The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1899-02-20
a YEAR WHICH MADE HISTORY

A great deal or excltlng ana I'm |
portant history was made IN the
United States in the twelve months
which have just ended. The destruc.
tion of the battleship Maine, in the
harbor of Havana, on February Is,
1898, was a decisive datemark in the
country's annals. 1t is usually diff
ficult to assign the exact starting
point to any epochal chain of circum
stances. Occurrences have habit
of running into each other so imper-
ceptbly that it is commonly impos-
sible, with any confidence, TO point
out the happening with which, and
time at which, they began. 1t would
suit the worlds convenience to have
events divide themselves up into
chapters, yet events ordinarily show
no disposition to do so. The desLruc-
tior of the Maine, however, has this
decisive significance, that it cut short
the doubts and hesitation in our deal
ings with Spain regarding the out
come of the Cuban issue, and made
war between the United States and
Spain certain.
Thus February 10, 1898, is great
landmark in the nations history. 1t
brought to elimination century
of controversies between the United
States and Spain, and rendered it i'm
possible in the future for any further
complications to arise between these
two countries in the Western hemi
sphere. The first disagreement
which arose between them was about
the navigation of the Mississippi, and
this lasted, with only short intermis-
.sions, from the end of the war of in
dependence, in 1888, on to the ac-
QUESTION of Louisiana, in 1903. Then
came the trouble about Florida,
which did not end until that region
was ceded to us, in 1921. Cuba has
been cause of serious disagreement
between the two countries often
since the century began. particularly
during the Lopez and Crittenden fill
clustering days, from 1S49 to 1852,
in the Black Warrior episode, In
1854, and at the time of the Virginius
outrage, in 1873. From Washing
toms administration onward TO Nc
Kinley's the United States was often
on the verge of war with Spain for
that country's arrogance, blindness
and wickedness. The war which the
event of February Is, 1898, precipi-
tated wiped out the memory of a
long list of outrages on Americans
by Spain, and removed all chances of
future disagreements between the
United States and that country.
In another and larger respect that
date is turning point in American
history. 1t ended the sway of the
isolationist idea, born in the days of
the countIy's newness and feebleness.
when even the small space it occupied
on the map was only sparsely peopled.
1t broadened the circle of the coun-
try's interests and activities, enlarged
the mental horizon of its people, and
gave the United States higher place
in the respect of the great nations Of
the world. There is a possibility that
If the destruction Of the Maine had
not taken place the outrages in Cuba
would be still under way, or that the
insurgents, exhausted by their long
and hopeless struggle, would haye
given up the fight. 1t seems hardly
possible, from what the country
learned last summer of the condition
of the insurgents, that they could
have continued the conflict twelve
months longer if the United States
had not interviewed. The war which
the events of year ago preclpi-
tated ended Spain's four centuries
of connection with the Western hem
Isphere, and created new and great
er America, which. is henceforth
destined to hold a far larger place in