Deming graphic. (Deming, N.M.) 1903-1948, 1920-05-04
WHAT IS AMERICAN TRADITIONAL POLICY?
Short Analysis Of the Factors That Have Determined Policy
Which Early Adopted
BE the american Of Lifev

/ any ltIrOu NilO iut lutHlr
of international polity Of President
Wilson without reservation Is unfair TO
the great world citizen. He thinks and
acts on a higher social plane than the
rest OF us and we are unable TO fol-
low him. However. we do feel that his
Ipuerly intellectual conceptions OF a
great world order. subject to the direc
tion of super-philOsopher, lacks
heart and practibility. "rhis is my
own. my native land" still has power
to awaken us to dynamic emotion, and
we grow cold and uninterested when
we are asked to enroll ourselves as citi-
zens of worldwide political body.
Granting that the president holds
higher and truer views of international
policy than Washington, or jefferson.
or jackson, or Lincoln, still must he
fail in this age and generation. Fu-
ture generations may hail him as a
} great moral leader, misunderstood and
| rejected still the bare fact remains
that he asks the United States to halt
and fnce about in the path of its great
= ness. Hating and facing about, like
r a soldier at command. is painful for II
Z nation II not altogether impossible. IL
1 involves abandonment OF all present
= concepts of the destiny Of America II
o means the loss Of momentum Ia a dead
G stop while the new concepts and will
d TO move In the new direction are being
o formed then the acceleration before
'. moving smoothly toward the new goal.
e Americans have fully decided that they
% will not lend their sanction to the pro-
o posed new course which they cannot
y know is more logical than their pres
It ent one. Hence they have definitely
h repudiated the leadership of their chief
e executive
p In the following paragraphs no al
lusion is made to present day events
le In the hope that we may arrive at an
n understanding Of the fundamental rea'
Fl sons for our aversion to the Wilson
IN policies Of International relations:
The political heresy Of President
Wilson is apparent, not only In hi
ldeaistic attempt t. turn American
interest and energy toward Europe
X barren field-but in his obstruction o
" normal American expansion in Nortl
N America-a rich and virgin sphere.
10 For eight years Americans have helC
their breath, politically speaking. be
ys cause of the suspension Of the yer,
no "law of American life" expansion
Is Eight years Is not Il long period, com
paratively, for race 10 suspend vitn
nj process, but II is growing irksome ant
i'm presently it will be impossible. Tn
70 race will revert to the practices oi
Iv which IL has flourished and grow
d great. Ethical considerations weigl
:. heavily oily with decadent peoples; tn
strong act and justify themselves II
best they can.
No sensible person can deny that tn
great American republic has flouriShe
II through its rapid expansion. Thi
steady acquisition Of new territory Il
s. the expense of other races has bee
IL constant. brought about by variet
IT. of causes or preteXts, according TO th
OF ethical viewpoint. Some OF this terri
" torial gain has been called wicked, bu
wv If wicked, IL proved fortunate and atle
US events and later apologists have full
Ill Justified the means.
I! To fully appreciate Hat the Flaw a
~ American life" is expansion, one onl
III has to follow the chronological recor
lis of territorial extension and note its el
fectS on the American people and th
course OF events In the new world.
ng No dreamer Of Ethiopian fancies Is s
ng lost in the clouds Of idealistic philoSoph
ns. that he would want TO say that tn
400 territory of the original revolutionar
ng stntes should have confined Anglo-Sa'
nd ons to a narrow strip on the Atlanti
at seabOard. leaving to other and possibl
he inferior races the destiny of Mort
to America.
ne The point to be made is this:
ng American expansion has, i'm the mali
hs been righteous and i'm the interests {
humanity. the continued application {
its principles is not only right but in
perative to the continued normal life {
rE the nation.
In these later years we have .deve
ld oped an ethical philosophy that, hov
III ever Socially attractive, is weak-an
m weakness means lurking destructo
ty President Wilson Is one OF the chit
10. expOnents of this vicious philosoph
n" and. because OF his position. has, in
10 very real sense stopped the free ci
culation of American life-blood.
nd Before proceeding further IL will /
re- necessary to recall that the Graphic hi
mr. inveighed against unprovoked aggre
ir sion. hut American expansion, due
A. press OF population will not long hes
In. tate at the artificial frontiers that no
protect the weak and scattering moi
grel Iatins. AS confined steam wou'
burst cardboard barriers, so will q
r,, mighty Anglo-Saxon race roll over
III considerable part Of that division {
North America which still bears u
'se name OF Mexico. IL is not an ethic'
hu question any more than gravitation
a the survival of species-purely m
ohanical. The "conqueSt''-if you wi
ms excuse the word-of this vast and pra
es. tically undeveloped territory bears
iV analogy TO the historical conquests !
pV- self-appointed super-men or supe
aN- races that have their inception in owe
on mastering ambition and greed. Pred
me tory individuals and races contend Il
ire the prizes of civilization: they woul
go sack Paris hut Mexico City would M
afford sufficient OOt