The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-12-06

All contributions by corporations I,
any political committee or for any no
litical purpose should be forbidden b.
law, directors should not be permitted
to use stockholders money for sucl
purposes, and. moreover, a prohibition
of this kind would be, as far as II
went, an effective method Of stoppins
the evils aimed at In corrupt practice:
acts.
The Hague Conference.
The first conference Of nations held
at The Hague in 1859, being unable tc
dispose of all the business before it.
recommended the consideration and
settlement Of n number Of important
questions by another conference to be
called subsequently and at an early
date. These questions were the follow.
Ing: ~ The rights and duties Of neu.
trails; (2) the Limitation Of the armed
forces on land and sea and of military
budgets; 81 the use of new types and
calibers Of military and naval guns; "a
the i%nviolability Of private property at
sea In times Of war: % the lombard.
ment Of ports, cities and villages by ma.
val forces. In October. 1904, at the In.
stance Of the interpaHiamentary union.
I issued invitations to all the powers
signatory to The Hague convention to
send delegates to such a conference
and suggested that It be again held at
The Hague.
From all the powers acceptance was
received, coupled in some cases with
the condition that We should wait until
the end of the war then wag1ng be-
tween Russia and Japan. The emperor
Of Russia, Immediately after the treaty
Of peace which 30 happily terminated
this war, in a note presented to the
president on Sept. IS took the initiative
in recommending that the conference
be now called. The United States gov
eminent In response expressed its cor
dial acqulescence and stated that 1t
would as a matter Of course take part
In the new conference and endeavor to
further its aims. We assume that all
civilized governments will support the
movement and that the conference is
now an assured fact. This government
will do everything in its power to Sc
cure the success of the conference to
the end that substantial progress may
be made in the aus Of international
peace. Justice and good will.
Monroe Doctrine.
There are certain essential points
which must never be forgotten as re-
CARDS the Monroe doctrine. In the first
place, We must as a nation make it ev-
ident that we do not intend to treat it
In any shape or way as an excuse for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OH our part at the ex.
pense Of the republics to the south.
But we must make it evident that we
do not intend to permit the Monroe doc
trine to be used by any nation on this
as a shield to protect 1t from
the consequences of its own misdeeds
against foreign nations. The Monroe
doctrine does not force US to interfere
to prevent the punishment Of q port
to e that the punishment does
not assume the form Of territorial occu.
patton In any shape. The case is more
difficult when 1t refers to q contractual
obligation. This country would Ger
tainly decline to 60 to war to prevent a
foreign gove( nment from collecting q
just debt. On the other hand, it Is
very inadvisable to permit any foreign
power to take possession, even tempo
rarily, Of the custom houses of an
American republic In order to enforce
the payment Of its obligations, for such
temporary occupation might turn into
a permanent occupation. The only es-
cape from these alternatives may at
any time he that we must ourselves
undertake to bring about some arrange
ment by which 30 much as possible of
q just obligation shall be paid.
To do SO insures the defaulting re-
public from having to pay debts Of an
improper character under duress. while
it also insures honest creditors Of the
republic from being passed by In the
interest Of dishonest or grasping cred
itors. Moreover, for the United States
to take such a position offers the only
possible way Of insuring us against a
clash with some foreign power. The
position Is therefore in the interest Of
peace as we'll as In the interest of jus-
tice.
SantO OOmingO.
Santo Domingo has now made an up.
peal to us, and not only every principle
Of wisdom, but every generous instinct
within us, bids US respond to the ap-
peal. The conditions in Santo Domingo
have for a number Of years grown
from bad to worse until a year ago all
society was on the verge of dissolution.
Fortunately just at this time a ruler
sprang up In Santo Domingo who, with
his colleagues, saw the dangers threat
ening their country and appealed to the
friendship Of the only neighbor who
possessed the power and the will to
help them. There vas imminent dan
ger Of foreign Intervention. The pa
tience Of foreign creditors had become
exhausted, and at least two foreign ma
tions e on the point Of Intervention
and We're only prevented by the unofl-
cial assurance Of this government that
it would itself strive to help Santo
A-- T.