davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

members of that little tribe, the most northerly people in the world, whose fathers and grandfathers and great grandfdthers before them have lived in that very region. They know all the vagaries, all the possibilities and all the hostilities of their home, and they know how to take care of themselves. Ac cording to the theory of sir Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geo. graphical Society, the fOrefatherS of these people, centuries ago, during the migration of the tribe. in journeying from Siberia to their present home may have crossed unknowingly the apex of the earth. Whit a striking coincidence if their children should be the instru- ments of finally wrestling the secret of the polel
 The party to reach the pole, other things being equal, will be the party containing the smallest number, light est equipment and the feWest neceS- sities, party which can travel fast and continuously. In the writer's opin- ion the pole will never be reached by a ship nor with any of the new fangled or unusual projects of which so many have been proposed lately and of which Andree's balloon is an example. If in reply to the first part of this statement the past results and present advocacy by Nansen of the drift theory is cited it must be admitted by every person cognizant of Arctic matters that the voyage was in many respects a fortu- nate one and a successful termination could by no means be duplicated.
 It is a significant fact that while Nansen is publicly advocating his drift method as the one best adapted for reaching the pole, his navigator, Sverd- run, who was with him on his last ex- petition, abandons it altogether and
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

which to attain it. and that route is the one that has come to be known as the American-through Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Robeson Channel and along the northwest coast of Greenland.
 The expedition starts, I think, auspi- CiOusly. The ship Windward is espe- cially suited to face the difficulties of the Arctic seas, and is loaded with such concentrated provisions as experience has proved to be most valuable. She will proceed to Whale Sound this sum- mer, take on board several picked fam lilies of Eskimos with their tents. ca noes and dogs, force way through Robeson Channel to Sherard Osborn Fjord, or further and land people and stores. Then the ship will turn back. As soon as the freezing of the ice of the great fjords of the northwest coast permits sledge travel the work of ad- vancing supplies will be commenced taking comparatively short stages and light loads so that the trips can be quickly made. As soon as the supplies have been advanced the first stage the party itself will move forward, leaving a cacne behind. As they will be follow ing Eskimo customs and living in snow houses this can be done easily
 Then the second stage of the advance will be taken up and the work carried on until the departure of the sun. Each of the brilliant winter moons of the polar night will afford opportunities for continuing the work, so that early spring will find the party and the bulk of its supplies located at the northern terminus of the North Greenland rchipelagO-probably not far from the eighty-fifth parallel with caches behind it at each prominent headland From this point, when the proper time comes, with picked dogs, the lightest possible equipment, and two of the best Eski-
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

Evening Post, is sickening. But the New York Times declares that annexa- tion is the true path to popular conf1- dence and national greatness, and the New York Tribune turns Lieutenant HobSons heroi- m to account as fol- lows:
 Tt was the spirit of the heroes of the Merrimac that made the thirteen colo nies an independent nation and stretched it's limits from the Atlantic to the Pacific and it is the same spirit that to-day seeks to extend our domin- ion to it's natural and logical fullness in the Pacific seas"
 Annexation, adds the Tribune, is no experiment.
 It is the repetition of things done It Is no leap in the dark. It is a safe step onward on firm. true ground, in the light of noon. If it be imperialism. the first imperialist was Jefferson. If it be jingoism, the first jingo was Adams. With them, and with the great un- broken line that followed them, Arneri- cans of to-day may well keep step to the forward march of national destiny.
 "The opponents of imperialism" cries the New York Evening Post, in alarm, should waste no time in opening their fight against it." And the New York World prints in heavy type as its motto lulS SGHlGuCG HUH lCSldtll A'1SiAlA ley's inaugural address, We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. There is no danger" says the Sun, that the United States will not hold on to what Spanish possessions they may win by their arms and deem necessary and useful" And General Merritt him. self, on his way to command the Amer ican army in the Philippines, said at a public dinner in San Francisco: T be- leve in the new national policy of the United States, which looks to the ac- quisition of additional territory, repre- scented in outlying islands that are re- quisite for the development of national strength and growth" There are thus all clements of great controversy.
 On the one hand, again, 1t is alleged that the United States cannot, under the constitution, take any territory which Is not capable of becoming a State "All men are created equal" is in the national charter, and if the Sand wich Islands or the Philippines are an- nexed, ''the gentleman from Honolulu
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

and "the gentleman from Manila" will claim the floor in Congress. On the other hand, it is urged that under mili- tary occupation remote island may receive an exceptional treatment, eX- actly as Mexico did under military rule; that nobody expects Alaska to become a State, and that the United States Cir cult Court of Appeals has just decided that 'in a territory all the functions of government are within the legislative jurisdiction of Congress" This decis- ion forces the most determined oppo- nent of expansion to adr"1t that the question whether Congress can legally govern territory so remote and peCpled by race so different from our men is not a matter of dispute
 Two other facts are full of Signif- canoe. First, a moderate tariff, not at all the Dingley one, has been framed for Manila. Second, MT. Day, the Secretary Of State, has applied to Congress for 900 to pay the expenses of a com mercial mission to China, and has drawn special attention to the fact that American manufacturing productivity has reached the point of large excess above the demand of home consump- tion.'' These facts signify that Amer ica with her astounding growth of ex- ports, Is turning toward the markets of the far East.
 Which policy will prevail? In exact language, will America retain the Phil ippines? It is rash, and possibly reck- less, to answer such a question now, but so far as I can see, I think she will. Some of the grounds for this opin- ion may be easily given. First, what else can America do with them? Cede them to England, to Japan? Neither would take them at such a critical mo- ment. Put them up to auction among the European powers, to secure cash indemnity from Spain? Inconceivable. Hand them back to Spain? Public opinion would never tolerate it. Retain a coaling station and cede the rest piecemeal among the powers? Such a course has been hinted at, but it would be fatal course, the worst mistake possible, policy fraught with every kind of peril. Allow the insurgents, un- der General Aguinaldo, to set up republican government under American protection? The idea is Imaginable to anybody who knows the Philippine na- tive, and has seen for himself how East is East and West Is West. There seems
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

Silverites and Popuists with the Re publican majority. When 1t was an- nounced from the chair that Speaker Reed, the R publican, would have vot- ed no if he had been present, the Dem ocrats applauded loudly-an incident without parallel. Thus the great new issue is crossing anG confusing the old party lines. The Democratic party, which has added almost all the terri tory to the Union, is as a whole against the colonial policy. Mr. Bryan de- nounced 1t on the same day that thirty of his former followers voted for it, and one of the leaders of the Demo- cratic party assured me a few days ago that if ever the nation were committed to it he would retire from public life. MT. Cleveland was justly described by a friend who returned from visiting him, as passing his time in fishing and growing" The newspapers are similarly divided, without the usual party allegiance. New York, I should say, is divided in opinion. Boston, of course, is against it, but the Boston help it along, For example, at a meet ing of protest the other day, the follow ing resolution was passed
 Resolved, That our first duty is to cure the evils in our own country, the corrupt government, of which New Ork ana GennSylVanla afford only conspicuous examples; the disturbed relations between capital and labor, our disordered currency. our unjust system of taxation, the debasing influence of money at elections and on legislation, and the use of offices as spells, and when we have shown that we can pro- tect the rights of men within our own borders, like the colored race in the South and the Indians in the West, and that we can govern great cities like New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, it will be time to consider whether we can wisely invite distan. population of alien race and language and of tra- ditions unlike our own either to become our subjects and accept our rule or our fellow citizens and to take part in gov erning us
 The Independent, the leading religi- ous weekly, is of the opinion that "a nation which woul give back the Phil ippines to Spain would hand back to a tiger the little lamb wrested from it's grasp" This, remarks the New York
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

as clear an issue as has ever divided opinion, and more important than any except the Revolution and the Rebell- lion.
 It Is obvious that this issue is hard ly of less import to Europe than to America herself. Every European. ar guing from the procedure of his own country, will naturally ask this ques- tion: What is the policy of President Mckinley and his Cabinet in this mat ter? Here l leave facts to fall back upon my own opinion, and it is this: The American Government has no pol Icy in the matter. How could it have one? To begin with, the war itself is a sufficient issue for the present. It will be time enough to discuss the dis position of all these places when the United States is in possession of them. Again, circumstances may greatly al ter the case. For example. if Spain surrendered internationally to-mor- row, asking only the Philippines and yielding all the rest, it might be diffi- cult to say her nay. If she fights on, and stubborn battles at Santiago, San Juan. Havana and Manila cost thou sands of American lives, the ultimate situation will present totally different aspect. Finally, nobody can be sure that public opinion, which has changed so quickly once, may not veer again, sick of bloodshed and expenditure President Mckinley, whose skill in es- timating the resultant direction of the varying currents of political feeling amounts to positive genius, Is the last man in the United States to build d policy upon a foundation not yet solid flied. 1 have had, 1 think, as good an opportunity as anybody for gaining in- formation upon this point and I am confident that, upon the greater issues involved, there is in this country at the present time no official policy whatever Spain's failure to take advantage of this is an act of sheer insanity
 By the greater issue" I mean sim ply the Philippines. All the rest is as fixed as fate. There is no doubt that Hawaii will be annexed Cuba will be given an opportunity-not an opportunity, by the way, unlimited either in time or scope-to govern her. self, the idea being that so great an influx of Americans, especially from
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

mos the last stage of the journey for the pole will be attempted with strong possibilities of a successful termina- tion.
 If the first season is unfavorable as regards ice conditions, it can be devOt- ed to a detailed survey of the archipel- ago itself and a reconnaissance of the east coast as far south as possible the northern journey being reserved for the following season. or. if necessary, even until the second. Each succeeding sum mer the ship will attempt to establish communications with the party's base. succeeding, probably, every other year at first. then, with increasing eXperi- ence. every year. and will keep up the supply of food, dogs and Eskimos until the objects Of the expedition are ac- complished. If the ship should be suc- cessful in the passage of Robeson Channel the first year, the party will land at Hayes Sound and devote the season to explorations of that unknown region. Retreat from the colony at Sherard Fjord will always be practic- able across the inland ice to Whale Sound.
 The programme is to secure every mile and advance just as far as there is land then attempt to accomplish the remaining distance in one effort. In case the conditions are unfavorable or impracticable the first season. I shall return to my Eskimo village, winter there and start again the next spring; and if the conditions are not favorable the second year, come back for the winter, and so on, trying again and again. I believe that at any point in the Arctic regions, at one time or an other, at one season or another, the door is open or can be opened and the man who is in readiness and waiting
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

"HE war excitement wEich is now
 absorbing the in. rest of the
 country has temporarily ob-
 scured another more peaceful
 struggle which has been going on for centuries-the conquest of the pole. So many have tried in vain to reach the goal that many people laugh at further attempts as useless or ask in undisguised contempt: What is the pole. anyway" To them the best an- swer to their question i. Nothing. To the scholar 1t is simply mathe- matical point where the earth's axis intersects the earth'S surface, place where there are ninety degrees of lati- tude and three hundred and sixty de- grees of longitude or no longitude at all just as one prefers to look at it.
 To me these are not the impressive considerations. I am after the pole be- cause if is the pole, because it has value as a test of intelligence, persist ent endurance. determined will, and perhaps courage-qualities character istic of the highest type of manhood because I am confident that it can be reached, and because I regard it as a great prize which it is peculiarly fit and appropriate that an American should win.
 There is no reason whatever for as suming any abnormal conditions at the pole, for supposing that it is the site of a perennial summer sea or a paleo- crystic Chat is an eternally frozen) sea, or a Symmes' Hole giving access to the center of the earth, or specially rounded mountain, a la Jules Verne, for the earth to whirl upon-none of these
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

for America no safe and sensible course except the old and simple one of keeping what she has taken.
 Besides this negative argument, there are positive ones to the same effect. Some are metaphysical, such as the ar gument that the Western course of em- pire is inherent with the nature of things. Some are sentimental, such as the strange magnetism of the Orient, that has now begun to draw Americans as it has so long drawn Englishmen, and will never let them go. This is my favorite argument, for I know how the East can
 Draw men onward. as a moon of spring, High-wheeling. vast and bosomful
 Half-hd in clouds and white as wool, Draws all the strong seas following.
 Some arguments are economical. such as the necessity of securing for Amer ica's supera bundant manufactures mar kets not to be lost by any action of other nations. Some. again, are politi- cal, such as the deSirability, in Ameri- can commercial interests, of having a strong foothold from which to help England, with both right and might, to keep China open to trade, against the ambitions of Russia, Germany and France to close her markets in their own protectionist interests. Some ar guments are severely practical. such as the inquiry why America should throw away a good thing Finally, all these arguments, metaphysical. senti- mental, economical. political and prac- tical, are summed up and swallowed in one view which I have heard from every side expressed colloquially in these words: I'm for keeping all that we've got"
 Therefore, so far as my visit has en- abled me to judge. I think that the isl- ands of Magellan, with their orchids and hemp their tobacco and flame flowers, their unexplOred forests and untouched mines, where tropical nature hides her wealth as Intellectually under a growth of gorgeous colors as the olive skinned MestiZa, her cataract of jet black hair pouring from her uncovered head, conceals her beauty beneath the transparent woven fibers of the pine, will stand ere long as a monument over the grave of the Monroe doctrine. The Philippines may not be annexed at single blow, but to hold them as secu- rity for an indemnity which will never be paid will be annexation in all but name, and the disquieting authority of Congress over them.
 Copyright, 1898. by Henry Norman.
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

There will be found simply prosaic land or water at the pole, no man living can say which until some man gets there. But if it is land, it will be land, the characteristics of which are practically the same as those of other Arctic lands which we know, few hundred miles south, and if it is water. it will be an Arctic sea, the chara cteristics of which are practically the same as those of other Arctic seas with which we are familiar, a few hundred miles distant
 As to the objection that the pole can never be reached it is groundless. It certainly will be reached, possibly within comparatively short time The distance which to-day separates the highest north from the pole itself is but 260 miles-about the same is the dis tance between Albany and Buffalo
 Those who ridicule polar expeditions ask, ''Of what use is the pole?" More than one answer could be given to this question, but if there were no other reason than that during more than two centuries ten civilized nations of the earth have spent millions of dollars and sent scores of ships and thousands of men to win the north pole without success, this alone is sufficient to make it prize which we should strive to se- cure.
 The conquest of the north pole. the complete delineation of the Greenland Archipelago (the last of the circum- polar island groups) and tn elimina- tion from our maps of the unknown area between the eighty-fourth paral- Tel and the pole are important geo. graphical desiderata.
 The present expedition is simply the second step of a determined campaign for the pole. The results of the various previous expeditions show that there remains but one practicable route by
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

adopts my plans and field of work. It is natural that man should consider his own plan the best, or else pre- sumably he would not adopt it.
 There is a certain class at present who take the stand that practically all problems of the north have been solved. As matter of fact the prob lems of the north have not been solved, and we really do not know absolutely what there is at and immediately about the pole any more than we did ten years ago. It is true that the highest point north has been recently moved up a notch TO miles beyond previous records, and while the indications and probabilities are that a deep sea eX- tends from there perhOps to the pole yet there is not a man with extended personal Arctic experience who would be surprised if further explorations should determine the existence of land within fifty or even thirty miles of that highest north. For myself l believe in sticking to one thing until it is ac- complished, and as long as there re- mains that uneXplored area If millions of square miles about the north pole I regard it as not only a promise but a reprOach to our boaSted civilization of to-day.
 My project cOntemplates a serious, determined, persistent attempt to win for the victorious Stars and Stripes the only remaining great geographical prize which the world has to offer; an at tempt which may and likely will be- come a siege It is an attempt in which the knowledge and experience gained in work prosecuted during some ten years on definite and consistent lines is to be directed on equally definite and persistent lines to the accomplishment of it's object. R. E. PEARY. Copyrighted, 1898. the s. s. Mcclure Co.
The San Francisco call., 1898-07-10

lea, as l described in the first let
 ter of this series, will be armed
 to defend against any enemy the
 - national policy she may decide to
 pursue. The next question, of course, is, What will her policy be? No more important question exists at this moment.
 This nation, nearly 8O,0O00OO strong, with unapproached natural resources, enormous and marvelOusly organized industrial enterprises, intelligent and ambitious beyond the average, soon to be one of the great powers on the sea, has hitherto been content to think only of its own defense and to cast pitying looks, accompanied by moral disquisi- tions, upon the nations of Europe dis putting with each other the lands of Asia and Africa. Avoid foreign entan- elements" the advice of the founder of the republic, has been written, one might say, across every American flag Anybody who could have prophesied in the spring of the year that has not yet reached midsummer that the United States was about to embark upon a pol icy of oversea expansion, of coloniza- ton. of territorial aggrandizement, of liAPIA le1liSIIis hCNAo AAS @SN at for fool.
 Admiral Dewey did it. With his dash into Manila Bay and his destruction of the Spanish squadron-a finer naval ex- ploit than is yet admitted abroad-he sowed the seed which will never be up- rooted. The inconceivable was accom- plished, as in the salvation of Faust the problem whether America could, should or would seize alien countries became obsolete in one morning. The fortune of war gave her the Phlllp- pines, on the fartheSt side of the globe. Public opinion accommodated itself to the change, as automatically and as quickly as the governor of an engine to sudden increase of steam pressure. Between April 30 and May l the weather vane which shows the public breath swung clear around. The prac- tical American read the news, asked himself, Well, why not?" and hung another flag out of his window.
 All this is not figure of speech-it is a literal fact. Never was there such a Hghtning change of national sentiment. The administration had nothing to do with 1t. They had not foreseen it; they had not contributed to it: they were powerless to prevent it; they have not That little sentence in the Congress slonal resolution about disclaiming "any disposition CT intention to exercise sov- ereignty, Jurisdiction or control" is a pea Tn the official shoe. But the force or events, linked one to one by the great Chalnmaker, has continued to pull and the policy of expansion has marched on with as little regard for American tradition or administrative convenience as John Browns body had for the in- stitutions of the South.
 Hawaii, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Phil ippines, the Ladrones, the Carolines, present to the American people to-day