Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-04-06
How Uncle Sam Hath Crown!

When few days ago Rear Admiral James H. Oliver hoisted the American flag over the group of islands here 1 tofore known as the Danish West h. dies he added another stone to the great structural fabric that rightly may be called the American empire. It is just an even 50 years since the United States first reached out for possessions beyond the territory com prlsec within the republic proper. NOW our possessions encircle more than half the globe. It takes daring eagle and big flag to cover posses slons like these. But our bird and banner are already high on the breeze. During the past few years the hand Of destiny has been rapidly rounding the galaxy into a symbol of national power
 ] The first of Americas foreign pos- sessions is Alaska, which was acquired by purchase from Russia in 1S67 1 When Secretary Seward closed his negotiations for paying $7,200,0O0 for Alaska, great was the howl of Ameri- cans. In those days the anti-exten- sion patriots little dreamed that the great white elephant of the North would some day develop into one of the richest mining countries in the world.
 1 When good old Captain Cook dis covered the Hawaiian archipelago, which he named the Sandwich islands, he little thought he was preparing the way to enlarge the boundaries of the 1 fo1 on the route from San Francisco and Vancouver to China and Japan, about 2,100 miles from the American coast, they are important possessions for our government. The islands possess additional interest just now because of Germans connection with them in days gone by. In 1888 martial law was declared by Germany seeking control of the islands. In 1898 Hawaii was annexed to the United States by join resolution of congress.
 The war with Spain added to the l insular possessions of the United States the Philippines, with an area, of 114,95S square miles; Porto Rico, with an area of 3,435 square miles, and the Pacific island of Guam, hav- ing an area of 210 square miles. 1 Tutuila, with several attendant in lets of the Samoan group, became a possession of the United States by 1 virture of the tripartite treaty with Great Britain and Germany in 1899. Commercially Tutuila is of little i'm 1 portance, but it possesses the most valuable island farbor, Pago-Pago, in l the South Pacific, and perhaps in the entire Pacific ocean.
 Far out in the Pacific the American flag is flying over a number of scat tered small islands, some hardly more than rocks or coral reefs One of the most important is Wake island. over which the United States flag was hoisted on July 4, 1898. It is a small island in the direct route from Hawaii to Hong Kong. Among the other Pacific islands in possession of the United States are Christmas, Star
 buck. Penrhyn, Gallego, Rowland. Baker, Gardner, Johnston, Midway, Palmyra, Morell and Marcus islands.
 To Alaska and the insular posses sions of the United States should be 1 added the Panama canal zone, with an ear of 436 square miles, which was delivered into the perpetual control of this country under treaty stipulations with the Republic of Panama. l Requirement of the Danish West In- dies has made no great addition to the territorial possessions of the United States so far as mere area is concerned, but the islands are pos-I sessed of rich natural resources and are even more important from the viewpoint of naval strategy particu- larly since the opening of the Panama canal The largest of the group is St. Croix, with an area of a little more than 100 square miles. Next in size and importance are St. Thomas and St. John.
 The area of the 13 original states comprised S92,136 square miles. This area was almost doubled by the Louis iana purchase in 1903. Further enor-l nous accessions of territory resulted from the acquisition of Florida, Texas, Oregon, the Mexican cession of 1848, and the Gadsen purchase in 1853 The additions of the last half century, in- l cluding Alaska, Hawaii, the Philip | pines, Porto Rico, Samoa and the lesser islands, together with the Pan anna canal zone, have increased the total area of the United States to B.