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The Commoner
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VOL. 13, NO. 31
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Additional foot of territory by conquest. She
Will devote herself to showing that she knows
How to make honorable and fruitful use of the
territory she has; and sho must regard It as one
of the duties of friendship to see that from no
quarter are material interests made superior to
human liberty and national opportunity. I say
this, not with a single thought (hat anyone will
gainsay- it, but merely to fix in our consciousness
what our real relationship with the rest of
America is. It Is the relationship of a family of
mankind devoted to the development of true con
stitutional liberty. We know that that is the
soil out of which the best enterprise springs.
Wo know that this Is a cause which we are mak
ing in common with our neighbors hocauso we
have had to make it for ourselves.
Roferonco has been made hero today to some
of the natlonnl problems which confront us as a
nation. What is at the heart of all our national
problems? It is that wo have seen the hand of
material Interest sometimes about to close upon
our dearest rights and possessions. Wo have
seen material interests threaten constitutional
freedom In the United States. Therefore, we
will how know how to sympathize with those In
th6 rest of America who have td contend with
such powers not only within their borders but
from outside their borders also.
I know what the response of the thought and
heart of America will be to the program I have
outlined; becausd America was created to realize
a program like that. This is not America be
cause it is rich. This Is hot America because it
has set up for a great population great oppor
tunities of material prosperity. America is a
name which sounds in the ears Of men every
where as a synonym with individual opportunity
because a synonym of individual liberty. I would
rather belong to a poor nation that was free
than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in
love with liberty. But we shall not be poor if
we love liberty, because the nation that loves
liberty truly sets every mail free to 'do his best
and be his best, and that means the release of
all the splendid energies of a great people who
think for themselves. A nation of employees
cannot be free any more than a' nation of em
ployers can be. ' ' '
In emphasizing the points which must unite
us in sympathy and In spiritual interest -with the
Latin-American peoples, we are only emphasiz
ing the points of our own life, and we should
prove ourselves untrue to our own traditions if
we proved ourselves untrue friends to them.
Do not think, therefore, gentlemen, that the
questions of the day are mere questions of policy
and diplomacy. They are shot through with the
principles of life. We dare not turn from the
principle that morality, and not expediency, is
the thing thatiinust guide us and that we will
never condoner iniquity because it is most con
venient to do so. It seems to me that this is a
day of infinite hope, of confidence iu a future
greater than the past has been; for I am fain to
bolievo that, in spite of all the things that we
wish to correct, the nineteenth century that now
lies behind us has brought us a long stage
toward the time when, slowly ascending the
tedious climb that leads to the final uplands, we
shall gebour ultimate view ot the, duties of man
.kiftd. We have breasted a considerable, part of
that climb and shall, presently ,it may bo in a
generation or two, come ,'out upo- those great
heights where there shineB, unobstructed, the
JJght.of the justice of God.
1 Mi. 'Bryan intended to spend his month's
" Vacation-a vacation allowed to all government
'officials at Washington lecturing at chautau-
' qtiaa.- The Mexican situation, however, became
"go acute that he was unwilling to absent himself
" from Washington during that time, and would
have missed almost the entire season but for the
' fact4 that a series of chautauquos had 'been av-
"raned in the states adjacent to the national
- "'C&pitatl.' He was thus able to make up in Sep
tember a part of the time which he had lost in
- August. The meetings were so convenient to
Washixigto'n that' he was only absent from the
;,: 'city seveii week days the rest of the lectures
" being made at places so near that he "was: able to
siiertd the forenoons at the department.
THE NEW HARPER'S
Have you seen the new Harper'.. Weekly under
Norman Hapgood's management? You should
l .read it. It Is an outspoken exponent of the peo-
Hple'a aideof public questions. . The Commoner
. welcomes it into me ponucaiv arena, u uas a
j iBPcat field before it."
The New Monroe Doctrine
On another page will be found the address de
livered by President Wilson at Mobile, Alabama,
on October 27, 1913, before the Southern Com
mercial Congress. It was a Pan-American
gathering. Mobile looks out over the Gulf of
Mexico and the Latin-American republics on the
south. A considerable number of these, re
publics were represented at the Mobile gather
ing, and the President went all the way from
Washington to deliver a message which marks
an era in our International relations.
The sentence which has been most commented
upon, reads as follows:
"I .want to take this occasion to say that the
United States will never agnin seek one addi
tional foot of territory by conquests"
JIo then continued:
"She will devote herself to showing that she
knows how to make honorable and fruitful use
of the territory she has; and Bhe must regard it
as one of the duties of friendship to seo that
from no .quarter aro material interests made
superior to human liberty and national oppor
tunity. I say this, not with a single thought
that anyone will gainsay it, but merely to fix in
our consciousness what our real relationship
with the rest of America is. It is the relation
ship of a family of mankind devoted to the de
velopment of true constitutional liberty. We
know that that is the soil out of which the best
enterprise springs. We know that this a cause
which we aro making in common with our
neighbors because we have had to make it for
ourselves."
This statement, which, in view of our history,
ought to be unnecessary, will form a foundation
upon which to erect a confidence which would
be impossible if there was any suspicion of an
ulterior motive. Latin America does not want
to be absorbed by the United States and it is well
that- In the very beginning of his administration
the President should remove all doubt as to the
unselfishness of our plans and purposes. The
United States recognizes the responsibility which
rests upon her; as the greatest republic in his
tory and the dominant influence in the western
hemisphere, her strength is at the service of
Latin America, but she desires nj conquered
territory and will find sufficient satisfaction in
the consciousness of a service rendered to civil
ization. It was the Monroe Doctrine, announced nearly
a century ago, that has given to the republics of
South and Central America an opportunity to
work out their destiny, free from coercion or
restraint at the hands of European governments.
The United States has asked nothing in return
for this in the way of political advantage or com
mercial favors. She has found her reward in
the growth and development of these republics,
which have taken the United States as a pattern
and modeled their constitution after hers.
So scrupulously has this country observed the
spirit of that Doctrine that she some eighteen
years ago interposed in a controversy between
one of the smaller countries of South America
and a great European nation to insist upon the
arbitration of a boundary line. Still later in
1898 she engaged in war with a European coun
try and spent many millions of dollars to assist
the people of Cuba to secure their independence.
Still later, at the request of the Government of
Cuba, she supervised the elections in- order -to
give to the people a free ballot and a fair elec
tion. If a nation can prove its altruistic interest
in other nations, our nation has done so, and
yet it has dpne no more than its position re
quires. It has simply lived up to its responsi
bilities and kept faith with those who trusted it.
But while the President's declaration against
the acquisition of land by conquest has been
given the largest place in the headlines, the
negative thought there presented was not more
important than the positive doctrine announced
in the following words;
"There is one peculiarity about the history of
the Latin-American states which I am sure, they
are keenly aware of. You hear of 'concessions'
to foreign capitalists in Latin America. You do
not hear of concessions to foreign capitalists in
the United States. They are not granted con
cessions. They are invited to make invest
ments. The work is purs, though they are wel
come to invest in it. We do not ask them to
supply the. capital and do the work. It is an
invitation, not a privilege; and state- that are
obliged, because their territory does not lie
within the main field of modern enterprise ami
action, to grant concessions are in this condition
that foreign interests aro apt to dominate t'.eh
domestic affairs: a condition of affairs ihv,v
dangerous and apt to become intolerable. ' win?
these states aro going to see, therefore is an
emancipation from the subordination, which ins
been inevitable, to foreign enterprise and an "as
sertion of the splendid character which, in snite
of these difficulties, they have again and again
been able to demonstrate. The dignity the
courage, -the. self-possession, the self-respect of
the Latin-American states, their achievements in
the face of all these adverse circumstances de
serve nothing but the admiration and applause
of the world. They have had harder bargains
driven with them in the matter of loans than
any other peoples in the world. Interest had
. been exacted of th'em that was not exacted of
anybody else, bdeause the risk was said to be
greater; and then securities were taken that de
stroyed the risk, an admirable arrangement for
those who were forcing the terms! 1 rejoice in
nothing so much as in the prospect that they will
now be emancipated from these conditions, and
we ought to be the first to take part in assisting
in that emancipation. I think some of these
gentlemen have already had occasion to bear
witness that the Department of State in recent
months has tried to serve them in that wise. In
the future they will draw closer and closer to
us because of circumstances of which I wish to
speak with moderation and, I hope, without in
discretion." The foreign capitalist. has too often been a
disturbing factor in X.atin America. He obtains
concessions, then he interests himself in retain
ing or Becuring power for those who will look
after his concessions. He collects pay for the
'risk" taken and proceeds to eliminate the risk.
The real thing needed among the Spanish re
publics is freedom to achieve their own destiny
through governments founded on their consent
and governed uy their will. The President de
clares that these statds are going to sec "emanci
pation from the subordination, which has been
inevitable, to foreign enterprise and an assertion
of the splendid character which, in spite of these
difficulties, they have again and again been able
to demonstrate." . The President not only re
joices at this emancipation but insists that "we
ought to be the first to take part in assisting in
that emancipation."
He calls attention to the fact that the State
Department in recent months has tried to render
some service in this directio'n. It is a policy that
has been substituted for Dollar Diplomacy.
Tho 'speech is rich in epigrams and full of
meaty phrases. It lifts the nation's thought
from the level of material interests to the plane
of free government and into a realm where
moral considerations have' weight. It is the
Monroe Doctrine interpreted in the language of
today and applied to the conditions that con
front our sister republics. ' W. J. BRYAN.
NEBRASKA DEMOCRATS BEHIND PRESI
DENT WILSON'
If the resolution- recently adopted by the offi
cers of the Sarpy county democratic committee is
a straw shewing the direction- in which the polit
ical wind is blowing, President Wilton is popular
with the democrats of Nebraska. The resolution
called upon the democratic congressmen and sen
ators from 'this state to support the administra
tion in its tariff and currency ideas without any
amendment offerings or other conditional action.
This is as it-should be, and the democrats every
where should instruct their congressmen and sen
ators to stand together in support of the adminis
tration. Everything depends upon the solld1.1;
of the democratic forces. Otherwise it may oe
the ruin of the party. A party. divided againsT.
itself cannot' hope to win in future battiea.
Stand 'by President Wilson .and he will sale y
steer the old ship to shore. Plattsmouth, M-
Journal.
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Experts say that the reduction in the clothing
schedule, .along with free wool, will mean a i
duction of from $3 to 5 on a suit of clothes aii
the present stocks on hand Jmve been so i
Where the price is not cut it will be P.s.s,t)his
. get much better value for the money pa'a.
will mean the disappearance ,of shoddy i
medium priced suits, and, will mean heauei .t
better wool in tho cloth. " " '.....
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