Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-06-16

Cnit-d States than ever before that ther, shall be no hostile control of the route be tween either our great Atlantic and Pn
 life ports and the isthmus. For that req
 son it Is of especial importance that the people inhabiting the islands and shores ,f the Caribbean shall maintain ihde.
 pendent, peaceful and prosperous govern
 nents. The policy of the United States % aid them In maintaining such govern.
 nents has been prosecuted with special
 success during the last four years. The frightful disorder and bloodshed which had marked the annals of Santc Domingo for many vars have been end
 hd by an agreement with the United States, taking the form of 5 treaty enter
 sd into with the approval of the senate, under which, by the simple appointment sf an American agent to collect Domin- can customs revenues and apply the sur plus toward the payment of the Domin- can debts, without landing a soldier or nring gun. complete peace has been maintained for four years past, the com
 nerce and industry of the island have re-
 vived. the revenues have doubled. and the
 ,ominal indebtedness of over $40, 900, 900,
 which hung like pail over the people,
 who had giveh up all attempts to pay
 sither principal or interest, has been a1-
 lusted and settled at less than S2o, 900, 900.
 .or which interest and sinking fund pay
 nents are completely assured by the rev
 snues resulting from the new prosperity.
 With the active participation of the del-
 sgates of the United States the second
 international peace conference at The
 Hague in the summer of 1907 entered into
 agreements which, taken together, have
 been declared by high authority to con.
 stitute one of the greatest advances ever
 nadA l fba hlo
 able regulation of international conduct.
 Twelve treaties agreed upon at that con-
 ference. all designed for reducing the
 probability or mitigating the horrors of
 war, have been approved by the senate
 and ratified by the president of the Unit
 sd States.
 Following the action of The Hague con vention in providing greater facilities for the use of the permanent court of arbi- tration at The Hague, the United States has put itself upon the basis of the peace tul settlement of international disputes by concluding general treaties of arbitration with England, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Nor way, Switzerland, Italy, Mexico and Ja- pan, while many other similar treaties are in course of negotiation. Under the general treaty with Great Britain the two countries have agreed to arbitrate before The Hague tribunal the difficult and vexing questions, which for more than a century have caused so much ill will and controversy. regarding the rights of our fishermen in the fisheries on the coasts of Newfoundland and the maritime provinces of Canada. Congress at its last session made the necessary appro- priations to defray the expense of this arbitration.
 The great growth in population and wealth of our Canadian neighbor has pro- auced a continually increasing accumu- iatfon of difficult and irritating contro- versies arising all along the 5000 miles sf boundary between Canada and the United States. In 1898, so pressing had these questions become, that a joint high commission was created for the purpose of settling them, but the commission dis solved without reaching an agreement. Negotiations for the settlement of these questions have been renewed, and great progress has been made toward their complete settlement.
 The questions between Japan and the United States which caused so much pub lic settlement fin the year 1907 have been Disposed of to the satisfaction of the peo- pie of both countries. The friendship and sympathy between the two governments have now been signalized by the general treaty of arbitration concluded between them, by the invitation and acceptance of the invitation fpr the visit of our fleet at Tokyo and by the response of the United States to the invitation of Japan to participate in the great exposition which Is to be held at Tokyo in the year 1912, for which congress has authorized the expenditure of one million and a half dollars, the greatest sum ever appropri- ated for foreign exposition.
 The unfriendly feelings among the peo- pie of China which grew out of the en- ,orcement of the Chinese exclusion law and led to the boycott of American goods have disappeared. and American trade in China has been restored to it's natural course. The United States has secured he assent of all the nations having pos sessions in the orient to a united effort with China to put an end to the curse of opium in the orient. and an international conference under the leadership of the United States has been agreed upon to meet at Shanghai on the 1st of next Jam nary for the purpose of devising and an international agreement 10 prevent It's production, sale and use
 Threatened tarlff wars between the United States and Germany and between he United States and France have been lverted by commercial agreements be- tween the United States and each of hose countries made under the authority given to the president in the third section ,f the Dingiey tariff act.
 The Browning Glory. But the crowning act in this drama was hat in which the president himself took he initiative, halted the armies of Russ,a md Japan, bringing about an honorable md. it is to be hoped. enduring peace.
 Yet nothing has added so much to his | lust fame as his persistent and irreyoca- | ble refusal to break the unwritten law of l he republic by accepting a nomination 1 Tor a third term. By this act of self | ,bnegatlon he places his name and fama