The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1898-08-04
The 0fncial Paper of San Juan County
THURSDAY, AUGUST 4. 1893.
"IMPERIALISM."

We have little patience with the ap-
plication of the term "imperiallsm" to
the policy which has finally accom-
plished the annexation Of Hawaii, in
spite of persistent Democratic opposl-
ton. and which is likely also to lead to
the occupation and permanent reten-
ton of the island of Porto Rico as one
of the most legitimate and logical re-
suits of the Spanish war. Considered
merely from the standpoint Of territor-
ial extension these little acquisitions
are of slight importance when COM
pared with the vast additions to our
national domain which have been made
during the present century. And it is
worthy of note that the first and largest
of these additions, the Louisiana pur-
chase, was the browning event of the
first administration of Thomas Jeffer-
son, the idol of the Democratic party
and a strict constructiOnist of the con-
stitution, which he believed to be OPP
posed to the principle of territorial ex-
tension. But fortunately he had the
easy and somewhat elastic conscience
which has always been characteristic of
the party and which enabled him to
adapt himsel to the ultra-democratic
idea that the power to temporarily
override even the organic law in case
of extreme necessity" is inherent in the
people.
The purchase of Louisiana was as
unprecedented and unexpected as the
occupation of the Philippines by joint
naval and military force of the United
States. It was not sought and it is
doubtful If it had even been dreamed of
by jefferson whose name is most gener-
ally associated with it, although the
purchase was actually made without
his knowledge, by James Monroe and
Edward Livingstone, who had been
invested with the discretionary powers
to purchase New Orleans from France
and were most Unexpectedly confronted
with a proposition from Napoleon to
make an offer for the entire Louisiana
territory. This they promptly did and
the purchase was concluded before it
was possible in those days of slow trans
portation and lack of oceanic cable
communication to communicate with
the government at Washington. Thus
for $15, 600, OOO-scarcely more than two
weeks cost of the present war;, I'LL 1881
square miles were added to our nation
al domain which until then consisted
of 827, 1884 square miles, Inhabited by
about 5000, 900 people-less than four
to a square mile and less in the aggre-
gate than the city of New York alone
now boasts. Sixteen years later Q819)
the purchase of Florida from Spain
added SIS, 1853 square miles; IN 1845 the
annexation Of Texas extended our iuris-
diction over 376, 1873 more square miles,
followed only three years later by the
immense Mexican cession of 545, 783
square miles. Then in 1853 came the
Gadsden purchase by which for $1O,-
900, 900 the United States acquired 49,
635 square mile of disputed territory
and the right of transit for troops,
mails and merchandise across the
Isthmes of Tehuantepec. Then came
the great Alaska purchase of 81, 1870
square miles for 81, 200 900, swelling our
''imperial' domain from it's compare.
lively modest extent Of 1918 square
miles at the beginning of our national
existence in 1888 to 3,6O3, 1884 square
miles i'm 1867.
After having added 2,776.OOO square
miles by annexation and extended oul
domain over savage races and formerly
alien people it would seem that there
ought not to be any alarming danger oil
national dissolution arising from the
addition of 1000 square miles more
involving the absolute control of one o.
the most important strategic points in
the Pacific ocean. It takes a Demo
cratic nose to scent danger in this kind
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