The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-07-20
BEGINNING a New Era.

The effulgent dawn of a new era in
the history of the United States is
marked by the issue of state paper
general terms for the government of
the captured territory in Santiago de
Cuba. The document is the first of it's
kind that has been issued by a presi-
dent of the United States. Its signific-
ance is not in the immediate applica-
ton of general principles in the govern
ment of a captured territory, wise and
far-seeing as these are to the condi-
tlons to which they are applied. 1t is
in the fact that this paper marks the
formal establishment of a new political
power in Cuba under the protecting
aesis of the United States the begin
ming of an epoch of colonial dominion.
The territorial and political interests
of the nation have heretofore been con-
fined to continental America. In this
hemisphere we established our su-
premacy, and here it seemed until re-
Gently that we would remain forever,
undisturbed by foreign complications
+,
was a superficial view of our destiny.
European control of the East began
to disturb that political balance which
was hoped by Canning to have been
brought into staple equpoise by the
promulgation of the Monroe doctrine.
We We're told that we had nothing to
do with the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of contin-
entail powers in Asia. The partition of
China,we were led to believe, concerned
only the Chinese themselves: the rise
of great naval power in the East
neither interested us nor threatened
us: our commercial interests we thought
were secure while England insisted,
and as Sir Michael Hicks Beach, a
member of the Salisbury cabinet, an
nounced, would fight to secure free
commerce to all the world with the
Celestial empire. But free trade in
gress into North China has not been
secured by England; neither has Great
Britain any intention just now to fight
to secure it, She took the port of
Hai-Wei as her portion of the
spoil, and so far as our interests In
China are concerned, we must look af-
ter them ourselves. True to our tra-
ditions, we took no part, nor had we
any intention of taking a part, in the
scramble for Chinese territory. A for
tuitous circumstance, which we neither
brought about nor controlled forced
upon us the seizure of the Philippines
and we are now under the expense and
liability of their maintenance, moral
ly, commercially and politically. 1t is
the unforeseen concatenation of events
in the Pacific and the Atlantic which
makes President McKinley's procla.
nation of such momentous Importance
We are at the parting of the ways
We have no love for the word i'm.
perialism." 1t does not represent oul
object nor our policy, Imperialism 1.
the household word of despots; 1t doet
not give expression to our aims nor oul
principles. 1t were batter dropped. Bu
we must deprecate equally the NOR
bid sentimentalism which presuppose!
a disposition on our part to conquer
for the sake of conquest; that we mus
become missionaries and schoolmasterl
before we set up as traders and civic
rulers. England and pagan Rom'
have been the most successful coloniz
ing nations that the world has evel
seen. The secret of their success wal
that they allowed the natives to fol
low their national customs. They die
not try to assimilate where asslmi
lation was impossible. We must dc
the same. Traders and missionaries