Evening star., 1933-04-30
MONROE DOCTRINE STATUS
IS CHANGED BY ROOSEVELT
Ceases to Be One-Sided, Exclusive Policy
of U. S. by Presidents Address tosLatin
Diplomats on Pan-American Day.

Doctrine. adhered to their exclusive
Ownership" Of it, which. In their 1udg--
ment, gave them the right to change 1t
at their will. And Latin Americans have
learned, long ago, to regard the doc
trine in this light.
It Is true that President Wilson once
expressed a desire to bring about
change in that position. But never BE-
fore has a Chief Executive Of the United
States ofncially called the Monroe Doc
trine, as President Franklin D. Roose-
welt did the other day, q "Pan-Ameri-
can doctrine OF continental self-de-
fense"
The change Is 50 complete, so fun
damental, as to be almost emazing.
Yet, 1t Is in accord with the celebration
in the Democratic platform of last year,
pledging cooperation with the nations
of the Western Hemisphere to main
tain the spirit Of the Monroe Doctrine"
an unprecedented pledge which passed
unnoticed in the deluge of economic
and social issues, outstanding.
Abuses Are Repudiated.
Mind you, I am not stressing that
| part Of President Roosevelts address in
which he stated that the Monroe Doc
trine was and is directed at the main
| tenance Of independence by the peoples
of the continent" and that "the in
dependence of each Republic must rec
ognize the independence of every other
Republic which may be taken as re-
pudiating the old Interpretation Of the
doctrine under which interventions and
other acts of force were committed IN
the Caribbean region. These abuses Of
the Monroe Doctrine have already been
repudiated by previous statesmen Of
| this country who are endeavoring to
take the Doctrine back to the original
| principles of President Monroe.
But President Roosevelt, in his Pan
| American address, out-Monroed Mon
roe. His Interpretation of the Monroe
Doctrine corresponds more to the early
Latin American conception of it than
to the original ideas of President Mon
roe.
| It Is a common and generally admit
ted belief, both here and in Latin Amer
lea, that the original plan of President
Monroe was that Of continental un-
derstanding for the defense Of the ter
ritory and republican institutions of all
the Independent nations Of the Western
Hemisphere.
Nothing is further from the truth.
What President Monroe wanted was
precisely what his successors, from
John Quincy Adams on, thought Of the
| uOCtl AlC-tlldC ~ Wno 04A0 ciAOd4o VIC q
purely national policy Of the United
States, its Interpretation and applica-
ton being reserved exclusively to this
country. He meant it to be so, and to-
gether with Adams, Henry Clay Daniel
Webster and other distinguished states
men of the time, he resisted most en-
phatically the efforts made by Latin
American representatives to transform
the Monroe pronouncemcSt into con-
tinental, obligatory compact.
It was the Latin American statesmen
of the epoch with Simon Bolivar at
the head, who thought of the Monroe
Doctrine as continental pan-American
alliance for self defense. Repeatedly,
they suggested the change to the Wash
| ington Government, all their attempts
failing before the cold and realistic
isolation theory of their Northern COL
leagues. The two conceptions. in open
conflict. finally came to clash when
the Panama Cangress, convoked by
Bolivar in 1926. tried again to con-
| tinentalize the Monroe Doctrine.
| It was in connection with the Pam
anna Congress that President Adams
stated that the Monroe pronounce
ment meant that leach should guard
by its own means" against Euro
pean attacks and that each American
republic should maintain this principle
in Its own territory" and protect its
own soil" He added that these had
also been the views Of his predecessor.
President Monroe, whom he served as
Secretary of State.
| Urged Common Defense.
The Panama treaties suggested by
Bolivar. on the other hand. concluded
after the wish had been expressed by
Latin Americans to convert the Mon
roe pronouncement into a continental
pact, called for Defensive common
support of the sovereignty and inde-
pendence of each of the states OF
America against all foreign domina-
ton"
1t is the original Latin American. the
Bolivarian conception of the Monroe
Doctrine, then, that President Roosevelt
had in mind when he called this
"Pan-American doctrine of continental
self defense"
OF course, there is still quite a dis
tance to the complete fulfillment OF the
Bolivarian dream. which was that Of an
oh'ioation compact of alliance for con-
tnental self-defense The new Roose-
welt Interpretation of the doctrine has
not given this a contractual nature.
But it certainly is more in spirit with
the Bolivarian ideal than with the
original views of Monroe. Adams and
the other Northern statesmen.
It is one step toward the Bolivarian
pan -Americanism, which is the ideal
pan -Americanism of equal rights and
mutual obligations. and quite long
step away from the old worn-out. un-
fair conception of a unilateral, self-im-
posed Monroe Doctrine at the exclusive
service Of Uncle Sam.