Page:The Pacific Monthly volumes 1-3.djvu/42



THE 19th century has taught the world that a great nation can be successfully evolved upon the principles of justice and equality. The problem as to whether the constitution of the United States embodied a feasible plan of government has long since been settled, and that great charter of liberty remains a most marvelous work of constructiveness. The weak republic of 100 years ago has be- come a mighty and puissant nation. The constitution has grown, with each dec- ade, in the affections of the people, and our institutions have been jealously cherished and guarded as sacred monuments of constitutional liberty and freedom.

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people has become an established fact, and "shall not perish from the earth." The great current of American life has been sweeping through the century towards "liberty, equality and fraternity."

The dominion of the republic has been extended, in magnificent continuity, from the rock-bound shore of the Atlantic to the golden sands of the Pacific, and the flag of the Union, enriched and glorified by 32 additional stars, floats in triumph over a land of almost limitless re- sources. The tide of population, swell- ing with the passing years, has swept Westward, bearing on its bosom the blessings and glories of the new civiliza- tion.

The history of the United States during the century has been one of unparalleled progress, and the great republic stands forth at the threshold of the 20th cen- tury a mighty power pre-eminent in all the elements that make a nation great. With more than 70,000,000 of people, with marvelous strength and resources, with wide-extended trade and commerce, she presents a splendid contrast to the feeble republic of 100 years ago. In close touch with the four quarters of the globe, her foreign relations rival in magnitude and

importance the wonderful expansion and development of her domestic affairs. A mighty nation in a mighty age — the con- ditions underlying our national life and energy demand the adoption and main- tenance of definite national policies com- mensurate with our greatness. The hegemony attained in the two Americas in the early decades of the century im- pelled the United States to the enuncia- tion of a distinctively American doctrine — a doctrine that the other powers of the earth have been uniformly compelled to respect. The Monroe doctrine, based in part upon the principle of self-preserva- tion and self-interest and in part upon the sentiment of altruism, has become an inseparable part of our governmental policy — a doctrine that our liberty-loving people are resolved to maintain and per- petuate. Whatever may be the destiny in store for the republics of the Americas, the United States has once and for all firmly decided that never again shall any one of them pass under Old World dom- ination; that these continents are and of right ought to be dedicated forever to the holy cause of freedom. The Monroe doctrine guarantees our own future safety and welfare, but equally does it serve as a palladium to the liberty of the weaker and less-favored peoples of this hemisphere.

Startling as was the announcement of the Monroe doctrine, and far-reaching as have been the consequences flowing therefrom, it remained for our govern- ment to take a still more advanced step.

From 1895 the people of the United States have followed with growing inter- est and concern the heroic efforts of the Cubans in their last and supreme strug- gle for freedom, and desire for inter- vention in their behalf has grown stronger with the passing months. Ad- miring and sympathizing with the valor and heroism of the Cuban patriots, con- vinced of the incapacity and inability of Spain to subdue and conquer the insurg-