Page:Life and Select Literary Remains of Sam Houston of Texas (1884).djvu/481

 "so to have construed it. He was clearly of opinion, with the President of the United States, that no foreign State had a right to interfere pending the dispute between the colonies and the mother country; but he was as strongly of opinion that the mother country had a right to attempt to recover her colonies if she thought proper.'"

Mr. Canning's construction of the message was clearly correct, as will have been seen from the extracts which I have read from that document. Spain, ruled by France, as the swordsman of the Holy Alliance, was included in the declaration that — "With the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged, we could not view an 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."

It has often been asserted, sir, that Mr, Canning originated the Monroe doctrine. It has been seen to what extent he is entitled to that credit. The announcement of that doctrine, as valuable a purpose as it served his Government, perhaps took no one more by surprise than himself. Little could it have been imagined that a young republic, with nothing like half of its present population, could summon resolution to proclaim at the top of its voice, to all the potentates of the other hemisphere, in substance:"'You may manage your affairs as you choose there, but you shall not carry your system or systems of government to the world of the West. With stout hearts and strong minds, and, above all, relying upon God's favor, we will prevent the establishment of any new European alliances in this hemisphere, or perish in the effort.'"

At the time of preparing his message it may have been seen by Mr. Monroe that circumstances might arise rendering it necessary that the exercise of a controlling influence over one or another of those young republics would become a necessity on the part of this country. Mr. Clay, in his zeal for their recognition, has asserted, in his place in the other House, that "it would be impugning the wisdom of Almighty God to suppose that He had created beings incapable of self-government "; but Mr. Monroe was not, perhaps, quite so sanguine. He, however, was determined, as far as his official influence could be advantageously employed in the instance of those republics, that the experiment should have a fair trial. But if it should result in failure no foreign Power should attempt their resubjugation. It would become a duty under our mantle to nourish, cherish, and protect such as could not take care of themselves. The unlocking of the rich, varied, natural stores of Mexico would redound not only to the enlarged welfare of that country, but to the good of every country interested in commerce and in enlightened civilization. She is, literally, the thriftless "talent tied up in a napkin." She can never be otherwise until we exercise a controlling influence over her. We must make her respectable and respected. She has been going down so long that she is incapable of rising. With life and property secure, it is estimated that she could produce $100,000,000 of silver annually. Instead of fifteen or twenty miles of railroads she might in a score of years have as many hundreds. With such an attractive climate and fruitful soil and variegated scenery she would become the center of fashionable travel and the abode