The Prescott daily news., 1916-05-25
HOW ROOSEVELT
 KEPT PEACE
By WILLIAM HARD
In METROPOLITAN MA GAZINE

dent, we would have been plunged into this terrible war straight off" In truth 1 heard this remark so frequent ly that 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. l find that he was obliged to take a hand, a decisive future-fxing hand, i'll 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. l find that he wrote on a visiting card the terms on which a violent European contro- versy was settled I 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- tion legislation or in any other activ ity of domestic politics, but because of the part he took in international poll tics--in the politics of the world at large. I find that Europe and Asia regard him as having been primarily flor good or for ill-a diplomat.
 This is the Roosevelt least known to Americans
 The Alaskan Boundary Question.
 His first difficulty was with Great Britain. It was acute. It had to do with the Alaskan boundary. The British put forth a claim which as Roosevelt remarked, was just as in defensibe as if they should now sud denly claim the island of Nantucket"
 Alaska is a kite. It has a main body and then, fluttering southward along the Pacific coast toward the state of Washington tail. The dimensions of this tail were determined, long be- fore Alaska passed from Russia to the United States, by treaty of the year 1925 between Russia and Great Bri -tain. It 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 a dis covery of considerable quantity of gold in the Klondike. The Canadians immediately insisted on also discover ing a semi-submerged coastal noun tain range which spent a large part 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 ab- surd range, leaping from headland to headland across great bodies of navi- gable water The United States would get succession of headland- tips and Canada would get success sion of deep water inlets. on one Cr which was situated Skagway. the best entrance to the Klondike goldfelds.
 This line, calculated to fattcn the part of any vaudeville performer, be came automatically serious in the eX- treme. Under Mckinley a. Joint Commission was appointed to 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. It 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 ab- solutely to accept Great Rritain's am phtbious mountain-range line and re- fused also, with equal absOluteness. to arbitrate if. John Hay. as Secretary of State, pointed out the fatal tendency of arbitratOrs 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 It was not a Commission with a third-party arbitrator on it. It was Commission equally divided be- tween the two countries. The repre- sentatiyes of the United States were Lodge of Massachusetts and Root of New York and Turner of Washington The representatives of the British Empire were two Canadians and one Englishman. The EngHshman was England S Lord Chief Justice-Alver- stone.
 This Commission met in London in 1903. It's purpose was indicated both by Roosevelt and by Hay Roosevelt said CthrOugh strictly diplomatic chan nels) "I wish to make one last effort to bring about an agreement which will enable the people of both coun- tries to say that the result represents the feelings of the representatives of .k-s@