Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-05

States. One consideration was that the
Cubans themselves were In practical
rebellion against the oppression OF
Spain, and consented and greatly de-
sired to be transferred to the United
States-aH parties contemplating such
annexation as the initial career OF an
ultimate new State in our union.
Hon. Pierre Soule, our minister to
Spain, YVES intrusted with this delicate
negotiation. At the suggestion OF the
President, our three ministers TO Spain.
France and England respectively.
Messrs. Soule, Mason and Buchdnan
met at Ostend for consultation and Is
sued a communication to their govern.
ment. In this they conveyed tnreat
to Spain that in self defense, 10 pre-
tect slavery in the Southern States
we might have to annex CUBA ps
force. But nothing came OF It and no
body paid any attention to IT, Inc
President thought SO little of the mani
festo that he did not even communicate
II to Congress, nor allow it to infiu-
ence his own conduct in the slightest
degree. Soule, mortified and chagrln-
neda by the failure of his pro-slavery
prounciamentos, resigned in disgust
and came home. This, as | understand
if is about the history of the Ostend
Manifesto. and the offer OF President
Pierce to purchase Cuba in 1854. what
light it throws on the present SITUATION
is. as | have said, more than l can ols-
Germ. Because three foreign ministers
of their own mere motion, and with no
more authority than three private clti-
zens. threaten Spain with forcible an
nexation of Cuba, lying right here at
orr own door, in self defense ana III
conformity to the prayers OF the Cu-
bans themselves we are to conquer us
tant islands and hold them without Tue
benefit of the European system Vi
colonial dependencies and vassalags'
When Seward, as Secretary OF Sta1f
under Andrew Johnson. acquired tne
territory Of Alaska, did he ever propose
or contemplate that we should nold l.
forever as a dependent province! MOI
he. The English language cannot De
more emphatic or expressive tnan MS
at that time Said he:
"By the Constitution Of the United
Staes. here are no subjects. EVERY clti-
zen of any State is free and equal CIT
izen of the United States. Again by
the Constitution of the United States
there are no permanent provinces or oe-
tendencies"
Alaska. therefore, by her birth-rlght,
is entitled to Statehood as soon as her
ncpulation shall justify and demand IL.
Nor does any honest-thinking person
doubt that all the provisions of the Con-
stitution of the United States extend
over territory and people which consul
tute an integral part of our Amrlcan
Union.
Next. we come to Gen. Grant. He was
a military hero, more like Achilles, VINO
denied that laws were made for HIM
self, than like Aristides, the Just. Grant
sent an envoy, and entered into negotla-
lions for the acquisition OF San DO
mingo, but did he propose to hold the
island as a conquered province? Not
bit of it, On tne contrary, in a message
to Congress on April 9Th, 1871, he dis
tinctly and emphatically declares: That
this acquisition, if accomplished, Will
add new lustre to the constellation or
States" Hence, as it appears, this Nc
Kinley administration is the first depart
ure from the American system. 1t
makes the first executive announcement
that we have abandoned Americanlsm
and have adopted the European system
Of colonial dependencies
The glamour of catch phrases has
threatened to carry the nation off its
feet: Expansion, World Power, New De-
parture, Benevolent Assimilation, Pro-
gress. What do all Of these catch
phrases amount to except to afford a
convenient mode of escape from the
inevitable conclusion that the Republl-
can party, with Mckinley at It's head,
is bent upon changing our form OF gov
eminent. With a boundless continent
at home to be settled, civilized, amalga-
mated and protected we are to go on
the war-path, and annex an archipelago
of Pacific islands, 5000 miles from our
capital and from the centers of civiliza-
ton. God forbid that America should
now embark upon any such mission, yet
according to Mckinley and the Republi-
can party, such is the voice of destiny
and the necessity of the hour.
World Power.
We have suddenly become a world
tofore we remained at home, and attend
ed strictly to our own business, or
sought, by familiar intercourse, and adj
vantageous treaties, to promote the in
terests of the American continent. Mr..
Blaine, when Secretary OF State organ
izea a Pan-American bureau, and rec
commended reciprocity treaties, which
were entered into with view to foster
the American spirit, with progress and
liberty as our watch-words, all under
the protecting agencies OF the Monroe
Doctrine. Now that policy is to be aban-
doned, and we are to become world
! Power" and our President is no longer
to be known as President of the United
States, but as President of the United
States Of America and Ruler OF the Pa
cific Islands. 1t was Wendell Phillips
who said THAT Yankees idea of he'll
was place where every man had tc
mind his own business" Now the pre-
vailing Republican idea is that these
| United States, instead Of attending tC
| their own business, are to leap across
seas and continents to interfere with anC
regulate the affairs of Asiatics, Chinese
| Malays and negroes.
| With Imperialism.
What is imperialism. 1t has been
| defined to be the exercise of unlimited
and unrestrained power. No such
power has been lodged by our form D.
government, either in State or nationa
authority. We have written consti
| buttons which restrict and limit this