The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-10-21
IMPERIALISM DEFINED
By JOB bR|SI0N
Continued from First Page

Continued from First Page
of peace mad been so wise and successful
was faced with the awful responsibilities
OF war. How he met that responsibility
is now a matter of history.
A demand was made OF Spain that she
srcmediately reiinquish her sovereignty
over the island Of Cuba and permit its peo-
pie to form a government Of their own.
This Spain considered a declaration Of war.
Tie president at last, wearied with Span
ish delay and representation. called upon
congress to act. and in response to the re-
Guest congress placed the sword in his
@2nd, and never was sword welded with
greater rapidly and effectiveness. With
IN ninety days an army of over go. 900 men
were mustered. equipped and ready for
hattie
A flying squadron was organized, with
Commodore Schley in command, to patrol
the Atlantic coast and protect our cities
from any Spanish feet that might come
Into American waters. feet was organ
lied for the purpose Of blockading the Gu
ban ports. The battleship Oregon, which
had been cruising on the Pacific coast, was
ordered round Cape Horn to join in the
operations on the Atlantic, which was then
considered the important field Of military
rctivity.
THE GRAND STORY OF DEWEY.
Il wa sknown that we had a squadron
o. second-class cruisers in Asiatic waters,
and that there was also a Spanish squad
ron in the Philippine islands. Little gen.
eraI interest was manifest in these fleets.
They were too far away to attract any
great attention. Commodore Dewey was
n command Of our Asiatic squadron.
When h0stilitles began he was ordered
by President Mckinley 10 capture or destroy
the Spanish vessels in Asiatic waters. but
nobody dreamed Of an engagement Of such
rnomentous consequences. On the first day
Of May, ten days after war had been de-
clared, the great commodore. standing on
the bridge Of his flagship, Olympia re-
Fardless Of submarine mines and land bat
ferries, led the American squadron boldly
Into Manila harbor. He annihilated the
spanish feet. destroyed the land fortifca-
lions and captured the defenses of Manila,
the commercial metropolis Of the Philip
pines. and virtually gained control Of the
islands. !. 100 in number. with a population
Of nearly ten millions Of people, five times
greater than Cuba in territory, population
and wealth; and this without the destruc-
zion of a single American boat or the loss
q a single American life. So sweeping
was the victory. so startling were the re-
suits Of the engagement. so marvellous was
the execution of the American ssamen.
ike a myth or a fairy tale than the mar
rative of an actual naval engagement The
annals Of naval warfare show no such
p marvellous and stupendous victory with
90 little loss to the victors.
THE QUESTION PRE-EMINENT.
From tint day the great question of the
hour has been the Philippines; a question
which has attracted the attention of every
civilized nation and become the subject of
profound consideration by all the great
Etatesmen Of the world. The god of battles
has called the American people TO the solu-
ton of the grave problems of the east.
To shirk that responsibility is to become
recreant to a divine trust and unworthy
the manhood and courage of our ancestors.
When the American flag, the emblem Of
civil and religious liberty. is once unfurled
it must never be taken down. Son, in what
ever cline, moistened by American blood
is forever consecrated to human liberty
Four our statesmen to decline to pre-
serve, defend and maintain that which has
been won by our sailors upon the sea and
our soldiers upon the field would brand
them as unfaithful to their country and
t,x- Of
And. my friends. citizens Of the Seventh
district. do not believe with
your distinguished congressman that Com
'nodore Dewey should on the second day OF
May have sailed out 90 Manila harbor and
left forever the scenes of his great achieve
ments and turnd back to Spain the
trophies Of his immortal victory.
RESULTS OF THE WAR.
AS a result of the war, Porto Rico. a
beautiful island lying between the Atlantic
and the Caribbean sea. has become our /
possession. It viii soon become American /
lied and serve as a resting place for our
as they ply between our At !
lanuc ports and the ports Of the South (
American republics 1t viii also be valu- I
able as one of the outposts Of our national ;
iefenses. Cuba viii become permeated with /
American ideas. moved by American i'm f,
pulses. guided by American genius. and
finally absorbed and become a part of the /
American republic, but as results of this ,
war these viii be incidents of minor i'm (
portance.
THE BROADENING PURPOSE.
\ war begun for the purpose of liberating
Cuba begouen by a sentiment in behalf
OF humanity. with no other purpose in +
view than the establishment Of a stable /
government and an independent republic. Z
with which we could have profitable trade .
has resulted in drawing this gov (
eminent into an active participation in
the worlds affairs. unexpected and possibly 4
by the great mass of the Amer F.
lean people. We started out n protest
against cruelty and TO liberate the people /
Of Cuba. But II has been decreed that We (
should assume far greater responsibilities. /
The results Of this war. which lasted but
one hundred and fourteen days insignif- /
cant when compared with the great mill /
tary conflicts OF the earth. will be as far /
y "