The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1888-01-28
LAND PuRcHAses
Some Of the Most Gratifylng Products Of
Democratic Policy.

Democratic Policy.
The United States originally com.
| pr1sed the old thirteen colonies east of
the Alleghenies which fought the revo-
lutionary war and afterwards became
the thirteen original States. When
the treaty of peace was made at Paris
in 1888 it was an interesting question
what should be the Western, or rather
the Northwestern boundary, the British
commissioners proposing to draw line
from Lake Erie to a point somewhere
on the Upper Ohio river This would
have reserved to the mother country
all the magnificent Northwest Terri
tory, as it was called, which the old
colony of Virginia had partially con-
quered from the Indians and then
claimed as part of its domain. The
American commissioners insis ed on
the surrender of it to the United
| States. and two of them, Franklin and
Jay, declared if it was not conceded
they would return home and leave
matters where they stood at the battle
of Yorktown. The British commits
sioners yielded at last; they could not
foresee the future value and impor-
lance of wilderness occupied at the
time by hostile Indians, and, in sur
rendering their claim to it, they
had little conception of what they
were doing. The country. as de-
fined by this treaty, comprised
all the domain south of the St
Lawrence river and lakes on the north
and east of the Mississippi, with the
exception of that part of the present
State of Louisiana east of the river, and
the Territory of Florida-an area of
1927, 500 square miles. This was the be-
ginning. The domain was q mag
nificent one and the statesmen of that
day thought they ever took the
trouble to think about the matter at
all-that it was enough for all time.
But they could not grasp the tremen-
dous future that was about to press
upon them. Twenty years later. and
while some of the American commits
sioners who had negotiated the treaty
of Paris were still living. President
Jefferson. by stroke ofstatesmanship
which. IN the language of James G.
Blaine, deserves to be commemorated
by a statue to the Father of Democracy
in st. Louis. bought the Louisiana
territory from France. paying SIS. OO0.-
600 for it. In telling the Louisiana
territory Napoleon had better idea of
what he was doing than the British
commissioners had when they gave up
the Northwest territory in 1888, but
even Napoleon only dimly discerned
what the wilderness he was parting
with would grow into. 1t included the
vast domain lying west of the Missis-
sippi and north Of Texas, Mexico and
California, and extending to British
America, now embracing the States of
Arkansas. Colorado. Missouri. Louis
ana, Kansas. Nebraska. Iowa. Mime
sofa and Oregon. the Indian Nation,
and the Territories of Dakota, Idaho.
Montana, Wyoming and Washington
1.-The whole having an area of LIS
600 square miles-nearly a third
greater than the original domain of the
country.
The next acquisition of territory was
that of Florida, bought from Spain at
cost of 5000. 900 by the Monroe
Administration, in 1921. By this pur-
chase we gained 10000 square miles
of new territory. and secured contin-
nous line of seacoast from Maine to
the Sabine river.
Texas was annexed in 1915, under
the Polk Administration, giving us an
additional 10000 square miles. Out
of this annexation grew the Mexican
war, under the same Administration,
in 1847, which ended in the conquest Of
the territory now embraced in part of
Arizona, California, Colorado, New
Mexico, Nevada. Utah, and small parts
of Kansas and Wyoming. and having
an area of 6S6. 600 square miles.
Under the Administration of Mr..
Pierce, in 1858, we negotiated the
"Gadsdcn purchase" as it was called,
by which we acquired an additional
1880 square miles. now included in
Arizona
The next and last acquisition was
that of Alaska, under the Andrew
johnson Administration in 1868 This
added territory of $4,000 square
miles area to the country, and extended
its northern limit up within the Arctic
circle We paid for it 81. 500. 900. An
examination of the map win show that
Alaska is the only part Of the
public domain separated from
the body of the country. A part
of British America lies between the
two. This awkward arrangement
grows out Of the Oregon boundary