The San Francisco call., 1898-01-31
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The late Grover Cleveland seems to | have had much the best of the contest
 with the fiery Senator from Alabama over question of veracity. The only way, it seems, in which MT. Morgan hoped to bolster up the falling ruins of
 the castle of his imagination was to as- 1 severate that his antagonist had al
 tered his opinions and that he might
 even now not be entirely opposed to
 the views he (the Senator) held dear at
 heart. But that defense is woefully
 weak. With all his shortcomings, his cratic outcroppings and his ambitious nights, the eX-President was noted for
 his inexorableness. He formed his
 opinions and put them on his private shelf where no one would ever disturb them. And no one was ever known seriously to attempt it. That this ad-
 ditional pain should have to be en- dured by the Alabaman warrior when
 he sees one of his pet schemes vanish ] ing into thin air is cruel perhaps, but playing with edged tools oft causes wounds that are deeper than the one
 so mercilessly inflicted on MT. Morgan by the man of corporations and of cor pulence.
 l The statement made in this column
 that the Hawaiian Islands would be a
 constant source of weakness to us in
 the event of their annexation (with clear proof of the accuracy thereof
 provokes the Bulletin to timidly advo-
 cate the fortification of Pearl Harbor. That paper, never having the courage
 of conviction-seeing that it has no l nn 1xrin fx,,e same mincing fashion. Since MT Fitch
 relinquished it's editorial control it has
 never been able to show the slightest definite purpose. It maunders about everything there is in the world, from German politics to the advisability of eating sausage, and from bond issue
 to the sorting of rags for the making
 of paper. In fact, it presents the spec
 tacle of MT. Robert Montgomery's con- ception of Satan, who, according to Macaulay, occupied himself by going to and fro and walking up and down
 the earth" and was something of a twaddle, and far too liberal with good advice" No notice would be taken here of what the Bulletin has said on
 the annexation question had that pa per not unintentionally reminded me of an important point which has been overlooked by those who talk seriously
 of fortifying these islands. Perhaps it Is the most vital side of the whole mat ter. Estimates have been made, and apparently in good faith, as to the cost
 of properly fortifying Pearl Harbor. Of course, these estimates are the rough est kind of guess work, but they have appeared nevertheless. Each writer has dismissed entirely from his mind the fact that fortresses must be gar risoned in order to be of value. Pearl HarbGr with it's heights, cannot be
 made impregnable. no matter how per
 feet the Notifications, unless we are willing to send a force equal to at least a third part of our present standing
 army there. Guns (eXcept in the mind of the Bulletins artilleryisO are not loaded aimed, fired and sponged auto
 matically. Possibly it is in his mind CD
 that we shall keep the garrison at home till war breaks out and then dispatch it. to be sent to another world on it's way to our land of coolies and coal.
 Our present Notifications demand an increase in the standing army, so
 the military authorities have decided, and the plans already decided on for additional land defenses will make further augmentation necessary in a year or two. Even this departure from
 our well-established policy of keeping
 the national military force down to as
 low a point as possible is meeting with
 vehement opposition from the peace party, and if we attempt to fortify
 either of these islands the nation is certain to rebel when informed as to
 the additional number of men that will have to be enlisted for necessary garri- son duty It is certain that General Miles would not countenance more forts and guns with the army on its present footing. The sight of fortresses with
 guns and without garrisons would un-
 deniably charm the hearts of the Uni
 versal Peace Society associates. but to
 man militant it would mean momen- tous danger to the nation owning them.
 A fallacy that a number of papers delight to indulge in is that after the
 annexation of the Sandwich group
 white laborers will flock thither and
 enjoy untold prosperity. In the name of common sense, was there ever such sheer rubbish as that written before? |
 What inducement will there be to
 white men to go there after annexation that does not exist now? By no known
 method, except an exclusion treaty, can we prevent the Japanese from con- tinuing to immigrate thither, and, as
 they are there in thousands now and | they are just as fruitful and multiply ! in much the same manner as their
 white brethren, in what way it is pro- l posed to place white labor on su- | perior footing to the little brown men | is not conceivable. Incidentally there | are some natives on the islands. They ! will probably choose to remain there | too To read what some of these papers
 write (the Examiner is one of them)
 one might be led to believe that 1t was ] the intention on annexation to expel
 all but white people from these islands.
 It is at any rate promised that there ] shall be some special legislation for all
 but the whites, an idea laughably in