HOW THE MONROE DOCTRINE WORKS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10240, 1 September 1909, Page 6

HOW THE MONROE DOCTRINE WORKS.

Th"e < T ~Mtstt#&£:~©BtftHir§r to help the little Latin republics of Central -and South America, seems to have, saddled them, instead, with the vicious despots who have been their bane. In the region around. the - Caribbean, says Mr "Edwin Emerson,, the Doctrine is regarded as being: not so much' "the shining shield of a, mighty republic, •lier younger listers," 'as';'"a cloak under 1 whose- -hiding '. petty-- despots {-feel ■ encouraged to do their worst. without fear of correction or punishment.'' u "It he •unreiiwiriahle, yet''it -is true; says; Mi". Ilmerso'ii; 1 lately? returned. from ; the country under,, "that most thinking men-in' Central America consider such creatures as . Castrp, Cabrera, and Xelay a all direct products of the Monroe Ddbtrine;-' " 'Bui for. the Doctrine, men argue, "petty tyrants ot the-Castrb and Cabrera' type; would not. dare - -to defy-' th6'* : c6min6ilest dictates of international law and humanity, nor could the financial sharks "who fatten under' their rule venture to enrich themselves and their Silent, governmental partners quite so shamelessly at the expense of the ; countries eixploited by them." The representatives of European nations, in tacit recogriition of the Monroe Doctrine, are instructed by their home Governments to let United States diplomacy take the lead in all Central " American matters, says Mr Emerson (in "Uncle Sam's Magazine for July),: . .. : . , / "But the trouble is that American diplom'acy seldom bothers to take the lead; or, if it does, often does it so poorly' that American interests as well as those of others, only suffer in consequence. Venezuela under Castro was a case in point, with such successive diplomatic fiascos as the Orinoco boundary dispute, the Bermudez Aspnait controversy, the abortive European blockade, the scandalous Bowen-Loomis squabble, the French cable confiscation, the Curacoa trade embargo with its resultant Dutch naval demonstrations, and the final bloodless coup d etat by Castro's creature, Vmcente Gomez, which has been so joyfully advantage of by our long baffled btate Department. But the most strikmg case in point is Guatemala under -Estrada Cabrera. ' It was Cipnano Castro himself wlio once 'told- me in Venezuela that .he considered Guatemale, as ruled by Estrada Cabrera, the worst misgoverned country on earth. I took this on truSt, as the opinion of an'expert on misgoyernment. Only after residine and travelling in Guatemala myself did I realise the truth, of Castro s jealous criticism./'' not even in Haiti, in Santo Domingo, m Cuba under Weyler, in Manchuria dur-r ing the anarchy of the late war, or m Korea before the Japanese took hold, had I witnessed such monstrous misgovernment as in Guatemala under its present ruler." . , ! Thus, when Giovanni Vinelli, an Italian merchant, was poisoned _in a Guatemalan gaol, the Italian Minister to Guatemala laid the case before his home Government without results. - At iast he cabled for a warship, but it was hot accorded liim. Says Mr Enieison. "To an American friend in Guatemala he explained that this request had been denied for fear of coming into conflict with the Monroe Doctrine. 'ltalian trade interests >vitli the United States are so important,' he said, 'that Italy cannot afford .to, stir up . public opinion in the United States over such a miserable country as Guatemala.' This particular diplomat's failure to obtain redress for his murdered and persecuted countrymen resulted in such popular feeling against him.at home that he had to be recalled. Later the Italian Press tried to make amends by publishing a statement that investigation of all the facts showed that the Italian Minister in Guatemala and the Foreign Office at Rome had done tlieir utmost at every step, but that 'their hands were tied by fear of international complications outside Guatemala.' "

: After citing in detail many similar instances the writer urges the United States to face the responsibilities which go with the Monroe Doctrine, and to guard that Doctrine from abuse.- We read: • . " 'The United States with their Monroe Doctrine,' say the foreigners in Central America, 'won't let our " Governments adequately protect us, and how can we expect them to. represent us, when they don't even exert themselves for their'own outraged- citizens?' If such are the experience and sentiments of foreigners in Central America it can be imagined 'how the helpless natives fare. The most eloquent commentary on this is the fact that the gaols of Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are filled with political prisoners, and that more than 50,000 citizens of these countries have fled to Mexico, Panama, Europe, and our own United States. •

■ "The Moriroe Doctrine, as President Roosevelt pointed out in liis first Presidential message seven years ago, in order to remain respected in tlie world must entail international responsibilities as well as international privileges. Without such recognition of responsibility it becomes nothing but a cloak for international misconduct and domestic oppression. In other words, Uncle Sam lets himself be placed in the unenviable position of a big bully shielding nasty little boys from the just consequences of their own misdeeds." The" editor of "Uncle Sam's Magazine," commenting upon Mr Emerson's article, is not so sure that these outrages against' foreigners would not be committed but for the protection of the Monroe Doctrine. Nevertheless, he thinks that we should take the same stand in Central America that we have taken in Cuba and at Panama. He goes on to say:—: "We have taken, it upon ourselves as a nation to stand responsible Before the world for the maintenance of these 'republican governments against monarchical aggression. We even protect them against enforced payment of their international 'debts . We- encourage them to act the part of defaulters and swindlers. . . . In. Central America our dog-in-the-manger policy has ever been one calculated to annoy and exasperate other foreign powers which have -interests at stake there. Thanks to the international misconduct of the Central Americans themselves this exasperation, at any moment, -may be brought to tlie boiling-points When it does, and the lid flies off, Uncle Sam will need all of that big navy and increased army of which our peace advocates appear to stand in such dr.ead.",