The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-10

Of the Danish Leeward islands as long
as she desires to retain them. Among
the old colonizing European countries
Spain, once the most powerful among
them, has practically forfeited all her
conquests and territories.
The Philippine Islands are ours by
the right of conquest; we must retain
them as such. We cannot renvest
them in the Spanish Crown and our
national interests are as deeply con-
cerned in their welfare and develop
ment as those of Great Britain or Ger
many. 1t is premature to speculate on
the future of the islands. There is no
question of their relative and absolute
value to us in our trade development
in the east They are the complement
Of the Hawaiian group. Porto Rico
occupies the same relative political
position in the Atlantic We have long
sought a harbor in the West Indian
archipelago. We had at one time
agreed, indeed, to purchase the little
island of st. Thomas from Denmark,
with it's magnificent roadstead, harbor,
and anchorage; but congress refused to
ratify the bargain. The whole trans
action was not very creditable to our
diplomacy, but it has long since been
forgotten and forgiven by the little
kingdom with whom we were in nego-
tiation. These two precious gems torn
from the Spanish Crown, the bauble
will not be worth wearing by any self
respecting monarch. The conquest of
an island or territory is of no less
moment than its disposal or national
assimilation afterward. To evacuate
would appear undignfied: to annex
perhaps unpropitOus. In either event
we must be guided solely by our own
interests and feelings, not by those Of
European autocrats. If Kaiser Will
helm had the disposal of the whole
world in his keeping, some of our
newspapers could not be more anxious
to defer to his idosynCracies. Ger
many did not submit to our cOnsdera-
ton the arbitrary annexation of AL
SAGE Lorraine nor did we expect that
she would. The Emperor of Germany
is a man of common sense, despite his
personal eCcentrictes We do not be-
lieve he will try to interfere with what
| ever disposal of the Philippines we see
| fit to make.
That firebrand. Don Carlos, has been
unusually active during the past week.
| 1t is said he will take advantage of
| the internal turmoil in Spain to regain
| his lost inheritance" IF he makes the
| effort we do not believe that any power
| in Europe will interfere to preserve it
| to the young king. There seems to be
fatalism attached to Spanish dynas-
! tic revolutions, fatal alike to Spain and
| the country that is foolish enough tc
| interfere in them. We must remember
that the ostensible. if not the actual
| cause of the last FranCO-German wal
was involved in the succession to the
| Spanish crown, one of the most dis
| creditable court intrigues that in mod
| ern times has bespotted the history OF
Europe. Through it France lost two
| provinces, the third Napoleon his king
| dom, the peasantry millions of their
boarded francs, and the world it's peace
| full composure. The Spaniards are
swayed by impulse rather than sober
| calculation. A king who knew his owr
| mind and that of his subjects, who re-
pressed the adherents of the Pretender
| Republicans and anarchists, might tide
over the present crisis; but what car
a woman like the queen regent and he
! little son do in the face of revolution
airy forces and national disasters tina
we'll might rock the most stable throne
of the oldest European monarchy?
In thanking and rewarding Dewey
and his men president, congress anC
people again experienced that unani'
nous feeling.