The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-08-02
TERRITORIAL EXPANSION.
E. J. Carpenters Comprehensive Discussion ef wsghr Subject

coast Of 5000 miles, rockbound, cheer
less, and uninviting. and not q harbor
on it? What use have we for such a
country? Mr.. President. I will never
vote one cent from the public Treasury
TO place the Pacific coast one inch near
er to Boston than It is now"
Curious, indeed, do these speeches
sound in the light of the present day
and Just as queer. doubtless, will some
of the speeches of our times sound when
read fifty years hence. The unconscious
humor of much of this discussion
brightens history at any rate.
The dramatic story OF Marcus Whit
mans journey from Oregon to Wash
ington is briefly told but told as we'll
as IL has ever been. It is worth re-
peating more than once. The man who
in the dead of winter, Travelled 4,00c
miles by saddle horse and stage. jour
ney which consumed five months and
had to be taken over the toughest trails
in the country. saying simply that his
life was but little worth IL he could
save Oregon to the American people
deserves to live as one of the heroes of
our history.
The striking quality of Mr.. Carpen-
ter's style is, in fact. its dramatic quail
ity. He possesses the faculty. not too
common in historians. of being able to
tell straight story simply and yet
with feeling for effect. In his con-
Guiding chapter, on Cuba and the Phil
ippines, he is of necessity compelled TO
put a great deal into a few paragraphs.
This is the way in which he disposes of
the Spanish war. and it is very we'll
done:
The events of the next hundred days
(from the declaration Of war; belong
to the general history OF the country
and of the world 1t is the story of
the full bursting. Of the day of wrath
the story of the final extinction of the
Spanish monarchy, in blood and smoke
and ruin The first decisive blow for
the liberation of Cuba was struck. not
over the wreck of the Maine in Havana
Harbor. but at the antipodes. in repe-
tition of the history of 1852; and this
time Manila and the Philippines passed
forever from the hands of Spain. The
expedition of General Merritt. sent out
from the port of San Francisco to
strengthen the hands of Dewey at Ma
Mia Bay. paused for a day at the Mari
anas. or Ladrone Islands. A cannon shot
in the harbor of Guam announced the
fall of Spanish rule in those islands
and the establishment of the control of
the United States. All the world smiled
when the Spanish governor of the ISL
ands sent note of apology for his fail
IRE to answer the salute his SEEM
ing neglect being caused by the lack Of
casting his clinched hands in air, he
looked on in grim despair to see the
flag of the United States replace that
-Of Spain over his empty fortress.
ION the third day OF July the tragedy
was completed before Santiago, when,
before the irresistible force Of the navy
of the United States the ancient empire
of Spain drew its last despairing gasp.
Even as Admiral Oquendo. crushed and
Inundated at the defeat Of the Armada,
staggered back to the shores of Spain
to scorn and death, so also the noble
ship which bore his name. the last of
the feet of Spain. IN wild. despair
cast itself upon the shore, and sought
its own inevitable wreck and ruin"
Naturally, there is at this time no
need Of recapitulating the history OF the
war with Spain, in any more detailed
fashion than this. and the way in which
Mr.. Carpenter has done it is a fitting
and graceful conclusion to his history.
Tahn he Do
Head.)