The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-01

spol8n Oh 1870.
,Mr. James Bryoe on Our Annexation
Programme.
In the leading article of the December
Forum the policy Of annexation for Amer
lea 10 discussed by tho Right Hon. JAMES
BRYCE, we'll known to our readers as the
author Of Tho American Commonwealth"
The facts he has in view are the an
nexation Of Hawaii proposed in the treaty
which the Senate will DO presently asked
TO confirm. tho suggested purchase of the
Danish West India Islands, and the posi-
,bility. II not probability, that Cuba's at
itainment of independence would lead to
cher becoming q member Of our Union. He
undertakes to show that, by the acquisition of
these or any other transmarine possessions,
we should lose more than we SHOULD gain.
Mr.. BRYCE is q skilled advocate, but he
lie not convincing in this instance. Some
gof his assertions are ill.founded, and some
of his admissions are fatal to his purpose.
He says, for example, that, II Hawaii and
Cuba belonged to US, we should have to
create o navy equal to that of England or
France; otherwise, the islands would be
.wrested from us in the event of q war with
. stronger maritime power. Such q result
would be by no means unavoidable. If the
two islands mentioned were ours, we should
no forttfy their moro important points as to
render these entirely defensible against
Gnaval attack. There Is no basis, either,
Tor the statement that there Is no room
for Anglo-American colonists in Cuba
Oh Hawaii. Tho present population Of
Cuba is only about q million and q half,
and It IL undoubtedly capable of support
Ing q population equal to that Of Java,
which exceeds twenty millions. It Is
equally certain that, IN the interior up.
lands, and along the coasts, except in low
lying and marshy districts, the climate is
quite as suitable to Americans of British,
Irish, or Teutonic descent as is that of our
South Atlantic and Gulf States. Mr..
BRYCE should be at the pains to note how
we'll Anglo Americans thrive in Florida
before taking for granted that they would
find Cuba uninhabitable. AS for Hawaii,
II its climate does not suit Americans,
It Is difficult to understand how q few
thousand Of them can have been, for so
many Years, the dominant element there.
With regard, also, to the number of inhab.
itants which the Hawaiian group would
be able to sustain, we need only observe
that 1t formerly contained a much larger
population than it does now. and that only
q fraction of its arable area has been, as
yet, put under the plough.
Another thing which we cannot accept Il
Mr.. BRYcE's assertion that islands like
Cuba n Hawaii are needless ford~efensivs
purposes. He does not deny that both islands
Nn thA hanIa h . hostile -@-ro- .u1,.I
constitute coigns Of vantage which W,
might we'll regard with apprehension. Blu
the contingency, he says, will not occur
nc European power, as he believes, will
ever attack the United States. The as
sumption 10 not based upon experience
We have had one war with England II
this century; we came near having anothe
about the Oregon boundary we wer,
within measurable distance of a third
when the Washington treaty created tn
Alabama Commission. Again, the position
taken by Mr.. CLEVELAND in his Venezuela
message would have rendered war inevita
BILE had not Lord SALISBURY agreed to refe
the boundary of British Guiana to arbitra
Zion. We narrowly escaped a war wit
France In the days of the First Republic an
Eifst Empire, and, again, In the reign O
LOUIS PHILIPPE. and we should have bee
driven to hostilities had not NAPOLEON
III. withdrawn his troops from Mexico
The reason given by Mr.. BRYCE for his bt
lief that European powers would neve
attack US strikes US as c%uriously veal
The reason Is that, owing to the enormou
size of our country. an attempt to penetrat
Its interior would have as little chance
nuccess as had N~APoLEoN's invasion of Rul
sia- We answer that a hostile power Nigh
make NO attempt to penetrate our interior
yet might infiict pom us incalculable an
irremediable injury. A large proportion
our national wealth and at least a tenth {
our population Is concentrated in our coas
wise cities. No other country In the worl
10 In this respect SO vulnerable. Passin
over Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroi
Milwaukee, and other great centres of IL
dustry. which lie on the lakes and migi
possibly escape attacks from British gui
boats. the list of our maritime cities, whic
stand exposed to a hostile fleet, include NJ
only the Federal capital, Washington, an
the commercial metropolis, New York, b,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, San Fra
cisco. New Orleans, Mobile, Savannah
Charleston, Portland, Newport. and 9th,
towns OF considerable magnitude.
So long as this state of things exist
and 1t will exist forever, or until Anne
leans adopt tho cowardly Chinese pollc
Of placing their habitatlons many leagu,
back from the sea, it will be a matt
Of vital moment to us to deprive pc