The Alaska daily empire., 1914-10-05

important and pressing nature of Lat
 tn-American problems. He had learn.
 ed that the triumphs of the Democrat
 ic party in the election had been gro.
 tesQuely misiuterpreted in many Lat
 in-American countries as a repudiation
 by the people of the United States of
 tine policy of solicitude toward the countries south of us followed by pre- yious administrations. He had been told that plans were making, in more than one country under the Southern cross, to start a revolution as soon as he was safely seated in the presiden. tial chair. A gentleman by the name of Castro, rather conspicuously iden- tified with the revolutionary profes. sion, actually started for Washington, expecting to be an honOred guest at the inauguration of a president whose motto was supposed to be: The lid is off the Caribbean" Any one who will take the trouble to go back and peruse the list of strangers hOnOring the city of Washington with their pres. enCe last year on March 1, will ob- serve that Mir. Castro apparently de- sisted from his purpose of coming on.
 On March II, 1913, having been president just less than seven days, Mir. Wilson issued a statement assur- ing the sister republics of Central America of his desire to cultivate their friendship and deserve their confi- confidence, and of his earnest desire to cooperate most cordially with their leaders.
 The president proceeded to say in effect: "Of course, if we are to lend our influence to the realization among. you of the principle of order and reg. ularity of government, we shall have to look into your affairs a little. We. shall for instance, consider it a duty to inspect your revolutions and de- eide in each case whether it were jus tifiable."
 It was much such an implication as Mir. Cleveland had discovered and acted upon in his controversy with Great Britain in 1895.
 It is, as I understand it, a parallel implication which President Wilson now finds in the Monroe doctrine this time as it relates to the conduct of Central American people, rather than to that of other powers towards them.
 If other nations of the western hem isphere are entitled to look-and We have given them, and they have aC- cepted the right to look-to the Unit ed States for protection against in- vasion of their territory by any non American power, we are at the very least entitled to see that the govern ments of those countries are lawful. | ly constituted. in order that a due and ! proper continuity of internal respon- sibility shall be maintained.
 The United States government has never admitted that it is in any de- gree responsible for the acts of other | American governments. We forbid | foreign powers invading the territory | Of any American nation for the pur- pose of punishment or redress, but We have steadfastly refused to make our selves responsible for any misdeeds | of theirs that may merit punishment | or call for redress. Furthermore, we have always disclaimed any obligation ourselves to punish or obtain redress in behalf of non-American powers. We | have confined ourselves to the posi- tion that, disayowiug the least inten- tion to save Latin-Americans from the of their acts, we merely | declare that no non.American power | shall land troops to administer the 
 What we should really do in case one of our Central American neighbors committed an orfense against a Eur opean country which clearly had to be punished. but which We could not per init the offended nation to punish, is a question which thus far we have successfully escaped having to an swer. Many questions are best an swered by never allowing them to be asked.
 But we have never been able to es- cape an uneasy feeling that, for all our disclaimers and even on such log-' ic as we were allowed to contrive our selves, the day would come when we