The Washington herald., 1915-07-18

American people, that New World spirit
which has established from the Great
, Lakes TO Cape Horn the sovereignty Of
Americans over America. 1t is a passion
burning in the breasts of a people who
are al refugees from Old World burdens
and who have crossed the sea to escape
| the ills If Europe.
| The Atlantic Ocean itself is the original
author Of the Monroe doctrine. the doe
trim" OF keep the New World apart from
the Old. The doctrine was asserted even
! IN the cabin OF the Mayflow"r. and every
/ instance Of colonial resistance To Euro
| pcan usufpation was rriteratinn of it..
( II was writ large in the Declaration Of
! Independence. II was insisted upon in
| the FIRST treaty made by Americans. the
treaty Of alliance with Franc. when they
! stipulated that Frame should renounce
forever any ambition for ConqueSts on
| the mainland Of America. And it was re-
affirmed Iv Washington in his farewell
address
To cal this policy the Monroe doctrine
when il really. was 200 years old before
Monroe signed il, Is an unfortunate his
! IorICal mISnomer II is the American
ductrin, and il cannot rightly he UNDER
stood 10y masinins it to be n piece of
writing from the pen of Monroe or Of any
other man. Fully to appreciate its pur-
It is not a mere public document. a SCRAP
of paper bur that 1t has its tru" source
deep in the instincts. in the emotions Of
the Anne TlCan nationality.
In the Midst of Wnr.
While it is dictated by sel'ishncSs. the
Monroe doctrine rests on that more en-
Ightencd selhshness which seeks advan-
tages so broad and Just that they cannot
be gained except by sharing them with
Others. y map Of the world is sound
evidence of the wide spread benefits which
have flowed from il in the past. \ map
Of this war testities to its beneficial ef-
feet in the present crisis
Instantly the war spread throughout
the Eastern Hemisphere from the Eng
lish Channel to the Yellow Sea. from the
Arctic Circle to the Tropic of Capricorn.
and Asia and Africa as well as Europe
are paving the blood wife for the shaving
of an Austrian prince. But the Western
Hemisphere remains fireproof in the
midst Of the surrounding confederation
and international smity rsigns from the
dismante ed forts of the Canadian from
tier to the Christ of the Andes. where
the nations of the far South have set
above them the Prince of Peace
II. unluckily. the war should at last
overtake the New World il will not be
because of the Monroe doctrine. hut in
spite of il. But il is a long bridge across
either the Atlantic or the Pacific. and it
would be folly to cross it before coming
to it.
Ia II Peril.
At the close of the general European
war. 1o' years ago. the insatiate vic
tors turned their greedy eyes to the
West. and at the end Of this war his
tory may repeat that line But if the
Monroe doctrine gave Europe pause
then. when for the purposes OF defense.
the United States was alone in the New
World. il ought to halt any heirs to
the Holy Alliance now. when there are
two or three other American nations.
richer. more populous and stronger than
the United States was in 1923. For the
Monroe doctrine is theirs as we'll II
has become an instinct with them And
the most bellicose factions in the South
ern republics would not hesitate to fore
so the pastime of domestic warfare to
unite against a foreign invader.
The only objection to the Monroe doc
trine in Iberian America is that il did
not originate down there and that Uncle
Sam claims the copyright. Fortunately.
a better feeling and a clearer under
standing have been drawing the great
republic and the lesser republics mare
and more closely together. Their gains |
in political stability and in material |
have won a greater respect |
for them among the Yankees On the |
other hand. their suspicion and fear of |
the giant Of the north have grown less |
as they saw him disdain the gift Of the |
Danish West Indies and Of San Domin.