Such action President Roosevelt could not permit. But he could
not ignore the validity of the debts which the Republic had
contracted or the justice of the demand for the payment of at
least the interest. "It cannot in the long run prove possible,"
he said, "for the United States to protect delinquent American
nations from punishment for the non-performance of their duties
unless she undertakes to make them perform their duties." So he
invented a plan, which, by reason of its success in the Dominican
case and its subsequent application and extension by later
administrations, has come to be a thoroughly accepted part of the
foreign policy of the United States. It ought to be known as the
Roosevelt Plan, just as the amplification of the Monroe Doctrine
already outlined might well be known as the Roosevelt Doctrine.

A naval commander in Dominican waters was instructed to see that
no revolutionary fighting was permitted to endanger the custom
houses. These instructions were carried out explicitly but
without any actual use of force or shedding of blood. On one
occasion two rival forces had planned a battle in a custom-house
town. The American commander informed them courteously but firmly
that they would not be permitted to fight there, for a battle
might endanger the custom house. He had no objection, however, to
their fighting. In fact he had picked out a nice spot for them
outside the town where they might have their battle undisturbed.
The winner could have the town. Would they kindly step outside
for their fight. They would; they did. The American commander
gravely welcomed the victorious faction as the rightful rulers of
the town. So much for keeping the custom houses intact. But the
Roosevelt Plan went much further. An agreement was entered into
with those governmental authorities "who for the moment seemed