In no single instance of virtual annexation or protectorate have we
consulted by popular vote either the desires of those inhabiting the
respective territories annexed or The Hague Tribunal. In every case we
have had one single plea and one only--self-interest.
The entire American continent south of our frontier we have closed to
all European settlement, thereby maintaining for more than a century in
a magnificent territory an imperfect civilization which makes a sorry
use of natural resources which could vastly improve the condition of all
mankind if properly used.
This is the light in which European nations see us; our identity in
this policy from the dawn of our national existence onward they consider
a proof of our national character. It differs in no respect from their
own policies except in one.
But for them this exception is basic. We are a composite folk and they
are homogeneous, their blend being approximately complete. They have one
language, one tradition, one set of institutions and laws; a unity of
literature, habits, and method in life. Some European States are
composite, but each component part claims and cultivates its own style
and its own principles; each announces itself as a nationality with a
life to be maintained and a destiny to be wrought out somehow, either in
peace or in conflict.
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