East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1919-07-18
TuE MONROE DOCTRINE
(COntinucd.)

Urine having official sanction has ever
been given except by Presidents or
Secretaries of state; and, except in
the few concrete cases that have
required its application, they have
generally contented themselves with
describing its historical origin and the
general principle on which it Is
founded. Even the Senate, in ratlfy-
ing the Hague Convention of 1907,
and i'll seeking TO reserve the Mon
roe Doctrine, referred to 1t as our
traditional attitude toward purely
American questions leaving the
character of that attitude" as much
subject to question by the signatories
as it had been before the reservation
was made. And, although, on the
one hand. Secretary Olney in 1895, in
the Venezuelan controversy, said:
To-day the United States is practic-
ally sovereign on this continent and
its fiat is law upon tire subjects to
which 1t confines its interpretations" on
the other hand. President Roosevelt
in 1901 said that the Monroe Doctrine
did not prevent foreign nations from
collecting by force debts owing by
American nations, and in 1866 this
country refused to protect Chilli, when
Spain was bomharding her ports, be-
cause it would not intervene in wars
between European and American
states 'if they are not pushed -.
I to the political point"
Difficult TO Define
These references serve to point out
the difficulty of an attempt in any dip
lomatc document to define the Monroe
Doctrine.
But however inaccurate ii may be
to refer to the Monroe Doctrine as n
regional understanding Article
XXI correctly describes it as "secur-
ing the maintenance of peace" 1t
was of the essence of the Doctrine
that foreign nations should not be per-
mitted to implant among the nations
of the Western Hemisphere autocratic
principles of government lest they
should become a menace to the free
institutions of the United States. and
| we might again have to resort to
arms for the maintenance of the prin-
ciples settled by the dominance of this
country in the affairs of the Western
Hemisphere has undoubtedly saved
It from repeated exploitation at the
hands of European and Asiatic ma
tions. The frequent revolutions in
| South and Central America, often ac-
in the name of liberty by disIoyal
and inscriptions dictators would
have afforded tempting opportunities
to European autocratices at small ex-
rense and by the use of a merely
nominal force, to secure a permanent
foothold upon this continent, gradu-
ally establishing colonies which would
have become menace to our republic
can institutions, or at least a source
of national disquietude. All of this
has been prevented without the use
in n single instance of military force
by the Monroe Doctrine, which is,
therefore, aptly described in Article
XXI as securing the maintenance of
peace"
A Possible Reservation
But if the Senate is of the opinion
that the use of the words regional
understanding creates any doubt as
to the meaning of Article XXI it
can. in ratifyins the treaty make a
declaration that its action it taken un-
der the reservation that the Covenant
is to be so construed as to leave the
Monroe Doctrine unaffected. In view
of the general purpose and effect of
the League, referred to above. such
a reservation would not be regarded
as a substantial amendment of the
Covenant. Upon this point the official
commentary of the delegates of Great /
Britain upon the revised Covenant is
particularly pertinent. They refer to
the Monroe Doctrine and similar un-
derstandings as having "shown them |
selves" in history to be not instru- I
ments of national ambition but guar
antees of peace" and add: a.
"The origin of the Monroe Doc
trine is well known. 1T was pro-
claimed in 1929 to prevent Amer
lea from becoming a theatre for /
the intrigues of European absolu-
fis1n. At first n principle of Amer
lean foreign policy it has become
a national understanding and it is
not illeeitimate for the peopIe of
the United States to saw that the
Covenant should recognize that
fact.
I'm its essence If is consistent
with the spirit of the Covenant,
and, indeed. the principles of the
Ieague as EXPRESSED in Article X