The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
TROY SPEAKS FOR HAWAII.
He and Lieut.. Gov. Woodruff Guests at the
Boston Iincoln Dinner.

He and Lieut.. Gov. Woodruff Quests at the
Boston Iincoln Dinner.
BOSTON. Feb. 12.-At the Lincoln dinner Of
the Middlesex Club tonight Gen. B. F. Tracy
and Lieut.-Gov. Woodruff Of New York and
Gov. Hastings of Pennsylvania were the chief
speakers from out of town.
Con. Tracy's championship Of Hawaii, Cuba.
and the Nicaragua Canal aroused much enthu-
siasm. Gen. Tracy said:
There is a class Of people who now say that
Louisiana, Florida, and Alaska), by which we
have grown. great and powerful. should cease.
annexation m Of the Hawaiian Islands. even with
their own consent and with tho consent of the
whole world. would mark a new departure In
national policy. fraught with infinite trouble
and disaster. They admit, for it is admitted by
all, that in no event can the United States per
ands.. That has been our settled policy, in sup
port Of which oil political parties have been uni.
opponents Of annexation in the senate have in:
cise Of control over the Hawaiian Islands by
unfricndly to the United States.
This Is extending the Monroe, doctrine to
those islands belong to this continent. and that
their possession by a foreign power would be
aamse and il II the Ss isi R9aiG re and Ss'H Is Not p po ,Rts Ds
enough to maintain itself against foreign ag-
gression. as it clearly r. not, we must either an,
are not prepared to do this, we must abandon
the Monroe doctrine as applied to the islands
''That the Hawaiian Islands arc essential to
the defence of our western coast is obvious to
Consideration. They are the key to the commerce
Of the Pacific. With these islands In the pos
ssss anT Other 81 g g nation ne could pS Se driv SeD fDmm thSt
ocean. In time OF war tho islands would, in
the possession of an enemy, furnish a base for
n successful attack upon our coast. With tho
islands in our possession such an attack would
be impossible. Coal Is the vital power Of
cessfui war upon a foreign coast where it has
to steam 5000 miles from Its base of supplies.
Tho lah.o..hiISrww f hase for ISLANDS an ase@ GSn H T4eip a nnardss this
by US is vital to tho protection of our coast in
war and to the growth of our commercial IN
1T is said that their annexation would make
1t necessary for us TO fortify and defend them.
this single point in time Of war, we fortify and
defend two Thousand miles of our Western
a general scheme Of colonization, This is the
old cry that the nation cannot trust itself. 1t is
the same cry that is raised by un-Americans
domiciled here that we must not have n navy
because IL the nation had a navy rs a means
OF defence. 1t would use 1t rs a means of con-
This cry Of distrust is a false and traitorous
ooSSserVative nation known to history. W
have no ambition for war, either for glory or for
conquest. During tho ono hundred and fifteen
years since the treaty OF peace acknowledging
our independence we have had but two foreign
wars. Had we desired n war of conquest we
would have had II in 1868. Never did a ma
ton have greater cause for war than we had
| against England then. and never would the re-
suits of victory have been greater. Our navy
at the close OF our civil war was the strongest
and most efficient navy In tho world. We could
then have met England upon the sea on equal
terms and could have destroyed her
as she had already destroyed ours. -
"WhRtever might have boen the issue OF such
| a war. ncyersagain could the great lakes on our
northern frontier have become the scene of n
| naval conflict. The of these lakes,
| greater than that borne upon any other inland
sea, and the great cities which maintain 1t, from
Chicago to Oswego, could never be menaced
| of the united armies of Grant and Ice march
ing upon Canada would have electrified tho
world and would have done more in q day
toward reconciliation and the restoration OF the
Union than has been accomplished In thirty
years OF peace. But did We resort to wari No.
| The nation loved peace moro than II loved glory
or revenge, and we appealed not to war. but to
arbitration.
Again. consider the present situation in
Cuba. Here is one OF tho richest and most fer.
tile islands In the world, lying at our very
door, the key to tho Caribbean Sea, the Gulf OF
Mexico and the Isthmus OF Panama. We long
since proclaimed to the world that no nation
other than Spain should be permitted to obtain
control of Cuba. For three years its people
have been engaged In a struggle TO achieve
their independence. For three years one of the
most cruel and barbarous wars of modern
times has been wsAEfsd against a people stsug-
astated. It's people reduced TO abject poverty,
and thousands and thousands Of them to abso.
lutte starvation. The story OF their suffering
has shocked humanity, but in spite of our deep