The record-union., 1896-12-04
THE ALL-EMBRACING BRITISH.

A dispatch in the regular news
course the other day set forth a propos-
ed plan of President Cleveland to have
Cuban independence purchased, Eng
land to issue bonds for the money nee
essary for the buying from Spain and
the United States to guarantee the
payment of the same.
The thing is absurd. We do not be-
Meve that the President contemplates
any such proposal 1t would mean in
the end the occupation Of Cuba by the
British, and then, as the San Francisco
Bulletin" wittily puts it, the power Of
the United States would be bottled up
for a certainty. Great Britain. has
possessions all over the round world
now, enough to alarm other nations;
literally there Is not a channel or sea
or ocean through which we might ever
want to send an American ship that is
not commanded by a point of English
vantage, or to which England is not
related as a naval base.
On the heels Of the dispatch concern
sion from ex-Secretary Foster that If
we do not annex Hawaii some other
Power will, since he Is convinced that
the republic in Hawaii cannot be main
tanned under the present system,
though the islands now have the best
government they have had, and though
President Dole has proved to be a dis
Greet and successful executive.
Of course, Mr.. Foster, when he used
the words some other Power" had in
mind the British Power and that alone
When the ex-Secretary was Cabinet
officer he was an ardent annexationist,
and his desire to attach the Hawaiian
group to this country has not abated
hence his wish may father his fear.
However, ii is quite generally conced-
ed that annexation would please the
most of the people Of the islands at this
time, and that 1t Is within the proba-
bilities.
One thing is undisputed, we cannot
afford TO permit Great Britain to get
any more foothold than she now has
near to our coasts; nor indeed upon the
hemisphere, though in the case Of dis
tant acquisition our declared policy
would probably restrain us from inter
ference.
It will very much interest those who
have not thought a great deal about
It to glance at the map Of the world
and notice how the British have COM
manding position wherever the sun
shines upon the globe, and how nearly
true 1t is that we cannot sail to a land
OF Importance in all the world without
passing under the shadow Of the Brit
ish flag, upon which IN very truth the
sun never sets.
If we would enter the Baltic Sea we
must pass through the British Chan
mel on the one hand, or
the North Sea Channel on the
other. both commanded by England,
and within the sea might encounter
difficulty from so small British foot
hold as Heligoland. If we would pass
into the Mediterranean Gibraltar bars
the way, and if once in the British
have a foothold at Malta from which
to operate against one.
II we sail down into the South At
lantic we pass numerous English coast
stations on the African continent, un-
TIL we reach South Africa, where the
British dominate from shore to shore.
Sweeping into the Indian Ocean the
British flag Is seen flying at naval and
military stations on all sides. In Asia
she has Cyprus. India, Ceylon, the
Straits Settlements, Hongkong, An
daman Islands, Nicobar Islands, Lab
uan, North Borneo. Alden and Perrin,
with innumerable small islands OF
more OF less stragetic value
In the far South Pacific the whole
Of Australasia Is British, with chains
of islands over which the English red
floats from the eastern extremity OF
the Australian continent out to the
Es3An group and thence westward