The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1923-05-02
that the Republican congress had at
tempted to mulct the people.
Monroe Doctrine Centenary.

that the Republican congress had at
tempted to mulct the people.
Monroe Doctrine Centenary.
This is the Monroe doctrines
"Year of a Hundred Years." 1t
was a century ago that james Mon
roe formulated the doctrine which mas
been accepted as a sort Of spiritual
law by the American people, and
which today is forming one of the
big subjects in the council of the
representatives of Pan-AInerican coun-
tries assembled in convention in Chile.
Visitors to Washington seem to
think thai the east room Of the White
House is the historic chamber Of the
old building. 1t is not so by any
manner of means. At the head of the
main flight of the White House stairs
is the room in which the Monroe doc
trine was formulated by President
Monroe and in which he discussed its
purport, Significance and likely effects,
with John Quincy Adams, his secre-
tary of state, who two years later
succeeded him in the presidency. 9th
er conferences of high American mo-
ment were held in this room.
In Los Angeles, Cal, a rather ambi-
tious exposition is to be held this year
to commemorate the signing of the
Monroe doctrine. 1t is likely that in
other places the actual date Of the
attaching of the Presidents signature
to the doctrine will be marked by eel
ebrations. The doctrine was embodied
in Afonroe's message to congress early
in December, 1923.
There is a quiet family hotel on
Capitol Hill, the upper part of which
rests on the foundations and lower
walls of a great residence built in the
year 1913 by a man named Law.
James Monroe was a frequent visitor
in the Law household and it was there
that he had conferences with several
of his cabinet officers and notably
with Albert Gallatin, who later was
minister to France during a part of
the Monroe administration.
Story Of the Doctrine.
Presumably the reasons for the pro-
nouncement of Monroe are well known
TO the American people, but a short
summary of the affairs at that time
may not be out of place.
Brazil had declared its ~independ-
ence of Portugal. a revolution in
Spain had taken place and the Do
minion of Peru was lost. Russia,
Austria and Prussia had formed in
1915 what was known as the Holy
Alliance, and this alliance was pre-
sumed to be threatening to help Spain
recover It's South American colonies
which had declared their independ-
ence.
James Monroe believed hat it was
his duty to make a pronouncement the
effect of which would be to prevent
interference by European powers In
the affairs of the several American
states. The vital part of the Monroe
doctrine is TO be found in these words {:
1.-THE American continents should no
longer be subjects for any European
colonial settlement"
AS popularity understood, the Monroe
doctrine meant a political protection
and a guarantee of freedom from
European interference to all states of
North and South America.
GaIIatin's Diary EnIlghtening.
1t was while sitting in a room of the
little hotel in which Monroe once dis
cussed the preliminaries of his great
doctrine that the writer of this article
read recently the diary of James Gal
latin, who was the son of Albert Gal
latin, n time secretary of the United
States treasury, later one of the COM
mlssioners TO the Client conference,
out of which came the treaty of peace
between the United States and Great
Britain which brought an end to the
War of 1872, and later still James
Monroe's minister TO France in the
days of Louis XVIII after Napoleon
had been exiled to st. Helena.
James Gallatin, who wrote the
diary, was his fathers secretary and
when he died in 1875 he gave the diary
to his grandson with instructions that
if it ever were printed it should not
appear for a good many years.
The diary has been printed and 1t
is an enlightening human document.
1t gives personal glimpses of Monroe,
John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and
other American statesmen OF the time,
which are Of exceeding interest. Read
ing this diary in a room which may
once have beer occupied temporarily
by Monroe and Gallatin while in on
ference, one was able to make the
present almost as the past.
James Monroe left the presidency a
poor man. After leaving the presi-
dency he lived a part of the time in
Virginia and a part of the time in
New York City. The house in which
he died in New York is still standing,
and there is a movement today to
restore and preserve 1t.