The record-union., 1897-07-10
SAN FRANCISCO, July ?. 1897.

SAN FRANCISCO, July :, 1891.
Captain W. L. Merry, San Francisco,
Cal.-My Dear Sir: read with pleasure
the address of the Chamber of Com
merce on the subject of the annexation
of the Hawaiian Islands. The position
taken by the chamber deserves COM
mendatiOn, and as a member OF the
chamber I desire to express to you my
sincere approval of the declaration OF
policy and opinion formulated IN the
address. II you will pardon the intru-
sion of some additional argument in ia
vor of the annexation of the Hawaiian
Islands, I beg leave to say:
Some wise and thoughtful philosopher
has said that true statesmen keep
horizon of at least fifty years before
their minds Errors of craftsmanship
are referrable to a disregard of this
great maxim Fifty years is but
brief period in the history of a nation
In fact, 100 years past is but a yester-
day in the annals of States
The best structure is that which is in
tended to be most permanent. In con-
structing nation we must have regard
for it's expansion, and especially must
We keep in view the effect of the ex-
pansion of other nations, which by in
troactive relation may result in an ac-
tual contraction of our own. There is
a struggle for primacy among the ma
1ions, belongs to the dominant race in
commerce of the world, with it's attend
ant influence upon the industry of ma
tions belongs to the dominant race in
any period Of the worlds history.
The policy of protection, whatever
notifications, it may undergo, is to be
the fixed and established practice of
this nation This arises out of the
fact that impost duties Will be the chief
if not the only means of raising reve-
nue. for the support of the Government.
The constant cost of Government will
make a tariff for revenue the equivalent
of a tariff for protection The distri-
button Of a tariff for revenue has an i'm
portant bearing upon the industries of
our country, and this distribution of it
self, even when a low tariff is devised,
becomes a protective tariff as to GER
tain articles, even if it should be with
drawn from others.
1t may be safely assumed that the
policy of protection in an abstract sense
will be fixed and unalterable in this
nation in some form of practice for at
least a century to come. There is
true sense in which the policy tends to
make a nation self-dependent and self
helpful It reaches it's highest and
most beneficial results when it is ap-
piled to that nation having within itself
the full round of resources which viii
supply all the wants of man. Let me
illustrate this in a simple way:
Suppose that within the territory of
a nation there existed no iron and coal.
Let the suppositiOn now extend to the
existence of a, small territorial area ly-
ing Immediately contiguous to the ter
ritory of this nation, rich in iron and
coal Could there be any possible
argument against it's annexation?
Would not the absorption of a territory
with an element SO Indispensable to the
industry and commerce Of the nation
be the suggestion of the highest wis
dom? Suppose the nation had no salt,
but that Immediately adjoining its
borders there was a small area rich in
this mineral. If the nation intended
to pursue the policy of protection with
its concOmitant of commercial and in
dustrial independence, would it not be
a measure of wise craftsmanship to an
mex the small territory possessing this
Indispensable resource?
The annexation of the Hawaiian Is
lands furnishes a complete analogy to
these postulates. If you will visit the
exhibit made by the State Board of
Trade of the products of California, you
will find that exhibit to comprise every
object of culture grown for CONNER
cial purposes on the entire face of Eu-
rope, from the clement region of the
Mediterranean to the frozen waters of
Sweden and Norway. The annexation
of California to the United States was
something more than the annexation
of the territory. 1t was the annexation
of an element of industry and com
merce, the incorporation into the United
States of new capacities of soil and
climate urging this nation on to a higher
plane of self-helpful and industrial and
commercial independence.
The annexation of the Hawaiian Is
lnds must not be viewed simply from
its territorial aspect 1t must be con-
templated from the standpoint of the
great policies of craftsmanship by
which this nation is to be controlled
and directed for the Immediately sue
ceeding century. The annexation of
the Hawaiian Islands annexes the trop-
ical region of this globe in its most
advantageous aspect. Where else on
the face of the map of the world could
the selection of tropical territory be
made bringing within the lines of the
fiscal policy of the United States tropi-
cal products. The products of the trop-
les are useful to man. Their possess
sion by our nation adds a new element
of commercial and industrial independ-
ence.
Lincoln. Seward and Chase must have
had a very broad appreciation of all
this range of fact and argument when
they purchased from Russia the terri
tory of Alaska That was a detached
territory. It was capable only of such
products as an Arctic region will yield
but by its annexation we acquired new
fisheries. new mines and new forests,
and other new and valuable resources.
The wisdom of that acquisition has
never been questioned. The nation ac-
uuired a greater wealth of productive
capacity by diversifying its industry.
The Hawaiian Islands will add to the
list of domestic objects of culture ne
cessfties for which we have heretofore
been wholly dependent upon foreign
countries. The deficiencies of nation
are elements of weakness. The capa-
biltities of a nation TO produce every
article of necessity upon its own terri
tory, under its own flag, and within
the circle of its own fiscal policies is
one of the indispensable elements Of
national greatness. It is the boast of
Great Britain that within her own ter
ritory she can produce all articles of
ac.cff 1ar1 hot