The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-08-25

dangers Of war, and yet ready to engage
in it for the control Of the great water.
way 10 the Gulfthe President made
the greatest conquest ever achieved
without antecedent war, and at cost SO
small that the total sum expended for
the entire territory does not equal the
revenue which has since been collected
on its soil in single month in time Of
great public peril. The country thus
acquired forms to-day the sta es Of Lou
isiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas
Nebraska, Minnesota, west uf the Miss.
issippi Colorado, north of the Arkan-
sas, and Oregon, besides the Indian Ter.
ritory and the territories of Dakota, Wy
oming, Montana, Idaho and Washing
ton.
This coup d'etat Of the First Consul
was m overwhelming surprise and dis
appointment To the English Govern.
,nent Bsna psrts Sss right in Assuming
that prompt action on his part was net ces-
sary to save Louisiana from the hands Of
the English. Twelve days after the
treaty ceding Louisiana 10 the United
States was signed, tie British Ambassa.
dor at Paris, Lord Whitworth, demand
ed his passports. At Dover he met the
French Ambassador To England, Gener-
al Andresasy, who had like wise deman-
ded his passports Lord Whitworth
loaded General Andreassy with tokens
Of esteem and conducted him TO the ship
which was to bear him back to France
According to III eminent historian, ''tlie
two Ambassadors, in the presence Of a
great Concoursc OF people, agltated, un-
easy, sorrowiui. Al the moment of so
important a determination, !lie warlike
passion s,Ibsided, and men were seized
with dread Oft consequences of a
desperate conflict Al this solemn mo-
ment the two nations seemed to bid
each other adieu not TO meet again til
after tremendous war and the con-
vulsion of the world"
The consequences that would have
followed England's acquisition Of Louisi-
ana must have proved in the highest de-
gree embarrassing, IL not disastrous 10
the Union. Had England seized
Louisiana as Bonaparte feared, the Flor
idas, cut of from the other colonies of
Spain, would probably have fallen into
her hands by easy and prompt negotia-
ton, as they did, few years after, into
tho hands Of the United States. Eng
land would thus have planted her colo
nics on the three land sides of the I'M
ion, and on the ocean side her formid-
able navy confronted the young Repub-
lie
No colonial acquisition ever made by
England on any continent would have
proved 20 profitable to her commerce,
and SO strengthening 10 her military po-
stion. a. that of Louisiana. This fact
was clearly seen by Bopaparte when
he hastily made the treaty ceding
it 10 the United States. That England
did not attempt 10 seize it, in disregard
of Bonapartes 8 cession, has beena source
Of surprise to many historians. The OBJ
2ious reason was that she dreaded the
complication Of u war in America when
she WAS about to assume SO heavy u bur.
den in ,be impending European coa'
test.
The inhabitants of the Union in 1898
were 5000 900 in number, OF great ener.
gy and couiidence, IA large portion aC.
customed 10 the sea, and able to sen
swafms Of pIivatcers 10 prey on British
commerce. Citizens Of an independent
Government would he even more for
nidahle than were rebellious coionlstS
in the earlier struggle with the mother
country, and, acting in conjunction with
France, could have effectively main
tanned the contest. Considerations OF
this nature doubtless induced the Al.
dington Ministry to acduiesce quietly in
treaty whose origin and whose assured
results were In every way distasteful,
and even offensive, to the British Gov
ernment.