THE MONROE DOCTRINE 407 



enemies to the Northern cause, while he opposed at the same 

 time their advance in Mexico. His adroitness in preventing 

 Great Britain and France finding a common grievance against 

 the United States during the trying period of the Civil War 

 is worthy of great praise. An equal distinction is no less 

 due him for his independence and good judgment in declin- 

 ing to justify his intervention in Mexico on the ground of a 

 domestic political policy when the universal principle of self- 

 defence offered him sufficient argument. 



XL 1866-1896 



From the close of the Mexican episode in 1866 to the 

 present day, there has been but one important international 

 question involving the Monroe Doctrine that has given rise 

 to serious discussion, the case of Venezuela and Great 

 Britain in 1896"^ From time to time, debates in the Senate 

 concerning the revocation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty with 

 England (1850) have taken place, in most of which discus- 

 sions the relation of the doctrine to the policy of American 

 control of an isthmian canal formed a part ; but during this 

 period of three decades the country has been singularly free 

 from vexatious diplomatic questions, arising from acts of 

 European aggression upon the Western continents. 



President Grant in his second annual message (Decem- 

 ber 5, 1870) proposed the annexation of Santo Domingo. 

 Among other reasons for taking it, he submitted that if 

 the United States did not acquire the island the natives 

 being prepared to welcome American sovereignty "a free 

 port will be negotiated for by European nations in the Bay 

 of Samana." He declared that "The acquisition of Santo 

 Domingo is an adherence to the Monroe Doctrine ; it is 

 a measure of self -protection ; it is asserting our just claim 

 to a controlling influence over the great commercial traffic 

 soon to flow from west to east by way of the Isthmus of 

 Darien. . . ." 



Like Mexico, the Dominican Republic had led a checkered 

 political career after its declaration of independence in 1844. 



