New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-09-16
CONTROL OF THE TROPICS
A GREAT MISSION MAPPED OUT Fof'
THE ENGLISH SPEAKING RACE

the cct troll 81 tropical lands probably the most
significant political movement OF the present
day: and American readers will certainly see III
II q topic Of immediate and enormous importance
10 themselves II corresponds with the riVaTry
between the Powers 81 Western Europe for
the mastery in their own homes hundred
wears ago At this time the boundaries OF lands
n the highly civilized parts OF the world are
nro,,v we'll fixed Wars Of conquest there are
scarcely to be looked for henceforward. Inelr
:, thus left only the Torrid Zone 10 he parti-
toned And il is an interesting circumstance
tha, jus, as the tropics have thus come into
territorial value for purposes OF sheer exPan-
sion their products and their commerce have
r,snn into simply incalcuable value to our COM
r,ov civilization Consider the extended use
n, electricity and of the bicycle. and then con-
s,ser how those great adjuncts Of civilization
could have become what they arc without india
rubber Add 10 caoutchouc the other products
OF the tropics, such as cotton. hemp. sugar
coffee tea cocoa, dyestuns. rice. silk. tropical
woods and many others. and the importance OF
those regions TO the whole world Is apparent.
The trade Of Great Britain with the tropics and
with the rest OF the English speaking world IS
greater thar with all the rest Of the world put
together The trade OF the United states Win
The tropics is one-ifth Of its whole trade. and
VI
English-speaking world amounts 10 more than
two-thirds OF the whole.
Now there is every assurance that the I'M
portance OF this trade with the tropics VIII not
decrease but rather increase in size and IN I'M
por.ance How then, is II 10 be safcguarded,
developed controlled? And how are the tropics
10 be made best to fulfil their manifest purpose
in the world? There are. as Mr.. Kidd sees the
case. three general plans Of control OF the trop-
ics One Is that which various nations al nrst
adopted and which Holland still pursues'
namely to treat tropical possessions as pan
tations TO be worked for the benefit OF the
ouvner With little or no regard for the rights
or welfare OF the native inhabitants That piah'
he declares, is Incompatible with the principles
Of the English speaking world. Let IT be there
fore dismissed. The second Is that adopteu by
Germany and France and other NATIONS. 10
seize vast territories for the purpose OF tnus
nuuaine M empires futile scheme. since
those Powers do not and cannot succeed III
co,onix,ne their tropical domains. and the lat
Tar therefore soon revert perforce 10 the olo
.tatus Of plantations The third Is or is TO De,
the plan OF the English speaking world. AS yet
II is scarcely in actual practice. Great britain
built I'D great colonies in temperate climes' ana
even in sub tropical cimes She at first expected
her tropical possessions TO develop themselves III
the same way as Canada and Australia. lhey
have not done so. but have instead dechneu'
And so she now turns back to the old ana ais
credited system Of farming them out to char-
tered companies. The true English policy Is
therefore yet to be fully developed
The principles on which 1t is to be based are.
according 70 Mr.. Kidd. three In number. First.
that the attempt TO COLOMBO tropical lands with
Engl,shmen cannot succeed. The attempt to
mar in
be recognized to be blunder Of the first magni-
tude" and "all experiments based or the
idea are mere idle and empty enterprises fore
doomed to failure" This dictum Is not to be
nermitted to pass unchallenged. 1t may be
granted that the white man Is most at nome
in temperate climates and that he there reaches
his highest state Of civilization. There are not
a few who will further argue that somewhat
. Indictment environment, such az is found IN the
\ British Isles and on our North Atlantic coast. is
desirable ~ not necessary for bringing out the
best qualities and energies Of the race Yet
there are examples far too numerous ana 100
noteworthy to be ignored or TO be regarded as
mere exceptions. OF great achievements ana OF
high and enduring civilization In tropical re-
Rions: and these certainly seem SUFFICIENT TO
mark the attempt to repeat and extend the
process as something better than idle empty
consider some Of the very regions Wh,ch MT
Kidd had in mind Cuba and Porto Rico lie
entirely within the Torrid Zone They are pure
" tropical countries. Yet they have been in
habited by white men for nearly four centuries
and their people have made. amid OFTEN adverse
circumstances progress In all respects quite
comparable with that made by those or the
..me race In the Temperate Zone. Half Of
Mexico lies within the tropics but we can
scarcely say the settlement Of II by white men
has been "blunder Of the first magnitude.
Nor with all their evils. chiefly imposed upon
then, from, without are the States Of Central
and South America, lying entirely within the
rorr,d Zone to he deemed entirely failures. In
d,cations point strongly to the conclusion that
In Rbodes,a. and the Shire highlands and some
other parts of tropical Africa. the white race
may dwell and prosper as indeed II is ALREADY
doing II we pass by such tropical settlements
q. ponbav Madras Hong Kong and Manila,
q. excentional and limited in significance. we
nan ecarcelv ignore Australia. The northern
half NJ that continent is within the Torrid zone.
and the whole OF II has an intensely tropicai
climate the summer heat even In the extreme
south rivalling IL not surprising that or fqoa-
torjal Africa. Yet the white race IN Australia
Is now IN Its third generation, with record OF
nrosress intellectual and material. unsurpassed
IN the world Assuredly we cannot see IN 'he
Fnsljshmen OF Queensland any symptoms OF
degeneration. nor any marks OF "a blunder OF
the first magnitude"
Everywhere upon the surface of the globe
there are some unfavorable conditions to human
life and wellbeing No doubt these are more
numerous and serious in some places than IN
others and no doubt some regions are better
ntted than others for the home Of some partic-
NO n
.sems nretty well to have demonstrated the
.hu,tv OF the white race to adapt itself to al
most any environment where life is possible and
% raLe itself conuueror over even the inclem-