The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-07

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lance OF obtaining Cuba had been urged
JOIN QUINCY ADAMS, whom Secretary o
State under President NosRoE, declared II
his instructions to out dnis.sr to Spain
that Cuba and Porto Rico were natural ap
pondages to ou- continent. and that CubG
had become an object Q: transcendcnt mo-
ment to the commercial and political inter.
ests of our Union. JEFFxRsuw. writing tc
President MONROE about tho Same limo
said that. while he would not approve of go.
ing to war for Cuba. yet, II wo could get II
peaceaby. IT would fill up the measure OF our
wel-being. President POLK tried to buy II
from SPAIN and President FILLMORE re-
fused to accedo to tho agreement proposed
b. Great Britain and France that none
of the three powers would ever sock to OBJ
tain possession OF tho Island. EDWARD
EVERETT, when Secretary OF State in 1852.
wrote to the British Minister that ter
ritorally ami commercially. Cuba would.
In our hands. be an extremely valuable
| possession, and, under certain contin-
gcncies. might be almost essential to
| our safety" The Ostende manifesto OF
1854 emphasized this consideration. and
President BUCHANAN. in his second
| annual message in 1858. devoted much
| space TO the Cuban question. dwelling on
| the fact that former Administrations had
| repeatedly tried to purchase the island. and
| proposing renewed negotiations to that end.
The fact is pointed out by Mr.. BALDWIN
| that an act passed under the BUCHANAN
| Administration explicitly affirms the power
OF the United States to acquire foreign ter
ritory by right OF discovery. Under this
act the island OF Navassa. some two miles
long. lying between San Domingo and ia
maica. is now part Of the United States.
Tho exposition OF our consistency in
the policy OF annexation up to the out
break of the civil war does not. Of course.
overlook the acquisition OF New Mexico and
California. which were coded to us by treaty
in 1913 on the payment Of $4,000 900. a ces-
sion followed. five years later, by the GADS-
DEN purchase, which added southern Ari-
IONA at a cost of $l0.O00.0O0 more. The
outcome OF the whole story is that between
the acknowledgment OF our independence
by Great Britain and the rebellion of the
Southern States, we had. by adhering to
the annexation programme. almost trebled
our original territory.
The civil war had hardly ended when we
reverted to our historical policy. by pur-
chasing Alaska, whereby in return for
S7,2OO.OOO we obtained an additional domain
of over half million square miles. In the
same year Mr.. SEWARD. as Secretary OF
State. negotiated a treaty with Denmark
for the cession OF the West India Islands OF
st. Thomas and st. John. on the payment OF
S7.5OO.OOO. The inhabitants Of both islands
voted in favor of annexation, but the treaty
was rejected in 1868 by the Senate. mainly.
tions to President JOHNSON. A little later.
under GRANTS Administration. the treaty
providing for the annexation of the republic
Of San Domingo was rejected only
by II tie vote in the Senate, chiefly
owing to SUMMERS opposition. Gen.
GRANT. however, clinging to the traditional
policy Of the Government. managed to pro-
cure in the Pacific the foothold which he
had failed to gain in the Atlantic. He OBJ
tanned in 1872 from the chief OF one of the
Samoan Islands. the exclusive privilege Of
establishing coaling station at the port Of
Pango-Pango. and the privilege has since
been turned to account.
With regard to the latest petitioner for
the application OF our historical policy,
the Sandwich Islands. these. as Mr.. BALD
WIN points out. are nearer by three hundred
miles to San Francisco than is the outer
most Of the Aleutian Islands. which came
to us as part OF the Alaska purchase.
They were civilized by American mission
aries, and they have always maintained in
innate commercial relations with this coun-
try. For half a century our Government
has acted upon the assumption that we
possess peculiar claim upon the Hawaiian
group. Thus, when in 1S43. an English Off
Ger, without authority, took possession of
Hawaii. our Secretary of State declared
that these islands bore such relations to us
that we should be justified in interfering
by force to prevent their conquest by any
of the great powers OF Europe. In the
same year. to allay our apprehensions,
Great Britain and France entered into con-
vention by which each Of them covenanted
assume protectorate over them. In 1853,
Mr.. MARCY. as Secretary of State, expressed
the opinion that the Hawaiian Islands would
inevitably come under the control of our
Government; and. two years later. he in
formed our Minister to Honolulu that we
were ready to accept transfer OF sover-
eighty over them. In 1868 the matter OF
anneXing the Hawaiian Islands was again
Drought up, anu WOulu doubtless nave been
pressed by Secretary SEWARD but for his |
recent rebuff in connection with the Danish /!
West Indies at the hands of President |
JoHNsoNs opponents
1t may be a question whether the good |
faith of the nation Is not still bound by the |
treaty against further |
extension to the southwark. But the long |
array Of facts brought forward by Mr.. |
BALDWIN conclusively demonstrate that |
the persistent historical policy Of the United |
States points to the eventual absorption OF |
the North American continent. with every |
island on the east and the Hawaiian group
upon the west.
The Fate of Emin.
For twenty months we have had no news
of EAIN PaSha. eXcent the rannrts often