The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-08-24
Value of Our New Territory.

WASHINGTON, August 14.-When
Uncle Sam begins to count up what
be has gained as result Of the war
with Spain he will find that the money
value OF his new possessions far over
balance the money cost of the war.
This will be true should he retain
nothing beyond what is assured to him
by the protocol signed to-day, for
Nthere is no doubt that the value Of
/ Porto Rico and the island in the La
droncs-which are the only posses
sions positively assured to the United
States by the protocols far in excess
of the actual expense of conducting
the war. Should the President act in
accordance with the wishes of ma
jority Of the American people and hold
the Philippines, and should Cuba
revert to the possession Of the United
States in the end, the cash outlay on
account Of the war will seem small
| when compared with the sources of
national wealth added to the United
States.
NAVAL AND MILITARY VALUE.
In the first place, their naval and
military value will be considered
Aside from the possession Of Porto
Rico and the certainty that whether
we actually possess Cuba or not, the
mere expulsion Of Spain from her
strongholds at the entrance to the
Caribbean Sea and the gulf Of Mex
leo is of itself matter Of the greatest
military value to the United States;
it is impossible to estimate in dollars
and cents what might be :iie value Of
Porto Rico, strongly fortified and gar
| risoned, as an eastern and southern
outpost on the highway to the Carib-
bean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the
Inter Oceanic Sea. The strategic
value Of Cuba will be even greater
than that of Porto Rico.
The actual cash value of the new
possessions of the country-what they
would bring if put up and sold at
auction, with all their real estate and
mprovements-no one in Washington
will attempt to estimate. An idea
can be formed in several ways, how
ever, as to what they are worth to the
United States.
In the Pacific, on the highway to
the Orient and Australasia, the value
of military and naval bases in the
Ladrones and the Philippines will be
very great. They will be points Of
call and Of safe refuge for American
commerce, which is destined to assume
vast proportions in the Pacific, and
will be beacon lights Of Anglo Saxon
civilization to the hundreds Of millions
in the awakening Orient.
VALUE OF COMMERCE.
Such figures as can be given relative
to the commercial value Of the. new
colonial possessions which the war has
placed at the disposal of the United
States are based, Of course, upon the
conditions which prevailed under
Spanish rule
Porto Rico, in proportion to it's
area. was probably the most valuable
of all of Spain's colonial possessions.
With an area of $3.50 square miles,
the island supports population of
807, 900. Of these inhabitants more
than 5G0,000 are white, an unusual
proportion for tropical American
country. This island paid TO- to the the
Spanish treasury in taxes 1900, 1000
pesos annually, which is equivalent to
about $500, 900. The total value of
imports into the island in normal years
amounted to about S18,O00,O00, and
the exports about 5000, 900. The
exports from the United States to
Porto Rico averaged about 81, ,250, 900
per year, and tho imports into this
country about the same amount.
With the islands in the possession
Of the United States and the differ
eEtial duty in favor of Spanish trade
abolished its geographical position
will cause most Of its commerce to
flow to and from the ports of the
United States. It will furnish a
market for large quantities of food
products, textile fabrics, iron and
steel, and coal, and from it the United
States will receive principally coffee,
tobacco and sugar. It is in the line
of coffee cultivation that the greatest
development of Porto Rico is expected
in the near future. ;a
A HEALTHY ISLAND.
the island is also the healthieet Of
all the West Indies, and when enlight-
ened systems Of sanitation are applied
to the cities and towns it will not be
an unpleasant place Of residence, es-
pecially in the winter months, and
when San Juan Bay becomes the head
quarters Of the North Atlantic naval
station from November until April it
will. become q rival Of the Florida
winter resorts for fashionable tour
ists.-
The island Of Cuba has an area Of
Al ,653 square miles, and before the
beginning Of the insurrection had
population OF about ] 600, 900, but this
has been considerably reduced, and
some estimates place the present pop
ulation as low as 1000, 600. The
revenues of Cuba have haen an in,nnr-
tant item in the Spanish fiscal system,
amounting in normal years TO about
q, ,000, 600 pesos, or about e5, 600, 900.
According to the Statesmen's Year