The age-herald., 1901-12-04

exploitation. But the vast natural wealth of the islands must be developed, and the capital willing to develop it must be given the opportunity. The field must be thrown open to individual enterprise, which has been the real factor in the de- velopment of every region over which our flag has flown. It is urgently necessary to enact suitable laws dealing with gen eral transportation, mining. banking currency, homesteads, and the use and ownership of the lands and timber. These laws will give free play to industrial en- terprise; and the commercial develop ment which will surely follow will afford to the people of the islands the best proofs of the sincerity of our desire to aid them. .a
 call your attention most earnestly to. the crying need of cable to Hawaii and the Philippines, to be continued from the Philippines to points in Asia We should not defer day. longer than nec- essary the construction of such a cable It is demanded not merely for comm ercial but for political and military considera- tions.
 Either the Congress should immediate ly provide for the construction of a gov ernment cable, or else an arrangement should be made by which like advantages to those accruing from a government cable may be secured to the government by contract with a private cable com pany.
 An lsthmlan Canal. tt
 No single great material work which re- mains to be undertaken on this continent is of such consequence to the American people as the building of a canal across the isthmus connecting North and South America. Its importance to the nation is by no means limited merely to it's ma terial effects upon our business prosperi- ty; and yet with view to these effects alone 1t would be to the last degree i'm portant for us immediately to begin 1t. While its beneficial effects would perhaps be most marked upon the Pacific Coast and the Gulf and South Atlantic States, it would also greatly benefit other sec tions. It is emphatically a work which it is for the interest of the entire country to begin and complete as soon as possi- ble; it is one of those great works which. only a great nation can undertake with prospects of success. and which when done are not only permanent assets in the nations material interests, but standing monuments to its constructive ability
 l 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 mu- tual 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 guaran- tees 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 maintenance of a necessarily Ameri- can ship canal, is abrogated It specif- cally provides that the United States alone shall do the work. of building and assume the responsibility or safeguarding the canal and shall regulate its neutral use by all nations on terms of equality without the guaranty or interference of any outside nation from any quarter. The signed treaty will at once be laid before the Senate, and if approved the Congress can then proceed to give effect to the advantages it secures us by providing for the building of the canal
 The Monroe Doctrine.
 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
  quent. Wars with barbarous or semi- barbarous peoples comes in an entirely different category. being merely a most regretable 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 it; but more and more the civilized peoples are realizing the wicked folly of war and are attaining that condition of just and intelligent regard for the rights of others which will in the end, as we hope and believe, make worldwide peace possible The peace conference at The Hague gave definite expression to this hope and belief and marked stride toward their attain ment.
 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 cardinal feature of the foreign policy of all the nations of the two Americas, as it Is of the United States. Just seventy eight years have passed since President Monroe in his annual message an- nounced that the American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power" Tn other words, the Monroe doctrine is declaration that there must be no territorial aggrandizement by any non-American power at the expense of any American power on American soil It is in no wise intended to give cover to any aggression by one New World power at the expense of any other. It is sim ply step, and long step toward as- suring 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 perm anence and inde- pendence of the smaller states of Europe. Through the Monroe doctrine we hope to be able to safeguard like independence and secure like permanence for the lesser among the New World nations.
 This doctrine has no hing to do with the commercial relations of any American power, save that it in truth allows each of them to form such as 1t desires. In other words, 1t is really a guaranty of the commercial Independence of the Americas. We do not ask under this doc Urine for any exclusive commercial deal ings with any other American state. We do not guarantee any state against pun ishment if 1t msconducts itself, provided that punishment does not take the form of the acquisition of territory by any non-American power.
 Our attitude in Cuba is sufficient guaranty of our own good faith. We have not the slightest desire to secure any territory at the expense of any of our neighbors. Wo wish to work with them hand in hand, so that all of us may be upliftcd together. and we rejoice over the good fortune of any of them. we gladly hail their material prosperity and political stability, and are concerned and ,1o ,,o1 <@f Col s,,tz