The question is one that appeals both to our
business necessities and the patriotic aspirations of a great
people.
It has been the policy of the United States since the foundation
of the Government to cultivate relations of peace and amity with
all the nations of the world, and this accords with my conception
of our duty now. We have cherished the policy of non-interference
with affairs of foreign governments wisely inaugurated by
Washington, keeping ourselves free from entanglement, either as
allies or foes, content to leave undisturbed with them the
settlement of their own domestic concerns. It will be our aim to
pursue a firm and dignified foreign policy, which shall be just,
impartial, ever watchful of our national honor, and always
insisting upon the enforcement of the lawful rights of American
citizens everywhere. Our diplomacy should seek nothing more and
accept nothing less than is due us. We want no wars of conquest;
we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. War should
never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed;
peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency.
Arbitration is the true method of settlement of international as
well as local or individual differences. It was recognized as the
best means of adjustment of differences between employers and
employees by the Forty-ninth Congress, in 1886, and its
application was extended to our diplomatic relations by the
unanimous concurrence of the Senate and House of the Fifty-first
Congress in 1890.
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