The Yale expositor., 1910-11-25

an island that temporarily
deserted by its foster parent, the
United States, is an easy prey for
the wandering cruiser of any nation
that may want to kidnap Pacific
naval base.
The American flag still floats over
the island of Guam, but the greater
part of the governing and protective
force recently sailed away to Manila
for its annual vacation trip. EN-
barked on the station ship Supply,
which constitutes the entire navy OF
the island, the governor, most OF the
marines and American officials LETT
Agana.
For the next few weeks, while the
Supply is being overhauled at Manila
and the island officials are recuper-
ating at Philippine health resorts,
Guam will be permitted to work out
its own salvation, protected from In
vasion only by handful of marines
and the majesty and authority OF the
Stars and Stripes. But should any
nation or any filibustering expedition
proceed upon the idea that the United
States is trying to lose" its little
possession, it would find that it had
acted upon an entirely wrong theory
This country is very busy just now
trying to work out certain problems
in Guam which may ultimately make
that island a valuable part OF the ma
tional domain. Were the little speck
of land to be turned over to some
other nation now it would be. with a
peck of troubles accompanying 1t that
would cast lasting suspicion over
the efficiency of American civiliza-
ton.
For Guam not only remains the
most unique of the insular acquisi-
ticns of Uncle Sam, but it has been
found that in proportion to its size
and Importance it can furnish more
troubles and perplexing- problems
than all the other island possessions
that the Spanish war forced upon us.
A concrete example of the speed
with which the cost of living, the
rush of farmers to the cities and the
chase of the almighty dollar" in
CIGdbt dS AllCIiCdHc dldM hCdi, NhCA
is no equal to this little Gem of the
Mariannas," lying just off the track
of American-Japanese ocean travel.
When all OF these evidences of civili-
cation strike a land only thirty miles
long and six miles wide, and which
has never been self-supporting, they
produce situation guaranteed to give
sleepless nights to those intrusted
with it's solution.
The trouble with Guam is not only
that it has never been a selfsupport-
ing country, but that American civili-
cation. so called, has introduced some
ideas of living that are complicating
the situation more and more every
day. The cost of ordinary supplies
has increased with jump; the sim
PIE Arcadian tastes" of the natives,
described by a former governor, have
been nursed into real American de-
sires and ambitions; and most seri-
Gus of all, there has been rush of
farmers to the city, which has COM
pletely depopulated the ranches.
They Quit the Farm.
And the lure of it all is the gov
eminent job. When the United States
took hold of the island, about seven
thousand of the eleven thousand ma
tives lived in the town of Agana; but
every family had It's ranch and made
It's real living out of the soil. When
the Guamite first heard of "a days
work on a government job" he didn't
appreciate its significance. He had
no use for money and continued to
squeeze his living out of the island
soil, the only method he knew of OBJ
tanning II.
With naval repair shops, a water
works system, bridges and roads I'M
der process OF construction American
money began to circulate freely, and
the Guam native suddenly awoke TO
The full appreciation of the advan-