Willmar tribune., 1899-10-18

o,a o,,r fntarests will become distinct.
=. And I do say that under existing
even supposing tnat tn1H
extent of territory was a deslrapie Nc
QUESTION, SIS, ,000, 900 was most enormous
sum to give" ~.
distinguished representative from
Virginia said he feared the enect OF the
vast extent of our empire; he reared the
effects Of the increased value OF Iapor,
the decrease in the value OF lands' anu
the influence of climate upon our c1t1zens
who should migrate thfther. He ola 1e3'
(though this land was represented a
flowing with milk and honey tna1 this
Eden of the new world would prove d
cemetery for the bodies of our citizens:
Imperialism had a chief place IN the
catalogue of disasters which would 1ol-
low the ratification of this treaty, ana II
was alleged that this was the first ano
sure step to the creation OF an empire
and the subversion Of the constitution
The phrase, planetary policy, which Is
now employed by some critics, so 1ar az
I have been able to discover, first ap-
peared here. Jefferson was made the SUD-
ject of satirical verse:
'See him commence, land speculator,
And buy up the realm Of nature,
Towns, cities, Indians, Spanlaros' pra1'
rieS.
The opponents, however, were In the
minority, and the star OF the republic
did not set, and the mighty west was
brought under the flag of justice, free.
dom and opportunity.
In 1919 we added 69,749 square miles,
which now comprise Florida and parts OF
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
In 1S45 we received the cession Of Texas
1t 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 1S4S, containing 522.56S square miles,
embracing the states of California, Ne
vada, Utah and parts of Colorado and
Wyoming, and of the territories of Ar1-
zona and New Mexico.
In 1858 we acquired, by the Gadsden
purchase, 1855 square miles, which en-
brace parts of Louisiana and New Mex
leo.
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 $7,200,O90, 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
acterized Alaska as a terra incognita,"
and said:
"Persons we'll informed as to Alaska
are ungrateful enough to hint that we
could have bought much superior ele-
phant in Siam or Bombay for one-hun-
dredth part of the money, with not
ten-thousandth part of the expense in
Cured in keeping the animal in proper
condition"
The minority report proceeded to say:
1.-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 source OF
weakness instead of power, and con-
! slant annual expense for which there will
be no adequate return. That it has no
capacity agricultural country. That
SO far as known, it has no value as
mineral country. That it's fur
trade is of insignificant value to us as
nation, and will speedily come to an
end. That the fisheries are of doubtful
value, and that, whatever the value of it's
fisheries, it's fur trade, it's timber or it's
minerals, they are all open to the citizens
Of the United States under existing
| treaties That the right to govern a ma
| tion 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 -
In the debate in the house a distin-
guished representative from Massachu-
setts said:
IF we are to pay for Russia's friend
ship this amount, I desire to give her the
$1,000, 600 and let her keep Alaska I have
no doubt that any time within the last
twenty years we could have had Alaska.
for the asking, provided we would have
taken 1t as gift; but no man, except
one insane enough to buy the earth
quakes of St. Thomas and the ice fields
of Greenland could be found to agfee
by any other terms for it's acquisition to
this country
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 lslands-one of the gems of the
Pacific ocean-containing 6,74O square
I miles; Porto Rico, containing $500 square
miles; Guam containing so square miles,
and the Philippine archipelago, embrac-
ing approximately 134,OOO square miles,
This latest acquisition is about one-sixth
! the size of the original thirteen states
| 1t is larger than the combined area of
| New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Vir-
| glnla, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and the District of Columbia. 1t exceeds
in area all of the New England states.
II IS almost as large as Washington and
oregon combined, and greater than Ohio,
! Indiana and Illinois united. Three times
i larger than New York and three and
one-half times larger than the state of
Ohio.
The treaty of peace with Spain, which
gave us the Philippines, Porto Rico and
| Guam, met with some opposition in the
senate, but was ratified by that body. nv
more than a two-thirds vote; while in the
house the appropriation of $40, 600 900 was
made with little or no opposition. AS in
the case of the Louisiana purchase and
Alaska. the opponents of the treaty were
In the minority and the star of hope to an
oppressed people was not extinguished.
The future of these new possessions is
In the keeping of congress, and congress
is the servant of the people That thew
VIII be retained under the benign sover-
e1gnty OF the United States, I do not per-