Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1904 — Roosevelt’s South American Policy. [ARTICLE]

Roosevelt’s South American Policy.

In the letter by President Roosevelt to Secretary Root and Intended to be read at the Cuban anniversary dinner on May lu, was this remarkable language: “If a nation shows that it knows how to act with decency in industrial and political matters, if it keeps order and pays Its obligations, then it need fear no interference from the United States.” Joseph R. Pulitzer, taking advantage of the president’s declaration that, he stands on his “record,” takes up the South American states, shows that they are continually at war and that they are overwhelmingly in debt. Then he comments on the showing as follows: “Thus you propose to make us responsible for foreign debts aggregating $1,386.417,249 —more by 50 per cent than the present bonded national debt of the United States —and this not counting $419,984,658 of domestic debts.i billions of paper money and hundreds of millions due to foreign oitlzens and corporations for subsidies, damages and other claims. You propose to have us keep order among nearly 60,000,000 people of mixed Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and negro blood, divided among twenty sham republics which have had at least 300 revolutions in eighty years. Incidentally you take the chances of embroiling us with several European powers in the Caribbean and other islands. No wonder you want a great army and navy. If the people indorse your policy we shall need them."