The Topeka state journal., 1900-09-17
ROOSEVELT
WRITES LETTER.

Nafchez and Detroit
In 1903, under President Jefferson,
the greatest single stride in expansion
that we ever took was taken by the
purchase OF the Louisiana territory This
so-caIIed Louisiana, which included what
are now the states Of Arkansas. Missouri,
Louisiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas,
Nebraska, North and South Dakota.
Idaho, Montana and large part Of Col
orado and Utah, was acquired by treaty
and purchase under President Jefferson
exactly and precisely as the Philippines
have been acquired by treaty and pur-
chase under President Mckinley The
ed" the doctrine previously enunciated
by Jefferson in the Declaration OF 1nde-
pendence, was not held by him or by
any other sane man to apply to the IN
dian tribes in the Louisiana territory
which he thus acquired, and there was
no vote taken even of the white lnhab-
itantss not to speak of the negroes and
Indians, as to whether they were willing
that their territory should be annexed
The great majority OF the inhabitants
white and colored alike, were bitterly
opposed to the transfer An armed force
of Uniedt States soldiers had to be haSu-
~ sent into the territory to prevent in
surrection. President Jefferson sending
these troops to Louisiana for exactly the
same reasons and with exactly the same
purpose that President Mckinley has
sent troops to the Philippines Jefferson
distinctly stated that the Louisianians
were mot fit or ready for sef-govern-
ment," and years elapsed before they
were given self-gOvernment, Jefferson
appointing the governor and other ofi1-
cials without any consultation with the
inhabitants of the newly acquired terri
tory The doctrine that the .conStltu-
ton follows the flag was not then even
considered either by Jefferson or by any
other serious party leader, for IT never
entered their heads that a new territory
should be governed other than in the
way in which the territories of Ohio and
Illinois had already been governed un-
- - 4
the theory known by this utterly false
and misleading phrase was OTsly struck
out in political controversy at a much
later date, for the sole purpose Of justi-
flying the extension Of slavery into the
territories
JEFFERSONIAN ANALOGY
The parallel between what Jefferson
did with Louisiana and what is now be-
ing done in the Philippines is exact JET
ferson, the author of the Declaration OF
Independence, and OF the consent OF the
governed doctrine, saw no incongruity
between this and the establishment OF
government on common sense grounds
in the enw territory; and he rallied at the
stickIers for impossible application
OF his principle, saying, in language
which at the present day applies 10 the
situation in the Philippines without the
change of a word, though it IS acknoWl-
edged that our new fellow citizens are as
yet as incapable Of self-government as
children, yet some can not bring them
selves to suspend it's principles for
single moment" He intended that ultt-
mately self-government should be intro
duced throughout the territory, but only
as the different parts became fit for 1t,
and no sooner This is just the policy
that has been pursued In no part of the
Louisiana purchase was complete sell
government introduced for a number OF
years; in one part of it, the Indian Ter
ritory, it has not yet been introduced,
although nearly a century has elapsed
Over enormous tracts OF it, including the
various Indian reservations, with a ter
ritory in the aggregate as large as that
of the Philippines, the constitution has
never yet followed the dag;' the army
officer and the civilian agent still exer-
else authority without asking the con
sent OF the governed We must proceed
in the Philippines with tSe same wise
caution, taking each successive step as
it becomes desirable, and accommodate
ing the details Of our policy to the
peculiar needs of the situation But as
soon as the present revolt IS put down
and order established, it will undoubted-
" be possible to give to the islands a
larger measure of self-government than
Jefferson originally gave LOUISIANA
HISTORY OF EXPANSION
The next great step in expansion was
the acquisition of Florida This was
partly acquired by conquest and partly
most prominent figure in the acquisition !
It was taken under President Monroe,
the aftertime President John Quincy |
Adams being active in securing the pur-
chase
As in the case of the Philippines, Flor |
ida was acquired by purchase from /
SPAIN and in Florida the SeminoleS, who |
had not been consulted in the sale re-
bel1ed and Waged war exactly as some /
Of the TagalS have rebelled and WaSed |
war in the Philippines. The Seminole
war lasted for many years but Presl-
dents Monroe, Adams and Jackson de-
cIined for a moment to consider the |
question of abandoning Florida to the
Serninoles. or to treat their non-consent
to the government of the United States
as a valid reason for turning over the
territory to them
Our next acquisition OF territory was
that of Texas, secured by treaty after
L had been wreSted from the Mexicans
1y the Texans themselves Then came
he acquisition of California. New Mex
co, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Col
1rado and Utah as the result of the
war. supplemented five years
ater by the Gadsden purchase.
The next acquisition was that of Alas
"a, secured from Russia by treaty and
purchase Alaska was full Of natives,
some of whom had advanced well be-
zond the stage of savagery and were
Christians They were not consulted
about the purchase, nor was their ac-
IuIescence required The purchase
vas made by the men who had just put
through a triumphant war to restore
he Union and free the slave; but none
# them deemed it necessary to push
he doctrine of the consent OF the gov
rued' to a conclusion so fantastic as
o necessitate the turning over Of Alas
"a to its original owners. the Indian and
he Aleut- For 80 years the United
states authorities, military and civil,
Exercised the supreme authority in a
ract of land many times larger than
he Philippines, in which it did not seem
fkeIy that there would ever be any con-
iderable body of white inhabitants
THE INSTANCE OF HAWAII
Nearly thirty years passed before the
lext instance of expansion occurred.
= Of "a A.
fort was made at the end of President
1arriSoH'S administration to secure the
nnexatfon of Hawaii The effort was IN
uceessfuI In a debate in congress on
February ?. 1894, one of the leaders IN op-
lOsing the annexation of the Islands.
tated, These islands are more than 2,e00
niles distant from our extreme Nestern