Arizona republican., 1905-08-12
NATIONS DUTY
The Presidents Exposition at Chautauqua Assembly
THE MONROE DOCTRINE
The Use and Abuse of That Unwrit- ten International Statute-The PO- lice Established Over South and InSular America.

Chautauqua, N. Y, Aug. 11.-'Let us give President Roosevelt the Chautau- qua salute at it's best" With these words, Bishop John R. Vincent today closed his brief introduction of the president to the Chautauqua assembly.
 Instantly ten thousand white hand kerchiefs fluttered in the air above the heads of the vast audience in the great amphitheater. It was an inspiring and beautiful sight and as President Roose- welt stepped forward smiling, the audi 1 ence rose as one person and cheeIed enthusiastically.
 In the course of his address Presi- dent Roosevelt dwelt at some length on the Monroe doctrine. He said: i "The Monroe doctrine is not a part of international law. But it is tte fundamental feature of our entire for eign policy so far as the western hem i isphere is concerned, and it has more and more been meeting with recosni- tion abroad. The reason why it is meeting with this recognition is be- cause we are not allowing it to be- come fossilized, but have adapted our l construction of it to meet the grow ! ing. changing needs of this hemis- | phere. Fossilization, of course, means death, whether to an individual, a government, or a doctrine.
 "It is out of the question to claim a right and yet shirk the responsibil- ity for exercising that right. When we announce a policy such as the Monroe doctrine we thereby commit ourselves to accepting the conse- 1 quences of the policy. and these con- sequences from time to time alter.
 Let us look for a moment at what l the Monroe doctrine really is. It for bids the territorial encroachment of non American powers on American soil. Its purpose is partly to secure this nation against seeing great mill itary powers obtain new fOOthOlds in the western hemisphere, and partly to i secure to our fellOw-Tepublics south of us the chance to develop along their l own lines without being oppressed or l conquered by non-American powers. 1 As we have grown more and more powerful our advocacy of this doc urine has been received with more and more respect; but what has tended most to give the doctrine standing among the nations is our growing will lingness to show that we not only mean what we say and are prepared to back it up, but that we mean to recognize our obligations to foreign people no less than to insist upon our own rights.
 'We can not permanently adhere to the Monroe doctrine unless we sue ceed in making it evident in the first place that We do not intend to treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggradizement on our part at the expense of the republics to the south of us; second, that we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of these republics as shield to pro- tect that republic from the consequences of it's own mis- deeds against foreign nations; third, that inasmuch as by this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of our sister republics which need such help, upward toward peace and order.
 Tn the interest of justice, it is as necessary to exercise the police power P as to show charity and helpful gen. erosity. But something can even now be done toward the end in view. That something, for instance, this nation has already done as regards Cuba, and is now trying to do as regards SantO Domingo. There are few things in our history in which we should take more genuine pride than the way in which we liberated Cuba. and then, instead of instantly abandoning it to chaos, stayed in direction of the af- fairs of the island until we had put it oh the right path, and finally gave it freedom and helped it as it started on the life of an independent republic.
 "Santo Domingo has now made an appeal to us to help 1t in turn, and not only every principle of wisdom but every generous instinct within us bids us respond to the appeal. The conditions in Santo Domingo have for a number of years grown from bad to worse until recently all society was on the verge of dissolution. Fortu- nately just at this time wise ruler sprang up in SantO Domingo, who
 with his colleagues saw the dangers threatening their beloved country, and appealed to the friendship of their great and powerful neighbor to help them. The immediate threat came to them in the shape of foreign inter- vention. The previous rulers of San to Domingo had reck1essly incurred debts, and owing to her internal disor- ders she had ceased to be able to pro- vide means of paying the debts. The
 patience of her foreign creditors had
 become exhausted, and at least one
 foreign nation was on the point ot
 intervention and was only prevented
 from intervening by the unofficial as
 surance of this government that il
 would itself strive to help Santo Do- , mingo in her hour of need. Of the debts incurred some were just, while .. some were not of a character which really renders it obligatory on. ol
 proper for. Santo Domingo to pay them in full. But she could not pay , any of them at all unless some sta
 bility was assured.
 Accordingly the executive depart. D ment of our government negotiated , treaty under which we are to try tC , help the Dominican people to straighteI , put their finances. This treaty is pend