The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-03-10
u. S. MAY INTERVENE.
San Domingo's Condition May Force
Uncle Sam to Take a
Hand,

Hand.
Washington, March 7.-Interventiol
in San Domingo is likely to be the next
thing to engage the active attentioh
of the administration. Reports from
the island seem to agree that Things
| are going from bad to worse, ana some
| Of the foreign governments already
| have begun to press TOR u Setliei!ielt
| of the existing outrageous conulIlons'
| The United States has less at stake III
| the island than some other nations so
far as actual investment or capital is
! concerned.
The island, however, is close to this
country and the Monroe doctrine re-
ouires the United States to take some
| action. Under that doctrine Lorelsn
countries are absolutely prohibited
from establishing even a protectorate
over any American country. Nothing
hnt a protectorate. it is feared, Will
nut an end to the present shocking
| condition of affairs in San Domingo.
There is every reason to believe, ac-,
cording to the information received,
| here, both officially and unofficiallyJ
that the rebels in the island have
adopted a definite plan of operations
| for the express purpose of nagSing the
| United States into interference. AT the
same time both the rebels and the gov
eminent forces nave been acting In
such a way as to force the United
States in the interest of good order to
land marines and enforce peace.
France, Germany and England have
Informally notified the state department
that they expect this country to RET
store order in the republic OF San Doc
mingo, Or to permit them to do SO,
This latter condition. of course, coulj
not be accepted by President Roosevelt
80. -, @p Nc, as ,te,, , ,,] rtn,, al i
ready sire being taken, it Is believed. To
make a show OF force in the island
within a comparatively short time, thu
result of which, it is feared, viii be d
provisional government, which neCeS-
sarily will be under the protection o!
the United States, and which. of course,
will be independent both of the present
government and of the rebels undel
General Jiminez.
There is a strong sentiment in San
Domingo favorable to annexation to thd
United States. The people there hava
not changed their views materially
since 1871, when they voted almost
unanimously to accept annexation to
the United States. This public senti-
ment in the San Domingo half of tha
island was what induced commission
ers appointed by President Grant to
present a report to congress in favor %
taking the republic into the United
States as q territory.
The people Of San Domingo have
been a restless lot for a couple of hun
dred years. Their half of the island
was ceded to France in 1897, and the
Spaniards had lost the entire island by
1901. Six years later the Spaniards re-
established themselves IN control &C
San Domingo, but in 1921 the people
declared their independence. Only q
year later the San Domingo half OF the
~ - =, Nv Il "a VI and 1a O
manned a part of the black republic
until 1874, when the republic of San
Domingo renewed It's independence.
Just at the outbreak Of our own civil
| war when affairs here were much too SCI
rious to permit any attention being paid
to the West Indies, the Spanish govern
ment succeeded in re-establishing its be-
lated sovereignty over San Domingo. This
was done by consent of the people, who
never had succeeded in governing them7
selves and probably never will succeed.
AS soon as the American civil war was
over Spain made haste to get out OF tho
island and the republic of San Domingo
renewed it's separate existence.
one Of the greatest difficulties in the
way of re-establish.ng order by means
of Il protectorate on the part of tho
United States Is the fact thai half Of the
island belongs to the republic Of Hayti.
The black people there are intensely jeal-
GUS OIL any lOTelSn interference, anu al
ready have intlmated to this country they
necessarily wou.4 view with suspicion any
landing of United States troops anywhere
on the island on the theory that ultlmate7
ly the sovereignty of the United States
surely would be extended to cover their
own country.
There Is a feeling at the state depart7
ment that something is likely to break
loose in San Domingo within a short
time. 1t Is an open secret that ships and
marines have been so disposed that they
can be concentrated at San Domingo on
short notice. One outrage has succeeded
another, and the patience of President
Roosevelt and the members of his cabinet
is likely to become exhausted almost any
time. The Panama treaty is now safely
ratified. Conditions on the isthmus seem
to indicate Colombia will remain quiet,
at least for the present, in hope of secur-
ing monetary compensation later on.
From this time on, therefore, the close
attention Of the United States government
can readily be given to San Domingo, and
on the recurrence of any serious outrages
radical action by the president may be
looked for.
No one here wants the island of San Do
mingo on any terms, but the success of In
tervention in Cuba has led some people
to believe that If the United States,
through the Plat amendment, can guar
dlilce tHe BOOd OIdsI aHG the payment OIL
financial obligations of the great island
Of Cuba, 1t ought to be able to do the
anne thing III the half island of Hayti,
or San Domingo, as 1t Is called indiffer-
emily.
Inasmuch As the people Of the Dominican
republic repeatedly ave declared them
selves in favor of annexation to the
United States, and as their political al
~legiance always has rested lightly on
their shoulders, 1t is believed they would
more than likely welcome a protectorate,
even Of SO mild a character as that which
the United States has successfully estab-
lished In Cuba.