Warren sheaf., 1899-10-19

VII become aliena.ed ). 'thsiy van q sfadual-s
~ begin to view US as strangers--they
VII WI form other commercial connections.
ana l1s1 sour interests will become distinct
s ~ And j do say that under existing
sclrcuns ahces, even supp6stnE that this
extent Of territory was 4 desirable ac-
quisition. SIS, 100000 was a most enormous
sum to give''
e distinguished, Representatives from
rginia said he feared the effect Of the.
vast extent Of our empire; he feared the
effects ' of the Increased value Of labor.
the decrease in the value of lands, and
tne influence OF climate upon our citizenss
VINO Should migrate thither. He did fear
enough this land was represented az
noWing with milk and honey that tlis4
Eden of the new world would prove a.
cemetery for the bodies Of our citizens.
Imperialism had g chief place IN the
catalogue Of disasters which would fol-
low the ratification Of this treaty, and 1t
was alleged that this was the first and
sure step to the creation Ssof an empire
and the subversion of the constitution.
The phrase, planetary policy" which is
now employed by some critics. So far as
nave been able to discover first ap-s
peared here. Jefferson was made the SUBJ
|sject'of ,satirtcal verse:
sss.sAssee him commence. land speculator,
s, And buy up the realm OF nature, s3
| owns, cities, Indians, Spaniards, prai-
y u IA A sssSs q s n Il "a 81 I'LL
The opponents, however, were lii the
minority, and the star Of the republic
did Id not set, and the. mighty west was
|: brought under the flag OF Justice. free
dom and opportunity.
In. 1919 we added 50, 749, square miles,
swhichsnew comprise Florida and parts of
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
In lS45 we received the cession of Texas.
IT contained 376,931 square miles, and en-
braced the state of Texas and parts Of
Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming
and New Mexico.
The next cession was under the treaty
of lS4S. containing 52256s square miles,
embracing the states Of California, Ne
yada, Utah and parts of Colorado and
Wyoming, and tof the territories of Ari-
zona and New Mexico
In 1858 we acquired. by the Gadsden
purchase, 45,535 square miles, which en-
brace parts of Louisiana and New Mex
sico.
The next great acquisition was that Of
Alaska, in 1867, containing 599, ,446 square
miles. This treaty, like that for the
Louisiana purchase" was fiercely re-
sisted When the house had under con-
sideration the bill appropriating the sum
Of s7,2O0.000. the amount Of the purchase
money for Alaska agreed upon by the
treaty, the minority report on that bill
quoted apprOvingly an article which char
aeterized Alaska as '.terra incognita,',
and said: #. 81 SS rs
49, Persons well informed as to Alaska
are ungrateful enough to hint that we
could have bought a much superior elc-
phant in Siam or Bombay for hun
dredth part Of the money, with not q
ten-thousandth part of the expense in
Cured in keeping the animal in proper
condition
The minority report proceeded to say:
The committee, having considered the
various questions involved and the evi-
dence in regard to this country under
consideration, is forced to the conclusion
THAT THE POSSESSION OF THE
COUNTRY IS OF$NO VALUE TO THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED
STATES. That it will be a source OF.
weakness instead of power, and a con-
slant annual expense for which there aill
be sno adequate return. That it has no
capacity as an agricultural country. Tint,
so far as known, 1t has no value n& q
mineral country. !. That its S1r
trade is of insignificant value to ur rs
Ia nation, and will speedily come to an
end. That the fisheries are Of doutt!sll
value. and that, whatever the value os IS
fisheries. its fur trade. it's timber or its
minerals, they are all open to the citizens
OF the United States under existing
treaties. That the right to govern ma
stion or nations of savages, in climate
unfit for the habitation Of civilized men,
was not worthy Of purchase. :
They. therefore, report the following res
olution Resolved. That It is inexpedient
to appropriate money for the purchase
OF Russian America. 3 49, =
/ In the debate in the house dtstin-'
guished representative from Massachu-
sets said:
IF we are to pay for Russia's frierd-
ship this amount, desire to give her the
s7,2O0, 600 and let her keep Alaska. have
no doubt that any time within the last
twenty years we could have had Alaska
for the asking, provided We would have
taken it as q gift; but no man, except
one insane enough te buy the earth
Fiquakes of st. Thomas and the ice fields
of Greenland, could be found to agree
by any. other terms for its acquisition to
this country ssEs
81 To this treaty the opponents were In the
minority, and that great, rich territory,
from which we have drawn many and
many times over its purchase price, and
with phenomenal wealth yet undeveloped,
is ours in spite Of their opposition.
{ = In the last year we have added to the
territory OF the United States, the Ha-
waiian islands-one of the gems Of the
Pacific ocean containing GAO square
miles: Porto Rico. containing 3,eoo square
miles; Guam, containing so square miles.
and the Philippine archipelago. embrac-
ing approximately $4,000 square miles
This latest acquisition is about one-sixth
the size of the original thirteen states.
It is larger than the combined area OF
New Jersey, Delaware. Maryland, Vir-
ginia. North Carolina, South Carolina
and the District Of Columbia It exceeds
a. H