The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26

continent IL our own. We have nothing to fear
by land, whether on the side OF Canada or on
the side OF Mexico. But conditions which wo
have not made, and which we cannot control,
have caused interests to spring up beyond
the sea, which, sooner or later. will necessitato
our concerning ourselves with them. The very
words " beyond tho sea- mean that It Is the navy
to which We must look whom We deal with these
foreign interests. OF invasion In any sense OF
the word which does not include mere plunder-
Ing raids we run no risk. ANY hostile interior
enco with our interests will come by sea,
whether It take the form Of interfering With
these interests In distant lands or OF the block
ade and bombardment of our ports and cities.
It 10 at sea, therefore, that such attacks on our
interests must DO met, and the navy 10 the only
weapon by which they can ever be effectively
repealed. Preparedness for naval war implies
not merely the preparation OF the material
that is OF the battleships. cruisers and torpedo
boats-but especially the preparation Of tho
mon; and mon can be prepared only by long
training. It would no moro DO possible to i'm
provise a man.of. wars man than II would be pos.
sible to improvise tho man.of-war on which he
serves. Tho battleship takes months and years
to build. and months and years must be spent In
training the men who handle her delicate and
terrible machinery. Constant sea service alone
will at tho officers and crew to do their duty.
NO Der OF Bnlpe tnid up IN roSorYo can Dy
themselves give us a strong navy.
We must also possess mon trained BY long
habit so to handle them as to develop to the
Utmost their hidden poss bilities. Once a war
10 begun It IL too lato either to build ships or to
train men. In tho civil war the Union was pit
ted against q foe which had to create the whole
material and personnel OF Its navy from the
ground up, and SO we could take our time; but
II hereafter we should become involved in con-
fict with a formidable military nation without
having put ourselves in readiness we would find
to our bitter cost that 1t is too late to rem
edy shortcomings of which wo have been
guilty during the time of peace when
once the evils OF war are upon us.
Yet 1t may well DO that our people would
prefer the end Of n disastrous war to the worse
evil Of q peace which was not only disastrous
but hameful. This nation is proud and high
spirited, and we are not alwaye rs foresighted
as We are patriotic. Any man who studies the
utterances Of some Of our leaders Of public
opinion. whether In tho press or in our legisla-
tive halls, will realize that the mon who object
to building up a navy are very often precisely
those who are quickest to urge the adoption Of a
course which would bring us into war. To
i make ready q navy: that is. to DO prepared
for war. SO far from tending to produce 1t.
would rather tend to avert It. To let our
navy go to ruin, or to keep it so small as to be
readily overmatched by the fleets of a frst-clsss
power. would not in the least tend to peace. On
the contrary. 1t would probably tend to war. and
1t would certainly tend to make that war dis
astrous instead Of honorable.
In President McKinley's recent annual mes
sage he devoted much space to dealing with
those questions Of our foreign policy which are
now most pressing; and It is rather curious to
sec how, in these very matters. Capt. Mahan's
| - - 49, s---Nt-- L--l- .-.AL
positions taken, with much dignity and au-
thority, by tho President. In particular. what
President Mckinley urged in reference to Ha-
wall is urged. also. with a wealth Of strong
argument, and with the most earnest appeal to
the far-sighted patriotism of our people. by the
man who has made the study Of sea power his
special province.
Four years ago Capt. Mahan pointed out the
vital need to our country that Hawaii should be
taken. This is. and has been for some years. by
far the most momentous question in our foreign
policy. Tho islands should. of course. have
been taken four years ago. II the American
flag had not then been" hauled down, to use the
singular words employed by the accredited agent
OF the then United States Government. we should
never have had SO much as q hint of trouble
with Japan. Q nation to which the U tied States
Is bound by traditional ties of friendliness and
for which our people have a hearty regard
and good will. Four years ago the coolie ques
ton in Hawaii was much less serious than II
now is. From the standpoint Of the white race
this Is the most important question to the
island; and four years hence. II we leave 1t I'M
annexed. Hawaii will be. In this respect, very
much worse of than 1t is now. II annexed al
once every man on the islands. whether his Skin
be white. brown, or yellow. will be better of
than he could possibly DO under any other flag
The claim that we ought not to annex tn,
islands because the original Hawaiians are moi
all at one with the white inhabitants IL this re
gard, cannot, Of course, be treated as advanced
in good faith. In the FIRST place, n clear ma
jority Of tho people OF the islands who ar,
legally entitled to vote have declared for annex
alton. In the second place, the original Ha
waiinns are q dying race, in their pure form
They have proved unable to govern the islands
They are now in the hands of the whites
Whatever the future of Hawaii may be, 1t will
never again revert to the control Of the aborigi
nal Hawaiians. Tho only solution of the prob
lem which Is compatible with American inter
ests Is that so wisely offered by President McKin
ley, namely, the annexation Of Hawaii. II w
fail to adopt this solution the problem will still
remain; the only difference will DO that 1t vii
be solved by some other nation. The men VIII
are opposing President Mckinley. and endeav
oring to thwnrt him in his effort to carr.
through the wisest and most far.seeing bit o
foreign policy initiated BY any American states
man since the days when we purchased Alask
and forced the French Emperor to abandon
Mexico, will have to bear " heavy burden OF re
sponsibility II. by any untoward chance. the
should prevail. If we refuse to take the island
we shall have no just cause Of complaint If the
fall under a foreign power. whether Japar
Germany, or England-and England would b
tho natural protector to whom the English
speaking people of the Island would turn, II w
Of America, their blood kin, their cousins, an
brothers, showed ourselves blind to their need
no less than to our opportunity, and, with col
and selfish folly. refused to take the splendi
gift that is offered us.
One Of the commonest devices for defeating
measure which people really think goes too ia
is to pretend to believe that II does not go ia
enough. Many of the men who invariably. an
without any exception, take sides against tn
United States whenever it is involved in contr'
versy with a foreign power. or whenever
shows sympathy for a struggling and oppresse