The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-03

ably notfar distant when, with tho advance
science is making, we shall recognize that
Il IL in the tropics, and not in the TOM
perate zones, that we have the greatest
f~ood-producing and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ing regions Of the earth; that the nat
ural highways Of the worlds commerce
are those that run north and south, and
that the inhabitants Of the temperate zones
have the highest possible interest In the
proper development and efficient admins
tration Of the tropical regions, n In an
exchange OF products herewith on q far
larger scale than has been yet attempted or
imagined. In this interdependence Of the
temperate and the tropical zones, the vital
import Of which will soon be pressed homo
to Europe, tho United Statos are also
deeply concerned, for we already possess
the beginnings OF tropical empire.
The question, then, that at an early day
will present itself for solution will be, How
is the development and efficient admins
tratIon Of the tropical regions to be Sc
oured7 Endeavorlng to answer h In
quiry, Mr.. KIDD points ont that the ethical
improvement that has taken place In our
civilization has rendered the experiment
OnC0 hluuO W uONOASp OhOAA ASOONASSS ~
forced native labor no longer possible, or
permissible, even II possible. Never again
will q social structure. Of which the corner
stone is human slavery, be tolerated by an
enlightened people. Abandoned, also, under
the pressure OF experience, has been the
idea, which OF one time prevailed, that
tropical lands might be occupied and perma-
nently colonized by Europeans, as have
been vast tracts in the temperate climes.
Within o reasonable period, and under the
like pressure OF experience, We shall proba-
bly, nave to discard the idea which in its
turn has temporarily found many advo-
Gates, the idea, namely, that the colored
races, left to themselves, possess the quail
ties requisite for the exploitation Of the rich
lands they have inherited. This optimistic
assumption has been refuted In practice by
Hayti, San Domingo, Liberia, the British
West Indies, and the Central American
commonwealth. Aclearer insight into the
laws that have shaped the course OF human
evolution must bring us to see that the
process which has gradually developed
the energy, enterprise, and social efficiency
Of mankind northwards, and which has left
less richly endowed in this respect the
peoples inhabiting the regions where the
conditions Of life are easiest, is no passing
| accident or the result Of circumstances
changeable at will, but part Of the cosmic
order Of things which we have no power to
order or to alter.
1t is Mr.. KIDD's opinion, and we may do
we'll to consider it in framing forms Of gov
eminent for our new tropical possessions.
that the European races will gradually
| come to realize that the tropics, which
modern ethics will not permit US to en-
| slave, and which, as experience has shown,
cannot be colonized, must be simply adj
ministered from the temperate regions.
There is no insurmountable difficulty in
the task. 1t is being performed under our
eyes by England in India, in the Straits Set
Elements and in Egypt. What England has
done, the United States can do. All that Is
needed to assure the successful perform
ance Of the administrative function in the
tropics is a clearly defined conception Of
the moral necessity and the economical ad-
vantage. Such a conception is sure to
come when the energetic races Of the
world, having completed the colonization
Of the temperate zones, are met with the
spectacle of the resources Of h richest re-
gions upon earth still running largely to
waste under inefficient management.