The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-24

The wise men Of to-day who are deprecat-
ing the folly of territorial expansion and de-
crying the value of the islands which are
soon to come nto our possession should not
be too sure of the wisdom or correctness of
their views. Other wise men who held SINH
lar views in former years have been shown
by time to have been greatly mistaken. For
forty years the western boundary line of
the United States practically remained at
the Rocky mountains About 1910 Congress
began to discuss the propriety of establish
ing the claim of the United States to the
territory now comprising the States of Ore
gon, Washington and Idaho. The anti-ex-
pansionists of that day. among whom
were some men Of mark, opposed it. as the
debates in Congress show. Daniel Webster
said: What do we want with the vast,
worthless area, this res ion of savages and
wild beasts, of deserts and shifting sands,
whirlwinds of dust, of cactus, and prairie
dogs?" Andrew Jackson put himself rec
ord as favoring "a dense population and
added: 1T should be our policy to concen-
trate our population and confine our frontier
to proper limits" In 1874 Senator Dayton.
of New Jersey candidate for Vice President
on the ticket with Fremont in 1856, declared
the whole country under discussion worth
less, with the exception of land along the
Willamette. and strips along other water
courses. and the climate unfrisndly to
human life that the native population has
dwindled away under the ravages of malar-
Ia" New Jersey was too far away from
Oregon to enable the senator to diagnose
the situation correctly. During the debates
Senator Winthrop, of Massachusetts,, quoted
from speech by Senator Benton, in 1926
in which he said THE ridge of the Rocky
mountains may be named as a convenient,
natural and everlasting boundary. Along
this ridge the western limit of the Republic
should be drawn, and the statue of the ia
bled god Terminus should be erected on it's
highest peak, never to be thrown down..
Senator Winthrop approved this sentiment,
and added: MIR. President, We do not need
it; we won't be crowded for elbow room in
thousand years." We are by no means
crowded for elbow room, but think what
the Nation and the world wsuld have lost
if our western boundary had been fixed as
DINA, one of the statesmen of the time and
colleague of John c. Calhoun, said: 'Sir,
as understand it, there are 700 miles this
side Of the Rocky mountains that are unin-
habitable; where rain never falls; noun
tairs wholly impossible except through
gaps. How are you going to supply steam?
Have you made an estimate of the cost of a
railway to the Columbia? The wealth of the
Indies would be insufficient. What use
would it be for agriculture? / would not
give pinch of snuff for the whole territory.
1 wish the Rocky mountains were an impas-
sable barrier If there was an embankmert
of five feet to be removed, ] would not con-
sent to expend s. to remove it and enable
our population to go there / thank God for
His mercy in placing the Rocky mountains
there"
That was the way the anti-expansionists
of 1910 to 1874 talked, and many persons be-
sides themselves thought they were wise
men. The utterances quoted were made a
little more than fifty years ago. Fifty years
hence the arguments of the anti-expanson-
lists of to-day may appear as ridiculous.