"AMERICAN EGYPTS."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1847, 5 September 1913, Page 7

"AMERICAN EGYPTS."

a UNITED STATES POLICY WITH CARIBBEAN STATES. A DEMOCRAT CONVERSION. ; By Telejr*ph--Preis Aasooiatton—OopyriKhl i "Times" —Sydney "Sun"Special Cables. London, September 3. ' Tho Washington correspondent of • "The Times" points out that tho plan } of Mr. Bryan, United States Secretary ' of State, regarding Nicaragua, marks I' tho conversion of the Democrats to tho 4 acceptanco of tho Monroe Doctrine, which boils down into a declaration of 1 their intention to try to turn tho Ca--1 ribbean into an American sea, and an ' affirmation of the right to make tho " Carriboan republics American Egypts whencvor the peace of tho neighbourhood demands it. The .treaty proposed by the Democratic Administration for what comes cl° s ® "J being a protectorate over the Central American Republic of Nicaragua is (says "The Outlook") novel in itself, and is surprising also as coming from those who, like tho present Secretary of State, have traditionally been opposed to expansion of American power and influence beyond our own borders. This does not make tlio proposal unsound or less desirable, but it does show how differently a given problem may seem to political leaders when they are in opposition arid to tho same leaders in power. The now policy would place Nicaragua in much the same relation with tho United States as is Cuba; for the privileges as to possible intervention and control aro precisely those insisted upon through tho Piatt Amendment when this country established selfgovernment in Cuba after tho war with b Spain. In brief, these provisions are ) that Nicaragua' agrees not to impair its j independence by-'compact with any foreign power, or allow any such power to i obtain military control; that it will not contract debts without seeing that the country's revenues (after paying cur--9 rent expenses) will provide adequate in- > terest and ultimate payment; and that t the United States may intervene "for . the preservation of Nicaraguan indepent dence, and the maintenance of a govern- . ment adequate for tho protection of life, „ property, and individual liberty." The Washington correspondent of "The Times" recently remarked-.—'"That a 3 Democratic Administration should have ] been driven to admit the possibilty of in--3 tervention in Mexico is in itself signifll cant, but far more so is tho Teccption acaccorded to Mr. Bryan's scheme for a e potential protectorate over Nicaragua. It s had been expected that his party would rei pudiate this, inasmuch as it is nothing q more than an . extension of the principles e and the methods underlying Mr. Knox's 'dollar diplomacy/ Instead of that the i Democratic Senators havo received the suggestion with' something approaching v cordiality, and, except in extreme Little 1 American quarters,. press comment is J7 unanimously favourable. What it comes 'I to is that the Democrats are by force oi s circumstances being driven to abandon s their prejudices against expansion in i- favour of tho theory of Republican statesmen like Mr. Hoot and Mr. Knox that •a tho safety of the Panama Canal postulate; i, tho conversion of the Caribbean Sea intc l a close American preserve, and very posj' sibly of some Central American Republic; into American Egypts. That tho Monroe doctrine is primarily an instrument fot safeguarding 'tho Panama Canal has in fact grown overnight from a plank in a party programme into a national policy."