The age-herald., 1898-04-02

give that country to a nation which some day would be powerful enough to humble England-whieh prediction turned out to be true. Jefferson did not contemplate the acquisition of such an enormous territory. All he thought of getting was enough ter ritory at the mouth of the Mississippi, both sides, to put forever at rest troubles arising from the control of the river by any foreign power.
 But when the offer was made to Monroe he accepted it, and left it to that strict constructionist, Jefferson, to find outhor- ity in the constitution for the purchase, or to make It. Jefferson, of course, could find no explicit authority, so he made pre- tense of having the constitution amended after the act so as to legalize it. But though New England threatened to se- cde from the union if the national money was expended in this way, the constltu- tional amendment never was formally pro- posed.
 Spain. when she sold the territory to France, had no idea that it would fall to the United States, and she was by no means pleased at the purchase. But she had to content herself with the possess sion of the Floridas
 It was while the Louisiana question was before the public, during Jefferson's ad- mnistration, that the Spanish minister, Senor Carlos de Yrujo. tried to bribe a Philadelphia newspaper to print an article opposing the administration. We demand- ed his recall and at once he declared that he would stay in America as long as he pleased. Spain, however, recalled him, and, in 1908, at the end of the term of serv- ice of our minister in Madrid c. c. Pinck- ney, our diplomatic relations with Spain were broken off, not to be resumed Tor SIX or seven years.
 Though Louisiana came into our nomi- nal possession in December, 1903, it was several years after that before the last Spanish official in the territory consented sulenly to retire to the Floridas. Before they departed they lost no opportunity to irritate the Americans Of the west ana southwest. In few years, when the war of 1S12-14 came, Spain, ignoring the obll- cations of neutrality, allowed the British to take possession of their forts at Fen- sacola and elsewhere in Florida, and lit out expeditions against the United states. In September, 1914, Fort Bowyer, now Fort Morgan, at the mouth of Mobile bay, was attacked by a British fleet, aided by force of Indians and marines, but the as- sailants were repulsed, losing one Of their ships and many men, The other ships escaped to Pensacola. But we had a gem eral in the south in those times who was more than match for the British and Spanish combined. Jackson was in com mand at Mobile, and at the head of S,0)O men, he marched to Pensacola, and nego- tiations with the Spanish authorities fail ing, he seized the town and compelled the
  bile and hastened to New Orleans. where, in few months, he inflicted upon the Brit ish worse defeat than that proud nation ever before had endured.
 One of the provisions of treaty with Spain in 17e5 was that each nation should keep the Indians within it's borders from proving on the inhabitants of the other nation Spain did not allow herself to be affected by trifiing treaty obligation like that, and her officials, aided by English men in that quarter, melted the Seminoles of Florida to make frays upon the Georgia settlements. Evidently Spain had forgot ten that we had a general named Jackson. who showed by his course at Pensacola in 1874 that he was not afraid to take ex- treme measures. After General Gaines had failed in getting at the heart of the Semi nole disturbance Jackson was ent into Florida. On his own hook, as we would say he marched into Florida, seized the Spanish fort at St. Marks and other prin- cipal towns and hanged as "outlaws and pirates'' two British subjects, Arbuthnot and Ambristen, who had led the Seminoles. Again Jackson seized Pensacola, and this time he captured Fort Barrancas, near the town after a short resistance .t4
 Both England and Spain boiled over at this summary act, but the fire cooled, and the immediate result was that the next year Spain ceded both the Floridas to- us for $5.O00. 900. But we never had to pay for the territory, for Spain owed us that amount as indemnity for injuries she had done to American citizens both in connec- tion with the Louisiana question and the matter of reprisals upon our commerce in our Napoleonic war, and these unpaid claims had been great source of irrlta- ton between the two countries. By treaty we made with Spain in 1902 Spain obligated herself to indemnify us for these losses and then refused for sixteen years to ratify the treaty, which was annuled by the treaty of 1919.
 So we got the Floridas free, and assum- ed the payment of these claims ourselves. And for the second time Spain, having in- jured us, was forced to pay for it. Spain, however, delayed the ratification of the treaty two years by all the exasperating arts and wiles of which the Castilian is master There was good deal of war talk in the United States, but before it could come to a head Spain reluctantly ratified the treaty and yielded possession. Jackson was immediately appointed military gov ernor of the F'loridas, which checked what