Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-12-13
American Imperialism.

i"PSii0sio"'
The anti-eXpansionists of the country
are undoubtedly sincere in their opposi-
ton to the new policy which has been
forced upon the United States by the
war with Spain, but it is doubtful if
they realize the full meaning and effect
of the annexation of the islands which
have fallen under the protection of a
nation which in 100 years has built up a
country and achieved a civilization
which are not excelled by any in the old
| world. DR.. David j. Hill, assistant sec
rotary of the state of New York, has
grasped the meaning of the word i'm
perialism'' as applied to the sentiment
which has swept over the land in favor
of retaining the islands coded to the
United States by Spain, and in an adj
dress recently delivered, defined the
word as follows:
Imperialism is the ~magnanimity of
this republic in extending the s~heltering
wings of it's protection over those whom
the war has liberated from oppression
and misery"
Could it have been stated more con-
cisely or more clearly? 1t is true that
the government has tever mad any ex-
p%erience in dealing with colonies, but it
is equally as true that in dealing with
new questions the people of the United
States have seldom. if ever, made any
serious mistakes. The same objections
which are made to the annexation of the
Philippines, Puerto Rico and, perhaps,
Cuba. are the same as We're raised when
the great Louisiana purchase was made,
whereby the great west of the Union
was acquired and from which has been
created an empire teeming with popula-
ton, rich in natural resources and as
cultured and loyal as the older portions
of the nation. The idea that it is the
intention of the men who are now urg-
ing the retention Of the new possessions
for the purpose of at c making states
of them, of admitting the half civilized
inhabitants of many of them to citizen
ship, is and unjust. Left to
tiiVliloclN co, tllCS Noolu Sooll al plIS "
other countries whose forms of govern
ment are not calculated to better the
conditions which now exist, and those
who TAKE a true view of the duty of the
United States know the purpose in view
is to afford protection. to educate and to
civilize.
The process of lifting people who have
been oppressed for centuries to a high
plane of living is slow and often dis
couraging, as this country knows by sad
experience with millions of slaves who
We're once owned in the south. But a
duty has been clearly defined by the
hand of destiny, and it cannot be shirk-
ed. The undertaking is undoubtedly an
arduous one, beset with many difficult
ties and attended by much expense, but
what would the anti-imperialists have
the nation do? Abandon the unfortunate
peoples to their fate and make no effort
to extend education and civilization, to
say nothing of the advantages to be
gained in a commercial way? The fear
of danger has defeated many beneficent
enterprises in this world and ruined
many nations, but the American people
have never yet been deferred from do
ing their duty to fellow-men by any
such cravenness.
The cry that is raised that to annex
the Philippines and other islands will
destroy the Monroe doctrine, shatter the
constitution and bring disastrous wars
in the future is not believed by the very
men who are crying out the loudest.
They are timid and dread to undertake
that which is new: they are actuated
by selfish motives, although they may
try to make themselves believe that
they are acting out of patriotic no.
tives. The United States has a part to
be avoided. The country can not return
to the isolated position it held prior to
the var with Spain. The American re-
public has been forced to take a position
among the nations of the world as a col
onizer and a civilizer by a power which
will not be d~isobeyed, and that power
will guide safely through the troubles
which may possibly arise in the course
which it has mapped out.
DR.. Hill is correct in his definition of
the American imperialism, and that
protection must be extended to those
who have borne the yoke of oppression
for centuries; human hands and minds
cannot withhold it.