Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1905-12-09

any political committee or for any po-
iltieaI purpose should be forbidden by
law, directors should not be permitted
to use stockholders money for such
purposes. and. moreover, prohibition OF
this kind would be. as far as it went,
an effective method OF stopping the
evils aimed at In corrupt practices acts
THE HAGUE CONFERENCES.
| The first conference Of nations held
at The Hague in 1899, being unable to
dispose OF all the business before il,
recommended the consideration and
: settlement Of number of important
questions hy another conference to be
called subsequently and at an early
date. These questions were the follow
ing. CD The rights and duties Of ncu-
| trails: c2i tie limitation of the armed
forces on land aud sea and cf military
budgets; ('l1 the use ef new types and
calibers u military and naval guns; t4I
the inyiolability Of private properly at
sea Ia times OF war. Cd the lombard
ment OF ports, cities aud villages by ma
val forces. Ia October. 1904. at the in
stance OF the internarllamentary union,
+ | issued invitations 20 all the powers
signatory to The Hague convention to
send' delegates TO such a conference
and suggested that IL 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 lie war then waging be-
tween Russia aud Japan The emperor
of Russia Immediately after the treaty
of peace which so happily terminated
this war, in note presented TO the
president on Sept Is took the initiative
in recommending that the conference
be now called The United States gov
efnment in response expressed It's cor
dial acquiescpnce and stated that 1t
would as 4 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
viii do everything in its power "a sc-
cure the Success of the conferc e, to
the end that substantial progress may
be made ia the cause Of International
peace, justice and good viii
MONROE DOCTRINE
There are certain essential points
which must never be forgotten as re-
CARDS the Monroe doctrine. In the FIRST
place, we must us a nation make it CIV.
ident that we do not intend to treat it
in any shape or way as an excuse for
ACKNOWLEDGMENT on our part at the OK
/ pense of the republics to the south.
But we must make IT evident that we
do not intend to permit the Monroe doe
trine to be used by any nation on this
continent as a saleld to protect IL from
the consequences of its own msdeeds
against foreign nations The Monroe
doctrine does not force us TO Interfere
TO prevent the punishment Of port
save to see that the punishment does
not assume the form OF territorial occu-
patton in any shape The case Is more
\ difficult when Il refers To a eontractuai
obligation. This country would GER
tainiy decline TO 70 10 war to prevent a
foreign government from collecting
| just debt. On the other hand, it is
very inadyisable 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 be that we must ourselves
undertake to bring about some arrange
ment by which so much as possible Of
a just obligation shall be paid.
| TO do so lnsures 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 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 well as In the interest OF JUS
tice.
| SANTO DOMINGO.
1 ShnLu DumiuEo mas now Hdue an Ap-
peal to. us, and not only every principle
of wisdom, but every generous instinct
within us, bids us respond to the APP
peal. The conditions in Santo Domingo
have for number of years grown
from bad to worse until year ago all
society was on the verge of dissolution.
Fortunately just at this time 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 neghbor who
| possessed the power and the will to
help them. There was imminent dan
ger OF foreign Intervention. The pa
thence or foreign creditors had become
exhausted, and ut least two foreign ma
tons were on the point Of Intervention
and were only prevented by the unotfi
eiaI ASSURANCE OF This government tiist
It would itself strive TO help Santo
| Domingo in her hour Of need
Accordingly the executive depart