The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-13

phrase which is now employed by some
have been able to discover. first appeared
there.
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 ,T49 square miles,
which now comprise Florida and parts Of
Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana:
In 1S45 we received the cession of Tex
as. 1t contained Sl6,9S1 square miles. aad
embraced the state Of Texas and parts
of Oklahoma. Kansas, Colorado. WTo'
ming and New Mexico.
The next cession was under the treaty
of 184S, containing 522,56S square miles.
embracing. the states of California Ne
vada, Utah and parts of Colorado and
Wyoming and of the territories of Arlzo-
ma and New Mexico.
In 1858 we acquired, by the Gadsen pur-
chase, 1855 square miles. which embrace
parts of Louisiana and New Mexico.
Alaska. in 1867. containing 500. AS square
miles This treaty, like that for the
Louisiana purchase" was fiercely re-
sisted When the the house mad under Ter com
of $7,200,G00 the amount of purchase
money agreed upon by the treaty; the
minority report on that bill quoted ap,,
Alaska as "Terre Incognito" and that
persons we'll informed as to Alaska are
ungrateful enough to hint that we could
Siam Bombay for one-hundredth part
of the money, with not ten-thousandth
part of the expense incurred In Keeping
the animal in proper condition.
The minority report proceeded to say
that: THE committee having considered
the various questions involved and the
evidence in regard to this country under
consideration are forced to the conclu-
sion that the possession of the country
is of no value to the government Of the
United States. That 1t will be a source
Of in of a
slant annual expense, for which there Will
be no adequate return. That 1t has no
capacity as an agricultural country. That
so far as known it has no value as
mineral country. That its trade is of in
significant 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 its fisheries it's 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 nation or nations of
savages in climate unfit for the habita-
ton of civilized men was not worthy OF
purchase. They therefore report the fol-
"Resoived. That it is inexpedient to APP
propriate money for the purchase of Rus
sian America 1.15
In the debate in the house a distin-
guished representative from Massachus-
ettS said: IF we are to pay for Russia
friendship .tt this is amount I desire to give
I have no doubt that any me within the
last twenty years we could have had
Alaska for the asking. providing we
except one insane enough to buy the
earthquakes OF ST. Thomas and the Ice
fields Of Greenland could be found to
agree to any other terms for it's acquisi-
To this treaty the opponents were i'll
the minority and that great rich territory
many mes over it's purchase price and
with phenomenal wealth yet undeveloped
is ours in spite Of their opposition.
LATEST ACQUISITIONS
In the last year we have added to the
territory of the United States the
Hawaiian islands-one of the gems Of the
Pacific ocean-containing 6740 square
miles; Porto Rico. containing. $500 square
miles; Guam. containing fifty square
miles, and the Philippine. archipelago. en-
sixth the size of the original thirteen
states. It is larger than the combined
area of New Jersey, Delaware. Maryland.
and the District of Columbia. 1t exceeds
in area all of the New England states:
1t is almost as large as Washington and
Oregon comb ned 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 W tn 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-thrds vote; while in
the house the appropriation of $4,000, coo
was made with little or no opposition. AS
! n 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 extlnguished
| 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 soyer-
eighty Of the United States I do not per-
NIT myself to doubt, They will prove n
rich and invaluable heritage I feel as
sured. That congress will provide for
blessings which Will promote their mater
ial interests as we'll as advance their peo-
pie in the path of civilization and 'ntell'-
gence. 1 confidently believe. They. will
J not be governed as yasSals or serfs or