140 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



this, and he was probably intending to hasten an issue with 

 Great Britain by this practical exposition of his theories. 



Upon the inauguration of President Grant in 187(7, a keen 

 'interest in the interoceariic problem was revived, and the 

 .'' new policy calling for exclusive American control of a Cen- 

 tral American canal rapidly gained adherents. It was strongly 

 urged by General Grant, and soon found many champions 

 among the public men of the day. 



"There were several causes for the rapid development of 

 this policy during the Grant administration. Many, who 

 theretofore had never considered the question of canal neu- 

 tralization in the light of a national issue, had their interest 

 suddenly aroused by the French operations under De Lesseps 

 at Panama. The prospect of European influence in the lower 

 isthmus brought many converts to the extreme views of the 

 administration, and they, as is usual with most converts, 

 exhibited great zeal in their new cause. The Monroe 

 Doctrine, which had recently been fittingly and successfully 

 applied in Mexico, had left its impression in a general revival 

 of those principles which led the American mind to protest 

 against any form of foreign aggrandizement on this con- 

 tinent. Indeed, the maintenance of these principles seemed 

 sufficient reason in itself to warrant a demand for an exclu- 

 sive American control of any ship canal enterprise in the 

 Western Hemisphere. As most Americans, according to their 

 own varying interpretations, believed in the wisdom of the 

 Monroe Doctrine, they came perforce to accept what appeared 

 to be a mere corollary or incident of that well-established 

 faith. 



After the period of reconstruction and the consequent re- 

 union of the states, the need of such a canal continued to 

 grow in importance, especially as the Pacific seaboard states 

 rapidly developed a marvellous commercial growth. With 

 two coasts to defend, the military value of such an American 

 waterway, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, came more than 

 ever to be appreciated. Consequently many began to argue 

 that there could be no safety in a canal whose international 

 guaranty should keep it at all times open as the high seas. 



