The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-09-14

sain the confines OF the continental
BnIsed States and for live send out
as foreign parts another 500, 900, 600.
j hont gong into detail it may be
stated that expend annually at least.
$s5e, ,O00 300 for purely tropical prod
ar:ss which re cannot raise ourselves Y
ward, from the expansionists
point Of yieys the acquisition OF these.
ISLANDS giYes us all ne have hitherto
hacked in thss way Of tropical produc7
sios ana Ills q long felt want. And,
hat IS mors, while they produce the
ngsWe Ia,;k and need the people OF
ftsose iss ards manufacture almost moth
and viii look to us for al their ma
-four. cotton and woolen goods
Fact, for everything necessary to
yilzed communities.
thesesnewly euired tropical pos
sessions Of Ours Porto Rico is the south
azzn1nosf and also the easternmost. In
{act, 1t lies farther to the east than any
portion of lMfaines even ard about IA the
lasitude Of st. John, n. b, and while
the Hawaiian group lies between latiy,
ade Ia and % degrees north and Cuba
s. 5uss south ef the tropic Of cancer, Porto
Rico lies between II and I8Rorth, and
ifs ncrshem coast line is 100 miles to
shes south os Cuka' s. southern shores.
Within q little more than a thousand
Hes Of the equator, its soushern coast
sfacing the Caribbean sea, its northern
seward slle Atlantic, it forms the key
stone Of that arch Of Islands, the Antll-
lean archipelago, extending from near
TN mouth Of the Orinoco on the north
ecass OF South America, northward and
thenwestward, toward the eastern coast
Sof Honduras, incIosing that vast body
ct water known as the Caribbean sea.
ssIt IS about 1000 miles distant from
Havana and Key West, l,200 from the
isThmus Of Panama, l, 400 from Mica
sragua, 800 from New York and 5000
from Gadiz IN Spain.
The srouble with us, said Senator
John r. Morgan to the writer not long
{ Sago, is that we are afraid of being
great. Is seems at last that we have
overcome our dread of territorial expan-
sion and are no longer afraid of trying
at least an experiment. along that line.
q &c has long beer foreseen by our naval
sstrategists that if we ever possessed a
navy, we must also own or control
naval bases or coaling stations in yar1-
pus parts Of the world. A glance at a
map Of the world reveals the fact that
Great Britain has girdled the globe
with such stations, for the supply and
refreshment Of her fleets. It was sufh-
cientay emphasized in the east when our
fees was ordered out Of Hongkong; in
the west when the coal heaps Of St.
Thomas and Martinique were declared
aeutral property.
Fortunately brave Dewey captured a
coaling station for himself, and IN the
West Indies we were rendered tempo
rsrily independent by colliers accom-
panying the feet, and finally by the
taking Of Guantanamo But II Dewey
had not taken Manila, and if Cervera' 3
feet had heen as strong as was at frst
reported and we believed, the coallnS
problem would have been an important
factor IL determining the success or
failure of our plans 1t may be mat
ter of surprise to many to learn that
such acquisitions have been urged for
many years. at least 80 past, IN the
halls Of congress. Away back during
i the administration Of President Lincoln
& Secretary Seward had III mind the ac-
arisition of the Danish islands ct St.
Thomas, St. John ano Santa Cruz, and
later negotiated treaty by which for
So, 900, 0o0 we were to acquire them.
BIT for The unexpected opposition OF
certain senators when the treaty was
ND fer ratification we should have ac-
CURED thena, and notwit thsvanding the
enormous sam we promised TO pay