J< >UX BACH McMASTER
 
 HE ORIGIN, MEANING.* 
 AND APPLICATION OF 
 THE MONROE * * * * 
 DOCTRINE* * * * * * * 
 
 BY JOHN BACH MCMASTER 
 
 University of Pennsylvania* * * * * 
 
 Philadelphia* * * * * 
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS
 
 It 
 
 Copyrighted by Henry Altemus, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania, on May iq, iSqb, in the One Hundred and Twentieth i\.i> J 
 the Independence of the United States of America. 
 
 Henry Altbmus, Manufacturer, 
 philadelphia.
 
 THE 
 ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 In the course of the discussion of the Mon- 
 roe Doctrine provoked by the recent letter of 
 Lord Salisbury and the message of President 
 Cleveland, there have been developed three 
 views now very current among our country- 
 men. Some agree with the statements of the 
 noble lord in his letter, and, without giving 
 much thought to the matter, declare that the 
 doctrine perished with the occasion that called 
 it forth. Some admit that it still exists, but 
 incline to the belief that it should not apply to 
 a territorial project that does not involve colo- 
 nization or the erection of a monarchy where 
 a republic once stood. Others have no hesi- 
 tation in declaring that what goes on in Ven- 
 ezuela is of no consequence to us, and that 
 fhe matter at stake is not of enough impor- 
 tance to make it worth while to risk a war. 
 
 31202 — 5
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICA T/ON OF 
 
 As the crisis is certainly a serious one, an 
 examination of these views is not untimely. 
 The hour has come for the people of the 
 United States to decide once for all whether 
 there is or is not a Monroe Doctrine. If there 
 is, it should be stated as clearly and precisely 
 as possible. If there is not, then it becomes 
 us to say so frankly and at once. 
 
 The doctrine was originally announced by 
 James Monroe in a message to Congress on 
 December second, 1823, and was made neces- 
 sary by certain things done by Russia and the 
 Holy Allies. Russia still exists. But who 
 the Holy Allies were, and what they did that 
 so alarmed Monroe, requires a little explan- 
 ation. 
 
 THE HOLY ALLIANCE. 
 
 As all the world knows, the overthrow 
 of the French at Waterloo was followed by a 
 second abdication of Napoleon, by a second 
 restoration of Louis XVIII. to the throne 
 of France, and by a gathering of the allied 
 Kings or their representatives at Paris. On 
 one of the sovereigns there assembled these 
 events seem to have made a deep impression.
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 To Alexander of Russia the second fall of 
 the man of destiny was but another illus- 
 tration of the way in which God, in his own 
 good time, confounds the councils of the 
 wicked and lifts up those who put their trust 
 in Him, and, grateful for this signal lesson, 
 Alexander determined henceforth to rule, 
 and, if possible, induce his fellow-monarchs 
 to rule, in accordance with the principles of 
 the Christian religion. 
 
 To accomplish this end the more easily 
 he persuaded Frederick William of Prussia 
 and Francis of Austria to join with him in 
 a league which he called "The Holy Alli- 
 ance," and to sign a treaty which is com- 
 monly supposed to have bound the Holy 
 Allies to pull down constitutional government 
 and stamp out liberal ideas. It was, in 
 truth, a meaningless pledge, framed in a 
 moment of religious excitement, and well 
 described in its own words, which assert 
 "that the present act has no other aim than 
 to manifest to the world their unchangeable 
 determination to adopt no other rule of 
 conduct either in the government of their 
 respective countries or in their political re- 
 9
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OF 
 
 lations with other governments than the 
 precepts of that holy religion, the precepts 
 of justice, charity and peace." 
 
 That this little society of Christian mon- 
 archs should have any interest for us of to- 
 day is due solely to the fact that their treaty 
 contains the words "Holy Alliance," and 
 that to it have wrongfully been attributed 
 results which sprang from the quadruple treaty 
 signed two months later by Russia, Prussia, 
 Austria and Great Britain ; a new alliance 
 which bound the four powers to do four things 
 — exclude Napoleon forever from power ; 
 maintain the Government they had just set up 
 in France ; resist with all their might any 
 attack on the army of occupation, and meet in 
 1 8 1 8 to consult concerning their common 
 interests, and to take such measures as should 
 then seem to be best fitted to serve the peace 
 and happiness of Europe. Each pledge was 
 faithfully kept, and in the Autumn of 1 8 1 8 the 
 four powers met at Aix-la-Chapelle, and re- 
 viewed the events of the past three years. 
 Monarchy was so firmly established in France 
 that the army of occupation was withdrawn 
 and Louis XVIII. was suffered to have a voice
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 in the affairs of Europe. But in Spain matters 
 had gone from bad to worse. For ten years 
 past her South American colonies had been in 
 rebellion, first against Joseph Bonaparte, then 
 against the Cortes of Cadiz, and since the 
 restoration of 1814 against the King. That 
 Ferdinand, single-handed, could never reduce 
 them to subjection was apparent. 
 
 Every resource of the restored king was 
 used and used in vain, for the struggle went 
 on till, the last regiment having been sent to 
 perish of yellow fever, and the last dollar hav- 
 ing been drawn from the treasury, Ferdinand 
 turned to the sovereigns of Europe for aid. 
 They had restored to him his throne. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that he should ask 
 them to restore his colonies ; but it is amus- 
 ing to note the impudence with which he inti- 
 mated that the work of subjugation should be 
 done by Great Britain. She might have acted 
 as mediator. More she would not do, and as 
 subjugation, not mediation, was wanted, Alex- 
 ander came to the relief of Ferdinand and 
 sold him a fleet of war. When it reached 
 Cadiz it was found that this Emperor, who in 
 18 1 5 was so eager to see all Europe ruled in 
 11
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION Oi 
 
 accordance with the teachings of Christ, had 
 
 sold his friend ships so rotten and imsca- 
 worthy that not one of them was fit to cross 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 The expedition was put off, and the condi- 
 tion of Spanish America was laid before the 
 sovereigns when they met at Aix-la-Chapclle. 
 The dangers which threatened Europe if a 
 federation of republics was allowed to grow 
 up in America were discussed ; a proposition 
 was made that a conference between Spain 
 and the powers should be held at Madrid, 
 and that Wellington should preside ; but Spain 
 wanted troops, not advice, and was left to 
 subdue her colonies in her own way. 
 
 Her way was to gather a rable at Cadiz in 
 the summer of 1819, call it an army, and 
 send it off to America. Before it could sail, 
 yellow fever broke out, the troops went into 
 camp, and while there, were won over to the 
 cause of constitutional government by the 
 agents of a great conspiracy, which had long 
 been growing under the tyranny of the King. 
 On January first, 1S20, the day fixed for the 
 outbreak, the troops, led by Colonels Quiro- 
 ga and Riego, rose and declared for the Con-
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRIXE. 
 
 stitution of 1812. The rebellion of the sol- 
 diers was a small affair in itself, but it set an 
 example ; it stirred up others, and on Febru- 
 ary twentieth the garrison and people of Cor- 
 unna in their turn proclaimed the Constitution. 
 
 And now rebellion spread fast. Town after 
 town followed Corunna. The whole country 
 was up, and Ferdinand in great alarm an- 
 nounced his willingness to assemble the 
 Cortes. His people had long since learned 
 that his word was of no value, and, filling the 
 great squares of Madrid, they clamored all 
 day long for the Constitution. At length he 
 gave way, and announced his willingness to 
 take the oath to support the Constitution. 
 The next day — the famous eighth of March, 
 1820 — was one of wild rejoicing. The prison 
 of the Inquisition was sacked ; the instru- 
 ments of torture were broken in pieces ; polit- 
 ical prisoners were set free, and the Constitu- 
 tion carried in procession through the streets. 
 March ninth a mob entered the palace, forced 
 the King to make good his promise, and consti- 
 tutional government once more existed in Spain. 
 
 As tidings of this outbreak spread over 
 Europe the friends of Liberalism took heart, 
 13
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICA TION Of 
 
 and in July, 1820, the people of Naples 
 forced their King, Ferdinand, to proclaim 
 the Spanish Constitution and swear to up- 
 hold it. The men of Portugal were next to 
 awake, and in September, 1820, they de- 
 posed the Regency which ruled in the name 
 of the absent King, set up a Junta, and 
 elected a Cortes to frame a Constitution. 
 For a moment it seemed not unlikely that 
 France might be the next nation to throw off 
 the yoke of absolutism. But Louis cried out 
 for another meeting of the powers, and in 
 October, 1820, the Emperor of Austria met 
 the Czar and the King of Prussia in the little 
 town of Troppau, in Moravia. England sent 
 an Ambassador, but he was instructed to look 
 on and do nothing. France sent two envoys, 
 but they took opposite sides, and her influence 
 counted for nothing. The three founders of 
 the Holy Alliance were thus free to do as they 
 pleased, and very quickly decided what course 
 to take. Ferdinand was to be invited to meet 
 them at Laybach ; a summons was to be 
 sent, through him, to the Neapolitans to aban- 
 don their Constitution or fight ; and a circular 
 explaining and defending this new doctrine of 
 14
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 armed intervention was to be issued, in the 
 name of the three powers, to all the Courts 
 of Europe. 
 
 The circular went forth on December eighth, 
 1820, to every foreign court. The events of 
 March eighth in Spain, and those of July 
 second in Naples, had produced, the circular 
 said, a deep feeling of inquietude and alarm, 
 and a desire to unite and save Europe from 
 the evils ready to burst upon her. That this 
 desire should be most keen with governments 
 which not long ago had conquered the revo- 
 lution, and now see it once more appearing 
 triumphant, is natural. The other powers 
 have therefore availed themselves of an in- 
 contestable right, and have decided to take 
 common measures of precaution and restrain 
 such States as, having revolted against legiti- 
 mate governments and institutions, are seek- 
 ing by their agents to introduce like disorders 
 and insurrections into other States. As the 
 revolution at Naples strikes deeper root every 
 day, and sensibly menaces the tranquility of 
 the neighboring powers, it is necessary to 
 immediately apply to her the principles 
 agreed on. 
 
 15
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OF 
 
 Before resorting to force, however, it was 
 thought best to make one effort of a peaceful 
 character, and summon the King of Naples 
 to meet the allied powers at Laybach. 
 
 Thither, in January, [821, with the consent 
 of the Neapolitan Parliament, the old King, 
 leaving his son to act as Regent, accordingly 
 went, only to be told that if the order of things 
 existing since July, 1820, were not at once 
 abolished an Austrian army would occupy 
 Neapolitan soil. The same demand was made 
 known to the Prince Regent at Naples, who 
 stoutly refused to consider it, and summoned 
 the Parliament, which declared that it consid- 
 ered the old King as under restraint at Lay- 
 bach ; bade the Grand Duke of Calabria con- 
 tinue to exercise the Regency, and ordered 
 measures to be taken for the safety of the 
 State. A rush to arms followed. The Prince 
 put himself at the head of most of the troops. 
 The King appealed to the others, but they 
 answered that they would not serve against 
 their fellows, and cried out for the Constitu- 
 tion. Ferdinand, now reduced to impotence, 
 abdicated, and went back to Sicily ; and one 
 hundred thousand Austrians entered Italy and 
 16
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 crushed the republican uprisings in Naples*, 
 in Piedmont, in all Italy, and Ferdinand, in 
 spite of his abdication, was restored to the 
 throne of Naples. 
 
 A new declaration and a new circular was 
 now published by the Holy Allies, about to 
 end their conference at Laybach, and in this 
 circular was announced a principle which was 
 to guide them in their future dealings with 
 nations struggling for liberty. Having, in the 
 language of the time " taken the people of 
 Europe into their Holy keeping," the three 
 autocrats declared that henceforth all " useful 
 or necessary changes in the legislation and 
 administration of States must emanate alone 
 from the free will, the reflecting and enlight- 
 ened impulse of those whom God has rendered 
 responsible for power ! " 
 
 Thus committed to the extermination of 
 popular government, the members of the Holy 
 Alliance next turned their attention to Spain. 
 When the Congress at Laybach adjourned in 
 1 82 1, it did so with the understanding that it 
 should meet again in 1822 and take up the 
 affairs of Spain, which, both in the Old World 
 and the New, were now far beyond her control. 
 17
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OP 
 
 The place of meeting was Vicuna, but the con- 
 gress soon adjourned to Verona, where, in Oc- 
 tober, 1822, the question of "restoring order," 
 which, being interpreted, meant " re-establish- 
 ing absolute monarchy" in Spain, was long de- 
 bated. At length it was decided that no joint 
 action should be taken, but that certain 
 changes in the Spanish Constitution should be 
 demanded, and, if not granted, a French army 
 shoDld enter Spain. The demands were made 
 and refused. The Ambassadors of the Holy 
 Allies then left Madrid, and on April 7, 1823, 
 a French army crossed the frontier and occu- 
 pied Madrid in May and Cadiz in August. 
 
 That moment Canning, w r ho, in 1823, held 
 the place now filled by Lord Salisbury, began 
 to act. He knew, as everybody knew, that 
 when the allies had once settled the affairs of 
 Spain they would go on and settle the affairs 
 of her former colonies, now recognized as 
 republics by the United States. Turning to 
 Richard Rush, who represented our country 
 at London, he proposed that the United States 
 should join with England in a declaration that, 
 while neither power desired the colonies of 
 Spain for herself, it was impossible to look 
 18
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRIXE. 
 
 with indifference on European intervention in 
 their affairs or to see them acquired by a third 
 power. Hardly had the request been made, 
 when Canning received a formal notice that 
 later in the year a congress would be called to 
 consider the affairs of Spanish America, and 
 again pressed Rush for an answer. Rush had 
 no instructions, but with a courage that did 
 him honor, he replied that "we should regard 
 as highly unjust and as fruitful of disastrous 
 consequences any attempt on the part of any 
 European power to take possession of them 
 by conquest, by cession, or on any other 
 ground or pretext whatsoever," and promised 
 to join in the declaration if England would 
 first acknowledge the independence of the 
 iittle republics. This she would not do, and 
 the joint declaration was never made. 
 
 NOT A TEMPORARY POLICY. 
 
 One of the arguments which Canning used 
 is given in Rush's letter to Secretary Adams, 
 and shows that he at least had no temporary 
 policy in mind. "They," [the United States, j 
 he said, " were the first power established on 
 that continent, and now confessedly the lead- 
 19
 
 THE ORIGIN, ME. \NING , \ND . \tri.K ,1 TION OF 
 
 ing power. They were connected uith South 
 America by their position and with Europe by 
 their relations. Was it possible they could 
 see with indifference their fate decided upon 
 by Europe? Had not a new epoch arrived 
 in the relative position of the United States 
 toward Europe which Europe must acknowl- 
 edge ? Were the great political and commer- 
 cial interests which hung upon the destiny of 
 the new continent to be canvassed and ad- 
 justed on this hemisphere without the co- 
 operation or even knowledge of the United 
 States ?" 
 
 MONROE SEEKS ADVICE. 
 
 When Monroe received the letters of Rush 
 he seems to have been greatly puzzled how to 
 act. The suggestion of England that the time 
 had come to make a declaration of some sort 
 admitted of no dispute. But how was it to be 
 made ? If he joined with Great Britain would 
 he not be forming one of the " political con- 
 nections " Washington had denounced in his 
 " Farewell Address ;" one of the " entangling 
 alliances" which Jefferson had given warning 
 in his first inaugural speech ? Should he make 
 it alone, would he not be violating that policy
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 of non-interference in the affairs of the colonies 
 which he had himself advised in six messages 
 and two inaugural speeches ? Uncertain what 
 to do, he turned to Jefferson for advice, and 
 sent the letters of Rush to Monticello, and 
 late in October received a reply. 
 
 " The question presented by the letters you 
 have sent me is the most momentous which 
 has ever been offered to my contemplation 
 since that of Independence. That made us a 
 nation ; this sets our compass and points the 
 course which we are to steer through the 
 ocean of time opening on us. And never 
 could we embark upon it under circumstances 
 more auspicious. Our first and fundamental 
 maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves 
 in the broils of Europe ; our second, never to 
 suffer Europe to intermeddle with cisatlantic 
 affairs. America, North and South, has a set 
 of interests distinct from those of Europe, and 
 peculiarly her own. She should, therefore, 
 have a system of her own, separate and apart 
 from that of Europe. While the last is labor- 
 ing to become the domicile of despotism, 
 our endeavor should surely be to make our 
 hemisphere that of freedom."
 
 THE Okie, IN, ME. WING AND APf'IJCA T/OX OF 
 THE DOCTRINE ANNOUNCED. 
 
 Thus encouraged, not simply to meet an 
 emergency, but to "point the course which we 
 are to steer through the ocean of time opening 
 on us," Monroe consulted his Secretaries, and, 
 with their approval, announced the new policy 
 of our country and applied it in these words : 
 
 "The political system of the allied powers 
 is essentially different in this respect from that 
 of America. This difference proceeds from 
 that which exists in their respective Govern- 
 ments. And to the defense of our own, which 
 has been achieved by the loss of so much 
 blood and treasure, and matured by the wis- 
 dom of their most enlightened citizens, and 
 under which we have enjoyed unexampled 
 felicity, this whole Nation is devoted. We 
 owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amica- 
 ble relations existing between the United 
 States and those powers to declare that we 
 should consider any attempt on their part to 
 extend their system to any portion of this 
 hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and 
 safety. With the existing colonies or depend- 
 encies of any European power we have not 
 interfered, and shall not interfere. But with
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 the Governments who have declared their 
 independence and maintained it, and whose 
 independence we have, on great consideration 
 and on just principles, acknowledged, we could 
 not view any interposition for the purpose of 
 oppressing them, or controlling in any other 
 manner their destiny, by any European power, 
 in any other light than as the manifestation of 
 an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
 States. 
 
 " Our policy in regard to Europe, which 
 was adopted at an early stage of the wars 
 which have so long agitated that quarter of 
 the globe, nevertheless remains the same, 
 which is not to interfere in the internal con- 
 cerns of any of its powers ; to consider the 
 Government de facto as the legitimate Gov- 
 ernment for us ; to cultivate friendly rela- 
 tions with it, and to preserve those relations 
 by a frank, firm, and manly policy ; meeting 
 in all instances the just claims of every power, 
 submitting to injuries from none. But in 
 regard to these continents, circumstances are 
 eminently and conspicuously different. It is 
 impossible that the allied powers should ex- 
 tend their political system to any portion of 
 23
 
 /'///•; Oh'/G/X MEANING AND APPLICATION OP 
 
 cither continent without endangering our 
 peace and happiness ; nor can anyone believe 
 that our southern brethren, if left to them- 
 selves, would adopt it of their own aeon!. 
 It is equally impossible, therefore, that we 
 should behold such interposition, in any form, 
 with indifference." 
 
 The doctrine was for all time, and, put in 
 plain language, was this : 
 
 i. The United States will " not interfere in 
 the internal concerns " of any European 
 power. 
 
 2. " But in regard to these continents 
 [North and South America] circumstances 
 are eminently and conspicuously different," 
 and if any European power attempts at any 
 future time to extend its political system to 
 any part of this hemisphere " for the purpose 
 of oppressing " the nations or " controlling 
 
 IN ANY OTHER MANNER THEIR DESTINY" the 
 
 United States will interfere. 
 
 Of this doctrine an immediate application 
 was made to the Holy Allies. It might have 
 been conveyed to each of them under cover 
 of an official note. But Monroe preferred to 
 announce it before the world, and in his mes- 
 24
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 sage warned them that any attempt on their 
 part to violate the doctrine would be "danger- 
 ous to our peace and safety " and a " mani- 
 festation of an unfriendly disposition toward 
 the United States." 
 
 At home the declaration was read with 
 pride and satisfaction, and an attempt was at 
 once made by Clay to have so much of it as 
 related to the intervention of the Holy Alli- 
 ance in the affairs of South America embodied 
 in a joint resolution of the House and Senate. 
 The influence of Clay was great. He was 
 Speaker of the House ; he was a candidate 
 for the presidency. But factional spirit ran 
 high. The friends of Adams, of Jackson, of 
 Crawford, of Calhoun had no notion of allow- 
 ing him to pose as the champion of popular 
 liberty, and the resolution had so little sup- 
 port that Clay, yielding to political necessity, 
 told the House he would let his resolution lie 
 on the table. By this we are told he aban- 
 doned the doctrine in its infancy. We think 
 not, and against the act of Clay when Speaker 
 of the House in 1824, would put this act of 
 Clay when Secretary of State in 1825. 
 
 During the summer of that year common 
 25
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OF 
 
 rumor and the appearance of a gn at French 
 
 fleet on our coast gave the republics of South 
 America good reason to believe that Prance 
 was about to invade Cuba and Porto Rico, 
 with the intention of securing one or both of 
 the islands for herself. Such an event was so 
 much to be dreaded that Mexico called on 
 the United States " to fulfil " in the words of 
 Mr. Clay, " the memorable pledge of the 
 President of the United States in his message 
 to Congress of December, 1823." Clay, with 
 as little delay as possible, acceded to the re- 
 quest, applied the Monroe Doctrine, instructed 
 our Minister at Paris to notify France " that 
 we would not consent to the occupation of 
 those islands by any other European power 
 than Spain, under any circumstances what- 
 ever," and bade Mr. Poinsett call on Mexico 
 to assert the Monroe Doctrine " on all proper 
 occasions." * 
 
 But in England, according to our Minister 
 then resident in London, the new doctrine 
 was heard with extravagant delight. The 
 English people, English statesmen, and the 
 English press were loud in their praises of the 
 firm stand taken by the United States. " The 
 26
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 question," said Mr. Brougham, " with regard 
 to South America is now disposed of, or nearly 
 so, for an event has recently happened than 
 which no event has dispensed greater joy, ex- 
 ultation, and gratitude over all the freemen of 
 Europe ; that event, which is decisive of the 
 subject in respect to South America, is the 
 message of the President of the United States 
 to Congress." 
 
 The London Courier, the London Times, 
 the Morning Chronicle, Bell's Weekly Mes- 
 senger, the Liverpool Advertiser, were loud in 
 the praise of the new doctrine, and when the 
 French administration journal L'Etoile de- 
 nounced the message and called Monroe a 
 dictator, it was the London Times which hast- 
 ened to defend him.f The South American 
 Deputies in London were wild with joy, and 
 South American securities of every sort rose 
 in value. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE APPLIED TO THE AMERICAN 
 REPUBLICS. 
 
 Having thus announced that we would not 
 meddle in European affairs nor suffer the 
 nations of the Old World to interfere with the 
 27
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND . XPPLIi , I //".V O/? 
 
 domestic concerns of the nations of the New, 
 it soon became necessary to define our own 
 
 attitude toward the young republics of South 
 America. Indeed, two years had not elapsi 1 
 when the United States was formally invited 
 by Colombia and Mexico to be represented in 
 a congress of republics at Panama, at which 
 it was officially stated the delegates would be 
 expected "to take into consideration the 
 means of making effectual the declaration of 
 the President of the United States respecting 
 any ulterior design of a foreign power to colo- 
 nize any portion of this continent, and also 
 the means of resisting all interference from 
 abroad with the domestic concerns of the 
 American Governments." 
 
 To cite the debate which in the Senate and 
 the House followed the request of the Presi- 
 dent that Commissioners be sent to Panama 
 is idle. Adams, as President, and Clay, as 
 Secretary of State, approved, and that was 
 reason enough why Hayne, of South Carolina, 
 and Woodbury, of New Hampshire, White, 
 of Tennessee, Van Buren, Buchanan, Polk, 
 Berrien, and Rives should oppose it. The 
 discussion was partizan throughout. But the 
 28
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 resolution which the House spread in its 
 Journal is worth citing : 
 
 " It is therefore the opinion of this House 
 that the Government of the United States 
 ought not to be represented at the Congress 
 of Panama except in a diplomatic character, 
 nor ought they to form any alliance, offensive 
 or defensive, or negotiate respecting such an 
 alliance, with all or any of the South American 
 republics ; nor ought they to become parties 
 with them, or either of them, to any joint dec- 
 laration for the purpose of preventing the inter- 
 ference of any of the European powers with 
 their independence or form of government, or 
 to any compact for the purpose of preventing 
 colonization upon the continents of America, 
 but that the people of the United States should 
 be left free to act, in any crisis, in such a 
 manner as their feelings of friendship toward 
 these republics and as their own honor and 
 policy may at the time dictate." 
 
 Thus was affirmed two parts of the Monroe 
 doctrine : 
 
 I. Not to form any alliance with any 
 foreign nation, nor join with it in any dec- 
 laration concerning the interference of any 
 29
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLIi ATION OP 
 
 European power in its affairs. 
 
 2. To act toward them "in any crisis" as our 
 "honor and policy may at the time dictate." 
 
 Thus was our true attitude towards the 
 nations of the New World defined and the 
 Monroe doctrine completed. 
 
 Of the men who took part in that famous 
 debate two are of especial interest to us, for 
 in the course of time each was called on to 
 apply the doctrine he opposed, and each in 
 turn abandoned the position he held in 1826. 
 One is James K. Polk ; the other is James 
 Buchanan. 
 
 polk in 1826. 
 
 In 1826 Polk in his speech said : 
 " When the message of the late President of 
 the United States was communicated to Con- 
 gress in 1823, it was viewed, as it should have 
 been, as the mere expression of opinion of the 
 Executive, submitted to the consideration and 
 deliberation of Congress ; and designed proba- 
 bly to produce an effect upon the councils of 
 the Holy Alliance, in relation to their sup- 
 posed intention to interfere in the war between 
 Spain and her former colonies. That effect it 
 probably had an agency in producing ; and,
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 if so, it has performed its office. The Presi- 
 dent had no power to bind the Nation by such 
 a pledge." 
 
 POLK IN 1845 AND 1848. 
 
 When Polk uttered these words he was a 
 member of Congress from Tennessee. But 
 when our country was next called on to 
 apply the doctrine Polk was President of the 
 United States and had been elected by a party 
 whose cry was " Give us Texas or divide the 
 spoons !" " The whole of Oregon or none ; 
 fifty-four, forty, or fight !" and saw before 
 him a war with Mexico and serious trouble 
 with England. In 1826 the Monroe doctrine, 
 he thought, had been " designed to produce 
 an effect on the councils of the Holy Alliance " 
 and, " had performed its office." Now he 
 found it had still an office to perform, gave 
 his "cordial concurrence in its wisdom and 
 sound policy," and sent this message to Con- 
 gress : 
 
 " It is well known to the American people 
 and to all nations that this Government has 
 never interfered with the relations subsisting 
 between other Governments. We have never 
 made ourselves parties to their wars or their 
 3'
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLli ATI ON OP 
 
 alliances ; wc have not sought their territories 
 by conquest ; we have not mingled with par- 
 ties in their domestic struggles ; and, believing 
 our own form of government to be the best, 
 we have never attempted to propagate it by 
 intrigues, by diplomacy, or by force. We may 
 claim on this continent a like exemption 
 from European interference. The nations of 
 America are equally sovereign and independ- 
 ent with those of Europe. They possess the 
 same rights, independent of all foreign inter- 
 position, to make war, to conclude peace, and 
 to regulate their internal affairs. The people 
 of the United States cannot, therefore, view 
 with indifference attempts of European powers 
 to interfere with the independent action of 
 nations on this continent." 
 
 The cause of the remarks was the dispute 
 — in which we were then engaged with Eng- 
 land — regarding the ownership of the Oregon 
 country. She claimed as far south as the 
 Columbia River. We claimed as far north 
 as 54 degrees 40 minutes. It was as much a 
 territorial dispute as that now going on with 
 Venezuela. Yet Polk did not hesitate to ap- 
 ply the Monroe doctrine and to assert that 
 32
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 " in the existing circumstances of the world, 
 the present is deemed a proper occasion to 
 reiterate and reaffirm the principle avowed by- 
 Mr. Monroe, and to state my cordial concur- 
 rence in its wisdom and sound policy. The 
 reassertion of this principle, especially in refer- 
 ence to North America, is, at this day, but 
 the promulgation of a policy which no Euro- 
 pean power should cherish the disposition to 
 resist. Existing rights of every European 
 nation should be respected, but it is due alike 
 to our safety and our interests that the effi- 
 cient protection of our laws should be ex- 
 tended over our whole territorial limits, and 
 that it should be distinctly announced to the 
 world as our settled policy, that no future 
 European colony or dominion shall, with our 
 consent, be planted or established on any 
 part of the North American Continent." 
 
 Again a little while and Polk applied the 
 doctrine to the purely territorial case of Yuca- 
 tan. A war had broken out between the 
 Indians and the whites who, driven to des- 
 peration, appealed for help to England, Spain, 
 and the United States, offering in return the 
 dominion and sovereignty of the Peninsula. 
 33
 
 THE ORIGIN. MEANING AND All'l.K A in >.\ Of 
 
 This was not a case of interference by any for- 
 eign power. No effort was being made by 
 any Kuropean nation to "extend its system." 
 Two such powers had been invited by a hard- 
 pressed people struggling for life to defend 
 them and take in return their country. But 
 Polk, taking the broad ground that any Euro- 
 pean people who by any means gained on our 
 continents one foot of territory more than they 
 had in 1823, even with the consent and at the 
 request of the owners of it, were "extending 
 their system," sent this message to Congress 
 in 1848: 
 
 " While it is not my purpose to recommend 
 the adoption of any measure with a view to 
 the acquisition of the ' dominion and sover- 
 eignty ' over Yucatan, yet, according to our 
 established policy, we could not consent to a 
 transfer of this ' dominion and sovereignty ' to 
 either Spain, Great Britain, or any other Ku- 
 ropean power. In the language of President 
 Monroe, in his message of December, 1823, 
 1 we should consider any attempt on their part 
 to extend their system to any portion of this 
 hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and 
 safety.' " 
 
 34
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 It would be controlling "the destiny "'of 
 the people concerned. 
 
 BUCHANAN AND MEXICO. 
 
 Precisely the same view was taken by Cass 
 when Secretary of State under Buchanan, in 
 the case of Mexico. The political condition 
 of Mexico was frightful. Since the day 
 Spain acknowledged her independence in 
 1 82 1 there had never been a moment of 
 quiet. In thirty-three years thirty-six Gov- 
 ernments had been set up and pulled down, 
 and of them all the worst were those of 
 Miramon and Juarez, by whom such enor- 
 mities were committed that England, France, 
 and Spain decided on armed intervention in 
 Mexican affairs. Against this, in i860, both 
 Cass and Buchanan protested. 
 
 " While," said the Secretary, "we do not 
 deny the right of any other power to carry on 
 hostile operations against Mexico, for the re- 
 dress of its grievances, we firmly object to its 
 holding possession of any part of that coun- 
 try, or endeavoring by force to control its 
 political destiny. * * * 
 
 " I deemed it my duty," said the President 
 35
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICA T10N > / 
 
 in his message in December, [86o, "to 
 
 recommciul to Congress, in my last annual 
 message, the employment of a sufficient mili- 
 tary force to penetrate into the interior. * * * 
 European Governments would have been de- 
 prived of all pretext to interfere in the terri- 
 torial and domestic concerns of Mexico. We 
 should thus have been relieved from the obli- 
 gation of resisting, even by force should this 
 become necessary, any attempt by these Gov- 
 ernments to deprive our neighboring republic 
 of portions of her territory — a duty from which 
 we could not shrink without abandoning the 
 traditional and established policy of the 
 American people." 
 
 Three statements are contained in this ex- 
 position of the doctrine : 
 
 1. That we have a duty resting on us which 
 we cannot shirk without abandoning the tradi- 
 tional and established policy of the American 
 people. 
 
 2. This duty is to resist any attempt by a 
 European Government to deprive our neigh- 
 boring republic of portions of her territory. 
 
 3. That, if necessary, resistance must go 
 even to the use of force. 
 
 36
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 This exposition by Buchanan is sound and 
 good and is exactly the position taken by Mr. 
 Cleveland. Great Britain is to-day attempt- 
 ing to take from Venezuela, not 30,000 square 
 miles, as is commonly stated, but 109,000 
 square miles, to which she has no just claim 
 whatever ; an area as large as Nevada and 
 exceeded by no States in the Union save 
 Texas, California, and Montana ; an area 
 ninety times as large as Rhode Island, fifty- 
 four times as large as Delaware, thirteen times 
 as large as Massachusetts, and 40,000 square 
 miles larger than the six New-England States ! 
 When a European power rightfully or wrong- 
 fully attempts to acquire so immense an area 
 as this, she does, in the words of Monroe, 
 " spread her system ;" she does attempt to 
 "control the destiny" of Venezuela; she 
 does, in the language of Polk, " interfere with 
 the independent action of nations on this con- 
 tinent ;" she is, as Cass expressed it, " holding 
 possession of that country " and endeavoring 
 " to control its political destiny," and the 
 Monroe doctrine does apply. We are bound, 
 as Buchanan asserted, to resist this attempt 
 " to deprive our neighboring republic of her 
 37
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPL1CA T/O.V OF 
 
 territory," and we should in duty to a sound 
 American policy use force if necessary. 
 
 From 1783 until 1.S42 we had a dispute 
 with England over the boundary of Maine. 
 Had she during that time extended her claims 
 till they included all of New England and 
 seven-eighths of New York, would she not 
 have been extending her system ? Of all the 
 nations of the world she is the most progres- 
 sive and the most aggressive. Take a map of 
 the world and mark on it her possessions in 
 1800, in 1825, in 1850, in 1896, and see what 
 she has been doing. Then take Mr. Gig- 
 nilliat's map of the British claims in Vene- 
 zuela and see that history repeated. For fifty- 
 six years she has slowly but surely been 
 spreading her claims from the Essequibo to 
 the Orinoco River till they now touch its 
 mouth. Are we to consider this of no 
 moment ? 
 
 38
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 MADISON'S LETTERS TO MONROE. 
 
 Montpelier, October jo, 1823. 
 To Pre side tit Monroe : 
 
 Dear Sir : I have received from Mr. Jefferson 
 your letter to him, with the correspondence between 
 Mr. Canning and Mr. Rush, sent for his and my 
 perusal and our opinions on the subject of it. 
 
 From the disclosures of Mr. Canning it appears, as 
 was otherwise to be inferred, that the success of 
 France against Spain would be followed by attempts 
 of the Holy Alliance to reduce the revolutionized 
 colonies of the latter to their former dependence. 
 
 The professions we have made to these neighbors, 
 our sympathies with their liberties and independence, 
 the deep interest we have in the most friendly rela- 
 tions with them, and the consequences threatened by 
 a command of their resources by the great powers 
 confederated against the rights and reforms, of which 
 we have given so conspicuous and persuasive an 
 example, all unite in calling for our efforts to defeat 
 the meditated crusade. It is particularly fortunate 
 that the policy of Great Britain, though guided by 
 calculations different from ours, has presented a co- 
 operation for an object the same with ours. With 
 that co-operation we have nothing to fear from the rest 
 of Europe, and with it the best reliance on success to 
 our laudable views. There ought not to be any back- 
 
 39
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPL/i A TION Of 
 
 wardness, therefore, I think, in meeting her in the 
 way she has proposed, keeping in view, of course, the 
 spirit and forms of the Constitution in every step 
 taken in the road to war, which must he the last step 
 if those short of war should be without avail. 
 
 It cannot be doubted that Mr. Canning's proposal, 
 though made with the air of consultation, as well as 
 concert, was founded on a predetermination to take 
 the course marked out, whatever might be the recep- 
 tion given here to his invitation. But this considera- 
 tion ought not to divert us from what is just and 
 proper in itself. Our co-operation is due to ourselves 
 and to the world ; and while it must insure success, 
 in the event of an appeal to force, it doubles the 
 chance of success without that appeal. It is not improb- 
 able that Great Britain would like best to have the sole 
 merit of being the champion of her new friends, not- 
 withstanding the greater difficulty to be encountered, 
 but for the dilemma in which she would be placed. 
 She must in that case either leave us as neutrals to 
 extend our commerce and navigation at the expense 
 of hers, or make us enemies, by renewing her paper 
 blockades and other arbitrary proceedings on the 
 ocean. It may be hoped that such a dilemma will 
 not be without a permanent tendency to check her 
 proneness to unnecessary wars. 
 
 Why the British Cabinet should have scrupled to 
 arrest the calamity it now apprehends, by applying to 
 the threats of France against Spain, " the small 
 effort" which it scruples not to employ in behalf of 
 Spanish America is best known to itself. It is 
 40
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 difficult to find any other explanation than that 
 interest in the one case has more weight in her 
 casuistry than principle had in the other. 
 
 Will it not be honorable to our country, and 
 possibly not altogether in vain, to invite the British 
 Government to extend the avowed disapprobation of 
 the project against the Spanish colonies to the enter- 
 prise of France against Spain herself, and even to 
 join in some declaratory act in behalf of the Greeks ? 
 On the supposition that no form could be given to the 
 act clearing it of a pledge to follow it up by war, we 
 ought to compare the good to be done with the little 
 injury to be apprehended to the United States, shielded 
 as their interests would be by the power and the fleets 
 of Great Britain, united with their own. These are 
 questions, however, which may require more informa- 
 tion than I possess, and more reflection than I can 
 now give them. 
 
 What is the extent of Mr. Canning' s disclaimer as 
 to " the remaining possessions of Spain in America ?" 
 Does it exclude future views of acquiring Porto Rico, 
 etc., as well as Cuba ? It leaves Great Britain free, as 
 I understand it, in relation to Spanish possessions in 
 other quarters of the globe. 
 
 I return the correspondence of Mr. Rush and Mr. 
 Canning with assurances, etc. 
 
 J. Madison to Monroe. 
 
 Montpelier, December 6, 1823. 
 Dear Sir : I received by yesterday's mail your 
 favor of the 4th, covering a copy of the message and 
 
 41
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLIC. I TION <>F 
 
 another ropy under a blank rover. It presents a most 
 interesting view of the topi< I for it. The 
 
 observations on the foreign ones are well moulded for 
 the occasion, which is rendered the more delicate and 
 serious by the equivocal indications from the I5iiti->h 
 Cabinet. The reserve of Canning after his frank and 
 earnest conversations with Mr. Rush is mysterious 
 and ominous. Could he have stepped in advance of 
 his superiors ? Or have they deserted their first object ? 
 Or have the allies shrank from theirs ? Or is anything 
 taking place in Spain which the adroitness of the 
 British Government can turn against the allies and 
 in favor of South America ? Whatever may be the 
 explanation, Canning ought in candor, after what had 
 passed with Mr. Rush, not to have withheld it, and 
 his doing so enjoins a circumspect reliance on our 
 own councils and energies. One thing is certain, that 
 the contents of the message will receive a very close 
 attention everywhere, and that it can do nothing but 
 good everywhere. 
 
 (Indorsed) Monroe, Js. 
 
 December 6, 1823. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE ENGLISH PRESS ON THE 
 MONROE DOCTRINE IN 1824. 
 
 From the London Courier of December 24th. 
 
 The speech of the President of the United States 
 
 is, in all its bearings, a document of more than usual 
 
 importance. The latter part, which arrived so late 
 
 yesterday that we were forced to omit it in a small 
 
 42
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 part of our impression, will be found in our last page 
 to-day ; and, waiving every other topic in the speech, 
 we direct our whole attention to that part the most 
 important of all to every European power. 
 
 The question of the independence and recognition 
 of the South American States may now be considered 
 as at rest. Great Britain has, as we have repeatedly 
 shown, acknowledged their independence de facto; 
 and the United States, their nearest neighbors, have 
 not only acknowledged it, but have given a bold and 
 manly notice to the continental powers that they 
 shall treat " any interposition with a view of oppress- 
 ing or controlling them in any manner as a mani- 
 festation of an unfriendly disposition toward them- 
 selves, and as dangerous to their peace and safety ;" 
 in other words, they shall view it as affording them 
 just ground for war. 
 
 After so clear and explicit a warning, there is not 
 one of the continental powers, we suppose, that will 
 risk a war with the United States — a war in which 
 not only they could not expect to have either the aid 
 or good wishes of Great Britain — but a war in which 
 the good wishes of Great Britain (if she did not 
 choose to give more efficient succor) would be all on 
 the side of the United States. Thus, then, we repeat 
 that the question may be considered to be set at rest ; 
 we shall hear no more of a congress to settle the fate 
 of the South American States. Protected by the two 
 nations that possess the institutions and speak the 
 language of freedom — by Great Britain on one side, 
 and the United States on the other — their independ- 
 
 43
 
 THE < ORIGIN, Ml:. \NING AND APPLICATION OP 
 
 ence is placed beyond the reach of danger ; and the 
 continental powers, unable to harm them, will do 
 well to establish that friendly and commercial inter- 
 course with them which they could never have done 
 had they remained under the yoke of Old Spain. 
 
 From the London Morning Chronicle. 
 
 The American papers, received yesterday, contain 
 the accounts of the opening of Congress, and the 
 message of the President of the United States. The 
 communication of the chief office-bearer of the great 
 Republic to the Legislature at this critical period, 
 when the ambition of kings, not satisfied with the 
 calamity which it has occasioned in Europe, threatens 
 to rekindle the flames of war throughout the Western 
 Hemisphere — was looked forward to with the utmost 
 anxiety. It is worthy of the occasion and of the peo- 
 ple destined to occupy so large a space in the future 
 history of the world. 
 
 What a contrast between the manly plainness of 
 this State paper and the Machiavelism and hypocrisy 
 of the declaration of the manifestoes of the Govern- 
 ments of this part of the world ! 
 
 Whatever lately were the intentions of the French 
 Ministers respecting South America, it is now asserted, 
 from undoubted authority, that English policy has 
 prevailed in Paris over that of Russia, and that not 
 only will Fiance not assist Spain in any attempt to sub- 
 jugate her former American colonies, but will view, 
 not with indifference, any support which Russia or 
 any other nation may lend her for this purpose. This 
 
 44
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRIXE. 
 
 is certainly a wise resolution on the part of the Freirch 
 Government, for this independence of the new Ameri- 
 can States must extend their commerce, and thereby 
 increase the prosperity of Frenchmen. Russia, 
 blocked up nearly half the year by impenetrable ice, 
 can never partake of Southern commerce until a port 
 be opened for her in the Dardanelles, and hence the 
 anxiety exhibited by her to involve France in 
 the expensive and hopeless employment of restor- 
 ing America to the yoke of the Bourbons ; for, with- 
 out this or some other occupation for the French 
 armies and the British navy, she has not the most 
 distant chance of accomplishing the long and ardently 
 cherished designs of her empire against ancient 
 Greece, now in possession. This union of France 
 and England in the great cause of American inde- 
 pendence is another strong ground for expecting the 
 continuation of the blessings of peace, and, conse- 
 quently, an improvement in the public credit of 
 nations. The speech of the President of the United 
 States, so full of wisdom and just ideas, has, however, 
 had more effect on the opinions of the leaders in the 
 national securities than the abundance of money or 
 the changed policy of France, for in it they see a 
 sufficient guarantee for the maintenance of the free- 
 dom of the American Continent. There is no part, 
 however, of this speech which can afford more gen- 
 uine satisfaction to every civilized nation than the 
 notice which it takes of the extraordinary and gallant 
 struggle made, at present, by the Greeks, in the cause 
 of general independence. 
 
 45
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OP 
 
 Front the Liverpool Advertiser of January 3d. 
 
 By one short passage in it, is set at rest, we dare 
 presume, whatever may have been in agitation by the 
 continental allies, in reference to the late Spanish 
 possessions in America. There will be no attempt 
 made, it may be confidently affirmed, to interfere 
 with the present condition of those countries, when it 
 is known that such interference would be viewed by 
 the United States as a just cause of war, on her part, 
 with any power attempting such interference. 
 
 In regard of the power, prosperity, and resources 
 of the nation herself, also, the language of the speech 
 is very interesting ; her revenue, it is affirmed, will, 
 on the first of this year, exceed her expenditure by 
 no less than nine million dollars. Her population is 
 estimated at ten millions, and every branch of indus- 
 try, every source of revenue, wealth, and power is 
 flourishing. 
 
 On its subjects of common interest to all nations, 
 the Government of the United States is enabled to 
 stand forward to suggest and promote what is bene- 
 ficial, and to crush what is injurious. In the speech 
 is developed a new idea in respect to maritime war, 
 which, if adopted, on this suggestion, by other pow- 
 ers, will greatly tend to lessen the evils of national 
 contention. It is proposed to do away altogether 
 with the system of privateering in so far as it is coun- 
 tenanced by Governments. 
 
 It is also suggested, as a means of effectually sup- 
 pressing the slave-trade, that vessels found by the 
 ships of any nation to be engaged in this traffic shall 
 46
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 be treated on the same footing with vessels caught in 
 piracy. 
 
 While in her power and resources, as they are 
 illustrated in this speech, the nation of the United 
 States exhibits the vigor of ripe years, she, in those 
 sentiments of active humanity, seems, to our thought, 
 to preserve the fresh feeling of youth, and not to be 
 wholly engrossed, as older States are, in the pursuit 
 or support of purely selfish interests. And we have 
 thus a pleasure from contemplating her less as that 
 metaphysical insentient thing, a State, than as an 
 actual human and feeling being. 
 
 From Be IV ' s Weekly Messenger of December 2jth. 
 
 The main object of any interest during the week 
 now passed is the arrival of the speech of the Presi- 
 dent of the United States. It is a document of the 
 first interest and importance. It is interesting, be- 
 cause it is a brief, simple, and direct expose of repub- 
 lican government ; always true, plain dealing, and 
 sincere. It is important, because, fearing nothing, 
 it conceals nothing, and is totally divested of all 
 trick, artifice, commonplace jargon which renders 
 the diplomacy of Europe so much more than merely 
 nugatory. 
 
 Long, very long, have we wished that Canada 
 might be sold or exchanged with the United States. 
 Exchanged for what it may be demanded ? Why, for 
 such an annuity for a term of years as would redeem 
 what remains of the English assessed taxes, and 
 redeem them forever. 
 
 47
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPUCA TION OP 
 
 If America would give us enough for this purpose 
 for five or seven years, the natural progress of our 
 revenue would do what would he required after that 
 time. Add to this that we should save upward of half 
 a million yearly in the expense of the Canada Gov- 
 ernment, and nearly as much more in the reduction 
 of the army which it would allow. This has long 
 been our own view, and we are persuaded that half, 
 at least, of our best statesmen unite with us in it. As 
 to the right of doing so, there can be no doubt that 
 the Canadians would agree, and for that reason — 
 because it is their decided interest to do so, and 
 because (if we were Canadians) we should not hesitate 
 one moment. 
 
 The third point in the speech is where the President 
 asserts that " he owes it to candor, etc., to declare that 
 the United States would consider any attempt on the 
 part of European monarchies to extend their system 
 to any portion of the Western Hemisphere as danger- 
 ous to their peace and safety," that " with the exist- 
 ing colonies or dependencies of any European power 
 they have not interfered and will not ; but that any 
 interposition for the purpose of oppressing or controll- 
 ing any of the States whose independence the Repub- 
 lic has, after mature consideration, acknowledged, she 
 would consider in no other light than as the manifes- 
 tation of an unfriendly disposition toward herself;" 
 in other words, as a just cause of war. 
 
 We have long, very long, anticipated that the 
 United States would thus speak, and it puts an end at 
 once to all apprehensions as to any attempt by the 
 48
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 allied despots upon South America ; for how can these 
 despots assemble any navy, which for an instant can 
 meet the American navy, or the South American 
 navy, when manned and commanded by American 
 seamen and American naval officers ? 
 
 From the Paris Etoile — A Ministerial Paper. 
 
 Mr. Monroe, who is not a sovereign, who has him- 
 self told us that he is only the first delegate of the 
 people, has taken in his message the tone of a power- 
 ful monarch whose armies and fleets are ready to go 
 forth on the first signal. He does more ; he prescribes 
 to the potentates of Europe the conduct they are to 
 pursue in certain circumstances if they do not wish to 
 incur his displeasure. Such is the prohibition which 
 he issues against their ever thinking of any new colo- 
 nization in the two Americas. 
 
 Mr. Monroe is the temporary President of a Repub- 
 lic situated on the Eastern Continent of North America. 
 This Republic is bounded on the south by the posses- 
 sions of the King of Spain, and on the north by those 
 of the Queen of England. Its independence has 
 only been acknowledged for forty years ; by what 
 title, then, are the two Americas to be under his im- 
 mediate dependence, from Hudson's Bay to Cape 
 Horn ? What clamors did he not raise in the United 
 States when the Emperor of Russia wished to trace 
 the demarcation of the part of territory which he 
 claims on the northeast coast as discovered by his 
 subjects ! This monarch, however, did not presume 
 to dictate laws to any of the States who have estab- 
 
 49
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OF 
 
 lishments on the same coast. It was reserved for Mr. 
 Monroe to show us a dictator armed with a right of 
 superiority over the whole of the New World. 
 
 According to the political system he would establish 
 it would not be permitted to Spain to make the least 
 effort to re-enter on the territory which for three 
 centuries she has possessed. The King of Portugal, 
 as the American papers have observed themselves, 
 could not act as a sovereign and father without expos- 
 ing himself to the wrath of Mr. Monroe. England 
 would require his previous consent if it suited her 
 interest to make any new military or political estab- 
 lishment either in Canada or Nova Scotia. And yet 
 Mr. Monroe's message contains phrases indirectly 
 hostile to the policy and ambition of the great powers 
 of Europe ! But what is that power which professes so 
 proudly maxims opposed to the rights of sovereignty 
 and the independence of crowns ? Who is that power 
 which pretends to prescribe to subjects the limits of 
 obedience ; who is she, in short, who does not fear to 
 compromise the existence of social order by declaring 
 in the face of heaven that she will not recognize any 
 difference between a government de facto and gov- 
 ernment de jure? 
 
 By bringing under one point of view all the asser- 
 tions and doctrines contained in this message, it is 
 satisfactory to consider that it has not yet received the 
 sanction of any of the authorities, even of the country 
 where it appeared ; and, in short, that the opinions 
 of Mr. Monroe are as yet merely the opinions of a 
 private individual. 
 
 So
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 The London Times of January sixteenth has some 
 very severe and spirited remarks on the extract above 
 given from the Etoile. The following paragraph may 
 serve as a specimen : 
 
 " A direct attempt is made by the Etoile to sever the 
 Chief Magistrate of a powerful and enlightened nation 
 from the body of a State which he represents. ' Not a 
 sovereign !' No, but he is the acknowledged — the 
 elected head and organ of a great sovereign people — 
 one whose elevation cost his country neither a drop of 
 blood nor a widow's tear, nor the beggary or banish- 
 ment, the persecution or corruption of a single human 
 being among ten millions of men. An eminence thus 
 achieved may well appear, at first sight, of questiona- 
 ble origin to an ultra ; but let him consider his words. 
 He calls Mr. Monroe a 'temporary president,' but is 
 the power which he exercises a temporary power ? It 
 is, on the contrary, a prerogative which never dies, 
 let who will be its trustee for the moment, and which, 
 as Mr. Monroe has on this occasion employed it, has 
 its sanction in the heart of every citizen among those 
 millions who confided it to his hands. Will the Etoile 
 venture to match the durability of any despotic throne 
 in Europe with that of the President's chair in North 
 America ? If so, we tell him that he is likely to lose 
 his wager. Or will his patron risk the fate of an expe- 
 dition on the chance of the policy announced by this 
 'private individual,' Mr. Monroe being disclaimed by 
 ' the other authorities ' of the republics ? We believe 
 they are not so rash. The entire commentary of the 
 unfortunate toile is an insult on the first article of his 
 
 5i
 
 THE ORIGIN, MEANING AND APPLICATION OP 
 
 own creed — viz., that a Government and the nation 
 for which it speaks must be identified." 
 
 *" 1870, July 14. Report of Secretary Fish to 
 President Grant. 
 
 " The United States stands solemnly committed by 
 repeated declarations and repeated acts to this doc- 
 trine, and its application to the affairs of this continent. 
 In his message to the two Houses of Congress at the 
 commencement of the present session, the President, 
 following the teachings of all our history, said that the 
 existing ' dependencies are no longer regarded as 
 subject to transfer from one European power to 
 another. When the present relation of colonies 
 ceases, they are to become independent powers, exer- 
 cising the right of choice and of self-control in the 
 determination of their future condition and relations 
 with other powers.' 
 
 " This policy is not a policy of aggression ; but it 
 opposes the creation of European dominion on Ameri- 
 can soil, or its transfer to other European powers, and 
 it looks hopeful to the time when, by the voluntary 
 departure of European governments from this conti- 
 nent and the adjacent islands, America shall be 
 wholly American. 
 
 " It does not contemplate forcible intervention in 
 any legitimate contest ; but it protests against per- 
 mitting such a contest to result in the increase of 
 European power or influence ; and it ever impels this 
 Government, as in the late contest between the South 
 52
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 American republics and Spain, to interpose its good 
 offices to secure an honorable peace. . . . 
 
 " It will not be presumptuous after the foregoing 
 sketch to say, with entire consideration for the sover- 
 eignty and national pride of the Spanish American 
 republics, that the United States, by the priority of 
 their independence, by the stability of their institu- 
 tions, by the regard of their people for the forms of law, 
 by their resources as a government, by their naval 
 power, by their commercial enterprise, by the attrac- 
 tions which they offer to European immigration, by the 
 prodigious internal development of their resources and 
 wealth, and by the intellectual life of their population, 
 occupy of necessity a prominent position on this conti- 
 nent which they neither can nor should abdicate, which 
 entitles them to a leading voice, and which imposes 
 upon them duties of right and of honor regarding 
 American questions, whether those questions affect 
 emancipated colonies or colonies still subject to Euro- 
 pean dominion." — Senate Executive Documents, 41 
 Cong., 2 Session, III, No. 112, pp. 7, 9. 
 
 55
 
 CD 
 CM 
 
 GO 
 CNJ 
 CD 
 CD 
 
 UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
 
 M% ^ID5ANGFI£;.> 
 
 hv.cto^ 
 
 T/Vcumiin.iuV^ 
 
 ^OFCAUFOft^ ^OP CA1IF0% 
 
 
 RARY0/ <$-UBRARY0/r 
 
 JVDJO^ %MmOJO^ 
 
 ^OF(*LIFO^ 
 
 WFQ% 
 
 ^tfHJNIVfl% 
 
 ^IttAHGFl^ 
 
 %™-sm^ 
 
 1^^ 
 
 J 
 
 ^IDSAHCIUf^ 
 
 ^TOW-SOl* 5 
 
 %WAwn^ N 
 
 WVB% 
 
 c2 
 
 vvlOSANCFl^> 
 
 MIVER% 
 
 o 
 
 KVSO^ 
 
 ■%«UAJNfl-]ftv 
 ^IDS-ANGflij^ 
 
 ^/auAwo-w^ 
 
 <$HIBRARY0/ 
 £ 1 tr^ 
 
 ^■UBRARY^ 
 
 ^•OFCAUFO^ ^.OFCAUFOff^ 
 
 
 ^AMvaaji^ 
 
 RARYfl?. ^t-UBRARYOr. 
 
 ^WMINIVERJ/^ ^lOSANCU^ 
 
 % 
 
 <rmoNvsoi^ "fyHUAwn-jv^ 
 
 ill PHD/ 
 
 . rvF-rAIIFADi, 
 
 «UMIHIVFRC/>. 
 
 •IfK-AMTilfr.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF Cfi - LOS ANGELES 
 
 c? — 
 
 008 672 064 6 
 
 
 K 
 
 ^OF-CALIFO^ 
 
 3n# ^AHvaain^ 
 
 fie smuuuj^ IV i F- ^ v 
 U C SOUTHERN REG«LM^ A ffl 
 
 jvwijtltvAA 
 
 AA 001331604 
 
 1/i §*F^ 
 
 
 
 ffl% vvlOSANCEUr. 
 
 rtRtyv 
 
 "^HAWA-I*?* 
 
 ^lOSANGEUtt* 
 
 tywmw 
 
 <$HJBRARY0/. 
 
 ^UiBRARYQ? 
 
 
 ^Aavaaiv# ^ajSvmih^ 
 
 
 <«HINIVHS& ^clOSANCEl% 
 
 =o 5 
 
 QiO^ %0JI1V3J^ ^ONVSOV^ "^/HQAIMJV^ 
 
 rtP ri urAn. 
 
 .nit iiiiMtnff. 
 
 . inc.uirnr*