Evening star., 1902-02-27

Jected by the preceding administration.
| There was a state of things In the Carib-
| bean which could not permanently endure
| Our neighbor's house was on fire. and there
! were grave doubts as to our rights and
'as esher an iasE rsaf
might have broughtarnm on himself and in
ealculable harm to the country.
sz Asai1 With crave Rasd9n Of Sf those who
tions. happen to say word which may
hour. But am here to give the opinion
s of eons ens S5 mm9
sSe: then that tas ysTd.cs s'a Of history ss viii s
be that iSs, he met s, a. shsse grave questions
to- the full height 81 q great OCCASION, in a
manner which redounded to the lasting
benefit Of the country and to his own Inn
mortal honor.
The least desirable form Of glory to
man Of his habitual- mood and temper-that
Of successful war-was nevertheless con-
| ferred upon him by uncomfortable events.
He felt 1t must come: he deplored it's ne
| cessity; he strained salmest to breaking his
relations with his friends; IN order, first,
etsst noabIe moment Bust Wben the die
| was cast he labored with the utmost en-
ergy and ardor, and with an intelligence In
military matters which showed how much
Of the soldier still survived In the mature
| statesman to push forward the war to
| decisive close War was an anguish to
| him: he wanted it. short and conclusive.
his subordinates. and the war, so long
dreaded, whose consequences were so mo-
mentous. ended in hundred days.
Mr.. stedman, the dean Of our poets. has
| called him "Augmenter Of the State" 1t
Is a proud title; If Justly conferred, it ranks
him among the few whose names may be
placed definitely and forever in charge of
the historic muse. Under his rule Hawaii
has come to US, and Tutuila; Porto Rico
and the vast archipelago Of the east. Cuba
is free Our position In the Caribbean is
assured beyond the possibility OF future
question. The doctrine called by the name
OF Monroe. so long derided and denied by
alien publicists, eyekes now no challenge
or contradiction when uttered to the world.
1t has become an international truism. Our
sister republics to the south of us are con-
vinced that we desire only their peace and
prosperity. Europe knows that we cherish
no dreams but those Of worldwide COM
meree the benefit of which shall be to all
nations. The state ia augmented, but It
threatens no nation under heaven. AS to
those regions which have come under the
+ shadow Of our flag, the possibility of their
being damaged by. such change Of cir
cumstances was in the view of Mckinley a
thing unthinkable. To believe that we
could not administer them to their advan-
taee was to turn tnfidel to American
faith Of more than hundred years
In dealing with foreign powers he will
take rank with the greatest of our diplo-
matsts. It was world OF which ne had
little special knowledge before coming to
! the presidency. But his marvellous adapta-
biIity was in nothing more remarkable
| than In the firm grasp he Immediately dis
| MIA we'd in International relations In pre-
barring for war and in the restoration Of
peace he was alike adroit, courteous and
far sighted. When sudden emergency dc.
clared ITSELF as In China, In state OF
things Of which our history furnished no
precedent and International law no safe
| and certain precept, he hesitated not a mo-
| ment to take the course marked out Tor
him by considerations OF humanity ana Tn ene
tions were fighting for their lives against
bands Of infuriahsd, fanatics. he decided
that we were at peace with emma; ana
while that conclusion did not hinder him
from taking the most energetic measures
to rescue our imperiled3 citizens 1t enabled
| him to maintain Close and friendly reia.
with the wise ana sten saSe that
Atom alton. He disposed Of every question as
arose with promn,ness aaSare ana eiaa,g ang ha H
never had occasion to. review Judgment
or reverse decision. -
BY patience, by frmress. by sheer reason SON
ableness, he improved our understanding
with ali the great powers Of the world,
and rightly gained the blessing whlch De-
longs to the peacemakers.
National Economical Developments.
Rut the achievements Of the nation In
war and diplomacy are thrown in the shade
by the vast economical developments Whlch
took place during Mr. Mckinley's admins
tration. Up to the time OF his hfst eiec-
ton the country was suffering from a long
period of depression. the reasons OF whlch
I will not try to seek. But from the mo-
ment the ballots were counted that be.
| tokened his advent to power a great ana
momentous movement In advance declared
itself along all the lines OF industry and
| Of H..
guration steel rails began to be sold at sls
a ton-one Of the most significant facts OF
modern times. It meant that American IN
dustries had adjusted themselves 10 tne e
, the race to organize and combine, st1mu-
, lated by the conditions then prevailing, and
, perhaps by the prospect OF legislation favor
, able to industry, America had begun to
undersell the rest of the world. The move
ment went on without ceasing. The Presi-
, dent and his party kept the pledges OF their
Bill was speedily framed and set in opera
ton. All industries responded to tho new
stimulus and American trade set out on ITS
new crusade, not to conquer the world
GUS to all concerned. will not weary you
with statistics but ono or two words seem
necessary to show how the acts Of McKin-
fer fessions M as % candidate. late. His His four years Of
, administration were costly; We carried on
war which, though brief, was expensive.
AltnOugn we borrowed TWO nunoTeO hill
!. lions and paid our own expenses, without
asking for indemnity, the effective reduc-
ton Of the debt now exceeds the total Of
. the war bonds. WApay six millions less In
: interest than We did before ,Ine war and
J no bond Of the United States yields the
! holder per cent on its market value: So
much for the government credit; and we
. have five hundred and fortysix millions of
gross gold In the treasury.
But. coming to the development OF our
. trade in the four Mckinley years. we seem
to be entering the realm OF fable. In the
last fiscal year our excess OF exports over
: imports was 1904, ,5o2, 800. In the last four
years It was 81, ,354, Az, ,213. These figures
are so stupendous that they mean little to
careless reader-but consider! The excess
Of exports over imports for the whole pre-
ceding period from 179O to 1S97-from
Washington to McKinley-was only 1885,
| SO6, ,s22.
the sanguine Mckinley advocates five years
ago are left out Of sight by these sober
facts. The debtor nation has become the
chief creditor nation The financial cen
ter OF the world, which required thousands
Of years to journey from the Euphrates to
the Thames and the Seine, seems passing
to the Hudson between daybreak and dark.
! I oato {rno hU a in I'M