Transcriber’s Note: The cover image was createdfrom the title page by the transcriber, and is placed in the publicdomain.
ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
AT CHAUTAUQUA, NEW YORK,
AUGUST 11, 1905
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1905
To-day I wish to speak to you on onefeature of our national foreign policy andone feature of our national domesticpolicy.
The Monroe Doctrine is not a part ofinternational law. But it is the fundamentalfeature of our entire foreign policyso far as the Western Hemisphere is concerned,[2]and it has more and more beenmeeting with recognition abroad. Thereason why it is meeting with this recognitionis because we have not allowed itto become fossilized, but have adapted ourconstruction of it to meet the growing,changing needs of this hemisphere. Fossilization,of course, means death, whetherto an individual, a government, or a doctrine.
It is out of the question to claim a rightand yet shirk the responsibility for exercising[3]that right. When we announce apolicy such as the Monroe Doctrine wethereby commit ourselves to accepting theconsequences of the policy, and these consequencesfrom time to time alter.
Let us look for a moment at what theMonroe Doctrine really is. It forbids theterritorial encroachment of non-Americanpowers on American soil. Its purpose ispartly to secure this Nation against seeinggreat military powers obtain new footholdsin the Western Hemisphere, and partly to[4]secure to our fellow-republics south of usthe chance to develop along their ownlines without being oppressed or conqueredby non-American powers. As wehave grown more and more powerful ouradvocacy of this doctrine has been receivedwith more and more respect; butwhat has tended most to give the doctrinestanding among the nations is ourgrowing willingness to show that we notonly mean what we say and are preparedto back it up, but that we mean to recognize[5]our obligations to foreign peoples noless than to insist upon our own rights.
We can not permanently adhere tothe Monroe Doctrine unless we succeedin making it evident in the first placethat we do not intend to treat it in anyshape or way as an excuse for aggrandizementon our part at the expense of therepublics to the south of us; second, thatwe do not intend to permit it to be usedby any of these republics as a shield toprotect that republic from the consequences[6]of its own misdeeds againstforeign nations; third, that inasmuch asby this doctrine we prevent other nationsfrom interfering on this side of the water,we shall ourselves in good faith try tohelp those of our sister republics, whichneed such help, upward toward peace andorder.
As regards the first point we mustrecognize the fact that in some SouthAmerican countr