Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1901-03-28
WHAT HAS HAPPENED.
Unlock Events That Have
Transpired Under the McI<in-
ley Administration.

cOur years ago no one dreamed
that the incoming administration
would be called upon to embark upon
the unknown seas of Worldwide. af-
fairs. The cloud over Cuba appeared,
but few men thought it would result
in war between the United States and
Spain. For more than year Presi-
dent Mckinley resisted the influence
that bore abe country into the con
tiict over Cuba, and he only yielded
when the whole country seemed to
desand that the United States
should intervene to put an erd to
Spanish outrage. Ghe early tcrIni-
nation of thes1var and the settlement
by treaty gave us the Philippines,
where our first naval battle was
fought. MANY assume that it would
have been better to have left them
with Spain to sell to some European
government, but there is reason to
believe that, as the months pass, the
opinion is gaining that it is better
in every way to hold the archipelagc,
not only for our own good but for
the good of the natives and the well
fare of the world at large.
A few months after the ratification
of the treaty of Paris the question of
the future of China assumed much
Importance. The scheme most talked
of was the partition of China among
the powers. While that discussion
was going on the president secured
a treaty from all the governments
that the United States should have
the same rights in the markets of
China as the governments that might
control the territory. Then came the
outbreak in China. Our great success
in the affair with Spain and our
holding of the Philippines gave this
country an advantage and an int1u-
ence it would not otherwise have had.
We were able to he among the first
to land troops in China to rescue the
foreigners. Our seasoned troops, with
their experienced commanders, were
the most effective while the conflict
lasted, and tSe most orderly when it
was over. We won the good will of
the silent Chinese hy being the only
nation which did not loot and by in
sisting upon fair treatment for that
nation. The most prominent factor
in the assemblage of powers. we have
prevented the dismemberment of
China and Influenced the nations to
treat that people with something of
humanity. Whatever ii may be to us
in commerce, no candid person who
informs himself can doubt that our
possession of the Philippines has al
ready been beneficial to the natives
and that our hold of Cuba is for the
advantage of the Cubans.
This unlooked-for participation and
potential influence in worldwide
events, so unlocked for four years
ago, is the natural sequence of our
going out of our ustomed orbit TO
rescue Cuba. Whether we approve or
disapprove, it cannot be denied that
this sudden appearance in the worlds
affairs has been most successful. No
other nation that could have kept out
of international affairs could have en-
tered and been a potential leader in
three short years IN the greatest
events in which the nations have been
called to participate. Great Britain's
participation in foreign affairs as a
world power for generations has not
given it more power in the councils
of the nations than has come to us
within four years. Are those who
study this wonder in national devel-
opment to be regarded as irreverent
because they call these achievements
l?-Indianapolis journal.