The Washington herald., 1915-07-18
~ Na6AZ1ISI2~

more Secretary Seward plainly told Ma
poleon to get out.
Car!otta the wife of Maximilian has
tened from Chapultepec to the Tuileries
to implore the French Emperor not to
abandon her husband. But Napoleon
told her h" no longer could support him.
whereat the poor woman. craZed by de-
SPAR. shrieked at the Emperor as he
lid the audience chamber. direfuI
prophecy of the fate that awaited his
own empire. II. tntrsfor, one woman
VAS al the bottom If the Monroe doc
trine. another woman became a pathetic
martyr to il.
"Maintained without shot
The biz fact stands forth to the credit
Cf thu NoTro,' doctrine that Europe has
not sUhverted any State in the Western
Hemisphere or added to her possessions
hardly 4 square mile OF the New World
~Oi since the United States had the au-
daCitv and the foresight TO write across
the face OF the map from pole I" pol"
the huge warning sign. Keep of. That
is by far the largest sphere "f influ-
cnce" which any nation holds. and IL
has been held for century without tn-
cost of an ounce OF cunpowder.
Why Because the United States has
kept faith with the world At times there
has been neither ship nor Gun behind
the warning sign. Vet the predatory pow
ers have kept off. Recourse they saw that
the United States was keeping its own
hands AS we'll as other peoples hands
off south America Although the Mon
roe doctrine is not Sclf-denyinE ordl-
nance. neither has it been u cloak to cover
acts of aggression by the United States
which were forbidden to Europeans.
Mr.. George Bernard Shaw attempted
not long ago to prov" in an English
periodical that the doctrine WIS "tosh. y
and he proceeded TO suppose what would
happen ''if the United states should
ever decide to annex Alaska" When some
fussy reader objected that Alaska was
already annexed G. 3. : made the truly
Shavian retort. 'Why WIS Alaska pur
chased if the Monroe doctrine is Waldo"
The truth is that when Russia sold
Alaska to the United States. she recog-
nized the Monroe doctrine in the most
substantial manner GraCiously and sensi-
bly, taking herself out of its Jurisdiction
What 1t Is Not.
No worse disservice can he done the
Monroe doctrine and the United States
than to claim for il an altruistic motive
and a chivalrous object. such a pre-.
tension caricatures Uncle Sam as a.
knight Grant. galloping about for the
protection of the weak. and perverts the
doctrine into hypoCrtiCal sentiment
tality.
George Washington held that nations
are incapab BILE of disinterested acts. The
affectation OF such a spirit has done
more thanD anything else to bring sus-
picion upon the Monroe doctrine both in
South America and in Europe. where
naturally il has led to the assumption
that il must be only Yankee model Of
the Trojan horse.
Naturally. too. the pride of the neigh
boring republics is offended when they
are made the objects of an unsolicited
charity by the United States. why
should a friend, however well intentioned.
insist on holding an umbrella over us"
James Bryce represents Spanish
American as saving. We are quite able
to do that for ourselves. if necessary.
But the true Monroe doctrine is honest
ly and wholly selfish on the part of the !
United States. II looks only TO the pro- |
lection OF the interests and safety of the |
Taited States. It is a quarantine against |
the military and political diseases of
Europe. And it strives to keep them
from gaining foothold anywhere in the |
Western Hemisphere lest they spread I
thence to the borders of the United |
States. just as in national self-protection, |
health officials o fthe United States have
aided to eXterminate yellow fever mi
Cuba and in the remoter port Of Rio de |
Janeiro.
Moreover. the true Monroe doctrine is |
lot Monroe doctrine at all. nor any
me elses doctrine. It is the spirit of the '