Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-07-24
THE MONROE DOCTRINE
Continued

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No definition of the Monroe Doc
trine 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 rati-
flying the Hague Convention of 1907,
and in seeking to reserve the Mon
roe Doctrine, referred to it as our
traditional attitude toward purely
American questions" leaving the
character of that attitude" as much
subject to question by the signato-
ries as it had been before the re-
servation was made. And, although,
on the one hand, Secretary Olney
in 1895, in the Venezuelan contro-
versy, said; To-day the United
States is practically sovereign on
this continent and its fiat is law upon
the subjects to which it confines
its interposition; :" 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 ma
tions, and in 1866 this country refus-
ed to protect Chill when Spain was
bombarding her ports, because it
would not intervene in wars between
European and American state eff
they are not pushed Ito the politi
cal point"
Difficult to Define.
These references serve to point
out the difficulty of an attempt in
any diplomatic document to define
the Monroe Doctrine.
But however inaccurate it may be
to refer to the Monroe Doctrine as a
regional understanding, Article
XXI correctly describes it as "se-
curing the maintenance of peace"
1t was of the essence of the Doctrine
that foreign nations should not be
permitted to implant among the ma
tons Of the Western Hemisphere au-
tocratic principles of government lest
they should become menace to the
free institutions of the United States,
and we might again have to resort
to arms for the maintenance of the
principles settled by the Revolution
and in practice the dominance of
this Hemisphere has undoubtedly
saved it from repeated exploitation
at the hands of European and Ash
attic nations. The frequent revolu-
tons in South and Central America
often accompanied by the seizure Of
power in the name of liberty by dis
loyal and INSCRIPTIONS dictators
would have afforded tempting oppor
tunities to European autocracies a
small expense and by the use of {
merely nominal force, to secure {
! permanent foothold upon this con
tinent, gradually establishing colon.
les which would have become a men
ace to our republican institutions, OIL
at least source of national dis
quietude. All of this has been pre-.
vented without the use in a single
instance of military force by the
Monroe Doctrine, which is, therefore
aptly described in Article XXI as
securing the maintenance of peace. y
A Possible Reservation
But if the senate is of the opin.
ion that the use of the word region
al understanding" creates any doubt
as to the meaning of Article XXI, it
can, in ratifying the treaty, make a
declaration that it's action is taken
under the reservation that the Cove
nant 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