The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-12-01
THE UNITED STATES AND
IT'S RECORD

1T 'a IL e
The record of the United States in
dealing with foreign countries Is a
clean record, excepting perhaps in
the case with Mexico. Our dealings
with Mexico have been criticized
and in some respects are indefen-
sible. But on the other hand the
conduct of Mexico thru long periods
in fact all the periods of their ma
tional existence has been very trv-
ing to the government Of the United
States. 1t has imposed upon us SO
{ n,rageously in not paying its debts
that when we have on occasions gone
down there and forced a settlement
we have made her pay for some of
the outrages OF the past. In that re-
spect it takes a careful analysis OF
the whole situation for the past hun
dred years Is see the justice Of our
transactions in Mexico. Blc aside
from that we have always followed
the policy of Winding our own af-
fairs and OF dealing with justice and
generosity with other nations. We
have always claimed tht we did not
want to gain territory by conquest,
and when we have gained any we
have gained it by purchase. We have
always disclaimed the desire to &C
quire new territory thru wars or thru
any but peaceful means and we have
made good on that claim. We
negotiated the northwest boundary
with Canada, we cleaned up Cuba
and gave it back to the Cubans, we
are cleaning up the Philippines and
will give them back to the Philip
pinos. In the year 1900 we proved
our disinterestedness by stepping in
and helping to stop the partition OF
China and preserving the Chinese
government. When the combined
armies of the several nations invaded
China for the. purpose Of restoring
peace and order after the greed Of
the several nations in China had
stirred up the populace to riots we
declined to accept our share of the
indemnity collected from China. In
that case the United States merely
accepted this indemnity Of some mil
lions of dollars and then turned 1t
back to China, thus setting an ex-
ample of not only absolute integrity,
but declining to take money to cover
our own expenses, for the armed
forces we sent to China to help China
to put down their rebellion. Other
nations accepted the indemnity and
in the case of Germany did lot Of
pillaging besides while their army
was in China. They did that under
the direct instructions of the kaiser,
who made a speech at the head of
the army before it started for China,
and he told them to leave your
mark on China so that the Chinese
for a thousand years will tremble
when they hear the name of Ger
many" When the Spanish-American
war was in progress and the Sand
witch islands finding themselves too
weak nation to sustain their gov
eminent alone applied for permits
sion to be annexed to the United
States, there was an opportunity for
America to acquire some new ter
ritory without cost, and at the same
time to secure a very desirable naval
base in the Pacific ocean. Any other
nation on earth would have jumped
at the chance, but America con-
sidered the matter and replied that
it was contrary to her policy Of &C
quiring territory. She did not care
to launch out in imperialism and
overseas possession, but she had only
taken over the Philippines for the
purpose of helping them out and es-
tablishing their liberty, and the Of
fer of Hawaii to give herself to
America was declined.
Then the ruler of the island,
Queen Lii (Lilianiokalani) visited
the United States, called on official
Washington and asked them to re-
consider the matter, which they did.
1t was submitted to the people OF
the United States in campaign and
finally the gift was accepted. Thus
we came into possession Of the ter
ritory Of Hawaii. In all these acts
we have proven to the world that we
were not out for conquest, nor grab
bling new territory. President Hard
ing expressed our position exactly In
his opening speech before the present
peace conference when he said we
wished only to be left alone; that we
do not wish to disturb other nations
or acquire their territory, or to take
anything that they had except in pur-
chase at the price made satisfactory
to them. All of these things have
proven to the world that America Ii
on the square, and that it can be
trusted to do what it says it will.
During President ROOsevelt's al,
ministration we made treaty with
Great Britain regarding the Panama
canal, greeting that the ships of all
nations should be permitted to pass
thru the canal on absolutely equal
terms of tolls. In consideration OF
that agreement Great Britain yielded
whatever right she had to the canal
zone and left 1t to the United States
to build and operate the canal. Az
soon as it was put into operation we
passed a law exempting our own
coastwise vessels from paying any
tolls at all, thus violating the treaty
with Great Britain. England pro.
tested and we reconsidered the mat
ter and saw that we were wrong and
few years ago repealed the law g
that the coastwise ships OF. the