The herald., 1898-05-21

| of principle even. seena plpeady g antago-
| nise that plan. Not a nation Of Europe.
| Of any formidability a. q power. desires
| that the Philippines shall revert to Spain,
and for obvious reasons. Each is well
enough aware that Spain Is crumbling.
Each knows that 1t cannot hold them in
perpetuity. and each fears that the rich
| prize will eventually fall to the other.
The capture and occupation Of the islands
has in way. as viewed on the other side,
involved the United States as an essential
factor in maintaining the balance VI
power among the nations maneuverlng
for mastery. Each hopes to gain some
advantage in the settlement Of our con-
tention with Spain, and the more OF her
territory we conquer and occupy the
more complex becomes the situation.
That we are not destined to emerge
from the conflict without serious friction,
IL not grave fracture. is evidenced by
such ominous declarations as that cred
tied to Senator Teller.
That public sentiment is adjusting It.
self to an aggressive policy OF territorial
aggrandizement and colonixation, is evil
denced by a recent declaration of Senator
Stewart. that the party which advocates
surrendering the Philippines is doomed to
political death.
That congress Is apprehensive of serious
foreign complications, Is evidenced by the
provision in the naval appropriation bill
for the addition to our sea power of six
teen torpedo boat destroyers and twelve
torpedo boats.
That the country shares in the fear, is
evidenced by the entire absence of criti-
cism of this precautionary measure and
by its ready endorsement of the sugges-
tions that have been made by former
secretaries of the navy, that large num-
ber Of cruisers and battleships be added
at once to our navy.
That the minorit1in congress is i'm
pressed with the gravity of the situation
and the seriousness of the outlook,
is evidenced by the fact that it now pro-
poses to raise, by methods radically diff
ferent from those proposed by the admin
istration leaders, war chest in excess of
the estimated requirements of the gov
ernment for the purposes of the present
war-so large indeed as to provoke the
opposition, and for that reason alone, of
the administration leader in the senate.
Continental conditions cannot forever
be maintained. Europe Is to-day but an
armed camp. Each state is watching the
other with bayonets fixed. Russia may
never be expected to abandon its aggres-
sive policy. England's isolation is ac-
centuated by enlarged war chests and
vastly increased naval budgets. France
feels again sufficiently strong to menace
British interest in Africa. confident of
Russia as an ally in the event of col
lision. Italy is resting upon a domestic
volcano. Austria is menaced by internal
dissensions of most ominous character.
Germany, strong in the consciousness of
her martial puissance, stands ready to
seize advantages that may any moment
spring from the womb Of uncertainty.
The security which America has for a
hundred years enjoyed from her isolation
is menaced by the growing sentiment in
favor of exchanging it for the perils in
volved in departure from her tradi-
tional policy.-in favor of hazarding what
we so securely hold in order that we may
secure more,-in favor Of cutting loose
from our safe moorings, and following
what may be an ignisl fatuus, attract
lively labeled "Our New Destiny"