The Saint Paul globe., 1899-03-20
= - s'f,s'fg. .5Ns+a5A
WOULD HOLD ON TO THEM ALL
w. D. WAsHBURN gR.4 ISSUES A
- LITTLE PAMPHLET ON .tOUR
.s7t ISLAND PTtOBIEMSs $50 az
Takes the Position That. the United
States Should Expand to the Ex-
tent of Retaining what 1T Has
Recently Acquired by War. -.


w. D.. Washburn Jr. of Minneapolis,
| has just issued a little pamphlet under
the title 'Our Island Problems" in which
he urges the government to keep them
lEall.' Mr.. Washburn says in part:
people that has hitherto attended
strictly to its own, affairs, and studfousy
remained within the limits of its own
continent, the United States is today
called upon to arrange the destinies Of
three dlrerent peoples in three different
FauaTlers eutira OF the globe. Happy, for an
that the nation would never extend it's
boundaries beyond its own continent, the
ba Snisea ute 4 states finds itself today the en-
oarra3ssed aaI3s;te owner of colonies Of whose
acquisition gust t its people had never dreamed.
fofelgn nations, judging our civiliza-
stlon 6y their own, scan never be con-
tba ttncea that we had not cleverly planned
the ACQUISITION of these islands beyond
the sea-. Happily, our own preponder-
sance and the knowledge of our own in
.tegrlty may render us totally Indifferent
to what these foreign nations think or
do not think. In solving the problem Of
$our colonial domains, we are accountable
to ourselves alone. y
i Mr.. Washburn, then discusses briefly
Hawaii. Cuba and Porto Rico and the
Philippines, and devctes brief chapter
to the question "Is Expansion Uncon-
st1tutfonal?" with the conclusion that
there Is nothing against expansion in the
written or recorded law. In fact. the
writer takes the position that traditions
favor wise expansion. Continuing Mr..
Washburn reasons:
The Philippine question then resolves
| Itself into discussion upon the az com
mercfal l9 strategic and go moral as
poets of the case.
Wi Will the accession of these Islands, in
crease the general prosperity of the
| United States? VIII they be Of strategic
value In the protection of our interests
aS iv nome can al and II, IN the Eastern world? Last
ourselves and with justice to the inhab-
ltants Of the islands?
| A. year ago the American people would
nave considered mad any one who had
suggested the possibility ofDsaaol,iriae Of m aa
territory IN Asiat1ci waters So fast ha .
history moved, however, that today hard
~ cltizen can be found who feels as
ippines 'Ao III
Commercially speaking, there can be
no question that the Philippines would
States Including 1,4O0 separate isles. "
ing almost wholly in tropic waters.
stretching s,l 500 miles from north to south:
PESugjpyang Engjand more more territory than all New
pre- In themselves. They constitute a.
store of tropical and mineral wealth.
sacn as now remains unexploited in no
duce spontaneously and almost without
cultivation nearly every object of neces.
sity and luxury which we do not pro
euee e,ee =, ourselves: nis They produce coffee,
indigo and nearly every product Of tIie
troplcal and semi-tropical zones. Not
Snsin SS1sfiStdnaing haa an occupancy Of 400 years.
OF the group. These islands are said to
contain iron, gold and copper. It is also
sa1d that some of the outlying islands
nosits nontaih Il large DEPOSITS of coal Such de-
est value. Aside from New South Wales
ana ana son some half,worked lodes in China
in inn the ofarln far there Is little or no coal
would be justification enough, from a
islands. 'e''ii 'iie'e
Mr: Washburn says, eve must hold
the key" because, he saws:
The Philippines are ours by the right
OF war to which civilized Europe gives
consent. Ghey are ours by the higher
law law that has thus given a helpless and
Wickedly governed people into our hands.
Our flag now waves above the Philip
pines. In the interest of humanity md
OF enlightened self-interest, there should
enough to pull 1t down
e,,S w nlie me retention of these islands, is
fllled with vexed problems, these are
mot noshing a4g;, as +S compared with the moment
donment OF the islands. What of the
alternative? If we do not take them
VINO VIII! We could not abandon them
| TO England or sell them to any other
nation without universal war.
| If the United States does not retain
| the philippines they must go back to
| the insurgents. We're we now TO leave
them, their condition would be even more
lamentable than under the corrupting
rule OF Spain, New England senators
may compare the mercenary Aguinaldo
| to Washington and Bolivar They NAV
/ continue to offer moral support against
our arms and fleets. The people OF the
United States, however will not believe
| that the man who has counseled whole
| sale slaughter of all foreigners on the
| island is either a patriot or a states
| man, or qualified to erect an independent
government. Neither will they surrender
into the hands of Malay bownaen the
/ lives Of thousands of innocent SDanish
people or the millions of property whose
security is dependent upon civilized and
/ enlightened government
If we are afraid to take the resnonsi-
bility, will history ever justify us In de-
| stroying the only system of government
| these islands possessed and then ahs n.
donfng them to the anarchy that mast
! follow native attempts to govern?
Whether it be called annexation. all.
| tonomy or pr9tectorate, the future OF
all these islands must be Anglo-Saxou
not Latin nor Malay nor Japanese.
While the natives, of these islands will
be given Hbertya1 itl must be liberty or
| Anglo-Saxon linesedt will never be ths
license under which the Spanish-Amer.
lean republics have Knocked Republican
| government for ithree-quarters of a cen.
| tury past. FsaEs