The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-06-16
MARCH Of HISTORY.
,,,v.r to the Aiar,nl.t, who Would See
puln TO tho United states III tile Aequisi
-. az Additional TERRITORY, s!ils-e

rs.,c Is a constltutlonally cautious
Mars OF our people Who have an. impress
ian that this country Is being allowed
~ drift, without either direction or re-
.,ton,, into the assumption OF various
,,Ieanite obligations that promise a.
.,utc Of endless trouble, President
patton o. Princeton, is criticised by
,sesc people for applying to a process
,bIch they regard as Nero rudderless
1rIttIng such phrases as the logic OF
events" "the march of history and
ptbc spirit OF the age,"i and for limiting
ma, these stand for forces IN presence
0, which resistance or protest Is alike
useless DIR. Patton,s audaclous re-
mark that 1.-THE boom OF pewey's can
rnn across the Pacific mnde us forget
Tho Farewell Address and brought the
Monroe Doctrine into new set OF re-
htIons," carries, to some people, sug-'
sss,ions Of hopeless infringement in
Al the complications OF the Old World
of n policy that seeks to annexEHa-
vail to-day, declares sovereignty over
me Philippines Tomorrow, and COM
mlts the country to- an onward move
r,ent whose inevitable goal'is national
oyer.commItment and ruin. That much
abused phrase Colonial expansion" Is
messed into the service tosread q les
s,u and convey a wacnlng TO those who
And justification for the new aims and
enterprises OF the United States In the
impending necessity OF securing for Its
oroducts access to the. undeveloped
markets OF the world. Welfare asked to
believe that there can be! but one kind
o. colonial policy, that, namely. which
cost England these United States, which,
brought Spain to Its present pass. and
O.. which the French republic continues
10 be the most ,abject and resolute ex-
ponent. Therefore, che Idea of raising
the flag over colonies ortdependcncles.
IN the Pacific orr elsewhere, must need
be stamped as a pernicious one.
While It Is impossible to withhold re-
spect from the attitude OF such critics
toward what General Merritt perhaps
prematurely called "the new national
pollcy OF the United States" It Is none
the less necessary to point out that
their view Is profoundly mistaken
one. In the first place, we may os well
recognIze as q pure Illusion the idea
that this country can forever continue
10 keep itself clear Of politico-commer-,
r!al relations With the Old World. Such
relations have ceased to be concerned,
solely. or even chiefly, with the affairs
o, Europe. The new battle-ground OF
Ia OF n
TO the future Of Eastern Asia, at least,
the United States cannot afford to be
!ndifferene.-1t Is interesting to note the
Judgment OF Mr.. Henry N. Stanley as
TO the Inevitable sequel OF the uncheck-
ed advance OF Russia Chlnaward. He
declares 1t to be the absorption OF Chi
na within the Russian empire, and the
transformation Of the Chinese myriads
into Russian soldiers; and this forecast
must. certainly be regarded MS some
thing more than mere possibility. This
would involve, as natural conse-
qlence. the absorption OF all Asia. from
the very fact OF the strongest power n
Europe being able to direct, In whatev-
er direction 1t would, the drilled mil
lions OF the Chinese empire. The pos
SCISSOR OF such power could, obviously.
empty oil Asia for the conquest OF
Europe, and the consequent extinction
Of all the other continental powers row
existing there.
Mr. Stanley's picture may be over
drawn, but 1t is certainly true that II
We propose to remain merely passive
SPECTATORS of events in the Far East
We shall have to deal with the over
mastering predominance there of one,or
at most two powers, who apply to their
new possessions the old colonial policy
In all its rlgor, namely, the conversion
OF such possessions into close CONNER
cial preserve for. the profit OF the con-
queror. II, to borrow Mr.. StanleF's Ian
guage as applied to England, we object
10 the partition, OF China. to being ex-
Guided from the commerce which might
be ours by keeping the gates OF China
omen, we must stand prepared to act
with other nations in support, even by
force OF arms IL need be, of the policy
Of commercial freedom. The only al
tentative Is to let Russia and France
do what they will with China, and. con-
sequently, with all Asia. 1t must be OBJ
vious, therefore, that the maintenance
Of policy of political isolation does
not ut all depend on whether or not we
annex Hawaii, or close our grasp on the
Philippines. Rather, IS 1t the fact that
our policy In regard to these possible
dependencies Is merely an Incident OF
the larger responsibilities which are
facing US In the Far East? The main
question to be determined is, whether
their possession would enable us to deal
more effectively and vigorously with
these responsibilities. Let US determine
first, whether We can afford TO have, In
the course OF time relatively short IN
the life OF a nation. the markets OF the
Far East closed against us SO far as OPP
p.esslve tariffs can close them, and the
rest will be Compare lively simple.
So far as the demands Of the present
situation are concerned, apart altoSeth-
er from the question of Hawaii or our
commerce in the east. they are sutfi-
GENTLY plain. We have. either. in actual
expenditure or In appropriations for the
demands of the immediate future, al-
ready laid out $3.50. 900, 900 on this war
with Spain. Were the war, TO be OF but
short duration. we should obviously
have claim upon Spain for an indem-
nifty much larger than there Is any rea-
son TO believe that country could pos
s!b!g pay. Whether we choose TO re-
tain the Philippines as pledge. or
take them over In lieu Of payment,must
obviously be question OF comparative
Indifference. Our course in that matter
certainly will not be governed by any
considerations arising out OF the objec-
tlons which any combination of Euro
pean powers may have to offer to the
extension OF our sovereignty over the
Spanish possessions in the Pacific.
Should We yield to such pressure now.
1; would be n plain confession that
when come other combination proposes
10 shut the door OF Chinese trade in our
face. We should have calmly to .ac-
quiesce In their decision. Whichever
%at we turn, 1t viii be perceived that
there Is something! inevitable abont
ak-