The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-01-19

huOpJOn OF course winch WOuIu DrlDR US
into war. To make ready a navy; that is,
to be prepared for war, 80 far from tending
to produce 1t, would rather tend to avert 1t.
To let our navy go to ruin, or to keep 1t so
small as to be readily overmatched by the
fleets Of q 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 disastrous
instead Of honorable.
But it is in the application Of Cap
tain Mahan's precepts and admonitions
to an important matter of present ma
tional interest that the reviewer renders
a valuable public service. He says:
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 momentuous
question in our foreign policy. The islands
should, Of course, have been taken four
years ago. II the American flag had not
then been "hsuled down." to use the singu-
lar words employed by the accredited agent
OF the then United 8 ates Government, we
should never have had 80 much as q hint OF
trouble with japan, nation to which the
United States is bound by traditional ties Of
friendliness and for which our people have
hearty regard and good will. Four years
ago the coolie question in Hawaii was much
less serious than it is now. From the stand
point of the white race this is the most i'm
portsnt question to the island; and four
years hence, IL we leave it unannexed,
Hawaii will be. in this respect, very much
worse off than it ia now. II annexed at
once every man on the islands, whether his
skin be white, brown, or yellow, will be
better off than he could possibly be under
any other flag. The claim that we ought
not to annex the islands because the origin
al HawaiiaDs are not all at one with tie
white inhabitants in this regard, cannot, of
course, be treated as advanced in good faith.
In the first place. clear majority OF the
people OF the islands who are legally en-
titled to vote have declared for annexation.
In the second place, the original Hawsiisns
are 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, it will never again revert to the
control Of the aboriginal Hawaiians. The
only solution Of the problem which is COM
patible with American interests is that so
wisely offered by Presto ent Mckinley,
namely, the annexation Of Hawaii. II we
fail to adopt this solution the problem will
still remain; the only difference will be that
twill be solved by some other nation. The
men who are opposing President Mckinley.
and endeavoring to thwart him in his effort
to carry through the wisest and most far
seeing bit of foreign policy initiated by an
American statesman since the days when
we purchased Alaska and forced the French
Emperor to abandon Mexico, will have to
bear heavy burden OF responsibility II, by
any untoward chance, they should prevail.
II we refuse to take the islands we shall
have no just cause Of complaint if they fall
under foreign power, whether Japan,
Germany, Tor England-and England would
be the natural protector to whom the Eng
disappearing people of the island would
turn, if we Of America, their blood kin,
their cousins, and brothers, showed our
selves blind to their needs no less than to
our opportunity, and with cold and selfish
folly. refuse to take the splendid gift that is
offered us.
question Of foreign policy is not party
question, for our foreign policy should al
ways be treated as coherent whole. The
underlying principle of the Monroe doctrine
is also the underlying principle that bids us
annex Hawaii; and careful reading of
Captain Mahan's book will show why this is
80, and why, as nation. we should seize
every occasion, as it arises, to strengthen
our position Of mastery in the Western
World. Perhaps in some ways the finest
chapters in Captain Mahans book are those
in which he deals with the future 80 far as
this future affects America, He speaks
strong note Of warning to those who believe
that our civilization is as yet so situated
that it can afford to relax into an artificial
peace. He shows how we may have to face
In the future conflicts more strenuous and
fraught with greater possibilities of woe or
triumph than any which we have yet faced;
for as yet there is no place in the world for
nations who have become enervated by soft
and easy life, or who have lost their fiber Of
vigorous hardihood and manliness. He
touches upon the point that IL we really
mean what we say when we advance the
Monroe doctrine; il we really mean, as we
ought in all honor and by every consider
alton of national interest to mean, that no
foreign nation shall ever again acquire a
foot of territory on American soil. we must
be prepared for the chance OF some day hav.
ing to enforce this doctrine by appeal to the
sword. II when challenged we do not thus
enforce it, we shall stand Inundated before
the nations, as q power which has spoken
words OF brave import, and then in the su-
preme crisis has not dared to make these
words good.
Captain Mahan shows that this ma.
ton has come to have, and in the fu-
ture will have in ever-growing measure,
vital political interests beyond the sea,
and that these interests can only be
preserved by the possession of a
navy, and still more by being both able
and willing to use it, il need should
arise. He shows that, though we
ought in every honorable way to seek