"ONLY A JOKE."

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 32, 14 March 1914, Page 7

"ONLY A JOKE."

AMBASSADOR'S SPEECH. •',... —— j By Calle.—Press Associatior rpyright. ■.;■;.■.. (Received March 14, noon.) WASHINGTON, March 13. Senator Chamberlain, on seeing Dr W. H. Page's explanation fliat he was joking when he referred to the British" use of the Panama Canal and the Mon-. roe Doctine, said: —"Ambassador's . onght not' to joke about matters which, as President Wilson stated in his recent Message to Congress, might pro- - voke war. [The Senate adopted a resolution demanding that Dr W. ,H. Page, * - American Ambassador, should explain. his Panama Canal speech before the Associated Chambers of Commerce in London. Senator Chamberlain, of Oregon, took exception to Dr Page's definition of the Monroe doctrine, and also wished for an explanation of his. meaning when he said that the British . would profit most by the construction , of the canal. The Senate, by r-isota- -■ Hoc, declared that Dr Page's- remarks* - noucnde<L' that the policy of the Department was to abandon, uyco. demand, the Monroef'dtfetrine, thas ; inviting European violation* thereof ]