Volume Vi Part 13 (2/2)

Arrival of Secretary Root at Rio de Janeiro.

The International Bureau of American Republics was founded as a result of the first Pan-American conference. The original plans of the founders were not carried out owing to a lack of interest on the part of the Department of State as well as in the foreign offices of the South American countries. Secretary Root determined to make this bureau an efficient agency for bringing about better relations between the two continents. He defined the main purpose to be not only to build up trade and commerce among all American nations, but to promote more friendly relations, a better understanding of each other, and the general prosperity and well-being of all the countries of the American continents. Through gifts from Andrew Carnegie and contributions from the different South American states a splendid modern building, costing $1,000,000, was erected in Was.h.i.+ngton, 1908, as the home of the Bureau of the Pan-American Republics. Besides other enterprises, the Bureau publishes a monthly periodical which contains information on the commerce, new enterprises, and general development of each republic.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Large, two-story marble building.]

Photograph by Clinedinst.

The Bureau of the Pan-American Republics.

With these new relations.h.i.+ps came a new interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine. At various times European nations have engaged in controversies with South American states over the payment of debts due the citizens of the former. The question has then arisen, to what extent shall the United States permit the use of force against the debtor nations? The wider application of the Monroe Doctrine under President Cleveland looking toward the maintenance of the rights of the weaker American nations, has been followed by recognition of our obligation to secure the performance of duties by those nations. Said President Roosevelt (1905): ”We cannot permanently adhere to the Monroe Doctrine unless we succeed in making it evident, in the first place, that we do not intend to treat it in any shape or way as an excuse for aggrandizement on our part at the expense of the republics to the south of us; second, that we do not intend to permit it to be used by any of these republics as a s.h.i.+eld to protect that republic from the consequences of its own misdeeds against foreign nations; third, that inasmuch as by this doctrine we prevent other nations from interfering on this side of the water, we shall ourselves in good faith try to help those of our sister republics, which need such help, upward toward peace and order.”

The immediate cause for this statement by President Roosevelt was the problem confronting our government on account of the bankrupt condition of the Republic of Santo Domingo. Debts had acc.u.mulated for over thirty years until by the beginning of 1905 they amounted to more than $32,000,000. Each successive ruler became a more reckless borrower and new loans were secured upon harsher terms.

Finally affairs were brought to a crisis on account of the pressure on the part of the French and Italian governments for the payment of the claims of their citizens. The republic was on the verge of dissolution when President Roosevelt intervened. European governments were satisfied, for it signified the payment of their claims. An agreement was signed by representatives of the government of Santo Domingo and of the United States whereby the United States was to undertake the task of collecting and apportioning the revenues of Santo Domingo. The stipulation was made that no plan of annexation, purchase, or permanent control on the part of the United States should ensue. Agents were to be appointed by the United States who should take charge of the customhouses. Forty-five per cent of the total receipts were to be used in carrying on the affairs of the republic and the balance was to go to pay the indebtedness. In his message, February, 1905, President Roosevelt, pressing upon the Senate the urgent need for the ratification of this agreement, said: ”The state of things in Santo Domingo has become hopeless unless the United States or some other strong government shall interpose to bring order out of chaos... . If the United States declines to take action and other foreign governments resort to action to secure payment of their claims, the latter would be ent.i.tled, according to the decision of the Hague Tribunal in the Venezuela cases, to the preferential payment of their claims; and this would absorb all the Dominican revenues and would be a virtual sacrifice of American claims and interests in the island. If, moreover, any such action should be taken by them, the only method to enable the payment of their claims would be to take possession of the custom-houses, and, considering the state of the Dominican finances, this would mean a definite and very possibly permanent occupation of Dominican territory, for no period could be set to the time which would be necessarily required for the payment of their obligations and unliquidated claims.” The Senate, in special session, s.h.i.+rked responsibility and refused either to ratify or reject the treaty.

With the revolutionists on the island growing stronger and the European Powers becoming more insistent, President Roosevelt, disregarding the att.i.tude of the Senate, appointed an American as receiver of customs.

The move proved immediately successful. The insurrection died out, trade revived, smuggling ceased, and the people were infused with a new spirit. There was also a remarkable increase in the customs receipts, those of 1906 showing an increase of 44 per cent over the receipts of 1905 and 72 per cent over those of 1904. Although only 45 per cent of the revenues collected were turned over to the Dominican government, this sum was almost double the amount which they had received when they had control of the collection themselves.

After two years of discussion, the treaty was ratified by the Senate, February 25, 1907, and by the Dominican Congress, May 3. The terms were practically those which had been carried out by order of President Roosevelt. The United States, in a sense, became the trustee of Santo Domingo, and thus established a new relation between this country and the smaller republics of the western hemisphere.

CHAPTER VII

CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES

[1906]

Toward the close of the nineteenth century, attention was called to the fact by scientific men that the methods employed in the use of our soil, mines, forests, and water supply were extremely wasteful. During the previous decades the resources of the country were regarded as inexhaustible. As stated by President Roosevelt in 1907: ”Hitherto as a nation we have tended to live with an eye single to the present, and have permitted the reckless waste and destruction of much of our national wealth.” At the same time the call came for the conservation of our natural resources.

The destruction of the forests first attracted attention. The first national reservation of forests was made in 1891, and in 1898 a marked advance was made by the establishment of a division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture. Gifford Pinchot, as chief of the division, called attention of the people to the interdependence of the forests and the waterways.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Large tree, several hundred feet tall and about twenty feet in diameter.]

Grizzly Giant, Mariposa Grove, California, with a squad of cavalry at its base.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Large tree, with a one lane road cut through the center.]

Big tree ”Wanona,” showing the relative size of other conifers compared with big trees. Mariposa Grove.

In 1906, after long effort, the famous Mariposa Grove of large trees in California was made a national reservation. During the same year a bill was pa.s.sed by Congress providing for the preservation of Niagara Falls.

Public opinion had been aroused by the campaign of the American Civic a.s.sociation. Power companies had multiplied so rapidly that it seemed the whole volume of water was about to be used for commercial purposes and that the most famous object of natural scenery in the United States would be destroyed.

In response to appeals from the people of the interior, President Roosevelt, March 14, 1907, appointed the Inland Waterways Commission. In his letter which created the commission he said: ”The time has come for merging local projects and uses of the inland waters in a comprehensive plan designed for the benefit of the entire country... . I ask that the Inland Waterways Commission shall consider the relations of the streams to the use of all the great permanent natural resources and their conservation for the making and maintenance of prosperous homes.”

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