country except the United States and one or two South American countries can possibly stand without starving. I beg you to consider that, the wonderful penalizing operation, the beautiful penalizing operation of such an organization as the universal boycott. What nation will like to come up against that kind of boycott? How much of a war will it be able to carry on when no neighbor can furnish anything in the way of food and raw material, when it cannot get money for anything that it produces. That in itself and the prospect of it will prevent the nation from going to war. And then if the boycott does not work effectively, then the forces of the neighboring nations will be called in to assist that operation and suppress and inflict a penalty of military destruction upon that nation.
I say, no nation—of course I mean after the stabilization of the condition of Europe today—that is so fluid and chaotic that there will have to be attention to that before we can say that the normal situation is restored. But I mean when peace is restored, the operation of the League is going to prevent the occurrence of any such war. You say that is only reasoning. But the reasoning is thoroughly good, and it is based on human nature. It is the minatory, threatening, cautionary effect of the penalties of the League that are expected to work to prevent war. That is the normal operation of the League. That is the reason why we go into it, not to fight wars, but to have the nations understand that if they fight wars, then we do. We fight not for lawless violence or greed of possession, but we fight with lawful force to overcome lawless violence on the same principle that we use the police force in domestic communities.
Monroe Doctrine.
Now you say, that is a priori. It is. But if you go back in your own history you have an illustration that ought to a fortiori demonstrate this. In 1823 the Holy Alliance, consisting of the great powers of Europe except Great Britain, indicated a purpose to come over here and overthrow the nations which had revolted from Spain, and which we had recognized. Canning of England was greatly troubled about it. Thomas Jefferson was consulted and he advised uniting with England to prevent it. John C. Calhoun did so. But Monroe and Adams conceived the declaration of the Monroe Doctrine and put it into the message of Monroe of that year. The doctrine was merely the application of the principle of Article X to the aggression of European nations against the territorial integrity and political independence of American nations. It announced that if any of those nations came over here to take the territory or overthrow the independence
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