Evening star., 1898-12-16
CIRCUMSTANCES ARE CHANGED.
Why WashinStOn's Words Are Not
Now Applicable to Thi. Country.


TO the Editor of The Evening star:
When General Washington wrote his
farewell address. a century ago, the west
ern boundary of the nation was the Mis-
sissippi river. and on the south the 3lst
parallel OF latitude held US away from the
Gulf of Mexico and from the mouth of the
great river. The thirteen states had just
emerged from colonial dependence on Great
Britain by tile aid of France. In the feeble
condition Of the country, at a time when
1t had jusi llid aside It's swaddling clothes.
it was eminent!y Wis to keep out of the
quarrel between Great Britain and France.
We had made peace with Great Britain.
and, although France had been our friend
in the struggle for Independence, II gave
her no right to involve US again in war
with that mower. 1t was equally the die
tate Of duty {" ourselves. and of right, as
between those great powers, to keep out of
their quarrel.
And that was what General Washington
proposed TO do. That was what he meant
by advising the people to avoid "entang.ag
alliances with foreign powers. There WAS
no hint given about the dangers of terri
torial expansion; there was then 10 pending
question Of buying conquering foreign
territory.
At that time nobody-not Washington
himself-nor Dr. Franklin. nor Jefferson
thought that our boundaries would ever go
beyond the Mississippi 1t was important
Highly So-t0 have the right of way down
the river to its mouth: and Mr.. jefferson,
when President, instituted negotiations with
France for the purchase of New Orleans
and the territory around 1t, east of the
river. from the 31st parallel down to the
Gulf of Mexico. He did not want foot of
territory west of the river. and Instructed
the ue2otiators accordingly. But Napoleon
refused to sell part unless they took all.
as he knew that the great navy of Great
Britain would seize ii as soon as the ap-
preaching war should be declared. So the
negotiatorS Livingston and Monroe, agreed
TO take the whole territory. and apulogized
to he President for exceeding their in
structionr by promising to pay fifteen nil
lions Of dollars for empire three times
as large France.
Nobody in that day imagined that within
century the United States would have
three great states fronting on the Pacific
ocean, with numerous cities, one e thcm
four times IS large as New York tten was.
We are now the nearest neighbors TO
China and Japan, with opportunities for
81 eater commerce with them than all Eu-
rope possesses, and beyond the dreams of
commercial aspirations century ago.
And now that the United States has be-
come one Of the greatest powers of the
earth. the richest. the least indebted of the
great powers and with the greatest capacity
for raising revenue. there can be no excuse
for surrendering the great opportunities
which present themselves for expanding the
commerce Of the country. Even before the
war the commerce of the country and the
shipping were not far behind those of Great
Britain. American commerce is now far
greater than il was then, but II is I'm foreign
hands.
The causes OF this turn of affairs are two.
In the first place. when the civil war came
on American Shirowners to avoid seizure
by confederate cruisers raised the British
flag, whereupon Congress passed law pro-
hibiting their return to the American flag
when peace should be made. And about the
same time the use of wooden vessels III
foreign commerce was abandoned in favor
of iron, and English and Scotch shipbuilders
had at that time greatly the advantage in
cheapness Of the iron and the coal used
in its manufacture. But now the crcum-
stances are changed again. United States
coal and iron are now produced in greater
abundance than in Great Britain. and it is
probable that American shipbuilding will
again take the lead. Our American ship
builders are now building great ironcad
battle ships for the nations of the world in
competition with the shipbuilders of Great
Britain.
We have the Sandwich Islands. and ii
looks like childish folly to throw away the
Philippines now that they have been con-
querCd. And there is the same benevolent
reason for holding them that there was for
going to for the liberation of Cuba
from Spanish tyranny. If We abandon the
Philippines We turn them back to the ten
der mercies of the same cruel tyrants or to
some heartlcss European opDreSsOr.
They should be allowed 10 have local self
government under American protection
with freedom of trade with this country:
and the trade of those islands with that Of
Cuba and Porto Rice will be of immense
value to this country. These West India
islands should never become states of the
Union. Porto Rico is now American terri
tory. but its snnaaa inhabitants nine
tenths Of whom are probably negroes are
not now and will not for generations become
such citizens should he allowed to partic-
tpate in the government of the Union. We
have enough of that now.
DANIEL. r. GOODI.OE