The Portland daily press., 1899-02-24
THE EXPANSION IDEA.


Perhaps IL has never before been brought
30 plainly before this American public
that war is an expensive amusement
Costly in life and money. A sort OF lux
ury few nations oan afford. Asa netes-
sity for self professionalism is another
matter. We are bound to fight to protect
our homes and firesides, are we bound to
fight for any other reason OF puIposeY
The old maxim: mind your own bust
ness, Is as good for a nation us 1t Is
for man. To help the under dog in
the fight" sounds very woll on paper. but
few men will do IT except by kicking
both dogs, and at the imminent risk Of
being bitten by one or both. This Is
much like our experience in the late war.
Both Spain and Cuba suffered through
our Intervention &C uba, through the
starvation Of thousands OF Its citizens,
an indirect consequence of the war; and
spain by being whipped and, in the end,
we have incurred the enmity of both. But
there is difference In favor OF the indi-
vidual. II man beats another he seldom
has the nerve TO make his opponent pay
for being licked. There Is still another
point where the individual Is superior TO
| the nation. Intelligent men do not settle
their disputes. now -a-days, with their
| fists or by facing each other with loaded
revuivers; they settle by appealing to the
law, or by cooling of and talking the
matter over. Only brutal men fight like
brutes, and even human brutes generally
require some arti b. ial stimulant TO bring
them to the scratch. IL Is purely mat
ter of intelligence, of progress upward
from the brute line OF creation, and not
matter Of personal courage; most men
| possess that excepting, always, the party
who sets others TO fighting for bis own
advanta2e;--he Is generally coward OF
| the meanest sort, and We always ind that
class or clique who have something to
gain through war, either In political
way, or some other way, EN- brOilinR one
nation with another. The nation can
take a wholesome lesson from the indiyid-
ual even the average individual. The
man who, under the guise of friend ship,
will nick another mans pocket Is consid.
erably below the average. A nation that
under tne guise OF humanity. well, |
don't want to put 1t too strong, perhaps
| 1, is enough to say that the United states
| formerly wanted Cuta badly enough to
offer $40, COZ. 600. We have made al at
| tachment to be followed, sometime or
other, by foreclosure.
But about this matter Of indemnity;
| making the other party pay for being
| licked. Whitlaw Keid had something TO
say about this In his recent speech In
Chicago, and he said something else bear-
ing on the humanity feature of the
war, besides delivering himself Of u seutl
ment which will scarcely lind favor with
the patriotic element of our country. 1t
suggests an entirely new construction OF
the Constitution and Republican form of
government He said: "Resist the crazy
derives Its just powers from the consent
of the governed" This Is rank imperial
lem, II nothing worse MIR. Reid has
proba bly spent too much Of his time in
Europe. He frankly says, III opposition
to the humanity idea, that We want Cuba
| and the Philippines for commercial pur-
poses, and ioes not think that S240, 000
600, the money cost OF the war. too much
to pay for them. He says; would you
have had them (tne Peace Commission
ers, throw away magnificent foothold
for the trade of the farther East. which
the fortune Of war has placed In your
hand; throw away whole archipelago OF
boundless posi- bilities econ omio and
strategio-the fabulous trade the twentieth
century will see IL bearP" Coming from
SO high O source il looks very mucn as If
the war has been war OF conquest. He
iustifies the demand Tor the philippines,
In the shape of indemnity, because SPANS
sessions are of any value, Whatever. to
the United States, IL is the first time in
the history of nations 1 ever heard OF
making u cash payment tSsO, 600, 600 for
indemnity. But II, as mir. Reid appears
to, think, they are worth ell the blood and
treasure they have cost, 1t is all right. II
we hold this ill-gottsn plumber we can
proudly line up with England. as an i'm
psriai power, who boasts that the sun
never sets on her bood-stained posse SIS
ions. England, or at least. English states
IL en-, like Sir Arthur .3alfour, Is quite in
love with us now, and her affection Is
sure TO increase with every new battle
ship added TO our fleet The President
does not, apparently, agree with MIR. Reid
the majority Of Republican Senators, or
the public sentiment of the western states
lie looks upon the war rs u necessity, n
moral obligation we owed to the universe.
He would make the United States sort
of universal Bureau of Relief for the en-
shaved and oppressed OF all lands. he
wants to teach the Filipinos eIf-govern-
ment ami civilization. Why stop short
with Cuba and the Philippines? Why not
extend our practical sympathies, at the
rate of $50, goo, 600 year, to the Repub-
He's OF Africa and South American This
is what humanity" means; II 1t means
any thing 1t Is of universal application
The Self government of the Filipinos, II
it ever comes to that. has already cost our
government about forty dollars per head
for every man, woman and child in the
Philippines. 1t will ONLY take the United
State, few years to buy up the whole
population at the average price In the old
slave markets of the South. 1t rs quite
as Improbable as 1t Is impossible to mix
politics with missionary work. When IL
becomes practicable shall believe in
political humanity" And. with all due
respect to the distinguished head of this
nation, when 1t is shown that the blow
ing up of the Maine" as an melting
cause of the war, and the inhuman
slaughter OF 1000 or 5000 insurgents, re-
sulting In the immediate ratification OF
the treaty, were Providential occurrences
shall believe IL the imperial destiny OF
this nation. The pages. in the history of
civilization, are besmsared with bloody