The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-25
ARMING TO WARD OFF WAR.

hiOul. 10 uclcnu tHe appropriation on
that ground in case any defense were
needed. There can be no doubt, foI
instance, that the strength OF cur navy
prevented foreign intervention in the
War of the Rebellion, and the proba
. bllity is, rs pointed out IN The Inde-
pendent by Henry H. Ward, Secretary
of the Navy League, that it WAS Great
Britain S big navy that prevented the
: invasion OF England by Napoleon. 1t
was our strong navy in supporting the
Monroe Doctrine that kept Germany
and Italy from attacking Venezuela in
1902, 1t was the weakness of our navy
during Harrison s second administra.
ton that almost involved us in con.
temptlhle war with Chill. There would
have been no war with Spain if Spain
had not supposed she had a navy supe-
rior TO our own. And Mr. Ward might
well have added that the decisive fac
tor in the japanese war was the
supremacy of Japan on the sea at the
locality of the war; that supremacy for
Japan giving her an uninterrupted com
munication with the mainland for the
transportation of troops and military
supplies. Suppose those positions had
been reversed and Russia had had the
upper hand on the sea: Japan would
have been absolutely helpless, and there
would have been no war
With regard TO the supposed secrets
disclosed by Senator Depew of New
York. Just prior to the passage in the
Senate OF this naval appropriation bill
his inside news on the Spanish war,
! that talk was merely p revival of what
was well known. II is absolutely Ger.
tain that 1T was a popular furore in this
country that forced the hand of Presi,
dent Mckinley and compelled Congress
TO declare war The destruction Of
the Maine inlamcd the popular heart
10 such a degree that il was impossible
TO carry on peace negotiations. Spain
had in fact, practically given way on
every point that was in controversy.
! This was well known at the time, but
the people would listen to nothing, they
were determined upon war, determined
to avenge the Maine and to force Spain
out Of the West Indies.
So far as what Mr.. Depew SAID about
the Venezuelan incident of Mr.. Cleve-
land s second administration is con.
cerned, there was nothing new in
it. Mr., Cleveland IS attitude was
absolutely indefensiblc; we had no
right to intervene between Great
Britain and Venezuela in mere
boundary dispute. If it had been a
matter of aggression of Great Britain
upon Venezuela. if Great Britain had
undertaken to make war of conquest
upon that country, then it would have
been different matter. But, as it was,
our Intervention there was a clear i'm.
pertlnence IN the arrogant way in which
1t was made, and might easily have in
volved us in an absolutely indefensible,
needless and immensely destructive
war. Queen Victoria's personal inter
vention against extreme measures there
was well known and understood by
everybody. \ British Ministry could
not have maintained itself for a day if
1T had backed down of its own volition
on a question of that kind But the
the candle, and she found means to
smooth things over: she remembered
that the Monroe Doctrine was really
British proposition, urged by their
Prime Minister Canning and tak-n up
by President Monroe, he being well as
sured at that time that Great Britain
would back this country and maintain
the policy. 1t was, in fact, an uu-
official alliance between this country
and Great Britain, that sought TO main.
tain the status quo in America II was
formulated to resist the contemplated
pjundering raids Of Spain, backed by
the '1Ioly Alliance to reconauer her
lost colonies in America Queen Vic
torIa probably remembered the history
of that doctrine, and she was able to
see the inconsistency of Great Britain
engaging in any controversy, either
peaceful or warlikc, against the tradi.
tional attitude of her own kingdom on
this question, even though the doctrine
was misapplied in the case that then
arose.
1t is idle to deny the fact that it is
necessary for a frst-class power to be
able TO protect itself. If it is not able
to do this. no other nation will protect
1t. We need go no further than the
empire of China to see the humiliation
and distress that tremendously numer-
Gus and additionally great people are
put to. who arc not able to defend
themselves. They exist as nation sim.
ply because the other nations are not
able to agree on the division Of the
prey, can not agree among themselves
what each shall take; and so the ancient
empire is allowed to stand substantially
as Of old. This, however, only by suf-
ferance, as the case in which any ma
tion can attack and occupy portions OF
the Chinese empire has been exhibited
for a number Of centuries. First Of
all, Portugal seized Macao, an island
| al tho mouth Of ha C.pfor ,,,,o. ..l