The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-13
TIE caANTKR OF EXPANSION.
An Admirer Of walt whitman Thinks tn
Gnnh GrnH Poet HISS Been Wronaed.


Good Gray Poet Has Becn wronRed.
To THE Ep1roR OF THE suS-Sir: wat
equally surprised and panied to read an odi
torial in your columns OF Monday. Sept. IL
entitled Walt Whit man on the Situation ~
which you vr tually lamroon that great oaro
and American. by making him the sponsor Of
certain antl-imperallsttc utteranees OF the
Philadelphia Cons1pator. also read the Con-
serrator. but do not regard II either safe or
fair exponent OF Walt whitman. nor should ~
be received as such by the public.
Walt whitman was never an inhdel. es
reader OF the Conserpdtor might think. the
Bible being his close companion. and read os
him and valued by him In the higheat degree.
Neither would he be an anti-1mperialist ne
was an expansionst long before any man In
public life to-day. and agreed with that great.
est Of American Secretaries OF Estate. William
H. Seward, that the islands OF the Pacific must
eventually pass under our control.
In your own columns not long since you pub.
lishsd his lines in proof Of this position. which
we're copied widely and read with delight By
hundreds OF his countrymen. And yet you say
editorially that Horace T. Traubel whose antio
imperialistc sentiments you copy from the
Conserrdtor was inspired by Walt Whitman TO
their production
You have no right to mako such Islander
against the name and character OF Whitman.
com m unications from Mr. Whitman to Mir:
IL IN aH @
irony un worthy OF THE SUN and the intelligence
W " ea cam TIE Sun nd any evidence that
Walt Wh NJ S Soqs s p mSe9 tx
sttitudo on eIpansio M What right have you
to leave the Impression In this generation that
Is Eho IN tSs
in Washington. whose poems on the war
%hS nh hs S S1s5 pShos
SS%%i . es0qisf ss:
hnH s1@sr Tor what ' Mr. raubs nnf.
is IN any sympathy, with mis- grossly narrow
You owe Whitman and his friends an apology
tRns ssrn of an the deepest and broadet stamp
and was among the first TO see that our mission
could not be stopped by the shores OF the sea.
but must pass on and over into Asia. And 30
he wrote:
chant copous the islands beyond. thick as stars
/ chant the new empire. grandsr than any before.
i chant America the mistress. I chant a greater
supremacy . ,,
chan, projected thousand blooming cities YET
My sail ships and steamships threading the Archi.
My stars and stripes Tutoring in the wind.
| Commerce opening. the sleep OF ages having done
Races reborn refreshed. nfe's work resumed-ths
object know not-but the old the Asia,ic renewed.
| as il must be-
| world.
Whitman WAS always the chanter OF en-
! largement. His life and thought were both
| OF the expansion tyne. He has interpreted
America and its future as no other writer in
| it's midst and as his admrer protest that IL
| is the greatest injustice to link the Bard OF
| the Grand Army with that little company OF
| pa sled and atruphied minds who would have
us believe that we are both, insape, and Inn
! potent at this hour Of splendid and Providen.
| ta possibilities. Rev ARTHUR COPELAND.
| SENECA FALLS, \. Y. Sept. II.
| We fear that our esteemed correspondents
passionate loyalty to his favorite poet has
momentarily obscured his sense OF humor. We
| are free to say however. that THE Sun. and.
we think, nearly everybody else. Is perfectly
well aware OF the soundness OF Walt Whit
mans sentiments concerning national expan-
sion and we record our firm belief that such
| inspiration as Mr. Horace L. Traubel has de-
rived from Whitman relates exclusively to
superficial features OF versincation.