The Hawaiian gazette., 1897-07-23

the Arcuc Ocedu. uSSV may vN'
prove TO be the most productive
and profitable mining regions on
the continent. The United States
paid Russia S7,200,000 for Alas
ka. then considered only fit for In
dams and wild beasts. But does
anyone believe that Uncle Sam
would part with it, if offered one
| hundred millions of dollars
Never. This purchase of foreign
territory" took place twenty-six
years ago, and it certainly has not
proved "a thorny path of colonial
expansion" but ON the contrary, a
veritable bonanza, whether viewed
as a stragetie move or a field for the
expansion of her growing laboring
population of miners and farmers.
With the valuable acquisition of
foreign territory came also the
chain of islands that stretch from
Sitka nearly TO the Asiatic coast,
the most distant island Attau, be
ing about two thousand miles west
of Sitka, 2.943 miles from San
Francisco in a bee line, and nearly
5000 miles from Washington, the
Capital of the United States. From
the island of Attn TO the most cas-
tern point of the State of Maine is
1876 degrees of longitude, or more
than half the distance round the
globe. The sun in summer is al
ways shining ON some part of the
United States. When the June
twilight settles ON the fsherman's
hut on Attu, the morning light is
already glowing on the hills of
Maine. 1t is useless to talk of "a
new and mtried colonial policy"
to a nation whose domain stretches
from sunset to sunrise. As to Ha-
waiians being like wild untutored
Arabs, the Aleuts may be more
nearly ike them, though classed
as Greek Christians, but the Ha-
waiians are mostly Protestants or
Roman Catholics, and as a rule
more or less educated, there being
few among them unable to read |
and write.
The language of the London pa
pers that the acquisition of for
eign dependencies like Hawaii will
bring with it new and untried |
foreign policy" has no ground to
rest on, as the policy of acquiring
foreign territory has been tried for
at least twenty-six years, and so
far, has been quite successful. Nor
need any fears be entertained that
when Hawaii is annexed, the same
success will be developed. Says
the New York Sun, President
johnson, nearly thirty years ago,
in a message to Congress, expressly
resented the idea that our politi-
cal system cannot successfully be
applied TO an area more extended
than our own continent and he
was referring at that time to the
Sandwich Islands. With much
good sense he pointed out that
the increased facilities for inter
communication between countries
should change adverse notions ON
that point. Indeed, what new de-
parture' is there in the annexation
of Hawaii, compared with that of
Alaska, so far removed from the
rest of our domains, and even with
a foreign country interveningl
Thus the European notion that we
are undertaking a novel expert
ment is all wrong. The Pail Mall
Gazette's dictum that it is an I'M
doubted departure in the coloniz-
ing sense, is imaginary. Hawaii
will be no more a colony than
Alaska is, no more than Louisiana
and Florida were. We are still
marching along the road on which
the fathers of the republic started,
and extending, as they did, the
sway of the Stars and Stripes"