The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-11-29
DESTINY.


From the Philadelphia Times.
The war with Spain, that covered a pc
| riod OF but little exceeding one hundred
days, has shaped a rev destiny for the
United States that Is ineNoraole. The
orize as we may, and strongly as our ira
ditions and declared purposes plead
against territorial expansion beyond the
| continent. d new destiny has been shaped
for us by a power vastly greater than
| ourselves.
o
We will take the Philippine Islands be-
cause ii seems not possible for US to take
any less than the whole of them. We do
not need them; We do not want them, nut
We could do no less than retain I.uzon
| and that necassitates the expulsion of
| the Spanish flag fiCm all the Islands.
| There can be no divided authority there.
and we will take possession OF all the
| Philippines because ii is an !mpCrious
| necessity. and Spain will concede them to
| us for the same reason. We have pos
| session of the leading island OF the La
| drones and one supposed to be OF great
value. That means the absolute control
\ of all of them so far as 1t shall be neces-
| sary to exercise authority. We have ac-
quired the Sandwich Islands by annexa-
| tton, and these new acquisitions In the
| Pacific bring us, for the first time In our
| national history in close relations with
| blend our interests inseparably with
| them. Spain has ceded to us Porto Rico
| the most valuable of her West Indian
| possessions excepting Cuba, and Cuba
| will sooner or later, and soon at the
| latest. become part of the United states.
| Her Independent government Will be or
| GaniZed under an American protectorate e
that must speedily Americanize all the
| material interests of Cuba, and anneXa-
| tiOn will become a necessity because the
| people of Cuba will demand it as did the
people of Texas.
| Such are our new possessions, all OF
F, which are entirely outside of the long-da-
| clared policy of the republic. but the des-
| tiny has been shaped for us and we could
not escape 1t If we would and would not
| now escape II If we could The people of
| the country Will heartily sustain the gov
| ernment in accepting the new destiny
| shaped for us by the Spanish war. One
| Of the first duties of the government will
| 0e to hasten the construction OF the Mica
Tagua canal that has always been a gre AZ
want for the commercial nations of the
| world, and that has now become su-
| preme necessity for our government.
| With the construction Of a canal, an Am
| erican cable line is an absolute necessity
| from Manila to the Ladrones, thence 10
| the Sandwich Islands and thence to San
| IdutlSNC, lOStllltl WIFI an PAtluSlNtlN
| american cable line to Havana and
, Porto Rico.
| This new destiny that has been IRE
vocably shaped for us. although neither
sought nor desired by the people of this
government, must bring with it new du-
ties and new responsibilities which must
be accepted in the broadest and most en-,
lightened spirit of craftsmanship. These
new possessions must be ruled for some
years by the military power of the gov.
ernment. and their great centers must he
garTisoned by American armies chiefly
or wholly enlisted from the natives, as
England does in India We must hence.
| forth be known and felt in all the great
international Questions affecting Europe
and we are safe in our new position by
our inseparable relations with the moth
er country. 1t is the beginning Of the
| hnai struggle for power between Tho
Anglo-SaXon anG the Latin races. Nc
human power can prevent IL and no in
| telligent observer can doubt that the
Anglo-SaXon will practically rule tn,
world. Such in brief is the new destiny
shaped 70" us by the war with Spain.