The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1916-06-08
By WILLIAM HARD

It seems to me 1 once heard a man
say: Now if Roosevelt were presl-
dent. we would have been plunged
into this terrible war straight Off" In
truth / heard this remark so frequent
ly that l determined to go over the
diplomatic records of the two Roose-
welt administrations.
l find that Roosevelt had many
bully opportunities to plunge the
United States into foreign conflicts.
l find that he was Obliged to face and
handle three great crises with three
of the greatest countries in the world.
| find that he was obliged to take a
hand, decisive future-fxing hand, in
the affairs Of three small countries
small but nearby and turbulent and
dangerous to the worlds peace. l find
that he was obliged to have dealings
with many other countries in matters
capable Of bearing fruit either of
friendship or of hatred. / find that
he wrote on a visiting card the terms
on which a violent European cOntro-
versy was settled l find that for
eigners think of him as a great his
torical figure not because Of the part
he took in railway legislation or in
pure-food legislation or in conserva-
ton legislation or in any other actiy-
ity of domestic politics, but because Of
the part he took in international POLL
tics-in the politics of the world at
large. l find that Europe and Asia
regard him as having been primarily
for good or for lila diplomat.
This is the Roosevelt least known
to Americans.
The Alaskan Boundary Question.
His first difficulty was with Great
Britain. 1t was acute. It had to DO
with the Alaskan boundary The
British put forth a claim which, as
Roosevelt remarked, was "just as in
defensible as If they should now sud
denly claim the island of Nantucket"
Alaska is kite. 1t has main body
and then, fiuttering southwark along
the Pacific coast toward the state of
Washington, a tail. The dimensions
of this tail were determined. long be-
fore Alaska passed from Russia TO the
United States, by a treaty Of the year
1925 between Russia and Great Bri-
tain. 1t provided that the boundary
between Alaska and the British pos
sessions should run along the crest of
the mountains by which the coast was
paralleled. The United States accord
ingly occupied the coast region with
out resistance.
In 1898, however. there was dis
coyery of a considerable quantity of
gold in the Klondike. The Canadians
Immediately insisted on also discover
ing a semi-submerged coastal noun
foi NH; 1or ri
Of its time under the waters of the
Pacific and which. when it rose to the
surface, rose principally in the form
of scattered headlands. Here was the
boundary, along the crest of this alb
surd range, leaping from headland to
headland across great bodies Of naVi-
gable water! The United States
would get a succession of headland-
tips and Canada would get a success
sion of deep-water inlets, on one of
which was situated Skagway. the best
entrance TO the Klondike goldfields.
This line, calculated to fatten the
part OF any vaudeville performer, be
came automatically serious in the ex-
IRENE. Under Mckinley a Joint
Commission" was appointed 70 con
slider twelve topics in dispute between
the British Empire and the American
Republic. One of the twelve was the
Alaskan boundary. The representa-
tives of the Empire refused TO come
to terms on any of the others until
their version of the Alaskan boundary
had been conceded to them. 1t could
not be conceded. and the Joint Com
mission" collapsed.
At this point Roosevelt became
president. Quietly, in the routine of
diplomatic intercourse. he refused alb
solutely to accept Great Britain's am
phibiOus mountain-range line and re-
fused also. with equal absoluteness. to
aTbitrate it. John Hay, as Secretary OF
State, pointed out the fatal tendency
of arbitrator to compromise" This
matter could not be compromised. As
Roosevelt said on another occasion,
Uncle Sam does not intend to wrong
any one, but neither does he intend,
If his pocket is picked or his face
slapped. to 'arbitrate' with the wrong
doer" What then? A Commission was
erected. 1t was not a Commission
with a third-party arbitrator on it. 1t
was a Commission. equally divided be-