The San Francisco call., 1897-10-10
WRECKAGE.
BY HOWARD V. SUTHERLAND

cou ntry when the national reason Is IN
danger OF being temporarily unseated; /;
| when through the national system; the
wild blood courses madly and when the
| national pulse beats with the fever of un-
| health. At such times the nation is will
| ing to do things TO which i. would not
! give moments thought in its rational
| periods. Wars, revolutions and re bellions
are then conceived and declared. At such
| times new ideas take hold OF the nation,
| and whether rational or irrational,
whether for the country's good or
| preludicial to its every interest,
are put through and carried out
in spite of the opposition of the reason
ing minority. The history of the world
furnishes us with conclusive evidence that
| no nation is free from these crises; they
appear TO be necessary for the working
out of its fate-for it's advancement or
for its ultimate overthrow.
In dealing with the Hawaiian question,
America has now entered upon one of
these critical periods. Intelligent citizens
are wondering whether the blood of the
nation will cool in time 10 permit it to act
reasonably, or whether, following the
~
rush blindly into annexation. The un-
thin king portion of the press ever at the
| disposal of the unthinking portion of the
people, is clamoring for annexation; the
! moderate portion Of the press voic-
iEg the opinions of thinking peo-
pie, heartily opposes such policy. The
| national reason appears to be temporarily
unseated and the result is awaited anxi-
before, and the seriousness of the question
is not as apparent to the average indi-
vidnaI as it should be. The gravity OF
such problems is never appreciated at the
time, even as their consequences can only
be judged by posterity. is. moreover,
one of the misfortunes of our age that we
| give so little attention to those who will
| follow in cur footsteps and who will be
affected by our actions.
| 1t must be apparent to all thinking peo-
| pie that the annexation of the Hawaiian
Islands would be an injustice not only to
| the present owners OF that place, but also
to their sons and daughters to come. No
man Is entitled to barter away his chill
dren's right to the country they may be
born in. When they come after him they
will have right TO say how their country
shall be governed, and this if it is under
the control of strangers they cannot ros-
sibly do. The statement that the natives
desire annexation by the United States is
untrue. The 'ma jority of Whites" or in
other words the people whose influence
has already proven hurlful to the country,
may desire it for personal reasons; but
! there the annexationists stop. The natives
have as much regard for their own country
as We have for ours. and their wishes, if
we really wish to be considered great and
good nation, must be respected. Let us
not forget that posterity will be an i'm
| partial critic.
Disintegration, as applied to nations.
more often than not is colonization
spelled backward. We must think of
this when consid ering the desira bility of
annexation from our own point of view.
| Every colony has its skeleton in the
closet and the skeleton is apt to show it.
self at very undesirable moments. 1t is
not possible in such an article as tins to
thrash over the dangers and expenses at
| tendant upon foreign possessions The
increased budgets OF every country at
| tempting to invest in them, Germany and
! Italy for instance, will serve as eloquent
| witnesses against the wisdom of such
policy. Moreover we have land enough
In our own sparseiy populated States
| without going abroad for more, the final
| price OF which may be paid in our chill
| dren's blood. That is the point in this
| question of annexation not to be lost sic hit
OF. That the betrayal of one country to
another cannot be held binding with those
| to come, even as the betrayal of Christ 10
the high priests did not rob US of our
| right III him. For a time this snefarious
transaction may be effected, but if it is it
will surely be the cause of trouble, the ex-
tent of which may be incalculaple.
The day of the artist has not vet
| dawnsd in California. 1t is true that he is
not stoned, neither is he hooted at when
he appears on the streets in broad day.
light. But the spirit displayed toward
him is one of liberation merely. He is
| permitted to live as best he may on husks
and crusts and that is all. Pie and pre-
serves are not for him at present l
notice, for instance, that the well-to-do
| Germans OF this city have raised funds
Tor an expensive bronze monument to b
| erected to the memory OF Schiller and
| Goethe in Golden Gate Park. The under
taking is pTaiseworthy one, as it will
help to further beautify the finest park in
| all the world. But why in the name of
| all that is patriotic did the Germans send
| the order abroad instead of intrustine It
| TO one OF our local sculptors?
| There are several competent artists
| in that line in the city and we
| should have taken more pleasure
| in the statue had it been the work of any
one of them. Why do not the artists
| themselves, painters, musicians and sculp-
tors, agitate this matter and ATTEMPT to
! change present conditions7 The press
will assuredly help them.
The question whether horses have souls
| or not is still agitating the minds OF many
| people. From little incident that oc.
| CURED in Fresno the other day it would
appear that they have. A resident of that
place, Supervisor moreover, was kicked
| to death by discon tented steed and to this