The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-08-09

on the spot, and for once consorted
with common sense. In spite of
frenzied opposition he bought Louis
lana without the consent of Congress
and upon his own responsibility. To-
day. the civilization of 30,000,000, now
resident in the Mississippi valley,
justify and approve the wisdom of this
act.
Without this enlightened purchase
we should still be second class na-
ton, hemmed in. by the Mississippi
river and the Atlantic coast. Mexico
or France or Spain would have occu-
pied all that vast parallelogram
between New Orleans, Lake Superior,
Oregon and California.
In 1921 we absorbed the Floridas
because they had become a common
nuisance. They were misgoverned by
Spain in the same shocking manner
as she has misgoverned the West
Indies and the Philippines. The
Floridas were menace to the pros
perity and happiness of the civilized
people who were endeavoring to live
peacefully and decently by their side.
Andrew Jackson wanted no rhetorice
on the occasion. He seized the
Floridas, and while we afterwards made
payment for the same, this was done
not as a matter of right, but as sop,to
the outraged dignity Of Spain.
In 1S48 we absorbed the best portion
of Mexico because our slave-holding
rulers demanded more room to raise
slaves and cotton and other things.
This seizure of Mexican territory was
q crudely brutal act. However base
the means, the final result has been
wholly desirable. It has opened up to
Civilization a region which would
otherwise have remained as bare and
profitless as most of Mexido Is today.
In 1850 we absorbed Oregon. partly
because we had discovered 1t, but
particularly because we needed 1t In
our onward progress to the West.
Nay, we were even ut the point of war
with England because we did not at
the same time secure British Colum-
bis, then portion Of the Oregon
territory.
In 1855 we took the Gadsden
Purchase to protect our own frontier.
In 1857 we took Alaska because 1t
was cheap and bargin and its
purchase forever excluded the Russian
empire from the American continent.
So far from our acquisitions weaken
ing the Republic. they have really
made 1t what it Is to-day. Nearly half
of our population is to-day resident
in the acquired portion of the United
States. More than half of our natural
resources and future wealth will
be found in such portions as we have
annexed since we became q common
wealth. AS q matter Of fact, history
shows our sainted fathers even more
crudely acquisitive than ourselves, for
they lived in day when the strong
preyed upon the weak and
nations seized whatever was unprotect-
ed and near at hand.
Commercial, Strategic and Moral
ConsideratiOns.
The PHILIPPINE question then resolves
itself into a discussion upon the
Q) Commercial, (2) Strategic and (3)
Moral aspects of the case.
Will the accession of these islands
increase the general prosperity Of the
United States?
Will they be of strategic value in the
protection of our interests at home
and In the eastern world?
Lastly, can we abandon them with
safety to ourselves and with justice to
the inhabitants of the islands?
A year ago the American people
would have considered mad anyone
who bad suggested the possibility of
acquiring territory in Asiatic waters.
So fast has history moved, however,
that to-day hardly citizen can be
found who feels assured that we
should abandon the Philippines.
Commercially speaking, there can
be no question that the Philippines
would be of vast importance to the
United States. Including l, 400 sep
arate isles, lying almost wholly In
tropic waters; stretching 800 miles
from north to south; occupying more
territory than all New England, these
islands are a vast empire in them
selves. They constitute q store OF
tropical and mineral wealth, such as
now remains unexploited In DO por-
ton of the world. These islands pro-
duce spontaneously and almost with
out cultivation, nearly every single
object of necessity and luxury which
we do not produce ourselves. They
produce coffee, sugar, rice, hemp gutta
percha, cotton, indigo and nearly
every product of the tropical and
semitropical zones. Notwithstanding
an occupancy of 400 years Spain has
explored only small portion of the
group. These islands are said to con-
tain iron, gold, and copper. 1t Is also
said that some Of the outlying islands
contain large deposits Of coal. Such
If existing, are of the very
highest value. Aside from New South
Wales and some half.worked lodes in
China and Tonquin, there is little or
no coal in the Far East. Such depos.
it's alone would be justification enough,
from a commercial point Of view, to
retain these islands.
Notwithstanding the semibarbarous
of the Philippine islands,
which has hitherto crushed industry
with all manner of taxes and extor-
tions, the total value Of the Philippine
exports was nearly $50, 900, 900 in 1897.
AS showing its latent possibilities, 1t
may be said that the exports of the
one small islands of Java, near at
hand, amounted in 1897, under the
wise rule of Holland, to 225, 100000
guilders, or $50, 600, 900.
Yet Java is no richer in natural re-
sources, and is only one-half as large.
The Eastern Question.
Turning to the political and strategic
factors connected with the Phil
ippines, we are confronted with the
fact that the possessor of the Philip