Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-03


perity. bringing profit and happiness to
themselves and at the same time creating
conditions sure to lead to fourishing
interchange Of trade with this country.
Il wish to call your especial attention
to the recent occurrences in Nicaragua.
for l believe the
Would Have terrible events re-
Averted Disaster. ,ns ,hs rsvo1u a,
of the past summer-the useless loss of
life the devastation of property, the
bombardment of defenseless cities. the
killing and wounding Of women and chill
dren the torturing of noncOmbatants to
exact contributions, and the suffering of
thousands Of human beings-might have
been averted had the Department of
State. through approval of the loan
convention by the Senate. been permitted
to carry out its now well developed policy
of encouraging the extending Of financial
aid to weak Central American states with
the primary objects of avoiding just such
revolutions by assisting those republics to
reha bilitate their finances. to establish
their currency on stable basis, to re-
move the customhouses from the danger
of revolutions by arranging for their Sc
cure administration, and to establish re-
liable banks.
During this last revolution in Nicara-
qua. the government of that republic
having admitted its
Intervention in inability to protect
u;.. American life and
"0' property against acts
of sheer fho ri of he
malcontents. and having requested this
government to assume that Office, it be-
came necessary to land over 900 marines
and bluejackets in Nicaragua. Owing to
their presence the constituted government
of Nicaragua was free to devote it's atten-
ton wholly to it's internal troubles. and
was thus enabled to stamp out the rebel
lion in a short space of time. When the
Red Gross supplies sent to Granada had
been exhausted. 5000 persons having been
given food in one day upon the arrival
OF the American forces. our men supplied
other unfortunate. needy Nicaraguans
from their own haversacks. l wish to
congratulate the officers and men of the
United States Navy and Marine Corps
who took part in re-estabiiS hing order in
Nicaragua upon their splendid conduct,
and to record with sorrow the death Of
seven American marines and bluejack-
cts. Since the re-eStablishment of peace
and order elections have been held amid
conditions of quiet and tranquility, Near
~ all the American marines have now
been withdrawn. The country should
soon be on the road to recovery. The
only apparent danger now threatening
Nicaragua arises from the shortage of
funds. Although American bankers have
already rendered assistance, they may
naturally be loath to advance loan ade-
quate to set the country upon it's feet
without the support of some such cOnven-
ton as that OF June, 1911. upon which the
Senate has not yet acted
I'm the general effort to contribute to
the enjoyment of peace by those repub-
lies which are near
enforcement OF neig b ors Of the
r.A.,:A United States, the
administration has
enforced the so-caned neutrality statutes
greatly strengthened in restricting the
expectation of arms and munitions by
the joint resolution of last March. 1t is
still a regrettable fact that certain
American ports are made the rendezvous
OF professional revolutionists and others
engaged in intrigue against the peace of
tEO-t itpCOl-SS. II iuuSl Dc duDlltteu
that occasionally a revolution in this re-
gion is justified as a real popular move
ment to throw off the shackles of a vi
cious and tyrannical government. Such
was the Nicaraguan revolution against
the Zelaya regime. 4 nation enjoying
our liberal institutions cannot escape
sympathy with a true popular movement
and one well justified. In very many
cases. however, revolutions in the repub-
lies in question have no basis in primo
pie. but are due merely to the machina-
tons of constituencies and ambitious
men, and have no effect but to bring new
suffering and fresh burdens to an al
ready oppressed people. The question
whether the use of American ports as
foci of revolutionary intrigue can be best
dealt with by further amendment to
the neutrality statutes or whether il
would be safer to deal with special cases
by special laws Is one worthy of the
careful consideration of the Congress.
Impressed with the particular impor-
| lance OF the relations between the United
States and the repub-
Secretary lies Of Central Amer
v, IT,: lea and the Caribbean
region, whiah of ne
cessity must become still more intimate
\ by reason of the mutual advantages
which VIII De presented Dy ne opening
| Of the Panama canal. 1 directei the Sec
rotary of State last February to visit
these republics for the purpose of giving
| evidence Of the sincere friendship and
good will which the government and peo-
pie OF the United States bear toward
them. Ten republics were visited. Every
where he was received with cordially
81 welcome and a generosity Of hospital
ity such as to impress me deeply and to
merit our warmest thanks. The appre-
| citation of the governments and peoples
| of the countries visited. which has been
appropriately shown in various ways.
leaves me no doubt that his visit will
conduce to that closer union and better
| understanding between the United States
1 I'D those republics which have had II
much at heart to promote.
| ~
For two years revolution and counter
revolution have distraught the neighbor-
ing republic Of Mexico
Our Mexican Brigandage has involved
n.,: great deal of depreda-
| ton upon foreign inter-