The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-18
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In the pursuit of a colonial policy, such
as it is now designed to have the United
States enter upon, the G o b e has point
ed out more than once that it is to the
experience of England alone we can look
for substantial guidance in the solution
of either the political or economic prob
lens involved.
The contemplated colonies of the United
States are all of the same character as
those denominated crown colonies in
England These latter are in the tropics,
and a special system of government is
extended to them, entirely different from
that which prevails in the free colonies
Of England. Has England found the
maintenance of her tropic colonies of ed
vantage to the imperial revenues? AS
matter Of fact there is not colony of
Britain which contributes a shilling to
the eXchaQuer of England.
With reference to trade operations the
tropical colonies of England contribute
as little toward the improvement Of Brit
ish trade as they do toward the swelling
Of British national finances. All expert
ence of fol- cign trade shows that tropical
peoples are poor customers. The condi-
tons of life are such as 90 not call for
eXertion on the part OF the natives; and
left to their own resources the natives
of tha tropics will make no exertion
greater OF of longer duration than is in
VOWED in the slight effort to secure the
means Of subsistence, which. of course,
Is easily attainabe in those lands.
y recent British writer, whose authority
is unquestioned, has pointed cut that from
1893 to 1897 ''the United Kingdom imported
yearly from her tropical countries
goods to the value of $23.1S per head Of the
population of those colonies, while from
her tropical colonies she imported only
Sc cents worth of goods per capita In
other words as a source of supply, each
man, woman and child in the non tropical
colonies was thirty-five times more val
liable to the United Kingdom than an
inhabitant of the tropical colonies" The
other side of the account he shows to be
no better, since, while the exports to non
tropical colonies reach about $1232 per
capita, the exports to the tropical colonies
do not exceed II cents per capita.
There is one condition prevalent in
British tropical colonies hich has been
productive of 81 CHI results in trade as
present q somewhat different view. In
certain colonies, such as British Guiana,
Mauritius and Trinidad, from 1881 to 1892
the exports We're very large amounting to
over $45 a head, which was due entirely
to the fact that contract labor was MAIN
tanned in those domnions during that
period British experience has shown that
the only way in " bich any tropical colony
can be made productive of any value to
the trade of the empire is through the
maintenance of contract labor.
The contract labor system is still main
tained by us i'll Hawaii 1t is but q short
time since We read that a number of
Galician laborers had just been released
from prison in Honolulu where they had
been since a year ago this month for
breaking their labor contracts Expe-
rience has taught those who are exploit
ing those tropical lands that they can
bc mada profitable to individual investors
only with the aid of imported contract
labor. Petitions will be laid before the
incoming congress praying that contract
labor continue to be maintained in Ha-
Vail, since it will be impossible to grow
sugar and other productions on the island
probably unless it is maintained. The
American people are thus presented with
the prospect, if they are to hold on to
those tropical possessions, of maintainin.,
contract labor within their limits or else
maintaining. American authority in the
ISLANDS at a direct expense to the ma
tional treasury