The record-union., 1898-07-01
DAILY .RECORD-UNION
ISSUED BY THE
SACRAMENTO PUBLISHING COMPANY
ef eEbrscast.
THE MEANING, OF MANIFEST
mHs - s71@s DESTINY. "s

Senator .Pettigrew in discussing the
Haw aiian annexation resolution on
Thursday expressed his fear of mani
fest Destiny 1t has been, according
to the Senator, the cause of great
wrong and much misery, the oppres-
sion Of peoples and the gathering o.
eerfs about feudal castles. In short.
manifest destiny has committed crimes
annumerable in his estimation.
The Senator is inaccurate. Manifest
destiny is a term when. used properly,
expressing what patent evidences 1ndl-
cate as the natural and wise progress
sion of nation or cause. rhetorical
announcement of the term, or it's mis-
use in the past before democracy found
confidence in its wings, is not argu-
ment. We have, in considering the
question of the policy of the United
States toward Hawaii and the Philip
pines, occasionally used the term as one
we'll understood to indicate the highest,
best and loftiest movements of the ma
tion and the race toward ideals ap-
proved of all men. But we have never
considered it as expressive of a blind
and senseless movement which neither
nnwisdom could divert nor folly stay.
Very much the same causes operate
upon individuals as upon nations in
molding them. The aspiration OF the
nation is the reflection Of the aspiration
of the individual. Men seek naturally
and with deserved commendation to
better their condition, and so do na-
lions. The aggregate of the thought
and activity of men is reflected il the
action and thought of the average man,
since every man is in a sense an epi-
tome of the men of his time, and this
Is especially true if he is representa-
tive type of his class.
When we ascertain the aggregate Of
The thought of a people, by knowing
the thought Of the average among the
aople, we are on the road toward as
Gen, ainment; of the probable future Of
THE national community composed Of
such men, and begin to forecast the
destiny of that nation. The study of
AiiSeOAy ~ VI Nll4Cl fSlQC III Iildl. IL CAT
hbles us the better to sum up the ag-
gregate thought and activity, judging
by the movements and outcomes of the
past, and the forces that have operated
most potently upon mankind, and to
forecast what are most likely to move
1t in the future.
AS opportunity offers to man for bet
terment, it becomes an inspiration. a
motor to that end. As he attains to
better conditions his mind opens to
larger desires, and, hence, the search
for still broader opportunities to be i'm
proved to his advantage Hence, we
have the constant pressure forward for
greater establishment of life, for the
enlargement of it's patrimony, and the
cultivation Of worthy discomfort with
the things above which we have risen,
and which no longer satisfy our desires
Now these natural aspirations Of the
mind operate upon nations by raising
what in the beginning is individual to
about that in all periods of history we
ind nations inpelled by inherent forces
TO broaden their sphere of activity and
TO enlarge their field of betterments.
The successful career of the individual
always means the expansion of the
man, the broadening of his desires and
fabors for attaining those things which
viii crafty and satisfy them. Just sc
a successful national career demands
expansion. Hence, when a nation moves
on and upward to higher planes and
nobler accomplishments in the develop
ment Of the possibilities of civilization
we say that It's destiny is manifest.
Now it is an accepted truth that the
progress OF civilization is trend to-
sSard the aggregation Of populations
into fewer national systems 1t is be-
cause of this very truth that Hawaii is
arresistibly drifting into the arms OF
fhe American republic, as the one safe
harbor for its weakness. As it has
become more and more civilized, its
gravdtation toward the American sys-
Rem has been more and more augment
ed. Precisely the same is true, and will
prove true of those communities which
by act Of war fall within the sphere OF
our influence, and are freed from the
Eetrogressive and depressing influence
Cd dscaying Spain 1t is presently tc
appear to all the world that movement
under the shelter of the American sys-
tenn is their manifest destiny, destiny
that began with their revolt, testifying
TO aspirations to be freed and bettered
and aided to reach upper levels in the
Brotherhood Of mankind.
Civilization, as we have frequently
remarked, is inexorable, and in nothing
more than that which we have indi-
Gated as operating equally upon the in
6ividual and the nation. Civilization
cannot contemplate any standing still.
1T cannot tolerate any hermit idea. II
cannot look backward, 1T cannot be pa
triarchical. China is notable example
of this looking over the shoulder and
adhesion TO the patriarchical system
Until 1t ceases to look over its shoulder
and limit the horizon of it's vision to
the traditions of the past and the gray
teachings OF the patriarchs Of dead
ages. cannot advance, nor meet IN
fair competition the filter nations in
commercial or social struggle for su-
premacy.
Aboriginal races always go down be-