The National tribune., 1906-07-26
PROFESSOR GONE WRONG.

ANOTHER PROFESSOR GONE WRONG.
Prof Wheeler, of Yale. is another one
of those college professors who seek for
notoriety by antagonizins things that
other people believe in. He recently
said:
''The Monroe Doctrine, which is the
11th commandment of this Government,
Is the embodiment of National greed
and selfishness. A recent Secretary of
State is quoted as saying that this Gov
ernment in foreign affairs was run on
principle that was a ombination of the
Golden Rule and the Monroe Doctrine.
The man that can associate the two or
assimilate them must be a wonderful
scientist and mathematician. We have
followed this Monroe Doctrine as our
| main political principle on the plausible
, .heory that we should carry our ideas
- Government to all Nations.
I'm following out this doctrine we
have been carried away with the theory
that our particular form of Government
was fitted for every Nation in every
stage of development. and no more
crazy illusion ever entered mans mind.
A republican form of Government is the
worst possible for certain Nations, but
we have been advancing the fallacy of
forcing this on others. II ii is such
desirable and successful form of Gov
ernment. why not leave 1t to example to
spread it to other Nations? AS a Ma
ton we think we must also advance our
religion-the Christian reiigion-even if
| 1t takes gunboats to do it and it has to
| be spread at the point of the Dayonet."
The man who can talk in this way
simply displays his ignorance OF Amer
| lean history or his incapacity to reason
with fair common sense upon what he
has read. There has never been the
| trine of imposing our form of Govern
| ment upon the other peoples on the
American continents. We have left
| them severely alone to follow out their
own ideals and aspirations If they
| chose to call themselves Republics, well
| just as good If they denominated them
selves Kingdoms or Empires. We never
entered note of protest when the ne
gro ruler of Haiti called himself an En-
peror and set up bizarre imitation of
| the European Empires with Counts OF
Lemonade and Dukes of Marmalade
among his aristocracy. When he fell
| and there was pretended Republic set
up it was a matter of equal indifference
to U.S. We only interfered so far as to
protect American citizens from murder
and robbery by the contending factions
| We lived on very good terms with the
Emperor of Brazil as long as that coun-
| try was an Empire, and when it changed
to a pretended Republic we accepted it
very graciously.
| All that there is involved in the Mon
roe Doctrine is that the people of the
other countries in North and South
America shall be left entirely free from
European interference to work out their
| own salvations We will protect them
| in the integrity of their country and
against the imposition upon them of
European influences.
The Monroe Doctrine Is one of the
most unselfsh and elevated of doctrines.
We have pledged the whole power of
our great country to the protection of
our weaker neighbors, and twice within
recent years we have stood ready 10
make that pledge good at no matter
what cost.
| The first time was when we insisted
| that the Mexican people should be al
lowed to govern themselves without any
| Interference from France. At that time
the whole American people. North and
South, were ready to unite to drive the
| French out of Mexico. and leave the
Mexicans free to deal with the foreign
usurper who claimed to be Emperor
After we had expelled the French we
proposed to let the Mexicans settle their
Government for themselves. If they
chose to accept the rule of Maxmillian.
that was their own affair. We should
not have interfered.
The next was when President Cleve-
land, with the appreciation of the whole
|country, came to the verge of war with
| Great Britain rather than see Venezuela
despoiled of any of her territory. Vene-
zuela has repaid us with base fngrati-
tude. but that does not alter the prin-
| ciple. and we should do thn same again
under similar circumstances
We have never for a moment tried to
| impose American Institutions upon the
! other countries. They are not adapted
to them, and it was a misfortune that
they translated the Constitution of the
United States into Spanish and copied
our form of Government. which, as
rule, they have made a trayesty of In
their attempts to make it applicable to
their people and their peculiar ways OF
thinking. We would suggest to PROF.
Wheeler that he do some little thinking
on the subject before he again talks
1t is hardly worth while to give the
| news from Russia or to comment upon
! it further than to say that the whole