40

ihren betreffenden Regierungen existiert. Nun gut, wenn
Monroe sich auf die republikanische Regierungsform beziehen
 wollte im Gegensatz zur monarchischen, so müssen
wir dazu bemerken, daß derselbe Monroe am 27. Jamuar
1823 den Kaiser von Mexiko, Iturbide, anerkannte und
später, am 26. Mai 1824, den Kaiser von Brasilien,
Dom Pedro; wenn er aber die Absicht hatte, auf den Zustand
der Unabhängigkeit und Souveränität anzuspielen, so müssen
wir daran denken, daß England in Amerika Gebiete von
größerer Ausdehnung als die der Vereinigten Staaten besaß
und daß andere beträchtliche Teile des amerikanischen Kontinents
 und seiner benachbarten Inseln tatsächlich Besitztümer
europäischer Staaten waren. Wenn Monroe sich vornahm,
den Unterschied auf die grundsätzliche Ungleichheit zwischen
den Regierungen zurückzuführen, indem er die Amerikaner
als Demokraten und Liberale, die Europäer aber als Autokraten
 und Reaktionäre hinstellt, so ist der erste „einleuch-The

 late events in Spain and Portugal show that Europe is
still unsettled. Of this important fact no stronger proof can be
adduced than that the allied powers should have thought it proper
on any principle satisfactory to themselves, to have interposed, by
force, in the internal concerns of Spain, To what extent such interposition
 may be carried, on the same principle, is a question in
which all independent powers whose governments differ from theirs
are interested, even those most remote, and surely none more so
than the United States. Our policy in regard to Europe, which was
adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated
that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which
is, not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers; to
consider the government de facto as the legitimate government
for us; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those
relations by a frank, firm, and manly policy, meeting, in all instances,
the just claims of every power, submitting to iniuries from none. But
in regard to these continents, circumstances are eminently and
conspicuously different. It is impossible that the allied powers should
extend their political system to any portion of either continent
without endangering our peace and happiness, nor can any one
believe that our southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt
it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we
should behold such interposition, in any form, with indifference. If
we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain and
those new governments, and their distance from each other, it must
be obvious that she can never subdue them, It is still the true policy
of the United States to leave the parties to themselves, in the hope
that other powers will pursue the same course.“ American State
Papers. Foreign Relations, V, 246 und {f,