The Protection of Foreign Lives and Property in Disturbed Areas
| Author | Raymond Leslie Buell |
| Published date | 01 July 1929 |
| Date | 01 July 1929 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271622914400121 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
85
The
Protection
of
Foreign
Lives
and
Property
in
Disturbed
Areas
By
RAYMOND
LESLIE
BUELL
Research
Director,
Foreign
Policy
Association,
New
York
City
THE
armed
protection
of
American
lives
and
property
abroad
has
long
been
a
policy
of
the
United
States.
During
the
last
hundred
and
fifteen
years
the
American
Government
has
for
this
purpose
landed
troops
upon
foreign
soil
on
more
than
one
hundred
occasions.!
Mr.
Reuben
Clark,
re-
cently
Under-Secretary
of
State,
wrote
a
few
years
ago:
No
nation,
it
would
seem
has
with
more
frequency
than
has
this
government
used
its
military
forces
for
the
purpose
of
occupying
temporarily
parts
of
foreign
countries
in
order
to
secure
adequate
safety
and
pro-
tection
for
its
citizens
and
their
property.2
Thus
the
use
of
force
for
the
pro-
tection
of
nationals
abroad
is
an
es-
tablished
principle
in
the
United
States.
Recently
the
principle
has
acquired
more
than
ordinary
importance
as
a
result
of
the
increasing
export
of
American
capital.
The
question
to
be
decided
is
whether
as
a
result
of
our
suddenly
increasing
foreign
invest-
ments
and
of
the
large
number
of
Americans
who
have
taken
up
a
per-
manent
residence
abroad,
the
United
States
is
going
to
apply
this
principle
of
armed
protection
more
vigorously
than
in
the
past.
The
foreign
investments
of
American
citizens
have
increased
from
~~,6~~,000,004
in
1913
to
$15,601-
000,000
in
1928.3
Nearly
nine
billion
out
of
the
fifteen billion
is
invested
in
Europe
and
Canada.
Nearly
three
billion
is
invested
in
Central
America,
including
Cuba,
Mexico
and
the
West
Indies.
Only
about
$200,000,000
is
invested
in
China.
The
remainder
is
found
in
South
America
and
Japan,
etc.
According
to
a
recent
State
Depart-
ment
census,
392,668
Americans
have
taken
up
a
permanent
or
semi-per-
manent
residence
abroad.
American
nationals
residing
abroad
are
located
as
follows:
Canada
and
Newfoundland
.........
234,147
Europe
..........................
77~068
Australasia
and
Oceania ............
8,337
Africa
..........................
3,673
South
America
...................
18,136
Asia.............................
34,119
West
Indies
and
Bermuda ..........
19,579
Mexico
and
Central
America
........
19,614
As
a
practical
matter
the
problem
of
armed
protection
does
not
arise
except
in
(1)
China,
(2)
the
Caribbean
and
Central
American
areas.
The
Ameri-
can
capital
in
these
areas
is
only
$8,154,000,000;
the
American
residents
total
only
50,778~―less
than
a
small
American
city.
THE
DOCTRINE
OF
INTERVENTION
The
right
of
the
United
States
to
guard
these
interests
has
been
nowhere
more
vigorously
expressed
than
by
Calvin
Coolidge
in
his
famous
speech
to
the
United
Press
on
April
85,
1987,
as
follows:
1
Offutt,
M.,
The
Protection
of
Citizens
Abroad
by
the
Armed
Forces
of
the
United
States,
p.
1.
Johns
Hopkins
University,
Studies
in
Historical
and
Political
Science
,
Series
XLVI,
No. 4.
2
Right
to
Protect
Citizens
in
Foreign
Countries
by
Landing
Forces
,
Memorandum
of
the
Solicitor
for
the
Department
of
State,
Oct.
5,
1912,
p.
33.
3
Winkler,
Max,
The
Dollar
Abroad,
Foreign
Policy
Association
Information
Service,
Vol.
V,
Supplement
No. 1,
p.
4.
4
In
Mexico
14,607
Americans
reside;
in
Cuba,
9,234;
in
Santo
Domingo,
9,205,
a
figure
which
includes
a
large
number
of
Porto
Ricans;
in
Haiti,
515;
in
Panama,
1,932;
in
Honduras,
1,310;
in
Nicaragua,
482;
in
Guatemala,
626;
in
Costa
Rica,
424;
in
Salvador,
203.
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