Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1898-06-30
A OZARK SUPERSTITION"

| New York Evening Post. vs.
Hawaiian annexation, for which the
House voted 30 strongly, 10 now adj
mitted by both its frisnds and foes to
be but letting out of the waters. II
| we take Hawaii, wa take the philin.
! pines. Once holsted over thnae, our
flag is then to fly over tho Oaruiine
| lslanus, and, OF course, the very name
OF the Ladrones (rohber islants) will
impel Va to take them next. That may
content US for a time US far nv the
Pacific is concerned, but ia the A tlan-
tic, az Mr.. Dolliver frankly avowsd IN
the debate, We are to seize and keep
Porto Rico and CUBA, and il will he
strange indued il that badly governed
and Inviting island lying between the
two, San Domingo and lIayt, does not
follow them under our flag, as a writer
IN the Contemporary asserts that il
will. Those, then. are the present
modest limits of what 10 varioualy
called the imperial policy. F" com
merolai expansion" and colonial ag-
grandizHmeGt,
This inOmentous change of policy we
arc urged to outer upsn largely by argu-
ments drawn from the experience Of
England. Great Britain has colonies,
is nm empiTe, is rich and powerful;
ergo, il we would be rich ana powerful,
We too, must hnve colonial possessions.
There are many ways OF rsplyIng tn this
reasoning. Perhaps 40 gooi way as
ans il to cite what E1giBhAen them.
se.res bave said of the colo les aa the
source Of 7EnRland's pUwer. A private
letter Of lliaraei's has lately come TO
light In which he spoke of the colonies
| n & m mil Hot mn NH
Lord Salisbury only few weeks ago
warned the Lords that the strength Of
Ehgland was nlteady dangerously taxcd
10y her fDTHign dependencies Mr. Chen.
cry. long editor Of the London Times, de-
clarod Of the colonies: They are not
fcclers, but suckers. " So nunh for
Consaryatives-th lmperiHlists Of I'm
neriaiigsg. What John Bright thought
Of the colonies, and particularly of
imperial federation,' may lie nut in
phrase of his own. lie said 10 1851
Tint tina itloag then afloat on the sub
loct were equally visionary and value
lesE F" But the great Libera! statesman
remains to he quoted. Mr.. Gladstone
said 10 1884, as reported by the lion.
Lionel Gollemache:
! have always maintained that we
are bound ny ties of homo anil con
science to our colonies. But tho idea
that the colUniss add to the 'eugth of
the mother country appears TO ms 10 be
az dark q superstition as any that ex-
isted in the Middle Agsa -
superstition may ue defined as n
belief uasud on no evidence, or in the
face of evidence to the contrary. Such,
we submit, is this belief of which pro
fesaop IL made by our anne .ing Con
gFeas! a. All their arguments SO far
as they are not mere du!iFious shouting.
come DOWN 10 this: We ist take
Hawai- and all the other lands on
which ge can lay our hands ~ pence or
10 wBr, for the sakn OF increasing
our grade ard increasing our
power That annexation will 40 both,
the gentleman advocating it assert
Like olie Of Mr.. Cables impetuous Gre.
oles, tsey swear ii, they are Iurn OF il
lin faeti they think so. Eut If eyun
209 meluhers OF tho House believe
thing, u is not necessarily SO; and il
they believe it without reason, in the
teeth Of reason, they ara the victims
OF an dark a superstition as any they
meHn to nuneS along with Maun0 Lou.
1t 10 rather weatiiu business to 20
over thu facts about England colonial
trade. But take a single instance which
may win attention British merchants
control the trade oil the Philippines.
They have won this with the islands
under spanish control. 1t would thus
/ appear that England can increase her
trade with other Countries colonies.
She ducs not need to own or govern an
, island in order to trade with il. And
is she in the slightest anxious about
the possibility OF tho United States
taking away the Philippines from
J Spain? Emperor William is reported
TO he concerned about the peril to
German interests in Manila, but nobouy
hears Of Great Britain lifting finger,
She knows that her merchants will
keep the Philippine trade as they got
it, no matter who owns the islands, by
attending strictly to business and hav-
ing goods to ssllSwhich the natives
waEt. Any merchant of any nationality
, can do this in any of hnr colonies and
that is all she asKs--a fair fold and no
favor. As for our sudden discovery
that we need colonies 10 order to get
foreign traue, it is little late. We
nave already got tho trade. Without
, a single island to our name, our ex-
ports, even of manufactured: goods, have
been increasing enormously from wear
, to year. At the very moment TINT the
, Secretary Of State congratluIstes Con
greHs on our having the markets. Of the
world at our mercy, Congress is arguing
away for dear life that We must have
, colnnie5 or We shall never sell dollar a
} worth abroad. That is superetitipn.
/ but is Id not dark; it is 60 TRANSPARENT
1 that even Voodoo could see through IT,
The argument from resulting military
7 strength is equally baseleas Cant.
I Mohup .rr 4
! "deplOrable mistake" to supnusp that
, ths annexation Of Hawaii would add TO
! our power unlesB We increaseu the
a navy. We believe, however, that be
} han since said be does not wish tbese
| wIIrds of his to be citsd against an
, nexatlon, and that no regrets having
left them lying around unguarded.
atm 40 makes no roncuRlment Of mis-
= belief that the navy must DO enor.
mously enlarged il we are to ret the
strategic benefit Of off lying islands,
But VI needs no book or thaorist or
authority to show how the thing yorl,
Spain is giving the world a complete
illustration OF tho role of colunies in
war. What have her keys of The
! &c and her naval base in tho AT.
laniic done for her? They have heen
1 the exclusive theatre Of war. The
fenihsuja 10 sRfn, Spanish cities and
/, coaals have SO far been as uumolested
az our own; it ia IN her colonies That
, spain has suffered blow after blow
until she is Keeling ON the verge of ruin.
Ihere IS can't Of patriotism, a cant
!. OF military and navel theory OF the
pompous order, in great deal of tho.
talk OF annexation, tom which we must
i free our minds Common sense ahout
Cnlnnias. Ehid hmm tlrinhf L. ,nau.L-