10 settle al its two ends and along
its banks The vast trade which viii pass
through il will lead 10 the growth OF towns. and
the upper class OF the population in those towns
will come from the United States The line OF
the canal viii before long be practically a de-
tached part Of the United States territory. and
from it various commercial and Industrial en-
terprises Will tend 70 spread into the adjoining
districts. The United States will therefore have
material and political interests 10 care for and
20 protect in a region which has hitherto re-
manned undeveloped. despite great natural re-
sources. because il has been in the hands o. a
backward and sluggish population. very ts-
noranr. very superstittOus, and apparently in
capable OF developing free and progressive fnsti-
tutlons Nornlnally republics. these Central
American States. like most OF the South Anerf-
can states, have been for the last half century
mere HlLlary tyrannles- Even without q trans
continental canal IL is likely that IN course OF
time the great civilized and progressive Power
or the North American Continent would have
acquired control over these regions because the
United States has 2 surplus OF population, which
her Western lands will not always be able 10
absorb. and is beginning 10 have a surplus OF
capital, which VIII seek fields for its employ
ment beyond the range OF It's own dominion
There was. therefore. always a probability that
through industry and commerce United States
influence would begin 20 dominate Central
NJ
Of political supremacy.
QUESTION OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE
The great obstacle 10 such development lay In
the dangers 10 the political system OF the United
States itself which the acquisition OF countries
Peopied by inferior races must involve and In
the long settled maxim which forbade the Re
public 70 embark on q policy OF conquest and
annexation. where the country 70 Dc concuered
could not be settled by her own citizens and in
1er own
member nIled oy a population Ike that which,
ms the existing States This maxim, however,
rate, CtsTegarded; witness the annexation OF
HaWau and Puerto Rico and the occupation 81
ne FAlt-ppIIe Islands not 70 speak OF Cuba.
whose future remains undetermined II may
accordingly be conjeCtured that the old priu-
elPIes which would lave deferred the United
states from acquisitions IN Central America
viii be less potent hereafter than they have
been heretofore Thus the field Is IeSr omen so-
the operation OF that general law under which
the stronger and more progressive races spread
out Of their former seats into the territories oc
cupied by the weaker and more backward races
and end by absorbing the latter OF reducing
them 70 subsection Even without the consrruc-
ton OF a transconttnental canal this might in
pen in Central America
The settlement in Central America OF in
migrants. energetic and restless people from
the United States, and the political authority
which the policing OF the canal (even assuming
that authority does not go further than poIicine0
OBVIOUSLY involves. likely 70 accelerate This
natural process. and may within few decades
bring about results which would otherwise have
come far later and il NAV be remarked rbar
the field is far clearer in America than IL was
IN Egypt where the rivalries OF the great En-
ropean Powers opposed obstacles there 70 the
predomtnance OF any single one among them
which do not exist IN Nicaragua or Costa Rica
or Colombia Had Lesseps and the French sue
ceeded IN making the Panama Canal the PROB
lem would have been less simple.
The piercing OF the continents. with The
change thereby involved IN The geographical
conditions which nature gave 70 man when he
became civilized enough 20 make ocean VOYAGES
has been usually considered from the point OF
view OF its results upon commerce Those re-
suits have been great in the case OF the Suez
Canal, and viii evidently be great in the case
OF one which Craverses the American isthrnus
They viii affect the trade Of England with her
Australian colonies. well the trade OF the
Eastern United States with the Pacific 70 an
extent IL is still hard 10 fOresee But. az n the
case OF the Suez Canal. the political consa-
quenCes may prove TO be. II not immediately
yet within the lifetime OF men now living even
more mOmentous- Nor VIII they affect Central
America only. They may spread further 70 the
South. And. should they follow the line which
has been Indicated as not improbable they VIII
AFFECT the whole policy OF the United States and
may make the Republic something very differ
ent from what its founders contemplated
JAMES BRYCE