The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-08-21

lantic. Napoleon conveyed 1t to thi!
country for a small consideration be-
cause he feared he could not prevent its
| falling into the hands of Great Britain
with which country he was at war. There
were doubts about the constitutional
power to acquire this territory by pur-
chase, but the Importance of it was un.
derstood, though its value as then con-
ceived was Incompatible to what has
since been demonstrated. 1t was terri
tory contiguous from the Mexican gull
to the Lake Of the Woods-a distance
of $500 miles. 1t gave us possession OF
both banks of the Mississippi from
source to mouth, and extended our do
main to the Pacific ocean. Fifteen great
states have already been created out of
it, and there is room for two more,
and they are states far greater in
area than those lying within the orig
inal domain. This was not only de-
parture from what seemed to have been
the fixed policy of the government. but
it was the first act in the drama of ter
ritorial ACKNOWLEDGMENT, which in sixty
four years quadrupled the nations ter
ritorial area.
Florida, possessed by Spain, shut us out
from the gulf east of the Mississippi,
and left us but a narrow frontage on
the west side. Its acquisition was also
desirable to give good form and shapeli-
ness to our domain. While it was i'm
portant to us, it was of little value to
Spain. By its acquisition our sea 'front.'
age became continuous from the Sabine
to the st. Croix, a distance Of $500 miles.
1t was not unnatural that these &C.
cessions should have engendered an
ambition for further expansion, as there
was a vast field which invited it. Texas
was tempting object. 1t adjoined on
the southwest, was dominated by
kindred population, and was under
free and independent government 1t
came to us by mutual consent, and its
annexation added more than 500 miles to
our sea frontage, and removed jog
in the boundary of the Louisiana ter
ritory. 1t also gave shapeliness to our
domain and added an area nearly equal
to that Of continental France. The
American sentiment at this time was
expressed in the couplet,
mo pent-up Utica contracts our powers,
The boundless continent is ours"
These three acquisitions were without
1,vt Cn1y to
were coded as a war indemnity. BY
what was acquired under the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden
purchase, thousand miles was added
ern boundary was made straight from
Ell Paso to the sea, and our territory be-
came compact and shapely from ocean
to ocean.
All the territories thus far acquired
were not only on the continent, but were
contiguous to what the country al
ready possessed. They were rich In
natural resources and opened fruitful
fields for adventure and enterprise.
They were but sparsely inhabited, and
except Indians, the people were suscep-
tible of being speedily Americanized
and governed withoutt strain of consti-
tutional principles. The ambition for
territorial ACKNOWLEDGMENT was satiated
and disappeared. 1t was supposed we
possessed all we should need for an in
definite period.
But destiny threw into our hands
another region, large in extent, though
on the continent it is not contiguous,
and was not deemed of any considerable
value. Russia, like Napoleon, felt that
she could not hold Alaska against
Great Britain, with which country she
was liable at any moment to be at war.
The car had stood by the government
poleon III. from recognizing the in
dependence of the confederacy. Our
government felt grateful for his friendly
action and accepted his proffer to sell
Alaska for $7,2OO,0OO 1t was not ac-
quired so much on account of its value
as to oblige Russia.
After this the country seemed to set
its face against further territorial ac-
QUESTIONS. and especially those beyond
the continent. Congress rejected Presi-
dent Grants scheme to annex santo
Domingo. and it did not listen compla-
Gently to President Harrison's propo-
sition to annex Hawaii. There never
were more persistent efforts than were
put forth to acquire Hawaii, and vet
the measure could hardly be said to
have been approved by the majority of
the American people.
The war with Spain was an event
which has ushered in new era. Dewey's
victory at Manila changed the current
of American thought in a day; the am
bition for territorial aggrandizement
was suddenly revived. The war at
least FASTENED the annexation of Ha-
wall; it has already given us Porto
Rico and some small adjacent islands,
and status in the oriental seas. The
people apparently have become terri
torial extremists regardless of CONT
mental or hemisphere limits. That the
81 &c oil