The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-12-04
LING WITH THE ISSUES OF
ATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

| and vet with view to these effects alone 1t
| would be to the last degree important for
\ US Immediately to begin 1t. While its ben
eficial effects would perhaps be most
marked upon the Pacific coast and the
| gulf and south Atlantic states, 1t would
also greatly benefit other sections. 1t is
| emphatically a work which it is for the
| interest of the entire country to begin and
| complete as soon as possible; 1t is one OF
J those great works which only great ma
! ton can undertake with prospects of sue
| cess and which when done are not only
| permanent assets in the nations material
| interests, but standing monuments to its
| constructive ability.
am glad to be able to announce to you
! that our negotiations on this subject with
| Great Britain, conducted on both sides in
| a spirit of friendliness and mutual good
will and respect have resulted in my
| being able to lay before the senate a
| treaty which if ratified will enable us to
begin preparations for an isthmian canal
| at any time and which guarantees to this
nation every right that it has ever asked
| In connection with the canal. In this
| treaty the old Clayton-Bulwer treaty, so
| long recognized as inadequate to supply
| the base for the construction and mainte-
| nance Of q necessarily American snip ca
nal. is abrogated. 1t specifically provides
| that the United States alone shall do the
/
| sibility of safeguarding the canal and
shall regulate its neutral use by all ma
| tions on terms Of equality without the
| guarantee or Interference Of any outside
1 nation from any quarter. The signed
| treaty will at once be laid before the SEN
ate, and if approved the congress can then
| proceed to give effect to the advantages II
secures US by providing for the building OF
the canal.
The true end Of every great and free
| people should be self respecting peace.
and this nation most earnestly desires
| sincere and cordial friendship with all
| others Over the entire world of recent
years wars between the great civilized
| powers have become less and less ire
| ouent. Wars with barbarous or semibar-
| barous peoples come in an entirely differ
ent category, being merely a most regret
table but necessary international police
duty which must be performed for the
sake of the welfare Of mankind Peace
| can only be kept with certainty where
| both sides wish to keep 1t, but more and
more the civilized peoples are realizing
the wicked folly Of war and are attaining
that condition of just and intelligent re-
gard for the rights of others which will in
the end, as we hope and believe, maize
worldwide peace possible. The peace con-
ference at The Hague gave definite ex-
nression to this hope and belief and mark
ed a stride toward their attainment
The Monroe Doctrine.
This same peace conference acquiesced
In our statement of the Monroe doctrine
as compatible with the purposes and aims
of the conference.
The Monroe doctrine should be the car
dinal feature of the foreign policy or all
the nations Of the two Americas as II Is o.
the United States. Just seventy-elght
years have passed since President Mon
roe in his annual message announced that
1.-The American continents are henceforth
NOT +o he considered as subjects for future
colonization by any European power In
other words, the Monroe doctrine is a oec-
laration that there must be no territorial
ACKNOWLEDGMENT by any non-Anerican
mower at the expense of any American
mower on American soil. 1t is in nowlse
intended as hostile to any nation in the
old world. Still less is it intended to give
cover to any aggression by one new worio
power at the expense of any other' II Is
simply a STEP and long step, toward as
surfing the universal peace of the world by
securing the possibility OF permanent
peace on this hemisphere.
During the past century other influences
have established the permanence ana IN
dependence of the smaller states Oh Gu-
rope Through the Monroe doctrine we
hope to be able to safeguard like lnde-
| npn6enCe @N@
the lesser among the new world nations.
This doctrine has nothing to do with the
! commercial relations of any American
nower save that 1t in truth allows each OF
them to form such as it desires. In other
words, It is really guarantee or the COM
mercial independence Of the Americas
We do not ask under this doctrine for any
exclusive commercial dealings with any
other American state. We do not guaran-
tee any state against punishment II II
uoisconducts itself provided that punish
rnent does not take the form of the acqui-
sition of territory by any non-American
power.
our attitude in Cuba is a sufficient guar
antee of our own good faith. We have
not the slightest desire to secure any ter
ritory at the expense of any of our neigh
hors We wish to work with them hand
in hand, so that all of US may be uplifted
together, and we rejoice over the good
fortune of any Of them, we gladly hail
their material prosperity and political sta
bility and are concerned and alarmed II
any of them fall into industrial or political
chaos. We do not wish to see any old
world military power grow up on this
continent or to be compelled to become a
military power ourselves. The peoples or
the Americas can prosper best If left to
work out their own salvation in their own
way.
The Navy.
The work OF upbulding the navy must
he steadily continued. No one point Of
our policy, foreign or domestic. is more
fmportant than this to the honor and ma
terial welfare and, above all, to the peace
of our nation in the future. Whether We
desire it or not we must henceforth recog-
nize that we have international duties no
less than international rights. Even If
our flag were hauled down in the Philip
mines and Porto Rico, even II we decided
not to build the isthmian canal, we should
need a thoroughly trained navy OF ade-
ouate size or else be prepared definitely
and for all time to abandon the idea that
our nation is among those whose sons go
down to the sea in ships. Unless our COM
rnerce is always to be carried in foreign
bottoms we must have war craft to pro-
tect it.
Inasnuch, however, as the American
people have no thought of abandoning the
path upon which they have entered, and
especially in view Of the fact that the
building of the isthmian canal Is fast
becoming one of the matters which the
whole people are united in demanding, 1t
is imperative that our navy should be put
and kept in the highest state of efficiency
and should be made to answer to our
growing needs. So far from being In any
way a provocation to war. an adequate
and highly trained navy is the best
guarantee against war. the cheapest and
most effective peace insurance. The cost
of building and maintaining such navy
represents the very lightest premium for
insuring peace which this nation can pos
sibly pay.
Probably no other great nation In the
world is so anxious for peace as we are
There is not a single civilized power
which has anything whatever to fear
from aggressiveness on our part All we
want is peace. and toward this end we
wish to be able to secure the same re-