The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-07-29
MACAULAN vi ON COLONIES.

the speeches and writings of the advO-
Gates of the new land grab policy. it
might be inferred that foreign colonies
had always been sources of boundlcss
profit, and that this country had now
Il rhaucc for securing unprecedented
prosperity if it could only secure the
the ownership OLA few islands here and
there in the Gulf of Mexico or the Pa
cific Ocean.
The fact that the people of the tro-
pies can seldom he induced to work
long enough or hard enough to cover
their nakcdnes> is lictly ignored. and
the imagination is allowed to run riot
in speculations as to the prosperity
which is to follow the annexation of
countries without capital, without in
dustry, without anything to sell, and
without money to pay for anything
they wish to buy. Even Cuba has
been unable, since the abolition of sla-
very, to compete with France or Ger
many in the cultivation of sugar. and
the Hawaiian Islands are only able to
produce by the aid of Coolie labor; but
it is useless to particularizc when the
lesson of Spain herself stares us in the
face. For the last ten years her colo
nies have entailed constant expense,
and the present bankruptcy is largely
due to the heavy drain upon her re-
sources from Cuba and the Philippines
Nor is there anything novel in this
statement. The experience of Eng
land had not been much more fortu-
nate. At the present day the ques-
lion of how to deal with Jamaica is
one of tile most troublesome puzzles
which confront the English statesmen.
The planter in that island, with every
thing in his favor, is reduced to bank
'nptcy, and nothing but a system of
bounties can save him. The great de-
cline in the price of sugar, caused, be
it remembered, by competition in Eu-
rope and not in the tropics, has ruined
the Englishmen in Jamaica. as it did
the Spaniard in Cuba but even in
former years, when large fortunes were
still made by individuals, the West En-
dies were not profitable possessions for
England.
| will be entertaining, if not prof.
table, to turn from the frothy declam-
tions of the Congressman Of to-day, to
the weighty words of one who was
great statesman, as well as great his
torian. In his essay on the West In
des Essays, vol. vi, PIP. 524, ct seq.,)
Lord Macaulay said:
"Therc are some who assert that, in
a military and political point of view,
the West Indies are Of great Importance
to this country. This is common,
but u monstrous misrepresentation.
We venture to say that colonial empire
has been one of the greatest curses OF
modern Europe. What nation has it
ever strengthened What nation has
it ever enriched? What has been its
fruits? Wars of frequent occurrence
and immense cost, fettered trade, law
ish expenditure, clashing jurisdiction,
corruption in governments and indi
gence among the people. What have
Mexico and Peru done for Spain, the
Brazils for Portugal. Batavia for Hol-
land! o., if the experience of others
is lost upon us, shall we not profit by
our own? What have we not sacrificed
to our infatuated passion for transat-
lantic dominion This it is that has
so often led us to risk our own smiling
gardens and dear liresides for some
snowy-desert or infectious morass on
the other side of the globe. This in
spired us with the project of conquer
ing America. This induced us to re-
sign all the advantages of our insular
embroil ourselves in the
intrigues and fight the battles of half
the continent--to form coalitions which
were instantly broken and to give sub
sides which were never earned. This
gave birth to the fratricdal war against
American liberty with all its disgrace
full defeats and all its barren victories,
and all the bloody contracts Of the
Hessian slaughter home. This It was
which, in the war against the French
Republic. induced us to send thousands
and tens of thosands of our bravest
troops to die in the West Indian hos
pitals, while the armies of our enemies
were pouring over the Rhine and the
Alps. When 4 colonial acquisition
has been in prospect we have thought |
no expenditure eXtravagant, no inter
ference perilous. Gold has been to us
as dust, and blood as water. Shall we nc
yer learn wisdom? Shall we never cease
to prosecute pursuit wilder than the
widest dream of alchemy, with all the |
and all the profusion of Sir
Epicurc Mamman!
Those who maintain that settle
ments so remote conducc to the militia
ry or maritime power of nations, fly in
the face of history. The colonies of
Spain were far move extensive and
populous than ours. Has Spain, at
my time within the last two centuries,
been match for England either by
and or by sea? Fifty years ago our
colonial dominions in America, were
lar greater and more prosperous than
those which we at present possess.
Have we since that time experienced
my decay in our political influence, in
our opulcnce, or in our security? Or
shall we say that Virginia was a
css valuable possession than Jamaica,
" Massachusetts than Barbados p
Such is the lesson Macaulay drew