The New York correspondent of the Daily Mail, wiring to
Monday's paper, reports that Mr. Elihu Root, Secretary of War, used the following phrases at a dinner of the Grant
Memorial Association No man who carefully watches the signs of the times can fail to see that the American people within a few years will have either to abandon the Monroe doctrine or to fight for it,"—a view which we have repeatedly tried to impress on the American people. "We are not going to abandon it," he continued, " and, if necessary, we shall fight for it. But unless there is in the future greater diligence in legislation, when the time comes it may find us unpre- pared." We have dealt at length with the subject else- where, and will only say here that Mr. Root is perfectly right to warn his countrymen. It is said that he has declared his speech to be a purely academic utterance, and in no way directed against Germany. No doubt ; but utterances are not necessarily untrue because they are academic. Captain Mahan's views on sea-power were purely academic, but, to use the words of a Persian poet, "by that means a world was affected."
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