Through the Napoleonic wars the United States succeeded in keeping clear of European entanglements, but after the formation of the Holy Alliance, with its designs on the South and Central American republics which have thrown off the yoke of Spain, the situation changed and the peace and interests of this country were threatened through European activities extending all over this continent. President James Monroe, with the tacit approval of Great Britain, formulated the desire of the United States to exclude European interference and end European colonization on the soil of the Americas. In his message to Congress of December 2, 1823, paragraph 7, he thus announced the position which his administration had assumed in negotiations with Russia and other European powers: President Monroe's At the proposal of the Russian imperial government, made through the minister of the Emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the Minister of the United States at St. Petersburg, to arrange, by amicable negotiation, the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. A similar proposal has been made by his imperial majesty to the government of Great Britain, which has likewise been acceded to. The government of the United States has been desirous, by this friendly proceeding, of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the Emperor, and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his government. In the discussions to which this interest has given rise, and in the arrangements by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involveã, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. In a later paragraph of the same message President Monroe further said, referring to the possibility of an attempt on the part of the Holy Alliance to restore Spanish sovereignty over the revolted Spanish-American colonies: In the wars of the European powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defence. With the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments; and to the defence of our own which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States. The efforts of the United States to induce Great Britain to submit to arbitration its claim to territory on the eastern border of Venezuela, claimed also by Venezuela, resulted in an extended diplomatic The Olneythe correspondence, in Cleveland Exposition. of which Secretary Olney, in a letter to Lord Salisbury, expounded the view of the Monroe Doctrine held by this government. Among other things he said: course The foregoing enumeration not only shows the many instances wherein the rule in question has been affirmed and applied, but also demonstrates that the Venezuelan boundary controversy is in any view far within the scope and spirit of the rule as uniformly accepted and acted upon. A doctrine of American public law thus long and firmly established and supported could not easily be ignored in a proper case for its application, even were the considerations upon which it is founded obscure or questionable. No such objection can be made, however, to the Monroe Doctrine understood and defined in the manner already stated. It rests, on the contrary, upon facts and principles that are both intelligible and incontrovertible. That distance and three thousand miles of intervening ocean make any permanent political union between an European and an American state unnatural and inexpedient, will hardly be denied. But physical and geographical considerations are the least of the objections to such a union. Europe, as Washington observed, has a set of primary interests which are peculiar to herself. America is not interested in them and ought not to be vexed or complicated with them. Each great European power, for instance, to-day maintains enormous armies and fleets in self-defence and for protection against any other European power or powers. What have the states of America to do with that condition of things, or why should they be impoverished by wars or preparations for wars, with whose causes or results they can have no direct concern? If all Europe were to suddenly fly to arms over the fate of Turkey, would it not be preposterous that any The total receipts of the United Railways and Electric Company of Baltimore for the calendar year 1910 were $7,687,894 and the number of paying passengers carried daily averaged about 425 000 American state should find itself inextricably involved in the miseries and burdens of the contest? If it were, it would prove to be a partnership in the cost and losses of the struggle, but not in any ensuing benefits. What is true of the material, is no less true of what may be termed the moral interests involved. Those pertaining to Europe are peculiar to her and are Moral Interests entirely diverse from those pertaining and peculiar to America. Europe as a whole is monarchical, and, with the single important exception of the Republic of France, is committed to the monarchical principle. America, on the other hand, is devoted to the exactly opposite principle-to the idea that every people has an inalienable right of self-government-and in the United States of America has furnished to the world the most conspicuous and conclusive example and proof of the excellence of free institutions, whether from the standpoint of national greatness or of individual happiness. It cannot be necessary, however, to enlarge upon this phase of the subjectwhether moral or material interests be considered, it cannot but be universally conceded that those of Europe are irreconcilably diverse from those of America, and that any European control of the latter is necessarily both incongruous and injurious. If, however, for the reasons stated the forcible intrusion of European powers into American politics is to be deprecated-if, as it is to be deprecated, it should be resisted and prevented-such resistance and prevention must come from the United States. They would come from it, of course, were it made the point of attack. But, if they come at all, they must also come from it when any other American state is attacked, since only the United States has the strength adequate to the exigency. Is it true, then, that the safety and welfare of the United States are so concerned with the maintenance of the independence of every American state as against any European power as to justify and require the interposition of the United States whenever that independence is endangered? The question can be candidly answered in but one way. The states of America, south as well as north, by geographical proximity, by natural sympathy, by similarity of governmental constitutions, are friends and allies, commercially and politically, of the United States. To allow the subjugation of any of them by an European power is, of course, to completely reverse that situation and signifies the loss of all the advantages incident to their natural relations to us. But that is not all. Cause of Popular The people of the United States have a vital interest in the cause of popular selfgovernment. They have secured the right for themselves and their posterity at the cost of infinite blood and treasure. They have realized and exemplified its beneficent operation by a career unexampled in point of natural greatness or individual felicity. They believe it to be for the healing of all nations, and that civilization must either advance or retrograde accordingly as its supremacy is extended or curtailed. Imbued with these sentiments, the people of the United States might not impossibly be wrought up to an active propaganda in favor of a cause so highly valued, both for themselves and for mankind. But the age of the Crusades has passed, and they are content with such assertion and defence of the right of popular self-government as their own security and welfare demand. It is in that view more than in any other that they believe it not to be tolerated that the political control of an American state shall be forcibly assumed by an European power. The mischiefs apprehended from such a source are none the less real because not immediately imminent in any specific case, and are none the less to be guarded against because the combination of circumstances that will bring them upon us can not be predicted. The civilized States of Christendom deal with each other on substantially the same principles that regulate the conduct of individuals. The greater its enlightenment, the more surely every state perceives that its permanent interests require it to be governed by the immutable principles of right and justice. Each, nevertheless, is only too liable to succumb to the temptations offered by seeming special opportunities for its own aggrandizement, and each would rashly imperil its own safety were it not to remember that for the regard and respect of other states it must be largely dependent upon its own strength and power. To-day the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition. Why? It is not because of the pure friendship or good will felt for it. It is not simply by reason of its high character as a civilized state, nor because wisdom and justice and equity are the invariable characteristics of the dealings of the United States. It is because in addition to all other grounds, its infinite resources combined with its isolated position render it master of the situation and practically invulnerable as against any or all other powers. All the advantages of this superiority are at once imperilled if the principle be admitted that European powers may convert American states into colonies or provinces of their own. The principle would be eagerly National availed of, and every power doing so would immediately acquire a Security base of military operations against us. What one power was perInvolved. mitted to do could not be denied to another, and it is not inconceivable that the struggle now going on for the acquisition of Africa might be transferred to South America. If it were, the weaker countries would unquestionably be soon absorbed, while the ultimate result might be the partition of all South America between the various European powers. "The disastrous consequences to the United States of such a condition of things are obvious. The loss of prestige, of authority, and of weight in the councils of the family of nations, would be among the least of them. Our only real rivals in peace as well as enemies in war would be found located at our very doors. Thus far in our history we have been spared the burdens and evils of immense standing armies and all the other accessories of huge warlike establishments, and the exemption has largely contributed to our national greatness and wealth, as well as to the happiness of every The value of natural gas produced in the United States in 1882 was $215,000. By 1884 the production reached a value of $1,460,000, and in 1909 alued at $82 208.041 citizen. But, with the powers of Europe permanently encamped on American soil, the ideal conditions we have thus far enjoyed cannot be expected to continue. We, too, must be armed to the teeth; we, too, must convert the flower of our male population into soldiers and sailors, and by withdrawing them from the various pursuits of peaceful industry, we, too, must practically annihilate a large share of the productive energy of the nation. are How a greater calamity than this could overtake us it is difficult to see. Nor our just apprehensions to be allayed by suggestions of the friendliness of European powers of their good will toward us, of their disposition, should they be our neighbors, to dwell with us in peace and harmony. The people of the United States have learned in the school of experience to what extent the relations of states to each other depend not upon sentiment nor principle, but upon selfish interest. They will not soon forget that, in their hour of distress, all their anxieties and burdens were aggravated by the possibility of demonstrations against their national life on the part of powers with whom they had long maintained the most harmonious relations. They have yet in mind that France seized upon the apparent opportunity of our Civil War to set up a monarchy in the adjoining state of Mexico. They realize that had France and Great Britain held important South American possessions, to work from and to benefit, the temptation to destroy the predominance of the great Republic in this hemisphere by furthering its dismemberment might have been irresistible. From that grave peril they have been saved in the past and may be saved again in the future through the operation of the sure, but silent, force of the doctrine proclaimed by President Monroe. To abandon it, on the other hand, disregarding both the logic of the situation and the facts of our past experience, would be to renounce a policy which has proved both an easy defence against foreign aggression and a prolific source of internal progress and prosperity. In connection with the settlement of the claims of various countries against Venezuela, precipitated by the pacific blockade by British, German and Italian vessels of Venezuela's ports, President President Roosevelt's Roosevelt said in his message to Congress of DecemAnnouncement of 1902. ber 2, 1902: "No independent nation in America need have the slightest fear of aggression from the United States. It behooves each one to maintain order within its own borders and to discharge its just obligations to foreigners. When this is done they can rest assured that, be they strong or weak, they have nothing to dread from outside interference." The United States Senate passed on August 2, 1912, a resolution giving warning against the occupation or possession of Senate Resolution, 1912. harbors on the American continents by foreign governments through the medium of private corporations and associations. THE SIXTY-SECOND CONGRESS. SECOND SESSION, DECEMBER 4, 1911, TO AUGUST 26, 1912. The second session of the Sixty-second Congress was marked by great legislative activity, but relatively little accomplishment. The two houses were out of harmony with each other on many issues, and when they agreed they were often at odds with the President. Two tariff bills were passed and both were vetoed. Three others were left pigeonholed in conference. A wool schedule revision bill passed the House on April 1, 1912, by a vote of 189 to 92. A substitute bill, identical with the La Follette bill of 1911, passed the Senate on July 25 by a vote of 40 to 26. As agreed to in conference, it was vetoed by President Taft on August 9. The House repassed the measure on August 13 over the veto by a vote of 174 to 80. The Senate on August 16 failed to repass it by a vote of 39 to 36. The House passed a metal schedule revision bill on January 29, 1912. by a vote of 210 to 109. The Senate passed it on May 30 by a vote of 35 to 22. It was in conference for a long time and then went to the President. He vetoed it on August 14, and the same day the House repassed it by a vote of 173 to 83. The Senate failed to repass it on August 16 by a vote of 32 to 39. A cotton schedule revision bill was passed by the House on August 2 by a vote of 156 to 72. It passed the Senate on August 14 by a vote of 36 to 19, an amendment repealing the Canadian reciprocity act being attached to it. At the close of the session it was still in conference committee. The House passed on March 16, 1912, an income-excise tax measure by a vote of 250 to 40. The Senate passed it on July 26 by a vote of 37 to 18, attaching to it amendments repealing the Canadian reciprocity law and creating a permanent tariff commission. At the close of the session it was still in conference committee. The House passed on March 15, 1912, a free sugar bill by a vote of 198 to 103. It passed the Senate on July 27 by a vote of 52 to 3, amended so as to make a moderate reduction in existing sugar duties. At the close of the ses In 1909 each person in the United States ate 79 pounds of sugar, as against 89 pounds in 1879. sion it was still in conference. A chemical schedule revision bill passed by the House was defeated in the Senate on July 3, 1912, by a vote of 32 to 26. President Taft twice vetoed the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Appropriation act because of riders in it objectionable to him, and once vetoed the Army Appropriation act. Congress finally yielded to his objections and struck out the offending legislation. The most important action of the session was the submission of an amendment to the federal Constitution providing for the direct election of United States Senators. The House of Representatives passed on April 13, 1911, an amendment which made elections to the Senate direct, and also deprived Congress of any right to regulate them. The Senate on June 12, 1911, passed the resolution in an amended form, retaining federal control of the methods followed in electing Senators. The resolution remained in conference the rest of the first session. The conferrees could come to no agreement; on May 13, 1912, the House concurred in the Senate's amendment by a vote of 237 to 39. The vote on the original House resolution was 296 to 16, and the vote in the Senate on the amended resolution was 64 to 24. Among the acts of consequence passed at the second session were the following: Regulating traffic through the Panama Canal and providing for the government of the Canal Zone, regulating radio communication and radio equipment on steamers, increasing pensions, abolishing pension_agencies, carrying out the fur seal fisheries convention with Great Britain, Japan and Russia; terminating the treaty of commerce with Russia, establishing a legislature in Alaska, taxing the manufacture of white phosphorus matches, enlarging the parcels post, creating an army reserve and consolidating the staff corps of the army, regulating salvage at sea, extending the federal eight-hour law and amending the copyright law. On July 13, 1912, the Senate voted by 55 to 28 to declare invalid the election of William Lorimer, of Illinois. On March 27 the Senate confirmed the title of Isaac Stephenson, of Wisconsin, by a vote of 40 to 34. On July 11 the House of Representatives adopted by a vote of 222 to 1 a resolution directing the impeachment of Judge Robert W. Archbold, of the Commerce Court. Charges were presented in the Senate, but trial was postponed until the next session. The Senate on March 7 ratified the general arbitration treaties with Great Britain_and_France, after amending them so as greatly to weaken their force. The President refrained from proclaiming them because of the modifications. The Senate also passed, on August 2, a resolution giving warning against the occupation or possession of harbors on the American continents by foreign governments through the medium of private corporations or associations. ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS. A joint resolution which became effective on May 13, 1912, submitted to the legislatures of the states the following proposed amendment to the federal Constitution: Constitutional Amendment "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, elected by the people therefor for six years, and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures. "When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. "This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution." An act approved August 24, 1912, provided that the zone of land and land under water of the width of ten miles extending to the distance of five miles on each side of the centre line of the route of the canal now being conPanama structed thereon, which zone begins in the Caribbean Sea three Canal Act. marine miles from mean low-water mark and extends to and across the Isthmus of Panama into the Pacific Ocean to the distance of three marine miles from mean low-water mark, excluding therefrom the cities of Panan.a and Colon and their adjacent harbors located within said zone, as excepted in the treaty with the Republic of Panama dated November 18, 1903, but including all islands within said described zone, and in addition thereto the group of islands in the Bay of Panama named Perico, Naos, Culebra and Flamenco, and any lands and waters outside of said limits above described which are necessary or convenient or from time to time may become necessary or convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation or protection of the said canal or of any auxiliary canals, lakes or other works necessary or convenient for the The third largest city in Belgium is Liege, which on December 31, 1909, had a population of 176,893. construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation or protection of said canal, the use, occupancy or control whereof were granted to the United States by the treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama, the ratifications of which were exchanged on February 26, 1904, shall be known and designated as the Canal Zone, and the canal now being constructed thereon shall hereafter be known and designated as the Panama Canal. The President is authorized, by treaty with the Republic of Panama, to acquire any additional land or land under water not already granted, or which was excepted from the grant, that he may deem necessary for the operation, maintenance, sanitation or protection of the Panama Canal, and to exchange any land or land under water not deemed necessary for such purposes for other land or land under water which may be deemed necessary for such purposes, which additional land or land under water so acquired shall become part of the Canal Zone. All laws, orders, regulations and ordinances adopted and promulgated in the Canal Zone by order of the President for the government and sanitation of the Canal Zone and the construction of the Panama Canal are hereby ratified and confirmed as valid and binding until Congress shall otherwise provide. The existing courts established in the Canal Zone by executive order are recognized and confirmed to continue in operation until the courts provided for in this act shall be established. The President is authorized to declare by executive order that all land and land under water within the limits of the Canal Zone are necessary for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation or protection of the Panama Canal, and to extinguish, by agreement when advisable, all claims and titles of adverse claimants and occupants. Upon failure to secure by agreement title to any such parcel of land or land under water the adverse claim or occupancy shall be disposed of and the title thereto secured in the United States and compensation therefor fixed and paid in the manner provided in the aforesaid treaty with the Republic of Panama, or such modification of such treaty as may hereafter be made. When in the judgment of the President the construction of the Panama Canal shall be sufficiently advanced toward completion to render the further services of the Isthmian Canal Commission unnecessary the Presiednt is A Governor for authorized by executive order to discontinue the Isthmian Canal the Zone. Commission, which, together with the present organization, shall then cease to exist; and the President is authorized thereafter to complete, govern and operate the Panama Canal and govern the Canal Zone, or cause them to be completed, governed and operated, through a governor of the Panama Canal and such other persons as he may deem competent to discharge the various duties connected with the completion, care, maintenance, sanitation, operation, government and protection of the canal and Canal Zone. If any of the persons appointed or employed as aforesaid shall be persons in the military or naval service of the United States, the amount of the official salary paid to any such person shall be deducted from the amount of salary or compensation provided by or which shall be fixed under the terms of this act. The governor of the Panama Canal shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, commissioned for a term of four years, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. He shall receive a salary of $10,000 a year. All other persons necessary for the completion, care, management, maintenance, sanitation, government, operation and protection of the Panama Canal and Canal Zone shall be appointed by the President, or by his authority, removable at his pleasure, and the compensation of such persons shall be fixed by the President, or by his authority, until such time as Congress may by law regulate the same, but salaries or compensation fixed hereunder by the President shall in no instance exceed by more than 25 per centum the salary or compensation paid for the same or similar services to persons employed by the government in continental United States. Upon the completion of the Paanma Canal the President shall cause the same to be officially and formally opened for use and operation. Before the completion of the canal, the Commission of Arts may make report to the President of its recommendation regarding the artistic character of the structures of the canal, such report to be transmitted to Congress. Coastwise Shipping Free- The President is hereby authorized to prescribe and from time to time change the tolls that shall be levied by the government of the United States for the use of the Panama Canal; provided, that no tolls, when prescribed as above, shall be changed unless six months' notice thereof shall have been given by the President by proclamation. No tolls shall be levied upon vessels engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States. Section 4132 of the Revised Statutes is amended to read as follows: "Section 4132. Vessels built within the United States and belonging wholly to citizens thereof, and vessels which may be captured in war by citizens of the United States and lawfully comdemned as prize, or which may be adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States; and seagoing vessels, whether steam or sail, which have been certified by the Steamboat Inspection Service as safe to carry dry and perishable cargo, not more than five years old at the time they apply for registry, wherever built, which are to engage only in trade with foreign countries or with the Philippine Islands and the islands of Guam and Tutuila, being wholly owned by citizens of the United States or corporations organized and chartered under the laws of the United States or of any state thereof, the president and managing directors of which shall be citizens of the United States or corporations organized and chartered under the laws of the In the calendar year 1910 the Canadian canals handled a traffic of 42,503,305 tons9,857,407 tons more than in 1909. |