Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-09-13

within the confines OF the continental
United States, and for it we send out
TO foreign perts another 800, 900. 900
Without going into detail il may be
stated that we expend annually at least
$3.50, 900, 900 for purely tropical prod
ucts, which we cannot raise ourselves.
In n word, from the expansionists
point Of view the acquisition Of these
islands gives us oil we have hitherto
lacked in the way Of tropical produc.
tions and fills long felt want. And,
what is more. while they produce the
things We lack and need the people Of
those islands manufacture almost moth
ing and will look to US for all their ma.
chinery. -four. cotton and wooden goods
in fact, for everything necessary to
civilized communities
OF these newly acquired tropical pos
sessions Of ours Porto Rico Is the south
ernmost and also the easternmost In
fact, IL lies farther 10 the east than any
portion Of Maine even and about IN the
latitude Of ST John. n. b.. and while
the Hawaiian group lies between lati-
tude 10 and 20 degrees north and Cuba
just south Of the tropic OF cancer. Porto
Rico lies between IL and Is north. and
its northern coast line is 100 miles
the south Of Cuba's southern shores.
Within little more than thousand
miles of the equator, its southern coast
facing the Caribbean sea, its northern
toward tho Atlantic, IL forms the key
stone Of that arch Of islands, the Antil
lean archipelago, extending from near
the mouth Of the Orinoco on the north
coast Of South America, northward and
then westward, toward the eastern coast
OF Honduras, inclosing that vast body
Of water known rs the Caribbean sea.
IL is about 1000 miles distant from
Havana and Key West, 1900 from the
isthmus Of Panama, ]. 400 from Mica
ragua, 900 from New York and 5000
from Cadiz in Spain.
The trouble with Us, said Senator
John T Morgan 10 the writer not long
ago. is that we are afraid Of being
great Ii seems at last that we have
overcome our dread Of territorial expan-
sion and are no longer afraid Of trying
at least an experiment along that line.
Il has long been foreseen by our naval
strategists that il We ever possessed q
navy, We must also own or control
naval bases or coaling stations IN vari-
Gus parts Of the world. A glance at
map Of the world reveals the fact that
Great Britain has girdled the globe
with such stations. for the supply and
refreshment Of her fleets. Ii was suffi'
ciently emphasized in the east when our
feet was ordered out Of Hongkong; in
the west when the coal heaps Ut St
Thomas and Martinique were declared
neutral property.
Fortunately brave Dewey captured
coaling station for himself, and in the
West Indies we were rendered tempo
rarily independent by colliers accom-
panying the feet. and finally by the
taking Of Guantanamo But If Dewey
had not taken Manila, and II Cervera's
fleet had been as strong as was at first
reported and we believed. the coaling
problem would have been an important
factor in determining the success or
failure of our plans 1t may be mat
ter Of surprise to many to learn that
such acquisitions have been urged for
many years, at least 80 past, in the
halls of congress- Away back during
the administration of Preside NJ Lincoln
Secretary Seward had in mind the ac-
QUESTION Of the Danish Islands OF st.
Thomas. St John and SaniI Cruz, aud
later negotiated treaty by which for
81, 500, 900 we were to acquire them
But for the unexpected opposition OF
certain senator's when the treaty was
DIP for ratification we should have &C
luired them, and notw i;hs landing the
enormous sum we promised to pay
though st. John is "a lo,eiy ISLAND fer
tile and picturesque, I'd Santa Cruz
covered with rich sugar plantations
yet the sole object in view was the
single harbor of ST. Thomas.
Porto Rico, an island which becomes
ours merely at the cost of conquest,
combines all the advantages possessed
by ST. Thomas in q marked degree, for
it has at least six good harbors and o
vast extent of fertile territory, as against
the one harbor of ST. Thomas and its
cluster of barren rocks. Strategically,
then, as possessing commanding situa-
ton in these seas, with numerous har-
bors for the assembling and refitting OF
our fleets, with unlimited supplies Of
naval stores, water, fruits and vegeta-
bles, Porto Rico is Of SURPRISING i'm
portance.
A glance ut those natural features OF
the island, which make it not only sal-
uable property for Us as national emit.
ty, but potentially lucrative invest
ment individually, is now in order. In
the first place, Porto Rico Is degrees
south Of the northern tropic, and SO Is
capable of yielding any variety Of plant,
fruit or vegetable that the most favored
region Of equatorial America can pro-
duce. In the second place, its physical
configuration is such that 1t is generally
exempt from the diseases and draw
backs to which most subtropic countries
are subject In other words, 1t Is .
habitable country for the Anglo. Saxon.
which cannot always be said OF regions
under or near the equator. This IL
owing to the fact that the island IL
billy and mountainous and contains
few swampy sections
The central backbone Of the island -
= mountain chain which teacheo, IT.