The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-12-14

ference 10 De caied subsequently and at an
early date. In October, 1904, at the in
stance of the Interparliamentary Union. I
issued Invitations to all the powers sigma
tory to The Hague convention to send dele
gates to such a conference and suggested
that 1t be again held at The Hague. From
all the covers acceptance was received.
coupled in some cases with the condition
that We should wait until the end of the
war then waging between Russia and ia
pan. The Emperor Of Russia, Immediately
after the treaty Of peace which so happily
terminated this war, In q note presented
to the President on Sept. Is, through Am
bassador Rosen, took the initiative in rec
ommendlng that the conference be now
called. The United States government In
response expressed its cordial ~acquies-
cence. We assume that all civilized govern
ments will support the movement, and
that the conference is now an assured fact.
/ This renders 1t proper at this time TO say
something as to the general attitude Of this
government toward peace. A wanton or
in short, any war begun or carried on in a
constituencies spirit, Is to be condemned
as a peculiarly atrocious crime against all
humanity. We can, however, do nothing
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 a 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 selhsh
ends continually rails at and abuses other
nations, who seeks 10 excite his country
men against foreigners on insufficient pre-
texts, who excites and in1ames a perverse
and aggressive national vanity, and who
may on occasions wantonly bring on con-
dfaf q his nrfn md cnrna fha M
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 it 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
or enlightened craftsmanship than the es-
adjustment OF q 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
shed, but. above all. effectively to strength
Ell the forces Of Eight. The golden rule
should be, and a. 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 ths police power. This
with all other States great or small. on a
basis Of high honor, respecting their rights
as jealousy as 1t safeguards its own.
Expounds the n Doctrine.
One Of the most effective instruments for
| peace Is the Monroe doctrine as 1t has been
and Is being gradually developed by this
nation and accepted by other nations. No
other policy could have been as efficient In
and I'm giving to each nation thereon the
chance to develop along its own lines. If
we had refused to apply the doctrine to
changing conditions Ii would now be COM
L DIatPlV 0nfwnrn WnuI6 n0t moot my nf fha
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 1t 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
Monroe doctrine. It must be understood
that under no circumstances will the Uni
ted States use the Monroe doctrine as q
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 1t
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 1t
from the consequences of it's own misdeeds
against foreign nations. Ii a republic to
the south OF us commits a tort against n
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 occupatiorv:1 any shape.
Urges SantO Domingo Action.
Santo Domingo, in her turn, has made
an appeal to us to help her, and not only
erous 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 a year
solution. Fortunately, just at this time
a ruler sprang up In Santo Domingo. who,
with his colleagues, saw the dangers
threatening their country and appealed to
full neighbor who possessed the power. and
as they hoped also the will to help them.
There was imminent danger of foreign In
teryention. The, previous rulers of Santo
Domingo had recklessly incurred debts, and
owing to her internal disorders she had
| ceased to be able to provide means of pay
ing the debts. TIL patience of her foreign
| creditors had become exhausted, and at
least two foreign nations were on the point
of intervention, and were only prevented
from intervening by the unofficial assurance
of this government that it would itself
| strive to help Santo Domingo In her hour
| of need. In the case of one of these
nations, only the actual opening of negotia-
| tons to this end by our government pre-
fChlCA LhC A ditp
| Domingo by a European power. OF the
debts incurred some were just, while some
were not of a character which really rem
| Domingo to pay them In full. But she
| could not pay any OF them unless some
stability was assured her government and
people.
| our government negotiated a treaty under
which we are to try to help the Dominican
people to straighten out their finances.
Il nlt x.-~x- a. .AnIfn~ hnfnrn fkA Go,ox
In the meantime a 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
m.nican 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
cent into a safe depositary for equitable
division, in case the treaty shall be ratified,
among the various creditors, whether Euro
pean or American.
This has completely discouraged all revo-
iutionary movement, while 1t has already
produced such an increase In the revenues
that the government is actually getting
more from the 45 per cent that the Amerf-
can collectors turn over to 1t than Ii got
formerly when 1t 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 a prospect that all
creditors will get Justice, no more and no
less. II the arrangement Is terminated by
the failure of the treaty chaos will follow;
and Ii chaos follows, sooner or later this
government may be involved In serious diff
heulties with FOREIGN government rna5 over the
tervene in the island In some unpleasant
fashion.
We cannot consider the question Of our
-rh~~k - xh& ~. ill.,