The Colorado statesman., 1917-01-13

l
federate soldiers and the widows of
Confederate soldiers.
For Monument to Maury.
1t is interesting to note In this con-
nection that bill which has a good
deal of northern support has just been
introduced to erect n monument In the
city of Washington to Matthew Foun-
tain Maury, one time commodore In
the United States navy, and later a
ranking officer in the Confederate
navy. Commodore Maury was stu
dent of ocean currents. He charted
the Gulf stream and contributed an
| immense amount of oceanographic
knowledge to the world.
Our Santo Domingo Fuss.
Santo Domingo, small country.
is looming large just now in the
field of Washington interests and
anxieties. Virtually the United States
I is at war with Santo Domingo. There
are several hundred United States ma
rines in the little republic which has
been put under martial law by Uncle
| Sam.
Word which has come from the state
department recently makes it appear
that the United States hereafter may
consider the necessity Of taking hand
in affairs in Europe, especially in re-
gard to the safeguarding Of the rights
of small nations. Some students of
international relations hold that If the
United States does this it means that
the countries of Europe may one day
| feel they have perfect right to take
hand in affairs on this side of the wa
| ter and that therefore the Monroe
Doctrine must go by the board.
This Is a matter admittedly only
for speculation. and for future devel-
opments to prove one way or the
other, but there is intense interest and
some apprehension among the law
makers today because the Dominican
government has protested to the pow
ers of Europe against Uncle Sans ac-
ton in placing that country under mar
| tial law.
May Cause Complications.
1t is not to be supposed for an in
stant, of course, as the officials here
view it, that the big European govern
ments which have been appealed to by
Santo Domingo will do anything in
the matter, or certainly not at present
| because their hands are exceedingly
full with deadly troubles of their own.
| The protest, however, has gone on rec
ord, and as some of the lockers into
| the future here see the thing, 1t pos
sibly eventually may develop compli-
| cations for this government
| Haiti and Santo Domingo have been
| prickly-pear points to Uncle Sam for
| long time. The government has a
| treaty with Haiti which allows Uncle
Sam to collect not only the customs OF
that country, but its internal taxes as
| well, and to look after their disburse-
ment. 1t seems likely that in order
to bring about complete order in San
to Domingo some like arrangement
| must be made with that country. AL
ready the United States is collecting
customs of the Dominican Republic,
but it Is not collecting Its internal
| taxes.
The most recent trouble with Santo
Domingo came because the various ele-
ments down there led by different
| men, attempted each in its own behalf
| to take the internal revenues and to
spend them for personal selfish DUR
poses. The result was such an inter
| nal row that the United States had to
step in, and as matter of fact we are
| in mild way at war with Santo Do
mingo today, although it is not called
war.
Promised Their Debts Should Be Paid
During the Roosevelt administration
| England, France and Germany, to all
| of whom Santo Domingo owed money
which it would not pay, asked the
United States to assume with them a
joint control over the revenues of the
little republic. President Roosevelt
could not entertain such proposition
because in a way it was violation Of
the Monroe Doctrine, although not lit
orally so. The American administra-
ton made an arrangement by which
the United States government was
| pledged to maintain the payments on
| the Dominican debt.
So it is that we have been collect
| ing revenue down there and paying off
| the republics debt as well as we
| could. The internal revenues were left
to .ae Dominican government itself
AS soon as it was found out that there
was money for the Dominican govern
ment in the internal taxes of the coun-
| try, four or five governments sprang
up, each one willing to fight the other
| for the spoils. This led to virtual
Intervention on the part of the pres
ent administration. OF course, the
Santo Domingo and bring about order
| but the fact that this little bit of
| republic, that really is not republic
at all, has protested to the powers of
Europe against the action of the