The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-12-18
zELAYA's DESIGNATION. -

The dispatches tell us that President
Zclaya of Nicaragua has resigned Tins
resignation was. of course, at the toe
of Uncle Sam s boot, and was withheld
by Zelaya FOR week or two IN the
hope that he might be able TO estab,
lish one of his own kind rs successor.
He favored DR. Jose Madri2, and
wished to turn tho Presidency over to
him. The Nicaragua people, however,
do not seem to enthusc over that idea
and probably Estrada, the leader OF the
insurrect1on, would have objections. to
the Presidency of any special friend OF
Ielaya. Estrada is likely to consider
himself the logical President of Mica
ragua. especially as Secretary Knox
openly stated in his denunciatory let
ter to the Nicaraguan Minister that
Estrada represented the people of Mica
ragua better than Zelaya did. That
backing for Estrada is no doubt what
broke up the Zclayan government and
forced the resignation of Zelaya.
1t does not appear that the Unlted
ground to rest upon in its declining to
indicate who will be acceptable TO this
country as President of Nicaragua, as
it appears was expected In that coun-
try. Having gone so far as Secretary
Knox did in undertaking to say who
best represented the sentiment OF Inc
people of Nicaragua, it is little lat'
in the day to plead that we have no
right TO intervene and settle A question
like this. Having already declared
that Estrada was the better represen-
tative OF the people of Nicaragua and
of their sentiments, there is no reason
why our State Department should not
stick to its text and say 1t again. In
doing so, doubtless it would establish
Estrada in the Presidency beyond qucs-
tion. The probability is that he wlll
get there anyway, and if he gets there
by the open help Of the United states
he will be all the better friend TO
this country on that account 1t is
too late, however, for this country to
be backward about this and to INSIST
that it has no interest IN the success
sion TO the Nicaraguan Presidency and
that il will have no choice as to the
filing Of that Office. Estrada is the log
ical, in fact he might be said to be the
necessary, candidate of the United
States.
Our intervention lin the affairs of
Nicaragua, especially in the peremptory
way in which that intervention was
is likely to do an immense
amount Of harm in our standing among
the other Latin American states of Cen
tral and South America The journey
made by Secretary Root to the South
American countries last year was for
the purpose of reassuring all those coun-
tries that the United States had no
disposition to intervene in their affairs,
and that the Monroe Doctrine was not
to be construed, and is not construed
by this country, to mean any form Of
protectorate or to include any claim OF
of or interference in the
local affairs Of those nations, Now,
however, Zclaya has put the United
States on the defensive in this matter,
and Secretary KnoX's action is likely
to undo all the good that was done
by Secretary Roots reassuring visit
to those Latin-American countries. Ze-
laya gets his revenge on this country
in that way, as he could not possibly
get it against his opponents at home
or against the United States in any
other fashion than this. it was an un-
fortunate break, and this country will
not hear the last OF it for decades to
come.