The Washington herald., 1908-02-14
THE MAINE EXPLOSION
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

By FREDERI
Tomorrow the anniversary Of the de-
struction of the battle ship Maine closes
a decade fraught with momentous conse-
quenees TO the United States. The
decorations of the explosion which on the
morning of February -, 1895, sunk the
Maine and killed and drowned 260 of her
crew reverberated to the farthest shores,
and the awful thrill of the tragedy car
ried conviction throughout the world that
IL was but the beginning of a long drawn
out and a bloodier drama in which two
nations would be the actors. a swift sue
cession of event brought the war between
tie United states and Spain. Assuming
The aggressive, the United States struck
Spain crushing blows in two of her great
est dependencies, Cuba and the Philip
pines. The naval forces of Spain were
swept from the seas Of those islands and
her armies beaten TO subsection. Spain
asked for terms, a protocol was agreed to,
and a peace conference arranged between
the belligerents.
July % Spain had asked FOR terms. July
50 the United States named the terms.
August 30 they were accepted. These
were the terms: Spain 90 relinquiSh ali
claim Of sovereignty over and title 10
Cuba to cede to the United States the
island of Porto Rico and other islands
then under Spanish authority. and also
an island ia the LadrOnes 10 be selected
by the United States. that the United
States should occupy the city, bay. and
.harbor of Manila pending the conclusion
of the treaty of peace which treaty
should determine the control. disposition,
and government of the Philippines to
Immediately evaCuate Cuba, Porto Rico,
and other islands under Spanish soyev-
eighty in the West Indies.
The protocol provided for the appoint
meut of Spanish and American evacuation
commissioners: also for five Spanish and
i've American commissioners to frame a
treaty of peace, meeting not later than
October l. 1885. August u. Secretary of
State William r. Day and Jules CambOn.
the French Ambassador 10 the United
States. acting for Spain. signed the proto-
col. From October l until December 10
the peace commission sat at Paris ana
on the last day attached their signatures
TO the treaty. BY its terms Spain relin-
Quished Cuba ceded Porto Rico to the
United States, ceded the Philippines upon
the payment of S25,o00o00 in compensation,
and agreed, 10 other stipulations of a
minor nature. April Il. after the Spanish
Cortes and the United States Congress
had approved the treaty. the Queen
Regent of Spain and the President Of the
United States exchanged ratidcations.
With the close OF the war with Spain,
the eyes of the world turned upon the
United States with a keeuer interest than
ever before. Older nations which had for
centuries praCtiCcd the policy of terri
tOrial expansion. and striven to govern
colonial dominion for the best interests
of the mother countries looked with
eager curiosity TO see how the United
States would set about the great task
imposed by the results of the war. II had
brought expansion of the territory of the
United States out into the Atlantic to the
utmost island of the Great Antilles and
200 miles across the Pacific, taking the
flag and the authority Of the republic
almost to the shores of Asia. II carried
American dominion over an archipelago
embracing 20)0 islands. stretching north
and south 2,4oJ miles. and east and west
200 miles-islauds covering i'm their cir
conference 705.OO square miles with an
aggregate habitable area Of H. 800 square
miles, and inhabited by nearly 7.o10000
people-black, yellow. brown, and white
more alien TO the citizens of the United
States than any Of the varied races Of
men that have ever come 70 American
shores.
So absorbed is the average citizen Of
continental United States IN affairs att
home that he is prone 10 give but a pass.
!ng thought TO the magnitude of respou-
sibility assumed by his country as q re-
suit of the short war with Spain. We
seem scarcely TO realize how conspicuous
we have become upon the international
stage. For little more than a century
the Old World has looked with growing
interest upon the progress and deveIop-
ment of the United States. and within
the last decade it has been immersed in
wonder at a new display Of American au- |
dacity Little do we really appreciate the
significance of this universal concern. 1t
beholds us with an unsettled race prob |
lem which had SO distracted US forty !
eight years ago that We fought each /
other for four years, yet did not hesi- /
tate ten years ago 10 assume q more com
plicated race problem.
The best authority on the Philippines /
and how we have succeeded there is un-
coubtedly Secretary of War William II /
Taft He was the first civil governor of /
The archipelago. and his administration /
was such as TO command the respect and /!
win the affection OF the Filipinos 1
They came TO believe that he was sin |
cerely their best friend. Under his direc- /
uon the form of government under which /
the Philippines now live was given life |
and impulse. 1t is composed of a gov /
ernor and seven commissioners. of whom /
four are Americans and three Filipinos; /
three executive departments-interior, |
hnanee. and justice; commerce, and po- /
lice and public instruction: a supreme |
court with seven judges and fourteen
Judicial districts. There are thirty-nine /
provinces, with governor over each.
lH March of last year President Roose-
welt, I'm pursuance Of an act Of Congress.
directed the Philippine Commission 20 call
q general election of delegates 10 a Philip-
pine Assembly, which was accordingly
chosen on July % following. Secretary
Taft went 10 the Philippines to attend the
opening Of the first legislative effort under
American tuteIage-the first most imnor-
tant step toward self-government. Some
thing of the variety of people represented
in the assembly is indicated in the fact
that its seventy-nine delegates represent
seven different political parties or fac
tons.
Secretary Taft spent nearly q month in
fHn phiIinniuaa ana L-nnn III. ...t..... - |