"It is not true that the United States
feels any land hunger or entertains any projects as regards the other nations
of the Western Hemisphere save such as are for their welfare. All that this
country desires is to see the neighboring countries stable, orderly, and
prosperous. Any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our
hearty friendship. If a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable
efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and
pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the
~
President Theodore Roosevelt