independence, and their new governments had been recognized by the United States, our government gave notice to the European powers that they must not attempt to bring these countries back to their former allegiance to Spain.

False constructions might easily be placed upon these announcements by the President. To do away with these false impressions, the House of Representatives in 1825 passed the following resolution:

That the United States ought not to become a party with the Spanish American Republics, or either of them, to any joint declaration for the purpose of preventing interference by any of the European powers with their independence, or form of government, or to any compact for the purpose of preventing colonies upon the continents of America; but that the people of the United States should be left free to act in any crisis in such a manner as their feeling of friendship toward such republics, and as their own honor and policy may at the time dictate.

In other words, the United States should not be fettered by any doctrine or form of program, but left free to act as occasion might require. From this it will readily be seen that the United States is in no way committed to a policy of political protection or guardianship of other American countries. Surely, from the above brief examination of the Monroe Doctrine, it ought to be reasonably clear to every candid mind, on the one hand, that our government is not to

be held responsible for the maintenance of other free governments on this continent, and, on the other hand, that this Monroe Doctrine in no way prevents us from acquiring sovereignty over territory elsewhere in the world.

It is natural, however, when we come to the point of stepping off from the continent of North America and undertaking to secure territory elsewhere, that such a proposition should lead to a careful examination, with a view to determining whether accessions of foreign territory would prove advantageous to this country. A very general discussion of these subjects has resulted from our recent accessions of island possessions. Since our war with Spain, circumstances have brought fairly before the minds of our citizens the question of our proper place among the nations of the world. The rapid increase and improvement of the means of transportation and communication between the different parts of the world, especially the tremendous growth of our own commerce, inevitably raise questions which never, heretofore, have affected our welfare. All parts of the world are much nearer together than they were fifty or even twentyfive years ago. The great forces of commerce are changing the world. These changes bring home to us the necessity of a wide-reaching and modern foreign policy. The game of upright diplomatists and enterprising merchants is no longer to be played solely

along the coast line of our own shores, but upon the map of the whole world. Formerly the Mediterranean Sea limited the enterprise of men and set bounds to their thoughts. In process of time, however, the Mediterranean broadened into the Atlantic. Our commerce, hitherto, has been largely limited to this one ocean. The growth of our domain upon the Pacific coast, together with the half-dozen railroad lines which connect that coast with the Atlantic, has made it absolutely certain that the future of this country depends, not only upon our Atlantic commerce, either coastwise or with Europe, but largely upon our relations with the nations of the Orient,China, Japan, India, Australia, and the thousand islands of the Pacific Ocean.

Among these Pacific islands, the Hawaiian group occupies a prominent position. It lies wholly within the tropics. The islands are eight in number, and are of volcanic origin. The most southern and largest island is Hawaii, which extends just below latitude 19°; and the most northern island, Kauai, lies mostly north of latitude 22°. They cover nearly 7000 square miles of area, Hawaii occupying more than half of the whole surface. Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, has the only good harbor in all the islands.

These islands were discovered by Captain Cook in 1778. On his appearance with his two vessels, the natives considered him a god, and treated him and his