The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-22

| hearts OF these afflicted people, ana WILL
renewed effort they fought their mother
country until, with our aid, they
obliged her to yield; and the land which
four hundred years before, had sent out
the man who discovered new world
upon whose discovery it had ever since
based it's American claims, was forced
to give up the last memento of his zeal
and success and to retire forever from
this side of the Atlantic, 1t is not ne
cessary to review here the events which
followed, for they are too recent to need
repetition.
When the Cuban war, with all it's nor
rors and it's destruction of life, was
over, we We're forced to take under our
guidance the care Of millions of strange
people And we are still struggling
with the problem of how to guide them
wisely and we'll 1t is not easy to per-
suade these islanders that we mean
well by them, and this in itself has
| greatly complicated matters.
But the result will repay our best eff
forts. Cuba is by size, by geographical
location, by wealth and variety of re-
| sources, by population and commerce,
and by contiguity to the United States,
the dominating island of the Antilles.
| It's natural advantages the sugar in
dustry, the raising of tobacco, fruits,
coffee, iry-farming, the timber lands
all offer great opportunities to the
| American people.
Relieved from the oppression of the
| tyrant, the Philippine Islands are now
| in a position conducive to the greatest
prosperity The opulence of these pos
| sessions cannot be estimated; hemp,
| coffee. tobacco, cocoa, sugar, rice, are
| among the many products of the fertile
soil, although through the incompetent
cy of Spain, the agricultural pursuits
are still in their infancy. So it is with
| the mineral products. Rich in deposits
! of gold, iron, coal, copper, the islands
have as yet got little revenue from the
great abundance.
Puerto Rico, contrary to the general
condition of SPANS colonies, has,
through the industry of her people, at
tanned to considerable growth and de-
velopment. The traveller through the
islands realizes what a wealth of arts
tic 1oveliness and fertile possibilities lies
in this land clothed with a livery of lux
uriant vegetation. One who has jour
neyed through the place tells of the
narrow valleys found mainly on the
northern side. east of the center), eleva-
ted above the sea a full thousand feet,
with perfect landscapes, soil In which
almost everything under heaven Will
grow, cool nights, bearable days, and
the whole of this idealstic conception
set off with filigree-Work of heaVing
clouds, wonderful rainbows overhang
ing the green of stately palms, waving,
broad-leaved banana plantations, food
and fruit trees, and jungle forests whose
odd growth and queer foliage lend
never-tiring charm to the scene.
With all this wealth fairly forced
upon US it would be the height of folly
for our country to hesitate for a mo-
ment over the question of expansion.
Here is an opportunity to extend our
commerce, our government, our institu-
tons Our growing industries (he sup
ply exceeding the demand) call for it.
Humanity begs for it, Morality de-
mands it. Our people must extend their
liberal ideas and views into those very
places where for so many years the
narrow conservatism of Spain-to call 1t
nothing worse-has taken root. Corrup-
ton must be stamped out of these is
lands, and the United States must do at
least this much towards civilization.
Nor Is it a new and unusual question
which now confronts US. In 1903, dur
ing the great political disturbance in
Europe, Napoleon offered President JEFF
ferson Cfor fifteen million dollars), what
was then called Louisiana. Our land
was then young-scarcely able to con-
troll its own small territory, much less
such a large and vast domain. But Mr.
Jefferson took upon himself the duty Of
expanding our country beyond the linn
its which even the most ardent and en-
thusiastic supporters of our govern
ment had ever. hoped to attain. 1t was
the first step towards expansion, and |
the result is that that district which |
Napoleon was forced to sell is to-day |
one of the most productive parts of the |
Union.
When Secretary Seward, in 1867, nego- |
tiated a treaty with Russia, by which |
that country agreed to cede to the Uni
ted States all her North American pos
for 100000, the proposition
not only failed to win popular favor, but
was generally condemned throughout
the country; and the purchase of the
great national refrigerator" as it was
called by the press, was Sc
verely censured everywhere. This cold,
barren land, in which the people argued,
there lived nothing but a savage horde
could surely be of no use to us; but, as
later years have shown, Alaska is one
of the richest mineral-producing coun-
tries in the world, and $1,000, 900 was
never spent with more profit
able results.
What has made England the most
powerful country in the world to-day?
Her colonies for the strength of Eng
land surely does not lie in those two
small islands west Of the continent of
Europe, but in BIER possessions in the
many different parts of the globe: !
Canada, on our own continent; India,
he most resourceful country of Asia
Australia, the island continent-combine
o give England a position from which
She can look down with pride and say
o the world that the sun, shedding
light and power on all nations, never
ets on the British flag
Expansion, then, is along the line of ]
advancement and progress. But 1t is !
lot for me to attempt to show you how {
his great intricate knot shall be I'M {
led. Perhaps we must first of all re- |
conquer these people. But a wise and {
lrm hand must soon right the difficult