Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1903-04-08

| trlne. This speech had been heraldeC
 as one of the most important which h.
 would deliver on his western tou
 and the public was anxious to hea
 it. While the seating capacity of tn
 immense hall is only 5000 it was esti
 mated that fully 6OOO people wer
 crowded into it while as many nor
 applied were unable to gain admis
 sion. The presidents speech was a
 follows:
 MT. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle
 men:
 Today 1 wish to speak to you, no
 merely about the Monroe Doctrine
 but about our entire position in tn,
 western Hemisphere-a position st
 peculiar and predominant that out O.
 it has grown the acceptance of th'
 Monroe Doctrine as a cardinal featur,
 of our foreign policy; and in partic
 ular wish to point out what has bee1
 done during the lifetime of the las
 congress to make good our position
 in accordance with this historic pol
 icy.
 Ever since the time when we defini
 tely extended our boundaries west
 ward to the Pacific and southward tC
 the Gulf, since the time when the olG Spanish and Portuguese colonies tC
 the south of us asserted their indep
 endence, our nation has insisted that
 because of its primacy in strength among the nations of the Western
 Hemisphere it has certain duties and
 responsibilities which oblige it to take leading part thereon. We hold that
 our interests in this hemisphere are greater than those of any European
 power possibly can be. and that Oul duty to ourselves and to the weaker republics who are our neighbors re. quires us to see that none of the great military powers from across the seas shall encroach upon the territory of the American republics or acquire control thereover.
 This policy, therefore, not only for bids us to acquiesce in such territo- rial acquisition, but also causes us to object to the requirement of control which would in its effect be equal to territorial aggrandizement. This is why the United States has steadily be- lieved that the construction of the great IsthmIan canal. the building of which is to stand as the esrcst ma terial feat of the twentieth century greater than any similar feat in any preceding century-should be done by no foreign nation but by ourselves. The canal must of necessity go through the territory of one of our smaller sister republics. We have been scrupulously careful to abstain from perpetrating any wrong upon any of these republics in this matter We do not wish to interfere with their rights in the least; but, while care fully safeguarding them, to build the canal ourselves under provisions which will enable us, if necessary, to police and protect it, and to guaran- tee its neutrality, we being the sole guarantor. Our intention was stead fast; We desired action taken so that the canal could always be used by us in time of peace and war alike, and in time of war could never be used to our detriment by any nation which was hostile to us. Such action, by the circumstances sur rounding it, was necessarily for the benefit and not the detriment of the adjacent American republics.
 After considerably more than half of century these objects have been exactly fulfilled by the legislation and treaties of the last two years. Two years ago we were no further ad- vanced toward the construction of the lsthmian canal on our terms than we had been during the preceding eighty years. By the Hay -Pauncefote treaty, ratified in December, 1901, an old treaty with Great Britain, which had been held to stand in the way, was abrogated and it was agreed that the canal should be constructed under the auspices of the government of the United States, and that this govern ment should have the exclusive right to regulate and manage it, becoming the sole guarantor of its neutrality.
 It was expressly stipulated, further more, that this guaranty of neutrality should not prevent the United States from taking any measures which It found necessary in order to secure by it's own forces the defense of the United States and the maintenance of public order. Immediately following this treaty congress passed law un- Ter which the president was authoriz- ed to endeavor to secure treaty for the right to finish the con- 3truction of, and to operate, the Pan ana canal, which had already been begun in the territory of Columbia by | l French company. The rights of this company were accordingly obtained | md treaty negotiated with the Re public of Columbia. This treaty has ust been ratified by the senate. It i 'eserves all of Columbia's rights, while guaranteeing all of our own and hose of neutral nations, and specific lily permits us to take any and all measures for the deefense of the canal md for the preservation of our inter- sts, whenever in our judgment an ex gency may arise which calls for ac- ion on our part. In other words, hese two treaties, and the legislation O carry them out, have resulted in UT obtaining on exactly the terms le desired the rights and privileges mich we had so long sought in vain. 'hese treaties are among the most inn ortant that we have ever negotiated n their effects upon the future welfare this country, and mark a memor- ble triumph of America diplomacy | ne of those fortunate triumphs, more yer, which rebounds to the benefit of he eUtire world. About the same time trouble arose ( ! connection with the Republic of | enezueIa because of certain wrongs { Ileged to have been committed, and ebts overdue, by this republic to cit { .ens of various foreign powers, mo- i