846 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ner their country, or to transfer to any sucli 

 Power, hy conquest, cession, or acquisition in 

 any other way, of any of those states, or any 

 portion thereof, is a measure to which this 

 Government has, in the declaration of Presi- 

 dent Monroe, in his message of December 2, 

 1823, and known as the " Monroe doctrine," 

 avowed its opposition ; and which, should the 

 attempt be made, it will regard and treat as 

 dangerous to our peace, prosperity, and safe- 

 ty- 



2. BesolvM, That it is the interest and right 

 of the United States to have the possession, 

 direction, control, and government of any 

 canal, railroad or other artificial communi- 

 cation to be constructed across the isthmus 

 connecting the American Continents, for the 

 transfer of vessels and cargoes from the Ca- 

 ribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, whether the 

 same be built or constructed at Panama, Nica- 

 ragua, or elsewhere ; and, in view of the mag- 

 nitude of this interest, it is the duty of the 

 United States to insist that, if built, and by 

 whomsoever the same may be commenced, 

 prosecuted, or completed, and whatever the 

 nationality of its corporators or the source 

 of their capital, the interest of the United 

 States and their right to possess and control 

 the same will be asserted and maintained, 

 whenever in their opinion it becomes neces- 

 sary. 



3. And be itfurtlier resolved^ That the Pres- 

 ident be requested to take the steps necessary 

 and proper for the abrogation of any existing 

 treaties whose terms are in conflict with this 

 declaration of principles. 



There is, of course, no mistaking 

 the significance of the position here 

 taken. Whoever constructs the canal, 

 and wherever the money comes from, 

 this nation is to take possession of it 

 and to maintain it. The newspapers 

 have prepared us for this by declaring 

 that the canal must be ours even at the 

 cost of war, and though it be neces- 

 sary to raise armies and navies to fight 

 the whole world. Even so grave a 

 journal as " The Nation " declares, and 

 reaffirms in a subsequent issue, " Wher- 

 ever and whenever it [the canal] is con- 

 structed it will become the most sensi- 

 tive and vital part of our interstate and 

 international commercial system, and we 

 must be prepared to protect it from the 

 evil of local revolutions and foreign ag- 

 gression, to seize it when necessary, and 

 successfully defend it against the two 



greatest naval powers in the world. The 

 completion of such a canal involves, 

 therefore, the creation and maintenance 

 of anaval force in the Atlantic and Pacif- 

 ic capable of contending with that of any 

 possible European combination." And 

 here comes the "New York Tribune," 

 formerly the champion of peace, indus- 

 try, and the ascendancy of civil rule, 

 but now viewing the Interoceanic Canal 

 as first of all a question of war. Inter- 

 national law, the honor of governments, 

 and mere paper protectorates are dis- 

 paraged, and our policy is proclaimed 

 to be " the erection of American forts, 

 manned by American soldiers, at the 

 two mouths of the canal." 



The pretext for all this is the " Mon- 

 roe doctrine," reafiirmed in the first 

 of the above resolutions. Let us see 

 what this doctrine is, and how it has 

 been perverted to base ends for which 

 it was never designed. 



When the career of Napoleon end- 

 ed, and the legitimate kings of Europe 

 were again restored to their thrones, 

 there came a reaction in favor of 

 " strong governments," that is, govern- 

 ment by despotic coercion in opposition 

 to free constitutional governments. This 

 resulted in a propagandism of tyran- 

 nic rule. A Holy Alliance was formed, 

 embracing Russia, Austria, Spain, Prus- 

 sia, and France, which, under pietistio 

 pretenses, aimed at tJie repression of 

 free institutions. The spirit of revolt 

 against Old-World despotism had spread 

 widely in Central and South America ; 

 and Venezuela, New Granada, Mexico, 

 Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, and Brazil 

 had declared themselves free and inde- 

 pendent. It was in the programme of 

 the Holy Alliance to regain control 

 over the revolted American colonies, 

 and reestablish the European system. 



In this enterprise England did not 

 join, nor did slie at all approve of it. 

 Mr. George Canning, the English 

 Prime Minister, called the attention of 

 the United States to the Continental 

 plots, and asked if this Government in- 

 tended to allow the subjugation of the 



