There was a time in the early days of our own great nation and of the republics fighting their way to independence in Central and South America when the government of the United States looked upon itself as in some sort the guardian of the republics to the South of her as against any encroachments or efforts at political control from the other side of the water; felt it its duty to play the part even without invitation from them; and I think that we can claim that the task was undertaken with a true and disinterested enthusiasm for the freedom of the Americas and the unmolested Self-government of her independent peoples.  But it was always difficult to maintain such a role without offense to the pride of the peoples whose freedom of action we sought to protect, and without provoking serious misconceptions of our motives, and every thoughtful man of affairs must welcome the altered circumstances of the new day in whose light we now stand, when there is no claim of guardianship or thought of wards but, instead, a full and honorable association as of partners between ourselves and our neighbors, in the interest of all America, north and south.  Our concern for the independence and prosperity of the states of Central and South America is not altered.  We retain unabated the spirit that has inspired us throughout the whole life of our government and which was so frankly put into words by President Monroe.  We still mean always to make a common cause of national independence and of political liberty in America.  But that purpose is now better understood so far as it concerns ourselves.  It is known not to be a selfish purpose.  It is known to have in it no thought of taking advantage of any government in this hemisphere or playing its political fortunes for our own benefit.  All the governments of America stand, so far as we are concerned, upon a footing of genuine equality and unquestioned independence.

We have been put to the test in the case of Mexico, and we have stood the test.  Whether we have benefited Mexico by the course we have pursued remains to be seen.  Her fortunes are in her own hands.  But we have at least proved that we will not take advantage of her in her distress and undertake to impose upon her an order and government of our own choosing.  Liberty is often a fierce and intractable thing, to which no bounds can be set, and to which no bounds of a few men’s choosing ought ever to be set.  Every American who has drunk at the true fountains of principle and tradition must subscribe without reservation to the high doctrine of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which in the great days in which our government was set up was everywhere amongst us accepted as the creed of free men.  That doctrine is, “That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community”; that “of all the various modes and forms of government, that is the best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness