The Worthington advance., 1899-10-20

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the influence Of climate upon our. citizens
who should migrate; thither, He did fes,
Though this land was represented as
flowing with milk and honey that this
Eden Of the new world would prove
cemetery for the bodies of, our citizens.
Imperialism had a chief place in the
! catalogue of disasters which would fol.
low the ratification Of this treaty, and IL
was alleged that this was the first and
sure step, to the, creation Of an empire
| and the subversion Of the constitution
The phrase, planetary policy" which is
| have been able to discover, first ap-
peared here. Jefferson was made the sub.
ject Of satirical verse:
'see him commence land speculator,
And buy up the realm of nature,
ries." F
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 1845 we received the cession of Texas
| 1t contained .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.
Yada, Utah and parts of Colorado anG
Wyoming, and of the territories Of Ari.
| zona and New. Mexico.
In 1858 we acquired, by the Gadsdeu
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 $,2OO,OO0, 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
acter1zed Alaska as 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 a
ten-thousandth part of the expense in
CURED in keeping the animal in proper
condition.
The minority report proceeded to say:
"The committee, having considered tn.
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 a source OF
weakness instead of power, and a con-
)! stant annual expense for which there will
be no adequate return. That it has no
capacity as an agricultural country That
so far as known, it has no value as
mineral country. l" I" 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, its 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-
gufshed representative from Massachu-
setts said:
IF we are to pay for Russia's friend
ship this amount, desire to give her the
s7,2OO,000 and let her keep Alaska. 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 a 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 agree
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 fslands-one Of the gems of the
Pacific ocean-containing 6,74O square
miles; Porto Rico, containing $500 square
miles; Guam, containing so square miles.
and the Philippine archipelago, embrac-
ing approximately $4,000 square miles.
Thls 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-
gir1a, North Carolina, South Carolina,
and the District of Columbia It exceeds
in area all of the New England states.
1t is almost as large as Washington and
Oregon combined, and greater than Ohio,
! Indiana and Illinois united. Three times
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 by
more than two-thirds vote; while in the
house the appropriation Of $40. 200, 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 they
Will be retained under the benign sover-g
eighty Of the United States, I do not per-
init myself to doubt; That they will
prove rich and valuable heritage, I feel
assured. That congress will provide for
them a government which will bring them
blessings, which will promote their mate
| rial interests, as well as advance their
people in the path of civilization and in
telligence, confidently believe. They will
not be governed as vassals or serfs az
slaves; they will be given ,governmek
ministered, without oppressing exactions,