The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-01
HOW THE UNITED STATES
 HAVE EXPANDED.
By Dana c. Munro.
CHAPTER xII

rtni, cd ststss have entered upon new period in the history of expansion. Ere 'vious to this time the acquisition ot new territory. was in accoroanSe wh ah aar,t sce ed to reserve for American soverelsnty the continent of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the history oI o annexations and PurSnasssS a, sara psior pos. s0 session has been preceded by economic conquest; the territory in question prac- tica1ly became by occupation anu oevei- opment a portion of the Amerlcan system y. union. Even Hawaii, whose annexaton may fairly pc regarded as one of the con sentences of the Spanish war. was an American community. n so on,,.ss raI as sson 'Is is concerned, before 1t became terrttortaiiy portion ofthe United States.
 But with the late war new conditions have arisen. Political union instead oi following has gone far in advance Of eco- homie assimilation, and in this manner we have prese nted to us a series of prob. lems, the solution of which Is in ftseif oi great difficulty and receives little aio
 It cannot be denied that the possession of these vast territories in the Indies was thrust upon us by the fortunes or war. Certain 1t is tnat lo 6sfore the .rao memorao,e e the Philippines was as far as possible from the expectation or desire of the American people. There is little doubt. national iona s pride ' and the obligations im- posed by conquest the American people would experience great relief if an ar rangement could be effected which would honorably free us from the responsibili- extent and unfathomed possibilities.
 With Cuba the case is somewhat differ ent. While it cannot be said that up to the time of the Spanish war Cuba had been in any considerable degree Ameri- canized or that her industries had come under the control and direction. of Amer fcans, yet those industries were 50 de- with the United States that the destinies of the two countries had long been mex tricably bound together, and IT was im- possible that the. American republic should be. at any time indifferent to the fate of her unfortunate neighbor.
 Projects for the annexation of Cuba had from time to time come forward. Du- ring the first half of the century such a of the Northern States. opposed to the extension of the slave area, At a later period, after the issue of the great sec tional struggle had united under a com country, the acquisition of Cuba even with the acquiescence of Spain would have aroused much opposition. During the century and a quarter of our exist ence we have never contemplated any modification of our system that would admit into our roliticai association group of people to whom we were un- Tng on ns to s1Snt Ishs fssr S pesSS pscS of DrSSs ship. To extend such rights to a people of wholly different ethnic affinities. whose political end social ideals and impulses were likely to be discordant with our own. was an. ordeal to which we were unwilling to submit our germanic tnstitu- tions. Yet the. time has arrived when the question must be met, for it has 1t possessed in connection with the an. |. nexaticn of Cuha ltf
 Spains utter inability to meet the prob- lens of modern colonial control forced vorable circumstances we might have been content with commercial supremacy In the Antilles and quite willing to fore go the political control which involved possible modification of our American sys- tenn. Such favorable conditions. however, did not exist. The long-protracted strug- gle or the Cuban people, which Spain was unable to bring to conclusion either by concession or by force, eventually forced the American, government into a position of active protest There was abundant material Justification for such action-the Imprisonment and killing of American cit- izens,. together with the destruction of American property the damage to Amer lean trade amounting to a hundred mill Hons yearly; these were sufficient cause for intervention. particularly as there
 
 The real causes for our armed protest, however, were not material. Considera- tions of pecuniary loss were submerged in the great wave of popular sympathy and indignation which rolled up to the halls of the national legisla ture. The hor- TOT inspired by the cruel measures of re- concentration, the policy of extermina- ton and devastation revealed by the re- ports of our consular agents furnished n motive of sentiment compared with which the record of material losses was as nothing. The tragic incident of the Maine was the spark that set the popular mind In conf'agration. Yet even here. in spite Of the enormous pressure of popular in- disnation, the governfrlent acted with commendable deliberation. For more than month the impatient public await ed the results of the Maine Investigation. Not until April 19 when the demands of the. President fer a peaceful, adJustment had been refused by the government of demand that Spain at once withdraw from Cuba. authorizing at the same time | the use of the land and naval forces of | the United States to enforce this demand. | Five days later war was formally de. | clared by Spain.
 The events of this four months war. which cost $lN,OOcO 900 and the lives of | repetition. On May 1 the battle of Ma nifa opened for us range of vast re- sponsibility A great archipelago. two- thiI ds as large as Spain herself. peopled
  were of European extraction, came into our keeping. On Nov. Is the island of Porto Rico, little larger than the com bined area of Delaware and Rhode Is- and 32S,077 peI sons of color, was turned over to our cchlucring army. On Jan. l. ls99 in accordance with the treaty of Paris, signed Dec. 10, 1898. the island of Cuba. with population of 1.6Sl.SS 70 per cent of which Is white Compare Wash ington, D. C., with 67 per cent of white was given over to us for temporary occupation, pending recon struction and preparation for the duties of Independent 1atlcnal existence.
 With the exception of the Philippines. for which we paid to Spain the sum of SO 00O, ,OO), no one of these acquisitions in- wolves considerations which are likely to prove sources of embarrassment. Porto Rico however, and Hawaii as we'll hay. ing come into our actual possession, are awaiting congressional action which shall determine their status in our bond of union. Shall they be received as territo- WaT with it's 1000 non-Aryan population out of a total of 1O9. 900; Porto Rico, with It's Spansh-negToid elements, so ignorant and perhaps so unappreciative of our na- line of n colonial empire, like the Brit ish with outlying scmi-autonomus mem hers living under tnc protection of the American republic and enjoying the priv ilepe of unfetteIed commercial intercourse and the unimpeded transmission of cap itaIo In this manner we should establish a svstem undeh which the Philippines, once freed Of the necessity of military dominion, might be ,'sa,. lncluded; or even at noIiticai Txperiment. If the twentieth centurv is destined to mean for us an enoch of external development We shall have provided system ;,,sieI to ,,r meet It's ter ,- itJi " .bo germ and nucleus of our na- |