The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-08

erS, with tho increasing ComuletVo WAES
we may Justly expect, our relations with
them will DO OF Increasing intimacy, They
and we are Of tho earth aud Joined by mystic
cords. Our flag oven now beauties their SKY
We do not want " an lronclad agreement Win
Spain "a to how she shall govern her possess
sions. That would be the exact "entanRine
alliance" against which Washington warned
us. That vengeful nation would delight In It's
violation on our account for the next century
and war would be our only redress.
And so oil eyes centre on the President trust
Ing that he will seize the iorelock OF this great
occasion and by his terms discharge a majestic
duty to mankind 1t would DO a fitting close OF
an historic century. a climax which would IRA
diute our history with more than the splendors
Of our primo. Thrustlng Yankee enterprise
into the ancient East" it's subtle influence
would permeute the efTete and the petrihcd
civilization which cumbers that ground. ana
oven our pursuit OF sordid gain on that theatre
would give to that region newness OF lie. As
we cannot escape trouble on account OF these
Islands In the continued possession OF Spain or
some other power, because OF our necessary
business relations with their low clviiiZa-
ton. II Is not conclusive to say their govern
ment Is an onerous labor.
We entered this war with proper gravity.
Our President, our great statesmen, recoR-
nized 1t us n splendid controversy. In that
spirit 1t has thus far been conducted. 1t has
been n purely American epic OF stately mien
worthy the land OF Washington. 1t may be be-
Titled and its meaning FILTERED away by q pic
ayune settlement. It's commencement was q
plain unCmbiguous statement to Spain that she
was unfit to govern colonies. It was q declarn-
ton that the processes OF the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries and the motives and methods
OF government then in vogue were inadmissi-
hln nt the plOSn IF tho ninafnanfh Nanfnrv We
should adhere to that declaration with all that
It implies. We owe it to our living and our
dead. to our traditions and history. to the other
nations endeavoring to ameliorate human con-
dit!ons, to make decisive work In terminating
that hagitious system Of greed which by force
preys on the vital energies OF colonies. What
ever form it assumed our influence and action
emancipated South and Central America from
the talons OF tho Spanish ~vulture. Let us
now complete the Job. Let us obey the impulse
of the dauntless. rather than succumb to tho
distrust of the feeble-minded or faint-hearted
The very name OF our country Is a compre-
hended principle and u most puissant force.
Compromising the vastness Of that with which
he has to deal and knowing that by this one
event the President and we all will be Judged
by history. there should now he no trifinR. no
flippancy. but a confident assertion OF Ameri-
can influence and institutions.
l note that DR.. Theodore L. Cuyler. whom
every man respects and all who know him
love. has made q frantic appeal to the Presi-
dent to quit the Job. His reasons epitomized
are that fever has broken ont In the army and
that there are casualties in battle and suffering
among our soldiers. His facts are true, but
his conclusions are q non s%equitur. We neither
contracted for nor expected immunity from the
gruesome quality OF war when we entered
upon this struggle. We thought Spain q cum
berer OF the ground, REFRESHING the noble aspi-
rations of men and women, Of whole peoples,
whose right 1t was to be free. We were thrust
out into the world Of action by a Providence
which seemed imperious. and now that that
Providence is shaking the apple-treo there
are those who object to our holding our hat
They want to rush us back into our nunnery.
They want us to abandon the ship we have
captured, that the corsair nations may loot it
Speak to them OF large and high duties, and in
familiar words they reply: Am 1 my brothers
keeper?"
Two or three centuries hence the philosophic
historian. looking out upon a world pervaded
by English speech and Anglo-Saxon liberty,
will wonder that Il virile people lusty with new
ness Of life is "cabincd. cribbed. confined" to
the little domain in central North America.
Great Britain will then dominate the land and
sea. In Asia, in Africa. in America. among the
islands OF all seas. her flag will float. giving and
receiving uncounted benedictions to all man.
kind. He will say that In that fateful nine
teenth century when vacant. or. what is the
same thing. savage lands were lying around
loose. one nation was so superstitiously Mt.
tached to an uncomprehended adaRe appropri-
ate to her infancy, so enervated and emascu.
lated. so indolently selfish. that she would MOI
accept as n gift even the Fortunate Islands.
Tho moral philosopher will condemn our pusil.
lanimity and arrnign us as guilty Of n great ab.
dication. He will condemn us as having re.
tarded civilization.
Listening to the pucrile plea OF the enervatet
patriots, one would suppose that. II we retained
the Philippines and Porto Rico and the othel
possessions which Spain has been lootinG
through all these weary centuries. their adop.
ton necessitatcd our going and taking each
native by the ear. They do not at all comprc
bend the power there is in the very name o
their country. Its very command is Peace
Capable Of enforcing its benignities. they will
be cheerfully accepted. There is pathos ir
the very welcoming Of our army by the Porte
Ricans. They know our purpose rs to them,
and they welcome our invading army as a grear
emancipation.
1t will not do to determine the desirability o
retaining the Philippines by what they now are
They may reasonably be expected to progress!
with the years. The cannibals OF the Sandwich
Islands not long ago ate their guests. killed
their discoverer, and worshipped his remains
What we did in ten years In California we cal
repeat on n larger scale in these resourcefu
islands Of the East. Conscious OF our own do
servings and capacity. courage and boldnes
are now the sublimest of virtues: .
He either fears his fate too much
Or his deserts arc mall
That darcs not put It to the touch,
To gain or lose II all.