The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-07-27
business men provide for themselves as
matter Of course.
DOLLAR DIPLOMACY" REVIVED

When the present administration
came in, it found pending in the Sen
ate n treaty negotiated with Nicaragu:
which provided for the payment Il
that Central American republic OF So,
| 10000 for exclusive canal rights. i
also provided for tho financing Of Ger
tain matters in Nicaragua and straight
ening out OF the debt of that country
together with a plan for internal i'm
provements and developments. Bu
about the first thing that was done by
the Wilson administration was to con
temptuously withdraw that treaty ant
to denounce it as dollar diplomacy
with which the present administration
was too pure to have the slightest con
nection. It was admitted on all hand:
that the proposed treaty would be al
immense benefit to Nicaragua, and
that it would be valuable TO us in that
IL would insure the United States, at
comparatively small cost, from any
rival canal across the Istnmus.
1t was all the more astonishing
therefore, to read, as the American
public did few days ago, that the
present administration now stood com
mltted to virtually the same treaty, In
cluding tho payment Of $S,ooo,o0o for
exclusive canal privileges, and going
much further than the other treaty did
by providing (at the request of Mica
ragua as explained) virtual protecto-
rate over that country by tho United
States.
This latter portion Of the treaty ere.
ated a sensation, in that other Central
American republics began uneasily to
inquire whether it was the policy Of
this administration to extend protecto"
rates generally over the weak Central
American States. Reinsurance on this
point, however, was easy, since the
statement Immediately followed that
the United States had no designs upon
any of these small republics, and that
the Nicaraguan treaty was negotiated
at the request of Nicaragua.
Probably a like request will como
from Honduras, since there was much
such treaty pending in the Senate
with Honduras as was pending with
Nicaragua, and which also was with
drawn in the same contemptuous fash
ion. These two Central American coun-
tries do not necessarily stand together,
but it happens that the two treaties
were much alike in substance and in
tent (save only as to the canal privi-
lege, which was Nicaragua Is alone) and
each was favored by the Taft admins
tration.
Ii il should transpire that the Hon
duran treaty is revived and extended
as the Nicaraguan treaty has been,
there need be no occasion for surprise.
And there need be no occasion for
alarm on the part of the Central Amer
lean states; for the United States in
dealing directly with Nicaragua or Hon
duros, or with both, does not have any
sinister designs either upon these two
or upon any other. Each ne
gotiation stands upon it's own basis or
merits, and no other nation is affected
thereby unless that nation wishes to
come in on the general proposition and
be taken care of by the Big Brother
the republics of the earth.
The United States Senate, with a
sort of stolid Indifference, refused to
act either for or against the Niciraguan
treaty during the Taft administration.
II is difficult TO understand why this
was shown. But there is
even among Democratic
Senators, of opposition to this new Mic
araguan treaty, and the discussion of it
yesterday in the Senate Foreign Rela-
tions Committee was barren Of result.
it may be that these Demo
Gratis took too seriously the denuncia-
ton Of "dollar diplomacy" by Presi-
dent Wilson and Secretary Bryan. 1t
may be that they have taken too con-
scientiously the separate declaration of
President Wilson of the altruistic and
offish front that the United States
would present to all the Central Amer
lean states. But as it seems in this
new Nicaraguan treaty, altruistic pro-
testations of that kind are not TO be
taken too seriously, since as the impor-
tunity comes and opportunity presents,
the offishness breaks down and good
friendly offer is taken to heart, exactly