Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-03-25
What to DO With Santo Domingo.

AAoueh sohiSN nat less uOlsy anu OO
streperous than formerly. a condition
OF things verging on, II not quite ap
preaching. anarchy still continues in
Santo Domingo. 1t Is only upon the
approach of American warships or the
landing Of American marines that any
semblance of order is maintained. With.
out restraining influences from the out.
side the lives and property of foreigners
are in almost constant peril The ques
tion what to do with the Dominicans
Is a perplexing one. 1t is intimated
that an official of our state department
will soon visit Santo Domingo TO make
a thorough investigation of conditions
there and report his findings to the
president, who may present to congress
a statement Of the outrages perpetrated
upon Americans and other foreigners
in that country, with a review Of the
many political disturbances, and re
quest authority of congress to land
armed forces and maintain order. 1t is
stated, however, that the administra.
ton entertains no scheme for the an.
neXation of Santo Domingo to this
country.
1t seems to be the general opinion
of the press of the country that we do
not want the Dominicans and that II
would be folly TO annex such a pack.
age of unadulterated trouble. The
Washington Post congratulates the ad.
ministration upon its determination to
avoid all traps laid for 1t by the various
Dominican factions" and the New
York Evening Mail sincerely hopes that
we shall not have to annex the island.
The Atlanta Journal, the Buffalo Ex-
press, the Macon Telegraph, the Phila-
delphia Ledger, the New Orleans
Times Democrat and the New York
Globe all denounce the annexation idea
The Philadelphia Ledger says that a
military occupation of Santo Domingo,
purely as an exercise of international
by present conditions" The Philadel
phia Record thinks that if we attempt
to police the island it will gradually
become a ward of our government and
says:
A government cannot play the role Of a
big policeman within the limits of another
state without becoming the protector OF
the latter. The sovereignty of region
resides where the power to preserve order
resides, and when one takes over the SOW
ereignty the territory usually goes with It,
Russia understood this fully when she
undertook to establish settled conditions
In and suppress the banditti of Manchu.
ria. A military administrator put TEN.
porarily' in charge of the administration
of Santo Domingo would be likely to un-
dergo a slow and gradual transformation
into subordinate of the bureau of in
sular affairs in the war department.
The Brooklyn Eagle thinks that there
is little hope for any Of the West In
dies except as wards of this nation"
and the St Louis GlobeDemocrat
which has advocated annexation OF
Santo Domingo for some time, says:
Nothing short of American supervision.
which will amount to virtual protec-
torate, will stop the orgies of the island s
ambitious politicians and their followers.
Rebellions come once or twice a year on
an average. Three are in various stages
| of activity or inactivity in the island at
| this time There is a chance that the par
| ticular band of rebels who murdered the
| American engineer two weeks ago did this
| with the hope of forcing annexation. But
| whether annexation would please or dis
| please those brigands 1t will have to
| come in the very near future. There are
| excellent reasons for saying that the vast
majority of the people of Santo Domingo
| are Just as favorable to annexation now
| as they were a third of century ago. In
| Grants time. A few implacables in the
| senate defeated annexation then. When
! the question comes up again there Will be
no hitch in the proceedings and events
| are shaping themselves so that annexa-
ton will be very live issue at very
early day.