The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-09-29

of Christendom, which has been going
on for centuries for the civilization
of the whole world; that is to say, for
extending the boundaries of Christen-
dom until the modern economic state
and the. international community of
states, governed by the principles OF
modern international law, shall be CO.
termnous with the world.
If we are to have any place in the
settlement of great questions which
must immensely affect our ultimate
prosperity as a manufacturing and ex-
porting nation, we must accept the
responsibilities of our geographical and
economic place in the world. There Is
no longer any Central Sea of Civlliza-
tion," as the Mediterranean was from
the days of Homer to the days of
Dante. There are two great civllizing
seas, and the United States, and the
United States alone, occupy the shores
Of each, in the most favored one. The
Atlantic and Pacific have pre-deter-
mined for us our place in the world.
Down to today our progress has been
fashioned by the Atlantic. 1t has been
the 'civllizing sea-" as the Mediter-
ranean was before. Now the Pacific
becomes the active agent of civiliza-
tion also. We felt it first on our west
ern coast. The Far East began to feel
its influence when japan opened her
doors to the world. China cannot now
Df lO
will be contributors to the civilization
of the East. There will be the same
sort of action and reaction between
the United States and Asia in the fu-
ture as there has been between the
United States and Europe in the past.
The taking of the Philippines, the as
suning of our proper position along
side the other nations in the Chinese
| difficulty, are only symptoms Of ten
dency which we can no more control
! than we can the movement of the
tides. The seas are our highways, and
America occupies a position with re-
gard to them such as no other ma
| tion has ever occupied. Both the
Atlantic and Pacific are great Medl-
terraneans, and we live on the shores
| of each. We possess all the advan-
| tages of a great continental position
and all the advantages of a great in
sular one. We are already the great
est continental power and we possess
every facility for becoming the great
| est sea power.
Were l to be asked what is the most
| important fact in our national history
since our birth as a nation, I should
say the fact Of growth, or, as it Is
| called today, expansion. AS compared
with this, all other facts are second
| airy and symptomatic only. The same
| conditions which led to continental
| expansion (now that the sea is no
| longer a limit, but a pathway lead
to expansion beyond the continent,
| just as in the case of Alaska they led
to expansion beyond immediate con-
| tiguity. If we are to hold our own in
the worlds market, to guarantee to
ourselves that outlet for .our manu-
| factured goods without which we can
never realize the opportunities we pos
| SNSn III Jul WHAT anu tOlLOH IelUS,
in our coal and iron mines, in our tre-
mendouS tracts of grazing land, in our
capacity not only to produce the raw
material for the world but to manu-
facture it for the world as well-we
| must welcome and not repel expan-
sion. If the taking of this position be
| Imperialism, which is the strange name
that has been foisted upon it by the
men who are afraid of being called
jingOes, then l believe that, instead
of driving votes away from, it will
have the effect of inevitably attract
ing votes toward the Republican par
ty. If this be Imperialism, it is a sort
Of imperialism of which the American
people are not afraid, and the next
election will demonstrate that the vast
majority of Americans are imperialists
of this type.