The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-30

quincy AAdfiS Iic SC1OANs ~ CIV
son the third.
america For Americans"
To all men il vas plain that
message of President Monroe mean
possible and immediate w but a war
in which the United States and Great
Britain would stand together. The
probabilities were, on the other hand,
that the contemplated step would
avert war and with this hope the is
sue was boldly made. America for
Americans has ever since been rec
ogniZed as one of the great postulateS
of our public life. That it guarantees
no American state against punish
ment for misconduct has been repeat
eddy announced by the Washington
government and repeatedly illustrated:
only the punishment must not take
the form of permanent occupation of
territory by a non-AmericaD power.
That it confers no police powers upon
the government in Washington has
been declared and illustrated as clear
~ and as often; the United States,
said Secretary Seward to Chile, has
no armies for the purpose of agrees
sive war: no ambition for the charac-
ter of a regulator" The V~aguenesS of
the popular conception as to the scope
Of the doctrine has no counterpart in
the acts and expressions of the Amer
lean executive. Clearly graSped by
American Presidents and American
secretaries it has averted wars and
has enabled the nations south of the
United States to achieve such meas
ure of self-government and self-de-
velOpment as they exhibit today.
That international agreement las
not placed upon the Monroe Doctrine
the formal stamp of its approval need
arouse no surprise, for the doctrine is
a political ~postulate, not a political
~ 80 80 800 ~o@@~
milton no more than any other doc
trine of our national life; no more, for
example, han the diCta of the Decla-
ration Of Independence. 1t has how
ever, received a large measure of in
ternatiOnal recognitiOn-eXplicit on
the part Of Great Britain and OF Ger
many, implicit on the part Of all the
nations participant in The Hague Con-
ference. On the i'm of that on
ference and by the consent Of ali its
members lies spread the clear d~eClara-
ton that America adheres to her ira
ditional policy; hat she declines to
entangle herself in the political at
fairs of foreign states and maintains
her established attitude toward purely
American questions.
Monroe Doctrine Deeply Rooted.
To a Virginian HON reverent study
of the genius and labors Of the great
statesmen born upo Nirginia's his
toriC soil has taught his best lessons
in patriotism, to an American who
cherishes with a noble pride the long
story of our national advancement
there is something strange in the mod
ern voices which from time to time
salute his ears. When he hears the
Monroe Doctrine vilified as an obsolete
Shibboleth; when he is told that it is
u~ndemocratic; when it is criticised as
hostile to the true spirit of American
49, 49,. r. IL l.-
zled wonder whether he has all these
years been living in a iand Of dreams
From what springs does pure democ-
racy flow if not from the rocks which
Thomas jefferson struck with his di-
vine wand? What ideas are truly
American, if the great names OF
Washington and Adams. Of Madison
; and Monroe, have lost their sanction ::
When did a doctrine become obsolete
which Cleveland and Olney, Roosevelt
and Hay, knew in its full vigOr? The
Monroe Doctrine is Dotted too deeply
in the consciousness of this great ma
ton for the windy blasts of these
Adullamites to shake its hold. The in
texorable logic Of Ii national place ir
world politics, the austere dignity o1
cur national history give it life AND
force. 1t enters as an abiding element
into that American N%ationalism which
still draws, its fundamental QUALITY
ifOfn the lnlInCftal genius or the mar
whom this company tonight delights
to honor.
That national spirit lives today and
: as the years pass by grows from more
; to more III power and in purpose II
is dynamic, not static-a living organ.
/ ism, not a dead tablet off the law
t growing soul. not an u~nchanging com
mandment. To Us it has meant more
{ than it did 20 our fathers: to oul
! children it viii NEAR more than il did
: to us. Heaven has given us Il giants
| strength, n with that gift goes thu
duty to use it. Not recklessly anC
: furiously like the blind Polyphemus II
whom Hamilton linkened the peoplt
he understood so III and loved Sc
: little; not cruelty and UNANIMOUSLY lik
some despot of the ancient days. som;
robber baron e the medieval time
5 not selfishly and greedily to fill our
: Golfers and expand cur luxury int,
t the r~ottenness Of Q modern empire o