Evening star., 1954-10-03

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American countries. It also
will be indicated for letters to
Canada at the prevailing scent
rate.
In brief outline, the fifth
Presidents career may be sum-
married. as follows: He was
born in Westmoreland County,
Va, April %, 1853, and was
educated by Parson Archibald
Campbell and at the College Of
William and Mary. At 18 he
enlisted as a lieutenant in a
Virginia regiment of the Con-
tinental line. Present at the
battles of Harlem, White Plains
and Trenton, he was wounded
at the last of these engage
ments. Later he was assigned
to the staff of the Earl of
Stirling as an aide with the
rank of major. He saw further
fighting at the Brandywine,
Germantown and Monmouth
and attracted the favorable
notice of George Washington.
From 1880 to 1888 he studied
law with Thomas Jefferson, and
the friendship thus formed
continued as long as both men
lived.
Monroe's political activities
began with his election to the
Virginia Legislature in 1882
and to the Congress of the
Confederation in 1888. His
interest in the West was
increased, if not originally
aroused. by two trips into it
in 1884 and 1785. He took
part in the Annapolis Confer
ence of 1885 and the Virginia
State Convention called to rat
lfy the Federal Constitution in
1888. In the latter gathering
he assumed conservative po-
Sition. opposing "the tendency
toward Capitalization which
he believed to be involved"
After ratification, he ran for
Congress against James Madi-
son and was defeated. In
1890, however, he was chosen
member of the United States
Senate, where he served until
appointed minister to France
in 1874. His stay abroad on
this occasion brought him little
satisfaction. Recalled in 1896,
he was elected Governor of
Virginia in 1899 and held the
post until December, 1902.
Then President Jefferson sent
him to Paris with Robert R.
Livingston to negotiate a treaty
for the free navigation of the
Mississippi. What followed was
the acquisition Of 1.-The whole
vast territory ceded to France
by Spain"-the Louisiana Pur-
chase.
An effort to liquidate differ
enceS with the Spanish crown
took Monroe to Madrid-"an
impossible task" In 1905 he
was in London trying to settle
vexing disputes which had
arisen between the United
States and Great Britain. The
treaty he finally signed was
so unsatisfactory to Jefferson
that it was withheld from sub
mission to the Senate. Re-
turning home in 1906, Monroe
again crossed political swords
with Madison, opposing him
for the presidency-and re-
ceiving not a single vote in
the Electoral College. BY
March, 1911, Madison, needing
his influence in Virginia, where
he again had been chosen
Governor, asked Monroe to be
his Secretary of State and
Monroe accepted. When his
endeavors to reach an under
standing with Britain on the
Orders in Council failed, Mon
roe prepared the report to the
House of Representatives which
led to a formal declaration of
war in June, 1912. From Au-
gust, 1914 to March, 1915,
the Secretary of State also
was Secretary of War and thus
shared in the credit for the
victories at Plattsburgh and
New Orleans.
Monroe now at last was in
line for the presidency. He
gained the summit of his am
bition as candidate of the
Democratic Republican Party
in 1916 and was reelected in
1920. His administration still
is known as "the era of good
feeling" Florida was acquired
in 1919. the Missouri Compro-
mise concerning slavery in the
West was agreed upon in 1920
and the Monroe Doctrine was
promulgated in 1923. In the
last of these he had the CO.
operation of John Quincy Ad-
ans as his Secretary of State.
The principal affirmation of
the doctrine was that the
United States could not view
an interposition for oppress-
ing" the Latin-American re-
publics 'in any other light
than as a manifestation of
an unfriendly disposition"
Monroe further declared: "The
American continents should
not longer be subjects for any
new European colonial settle
ment."
Leaving the presidential of
flee in poverty, Monroe served
as chairman of the Virginia
Constitutional Convention in
1929 and removed to New York
to reside with a daughter and
her husband in 1880. He died
on July 4, 1831-the 55th an
niversary of the proclamation
OF the Declaration of Inde-
pendence and the fifth ami
versary Of the death of Thomas
Jefferson and the daath ~