The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-03
THE NATIONS NEW POLICY.
.a,oxI,L EXPANSION CERTAIN,
WV SAYS HENRY NORMAN.

Thn London Chronicle publishes to-day n copy
,,rhtcd article by It's special commissioner,
u.nrv Norman. on New America; Its Policy
NJ Expansion lie says;
The new America, as l described In the first
49, NJ this series, will be armed to defend
against any enemy the national policy she may
d.cIde to pursue. The next question, Of course.
!, what will her policy bel No more Inn
rortant question exists atthls moment.
This nation, nearly eighty millions strong. with
upapproached natural resources, enormous and
marycllously organized industrial enterprises,
INTELLIGENT and ambitious beyond the average,
,oon TO he one Of the great powers on the sea,
bs. hitherto been content to think only of its
ovn defence and to cast plying looks, accom-
nsnied by moral disquisitions, upon the nations
Of Europe d~isputing with each other the lands
uf Asia and Africa. Avoid foreign enthngle'
nents. the advice Of the founder Of tho repub-
lie, has been written, one might Say, across
srcry American flag. Anybody who should
have prophcsiea in the spring of the year that
has not yet reached midsummer that the
United States was about to embark upon a
polIcy Of oversee expansion. of colonization, OF
Janitorial ACKNOWLEDGMENT, Of Imperialism"
would have been laughed ut for q fool.
Admiral Dewey did it. With his dash into
Manila Bay and his destruction Of the Spanish
nQuadrOn-a nneF naval eAplOlI JnaH ID geb
admitted abroad he sowcd the seed which will
never be uprootcd. Tho inconceivablo was
accomplished, as in tho salvation of Faust;
the problem whether America could, should,
or would seize alien countries became obsolete
In one morning. The fortune of war gave her
the Philippines, on the furthest side of the
globe. Public opinion accommodated itself TO
the change, as automatically and as quickly as
the governor OF an engine TO a sudden increase
Of steam pressure. Between April 80 and May
the weather vane which shows the public
breath. swung clean around. The practical
American read tho news, asked himself. well.
why motif and hung another flag out of his
window.
a All this is not a figure of speech-it Is a literal
fact. Never was there such q lightning change
Of national sentiment. The Administration had
nothing to do with 1t. They had not foresecn 1t.
They had not contributed to it; they were
powcrless to prevent it; they had not yet quite
recovered from the shock. That little SEN
tence in the Congressional resolution about dis
claiming ''any disposition or intention to exer-
else sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control Is the
pea in the official shoe. But the force Of
events, linked ono to one by the great Chain
Maker, has continued to pull, and the policy of
expansion has marched on with rs little regard
lOT AuCTlCdl ITdulIlOn UT huHllllbJTaIlNG con-
venicnce as John Browns body had for the in
~stitutions of the South.
Hawaii, Cuba, Porto Rico. the Philippines,
the Ladrones, the Carolines. present to the
American people to-day as clear an issue as has
ever divided opinion, and moro important than
any except the Revolution and the rebellion.
1t Is obvious that this issue is hardly of less
import to Europe than to America herself.
Every European, arguing from the procedure
OF his own country, will naturally ask this ques-
tion: What Is the policy Of President Mckinley
and bis Cabinet in this matteri Here leave
facts TO fall back upon my own opinion, and it is
this: The American Government has no policy
In tho matter. How could 1t have oncl To
begin with. the war itself is a sufficient issue for
the present. 1t will be timo enough to discuss
tho disposition OF all these places whom tho
United States Is in possession Of them. Again.
circumstances may greatly alter the case. For
example, II Spain surrendered unconditionally
tomorrow, asking only the Philippines and
yielding all the rest, IL might be difficult TO say
her nay. III she fights on, and stubborn battles
at Santiago. san Juan, Havana and Manila cost
thousands of Amer can lives. the ultimate situa-
ton Will present II totally different aspect.
Finally, nobody can he sure that public opinion,
which has changed SO quickly once, may not
Veer again. sick OF bloodshcd and expenditure.
President Mckinley, whose skill in estimating
te resultant direction of the varying currents
OF poiltlcal feeling amounts to positive genius,
is the last man in the United States to build a
policy upon a foundation not yet solidihed. L
nave mad, l think, as good an opportunity as
anybody for gaining information upon this
point. and am confident that, upon the greater
Issues involved, there is in this country Mt tho
present time no official policy whatever. Spain's
lGlurc TO take advantage of this is an act of
cheer insanity.
ID! Inc greater Issue" l mean simply the
u"pp'heS' All the rest is us fixed as fate.
r"'' Ii no doubl Thai Hawaii will be annexed.
suoA wiz DO given an opportunity-not an op-
pOftunity' by tho way. unlimited either In timo
" scope-to govern herself. the idea beInx that
~ great an Influx of Americans, especially from
'e SOUTH and of American capital will take
place that the elements of disorder and corrun-
uon lett BY Spanish misrule will speedily he
moved under" and that Cuba win bear the
same relation to the United States as the Trans.
va" would have borne to Great Britain II the
s"osoh RAID had succeeded. One West In.
N"h republic iS administered to-day by n
''"uic@Ve OF New York capitalists, and there
~e plenty ready to run" Cuba. II these caI.
N"l'onS' however. provo erroneous, Cuba will
" annexed out and out. Porto Rico will be an.
aeNeu IN any case and a strong naval base
.Urmed there. With The West Indies thus prac.
o.Aly divided between the United States and
S britaln, the American Government con.
n y that a safe and satisfactory, situation in
part OF the world will have been reached.
ta'se coming events constitute, of course. n
onahge from anything America has hltbsr.
uOle' but of themselves they do not of
acnTssSSty imply any sweeping change of policy.
u.N Liofe- means an act of humanity, whiIo
ns,"AI ana Porto Rico are tho naval bases In a
tho S.Heme OF national defence. Obedience to
d. 'Aonihgs OF W~ashington's Farewell Ad.
como, may remain intact, though Porto Rico
msn, under tho same principles of govern.
the WIN a different practlce) As Cuba on
The cho siuo and llayti on the other, and though
mwuuS OF "Hiki mai neiika he liza qua kea,
Eaw. memory serves mel is sung by fair. frail
tbs %uSi under tho Stars and Stripes. Bnt
Win m'ipp'hes are a very different matter
Msrr,t AuM'Fal DOwey's victory sealed. and Gen
Un,,.s installed as Military Governor. The
r,s N," States becomes a nation with colonies
the AL The advantages and incurrlnR ali
brira RESPONSIBILITIES that colonies, like children