The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-08-31

THE MODERN MANIA FOR TERRI
TORIAL CONQUEST.

IOttiAL SONQtLol.
Very delicate and difficult. and very i'm
portant IN their far-rcaching influence,
are the duties OF the FIVE Peace Commits
sioners chosen by the President. Two of
them. Senator Frye, Of Maine, and sena-
tor Davis. Of Minnesota, are represented
as being in favor Of retaining
all that the country has conquered rms
IS a somewhat ambiguous, and, withal,
a somewhat ominous expression. If It
means that these commissioners are for
retaining all that the country has right
fully and oonfessedly acquired. consist
emily with the object for which hostiiities
were commenced. az distinctly announced
by Congress In the proclamation Of war
then, indeed, these commissioners are
altogether right. We must in all good
conscience retain control OF Cuba until
the inhabitants Of that island have estaD-
lished for themselves d wcl-ordered gov
eminent under which the rights Of per-
son and property will be safe and Sc
cure. This we much fear will entail
upon our Government long and expen-
sive supervision Of the heterogeneous all
ill-bohaved population OF that island VINO
would. II left 10 themselves, most GER
tainly lapse into a condition Of anarchy
more deplorable than that from which
We humanely undertook to relieve them
by the sangulnary appeal Of sword and
cannon. But having entered upon this
task Of rcdressing tho wrongs OF the
Cuban people we cannot draw back until
peace and tranquility are fully establish
ed. and until the inhabitants have had
a fair opportunity to demonstrate their
capacity for self-goyernment. Nor are
we prepared TO say that the day can
never come in the future when ms
island under "a more homogeneous popuia-
tion and a higher civilization, may not
safely be annexed as part Of our Ameri-
can territory
And then, too. we may rightly retain
Porto Rico as a legitimate fruit OF the
war. without violation Of the principle
and purpose announced in the "declara-
ton" OF Congress. We took occasion TWO
weeks ago to point out that thus far we
may rightfully 90 in accordance with the
logical effect Of the Monroe doctrine Tor
which every leading statesman or our
country has contended for full three
quarters of a century And we 60 also
10 the length Of declaring that, az an UNI
anticipated and most brilliant act in the
drama has given us a foothold in the
Philippines, We may rightfully insist upon
q substantial benefit In the shape of
commodious coaling station in that dis
tant archipelago
But if by retaining all that the coun-
try has conquered it be meant that we
are to claim the Philippine Islands as a
territorial possession, then do We against
all such quixotic and dangerous doctrine
enter our earnest and emphatic protest.
Again and again have We expressed our
disapproval Of the new dogma OF I'M
peralism," which has seized upon thou
sands Of unthnklng people who do not
pause to reflect upon the perils we should
enter II once we cut loose from the safe
mornings Of the past, and set the ship
OF state adrift upon the treacherous
shoals and quicksand of territorial con-
quest and ACKNOWLEDGMENT. The West In
dies. situated rs they are. at the en-
trance of the Mexican Gulf, and within rifle
shot almost Of the coast OF Florida, are
in a certain sense the legitimate subject
OF our supervision. As a logical inter-
ence from the Monroe doctrine we may
properly insist that no European power
shall ever secure possession of one foot
OF the territory Of those islands. But
when we look out from our western coast
with avaricious gaze across the far Pa
oiac. It il a very different thing. But
that very different and very dangerous
thing has already seduced 10 forget the
sage counsels and impOrtunate appeals OF
the fathers and founders Of the republic
We have already gone three thousand
miles out into the Pacific and annexed
the principal OF the Sandwich Islands
And now the cry. the craze, is to go
four thousand miles farther, in sight Of
the spires and pagodas OF the Asiatic
world and acquire the Philippine Islands
as part of our national territory This
being done, where next will we turn our
gaze for further conquests. Will not the
exultant boast Of the freebooter, the
dauntl6ss Corsair, become the shibboleih
of these frenzied "imperialists':
Far rs the breeze shall bear the ocean
foam.
Behold our empire and survey our home
And then, as an inevitable sequence
from this Wild scheme Of territorial ex-
tension beyond the bounds Of the con-
tinent. we VIII become nopelessiy ire
trieveably entangled in foreign alliances
and in the direful complications OF
the European nations.
In The Times Of Friday last, we pub
lishsd. IN our Geographic columns, the
warning words of Professor Charles hi
lott Norton. OF Harvard University
against this modern and alarming rage
for foreign acquisitions SO pointed ana
so opportune were his admonitory words
that we VIII conclude this editorial by
reproducing two passages which must az
ford food for reelection to every right
minded person:
"And yet our hearts have been heavy
with new weight of care, and the very
brightness OF the sunshine has but deep