Evening star., 1937-04-09
BY PHILIP C. JESSUP.

BY PHILLIP L. JESSUP.
TO keep the country out of trouble
tn the right way" Secretary Of State
Root wrote to St. Loe Strachey in
1908, 'is the main object of diplo-
macy" But Root, unlike some other
Secretaries of State, was not content
appeared in his path; looking long
ahead, he planned paths in which
there were likely to be fewer hurdles
and devised methods for removing
hurdles when they appeared.
One of his first concerns was with
Latin America. THE South Ameri-
cans now hate u.s." he wrote to SEN
ator Tillman in 1905, largely be-
cause they think We dispise them and
try to bully them. 1 really like them
and intend to show it"
His predecessor, John Hay, for all
his charming and able qualities,
thought of the Latin Americans as
"dagoes" To Theodore Roosevelt, the
President of Venezeula was a vii
famous little monkey" Root himself
was frequently exasperated, partic-
d,
but he never let his evaporation be
translated into hasty action and he
avoided the common error of lecturing
our neighbors to the south on our own
virtues and their defects
Father of Good Neighbor' Policy.
With Joaquin Nabuco, the Brazil
ran Ambassador, as his stanch ally,
he set about to lay the foundations
for what is in these days called the
good neighbor' policy. He began by
shifting the social emphasis in Wash
1ngton so that the Latin American
diplomats were no longer sighted
He continued by restraining the fiery
T. r. from using the big stick when
ever. as Root described it, "the Gen.
nal American children" had AN
other attack of infantile disease,
whether scarlet fever, mumps, or
revolution, It is difficult to determine. I"
He reached climax with his tri-
nmphal tour of South America in
1905, the first Secretary of State to
show that attention to a pan-Ameri-
can conference and to set the prece-
dent which has since been wisely fol-
lowed. The keystone of our Latin
American policy" he said later, "is
anti-imperalism, and If we set one
foot of that basis we are gone"
Root had had his f1rst taste Of IN
ternational problems when he was
Secretary Of War. Due to the illness
of Secretary Of State John Hay, he
had borne the burden OF much Of the
negotiation attendant upon the in
ternational measures to reecue the e-
cations at Peiping during the Boxer
rebellion. He was largely responsible
for arranging the remission Of the
American share of the Boxer indem-
nifty, gesture for which the Chinese
people are still grateful. He took
over the War Department mainly for
the purpose OF administering the
islands which we had acquired from
Spain-Cuba, Puerto Rico and the
Philippines.
Created Cuban Republic.
Relying heavily on Gen Leonard
Wood, he brought the Cuban Republic
into existence, still tied to American
apron-strings, to be sure, by the
P1att amendment, but nevertheless
free and no colony of the United
States. He wrote for the Philippine
commission the instructions which are
model charter for colonial gov
eminent. Here again he displayed
rare administrative ability by full
delegation Of power and responsible
ty to William Howard Taft, then
president OF the Philippine commission.
Theodore Roosevelt had a flair for
international affairs, and before Root
took over the State Department had
already won for himself the Nobel
peace prize by ending the Russo
Japanese war. Root WAS never
bothered about his share of the credit
II the job was done as he thought it
ought to be done. He continued to
guide the President by humor, per-
suasion and irrefutable argument.
Roosevelt WAS irritated by the pnesi-
dental duty to send absurd and
fatuous" congratulations to his great
and good friends" who ruled other
nations. On one such occasion Root
wrote to him:
Il observe by a specimen of your
correspondence which is passing under
my eye that you are much excited over
the fact that her imperial highness
the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mavriki-
evna. consort of his imperial highness
the Grand Duke Constantinovitch was,
on the 18th of this month happily de-
livered OF daughter, who Is receiv-
ing the name of Vera.
Cites Wadsworth Bill.
Permit me to call your attention
to the difference between your treat
ment Of this interesting and important
topic and the letter written by you
when his royal highness the Hon.
James w. WadSworth, chairman of the
Committee on Agriculture of the House
OF Representatives, was delivered of a
beef bill"
When Root received 4 presidential
order forbidding work on Sunday in the
State Department, he wrote back:
would it be deemed proper If we
were TO do work on Sunday regard
ing the affairs of the Far East, where
1t Is already Monday, and transfer our
labors as Monday comes around and
Sunday recedes westward through the
Near East and Europe?"
We were long ago told on high au-
thority that there is no new thing
under the sun" The similarity be-
tween the problems which Root faced
in the State Department and those
which Secretary Hull faces now are
an evidence of this truth. Take, for
example, the problem Of protecting
prosecuted peoples abroad. In Roots
day the people Of the United States
were wrought up about the atrocities
In the Belgian Congo. 1t had been the
same with the japanese annexation Of
Korea
Many people," Mr.. Root remarked
later, ARE still angry because we did