I9I4.] A FACTOR IN WORLD POLITICS. 89 



of the intention of the United States to reserve the countries of the 

 American continent as a special field for its commercial and indus- 

 trial influence. 



The unwillingness of the United States to allow European gov- 

 ernments to intervene in Alexico for the protection of the interests 

 of their citizens and subjects, combined with the reluctance of the 

 United States to accept the full responsibilities which this position 

 involves, has served to accentuate the feeling of opposition to the 

 United States which has been growing so rapidly within recent years. 



Furthermore, the attempt on the part of the President to deal 

 with the Mexican situation as if it were part of a general Latin- 

 American problem instead of facing it squarely as a problem sui 

 generis, involving an exceptional relationship between neighboring 

 countries, has aroused the bitter opposition of the countries of Cen- 

 tral and South America. The insistence of the United States on the 

 retirement of a provisional President is looked upon as a form of 

 unwarranted dictation, and as an indication of a settled purpose on 

 the part of the United States to assert a kind of political supervision 

 over the republics of the American continent. 



In conclusion, I desire to refer to a recent occurrence which has 

 given rise to serious misgivings both in Europe and in the countries 

 of Central and South America. In an address delivered before the 

 Southern Commercial Congress, the President of the United States 

 announced a new principle of American foreign policy, the purpose 

 of which seems to be the gradual financial emancipation of the 

 countries of Central and South America from their present depend- 

 ence on European capital. In the course of this address, the Presi- 

 dent attacked 



"the material interests that had influenced the foreign policy of certain 

 Governments in their relations with the nations of Latin-America." 



He declared it to be the duty of the United States, 



" to assist the nations of this hemisphere in their emancipation from the 

 material interests of other nations, so that they might enjoy constitutional 

 liberty unrestrained." "You hear," he said, "of concessions to foreign 

 capital in Latin-America . . . States that are obliged to grant concessions 

 are in the position that foreign interests are apt to dominate their affairs. 

 Such a state of things is apt to become intolerable. It is emancipation from 

 this inevitable subordination that we deem it our duty to assist." 



