And State Papers 257 



come in contact, and at the same time to show your 

 ability to work in practical fashion with them ; to con 

 vince them that as a business matter it will pay for 

 them to co-operate with you ; to convince the public 

 of that, and then also so to convince the people of the 

 localities, of the neighborhoods in which you work, 

 and especially the lumbermen and all others who 

 make their life trades dealing with the forests. 



AT CHICAGO, ILL., APRIL 2, 1903 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: 



To-day I wish to speak to you, not merely about 

 the Monroe Doctrine, but about our entire position 

 in the Western Hemisphere a position so peculiar 

 and predominant that out of it has grown the ac 

 ceptance of the Monroe Doctrine as a cardinal fea 

 ture of our foreign policy ; and in particular I wish 

 to point out what has been done during the life 

 time of the last Congress to make good our position 

 in accordance with this historic policy. 



Ever since the time when we definitely extended 

 our boundaries westward to the Pacific and south 

 ward to the Gulf, since the time when the old Span 

 ish and Portuguese colonies to the south of us as 

 serted their independence, our Nation has insisted 

 that because of its primacy in strength among the 

 nations of the Western Hemisphere it has certain 

 duties and responsibilities which oblige it to take 

 a leading part thereon. We hold that our interests 

 in this hemisphere are greater than those of any 



