in carrying on the affairs of the republic and the balance was to go to
pay the indebtedness. In his message, February, 1905, President
Roosevelt, pressing upon the Senate the urgent need for the ratification
of this agreement, said: "The state of things in Santo Domingo has
become hopeless unless the United States or some other strong government
shall interpose to bring order out of chaos. . . . If the United States
declines to take action and other foreign governments resort to action
to secure payment of their claims, the latter would be entitled,
according to the decision of the Hague Tribunal in the Venezuela cases,
to the preferential payment of their claims; and this would absorb all