The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-07-14

dusty shelVes OF the Dllnd ana lnept sel-
sufficlency?
Not such can be the answer of the en-
lIghtened statesmanshlp which. founded
this republic and has built up its great
ness. The statesmen of the earlier era
even In the infancy Of the republic, were
constantly laboring to extend its inhu-
ence in the Western hemisphere. What
would have been the grandeur of their
dreams in the majesty and amplitude
of its present power! Alexander Hamil-
ton, even before the constitution was
ratified, urged that the United States
should aim at an ascendant In the sys-
tenn of American affairs. BENJAMIN
Franklin advocated the cession of Cana
da as one of the conditions of peace
and insisted that 1t was essential TO fu-
ture safety. Thomas Jefferson had been
the Intense enemy of England, but when
Nepolean secured the retrocession of
Louisiana from Spain and threatened the
creation of a permanent menace on our
border and In control of Mississippi, JEFF
ferson was ready to forget his anglopho-
bia and make an alliance of the two chief
maritime powers against the greater and
more immediate French peril. The faith
ers of the republic were first of all Amer
| leans, and their arduous struggle and
lofty aspirations bred a contemplative
| and heroic craftsmanship which even be-
| hind the veil caught glimpses of the
magnificent destiny of their country and
prepared the way for fulillment beyond
| their grandest conceptions!
1t was the bold attitude of Jefferson
that in part led Napoleon to abandon his
| Louisiana scheme, and permit our ac-
| QUESTION of that territory which now
! forms so splendid a segment of the re-
| public. When jefferson completed that
| purchase there were croakers and pull
! backs who condemned 1t. Where are
|
| same merciful oblivion which fifty years
| hence will throw its generous mantle
| over their lineal progeny who now oppose
| the acquisition of Hawaii! These critics
| who would undertake to stop the march
| os the inevitable are wiser in their own
conceit than all the long line of 'llus-
| lriCus statesmen from Clay, Calhoun,
| Everett, Marcy and Seward to Blaine
and Harrison! They are greater sea STRAIT
egists than Captain Mahan and Ad-
miral Walkerl They are more prescient
;liar Webster and more American than
Mckinley! Fifty years ago sagacious
American craftsmanship contemplated
the annexation Of Hawaii and it has
never since been out of the purview of
Anne rcan policy, except during the brief
| and unhappy honeymoon of Cleveland
ana Liliuokalani! If craftsmanship rec
og gnized it's value half a century ago, how
much more important is it now when the
naval revolution of steam and steel
| clad cruisers and the era of commercial
airy have changed all the modern
conditions of maritime defence and of
| commercial expansion.
OUR OCEAN PROSPECTS.
In the development of our continental
policy there is a still more important
measure. We are not like England de-
pendent on the sea. Our land power and
homo capabilities are unrivalled. But
g.affrV V,...l 20 ha on
ocean as on the land. We have 5,452 miles
of ocean coast line, more than that of
all Europe. We have 1886 miles on the
Atlantic side and, not counting Alaska,
,557 miles on the Pacific side. Less than
a hundred miles of canal through Mica
ragua would give us practically con-
tinuous coast line from Quoddy Head ON
the Atlantic to Puget Sound on the Pa
cifc, and would unite the two great sec
tions of the Republic in an unbroken
waterway. The marvel of American af-
fiuence and apathy is the long neglect
of this great project which would marry
the oceans and assure American COM
merciai dominance of the continent. Had
England been in our place she would
have dug the caEal long years ago; and.
more than that, she never would have
permitted any question of complete Brit
ish supremacy over 1t! other nations
might have been allowed to send their
peace, as they do through the Suez
canal; but when an emergency OF ma
tional safety and defence came the as
cendancy of the Union Jack would have
left no doubt of the ,naster power. There
are some things in tne policy of England
which command the admiration OF every
manly spirit, and among them are the
fidelity and courage with which she fol.
lows and protects Englishmen wherever
they may be, and the genius and per-
sistence with which she pursues her un'
faltering course Of commercial aggrdn'
dizement.
Just so / would have the ascendancy
of the Stars and Stripes over the Mica
ragua canal unquestioned and unchal
lenged. Docs the Old Clayton-Bulwe'
treaty stand in the way? Then let 1T be
denounced, as it has in fact already
been denounced, and let notice be
served that by the practical repudiatior
of both parties by the English disregare
of it's provisions, and by the complete
change of conditions, it is abrogated
We made a treaty of arbitration witt
England which failed of ratification. W.
may make another AS it is offered witt
the right hand, let the left carry th'
abrogaton of the Inflated and obsolete
. Clayton-Bulwer treaty. The friendlines
of the one will disarm the misinterpre
tation of the other. The Nicaragua
canal must be dstinctively an American
measure, built with American capita
, and under undisputed American control
A POLICY OF PEACE.
This continental policy is one of peace
commerce and moral influence. 1t is no
, | a policy of truculent aggression or ter
ritorial rapacity or political or militar
/, ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 1t aims at the recog
nlzed as2endancy of this Republic in th
= | American system, at the expansion of II
| ,iol do, af,1fn at A
; | vancement of its wholesome example an
, influence for peace, fraternity and reel
4 procity throughout the continent
: means the restoration of the earle
gores of our merchant marine.
/ means carrying our new navy, as tn
: highest security of peace, farther alon
q on the lines of its later development.
r does not mean the ambitious or arbitrar
4 seizure of all territory which may h
n within our grasp: but it does mean tn
: acceptance of such accesions as ma
urally constitute outlying or integrf
: parts of our political system and a
= plainly lie along the pathway of our deS
), tiny. 1t recognizes that, Independent c
# all present questions of sympathy iC
n struggling patriots or of humanity in
d savage warfare at oTr own doors, III
II fate of Cuba points inevitably to ult
% mate security and tranquility under III
: flag of the Union. And II Is not terrific
v at the problems which follow such az
d QUESTIONS, for it is not tied to hide
e bound theories of procedure and believe
l. that enlightened craftsmanship adapt
4 itself to new occasions and new cond
"a tons.
Y The architect who plans a great cath,
Is dral sees with the eye of imagination II
IS majestic structure in the full grandeI
e, of its imposing proportions and unlei
1, he could thus prefigure It's finisaC
d beauty he would be unfit to lay its foul
,r dations. The builders of empire also 81
e. with the eye of Imagination. 1t is II