Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1905-12-14

|
| useless war, or a war Of mere aggression
| in short, any war begun or carried on In
| constituencies spirit, is to be condemned
as a peculiarly atrocious crime against all
| humanity. We can, however, do nothing
Of permanent value for peace unless we
| keep ever clearly in mind the ethical ele-
ment which lies at the root OF the prob
| lem. Our aim is righteousness. Peace Is
| normally the handmaiden Of righteousness;
but when peace and righteousness conflict
| then great and upright people can never
| for a moment hesitate to follow the path
| which leads toward righteousness, even
though that path also leads to war There
| can be no worse foe of mankind In gen
| eral, and of his own country in particular
| than the demagogue of war, the man who
| in mere folly or to serve his own selfish
ends continually rails at and abuses other
| nations, who seeks to excite his country
| men against foreigners on insufficient pre-
| texts, who excites and infiames a peryerse
| and aggressive national vanity, and who
may on occasions wantonly bring on con-
| flict between his nation and some other ma
| ton. But there are demagogues of peace
| just as there are demagogues OF war,
and in any such movement as this
for The Hague conference 1t is es-
sential not to be misled by one set
| of extremists any more than by the other
No object is better worthy the attention
| of enlightened craftsmanship than the es-
| Establishment of a surer method than now
| exists Of securing justice as between ma
| lions, both for the protection of the little
nations and for the prevention of war be-
| tween the big nations. To this aim we
should endeavor not only to avert blood
| she'd but, above all, effectively to strength
en- the forces of right. The golden rule
| should be, and the world grows in
| morality it will be, the guiding rule of con-
| duct among nations as among individuals;
| though the golden rule must not be con-
| Strued, in fantastic manner, as forbidding
| the exercise Of the police power. This
mighty and free republic should ever deal
sTa@r
basis of high honor, respecting their rights
| as jealousy as it safeguards its own.
| ExpOunds the Monroe Doctrine.
| One of the most effective instruments for
peace is the Monroe doctrine as it has been
| and is being gradually developed by this
| nation and accepted by other nations. No
| other policy could have been as efficient in
| promoting peace in the western hemisphere
| and in giving to each nation thereon the
chance to develop along its own lines. Ii
| we had refused to apply the doctrine to
changing conditions it would now be com
pletely Outworn, would not meet any of the
| needs OF the present day, and indeed would
probably by this time have sunk into COM
plete oblivion. 1t is useful at home, and
| is meeting with recognition abroad because
| we have adapted our application of it to
| meet the growing and changing needs of
| the hemisphere That our rights and inter
ests are deeply concerned in the maintenance
| of the doctrine is so clear as hardly to need
argument This is especially true in view
of the construction of the Panama canal.
| There are certain essential points which
| must never be forgotten as regards the
| Monroe doctrine. 1t must be understood
that under no circumstances will the Uni
| ted States use the Monroe doctrine as a
cloak for territorial aggression. We desire
peace with all the world, but perhaps most
of all with the other peoples of the Ameri-
| can continent. Moreover, we must make it
| evident that we do not intend to permit the
| Monroe doctrine to be used by any nation
| on this continent as a shield to protect it
from the consequences of it's own misdeedS
against foreign nations If republic to
the south of us commits tort against a
foreign nation such as an outrage against
a citizen of that nation, then the Monroe
doctrine does not force us to interfere to
prevent punishment Of the tort, save to see
that the punishment does. not assume the
form of territorial occupation in any shape.
Urges Santo Domingo Action.
Santo Domingo, in her turn, has made
an appeal to us to help her, and not only
every principle Of wisdom but every gen
erOus instinct within US bids US respond
to the appeal. The conditions in Santo
Domingo have for number of years
grown from bad to worse until a year
ago all society was on the verge of dis
solution. Fortunately, just at this time
ruler sprang, up in santo Domingo, who,
with his colleagues, saw the dangers
threatening their country and appealed to
the friendship of the only great and power
full neighbor who possessed the power, and
I
| Accordingly the executive department of
| our government negotiated q treaty under
| which we are to try to help the Dominican
people to Straighten out their finances.
| This treaty is pending before the Senate.
| In the meantime Il temporary arrangement
has been made which will last until the
Senate has had time to take action upon the
treaty. Under this arrangement the Do
minican government has appointed Ameri-
cans to all the important positions in the
customs service, and they are seeing to the
honest collection of the revenues, turning
over 40 per cent to the government for run
ming expenses and putting the other % per
cent into a safe depOSitary for equitable
division. in case the treaty shall be ratified,
among the various creditors, whether Euro
pcan or American.
This has completely discouraged all rcvo-
lutiOnary movement, while it has already
produced such an increase in the revenues
that the government is actually getting
more from the 40 per cent that the Ameri-
can collectors turn over TO it than it got
formerly when it took the entire revenue.
Under the course taken, stability and
order and all the benefits Of peace are at
last coming to Santo Domingo, danger of
foreign intervention has been suspended.
and there is at last 4 prospect that all
creditors viii get justice, more and no
less. If the arrangement is terminated by
the failure of the treaty chaos will follow
and If chaos follows, sooner or later this
government may he involved in serious diff
fcuities with foreign govarnments over the
lSlanu. or else may ne forced itself to In
tervene in the island in some unpleasant
fashion.
Army and Navy Affairs.
We cannot consider the question of our
foreign policy without at the same time
treating of the army and the navy. We
now have a very small army-indeed, one
well-nigh infinitesimal when compared with
the army of any other large nation. OF
course the army we do have should be as
nearly perfect of its kind and for its size
as is possible. / do not believe that any
army III the world has Il better average of
enlisted men or better type of Junior Of
ticer: but the army should be trained to
act effectively in n mass. Provision should
be made by sufficient appropriations for
maneuyers of a practical kind, so that the
troops may learn how to take care of them
selves under actual service conditions
Our navy must, relatively to the navies
of other nations, always be of greater size
than our army. We have most wisely con-
tinued for a number of years to build up
our navy. and it has now reached a fairly
high standard Of efficiency. This standard
of efficiency must not only be maintained,
but increased. 1t does not seem to me
necessary. however. that the navy should
at least in the immediate future-be in
creased beyond the present number OF
units. What is now clearly necessary is to
substitute efficient for inefficient units as
the latter become worn-out or as it be-