The Monroe Doctrine Sufficient As It Stands.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 3, 1912:
    The Monroe Doctrine, like the Anti-Trust act, needs no amendment or extension of its scope. As the doctrine was declared in 1823 by President Monroe, is is perfectly applicable to any case that may arise, at Magdalena Bay or elsewhere, under Senator Lodge's hypothesis of the transformation of a short front commercial property in a private corporation's hands into a naval base established by a foreign Government. Even if we admit that such attempts to gain on this soil a foothold for a military or naval base may have been made, it is our judgment that the body of the doctrine, as set forth in President Monroe's message, from which we have never departed, but which we have consistently upheld, is, without any amendment whatever, entirely adequate for our protection.
    President Cleveland, in his Venezuela message, said of the Monroe Doctrine:
   It was intended to apply to every stage of our National life, and cannot become obsolete while our Republic endures. If the Balance of Power is justly a cause for jealous anxiety among the European Governments of the Old World, and a subject for our absolute non-interference, none the less is the observance of the Monroe Doctrine of vital concern to our people and their Government.
    Senator Lodge's resolution, which passed the Senate yesterday, declares that we could not see without grave concern the possession of any harbor or other place on this continent, suitable for military or naval purposes, "by any corporation or association which has such a relation to another  Government, not American, as to give that Government practical power of  control for national purposes." The Monroe Doctrine as it stands is plainly applicable to any case of that nature which may arise, and which we may deem to be a menace to the safety of our communication by the Panama Canal or otherwise, or to our general peace and safety. President Monroe's message asserted the principle "that  the American continents, by the free and independent condition they have shown and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Powers." But the comprehensive scope of the doctrine as originally proclaimed may be best understood from the following passage:
    We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those Powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European Power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere; but with the Governments who have declared their independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we have on great consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any 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 a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.
    It is of universal knowledge, of course, that, though President Monroe used the word European, the doctrine is not limited in its application to interference by European Powers. But establishment of a naval or military base upon any portion of this continent would so unmistakably involve the power of oppressing and controlling the destiny of the Nation whose territory was occupied, and of imperiling the peace of the United States, that the purpose of such acquisition would be much too plain for denials or evasive explanations. We have served warrant not only against specific injuries to our sister nations on this continent, but against attempts to "control in any other manner their destiny." That seems to us to include every act which, by conveying the menace of oppression or control against any American Republic, might threaten our peace and safety.
    The principle that we are to be the judge of invasions of the Monroe Doctrine is as well established as the doctrine itself. That doctrine is the public system of this continent, as the European Concert is the public system of Europe. We call it the Monroe Doctrine because Monroe first formulated these principles in an official document. The English are fond of saying that Canning was its inventor. In truth, it is neither Monroe's nor Canning's, it is the American doctrine. It was in the air decades before Monroe, after taking counsel with Jefferson and with Madison, and with his Cabinet, made the first public proclamation of the principle laid down in Jefferson's letter to Short in 1801, that the solid foundations of our safety would be laid when it was established that no European cannon shot could be heard this side the midline of the Atlantic, and no American cannon shot on the further side. The doctrine, as Mr. Cleveland said, "was intended to be applied to every stage of our National life." It is best as it stands. Many times resolutions giving statutory form to Monroe's declaration have been introduced, and sometimes passed, in one house or the other of Congress. They have never been enacted. The statutory form would have its disadvantages, because it would have its limitations. The principle can never be made clearer than Monroe made it. The application is a matter for the Judgment of our Government when occasions arise.