Evening star., 1935-02-17
BY HENDRIX wILLEM VAN LOON.

had seen in both places
had impressed me tre-
mendously and had given me a sense
of pride bordering very closely upon
a sort of nationalistic cocksureness.
Looking at Oahu in the dim dis
tance Honolulu is on the Island of
Oahu, and not on the Island Of Ha-
waii, although it is the largest one of
the Hawaiian Islands, and please pro-
nounce both ''i's'D. got into CONVEX
sation with an English fellow pas
senger
At first We merely compared notes
upon the English and the French and
the Dutch and the American systems
of colonization, and then quite nat
urally we drifted into the wider sub
ject of imperial expansion.
"Ah. yes" said my English friend
but that is where we have got you"
AS I told you a moment ago, 1t was
Immediately after our visit to Homo
lulu and to the Canal Zone. and I still
felt a glow of achievement when
thought of the things I had seen and
heard there. and so, with perhaps a
slight touch of arrogance, said,
And might I ask you why We, too
should not have 60 at the profitable
business Of running little empire of
our own? 1 think that If you will
look at the map you will have to agree
with me that We have not done so
badly so far. And in a remarkably
short space Of time. too."
Emperor Declared Needed.
He hastened to placate my outburst
Of patriotism.
Don't misunderstood me-" he said,
land don't take this amiss. I fully
realize, and so do most foreigners,
that you have done wonderfully well
in these islands of yours in the Pa
cif1c; and as for the way the Canal is
run, it is an object lesson for all of
us. Efficiency without fuss. 1t could
not be done better. But there is all
the difference in the world between
managing few widely scattered
colonies and following a definite i'm
perial policy extending over years and
even centuries. In order to do that
you lack just one thing"
And that iS?"
"An emperor" he replied. mo one
would dream of making chicken la
king without chicken, or real turtle
soup without real turtle. How, then,
can you ever hope to be an empire
without single universal head? I
don't want to be rude, but try and
answer me that the next time you
look at the map of your far-flung pos
sessions. You have all the ingredients
you need except one for the proper
business of empire building. But the
one ingredient you lack happens to be
the most important of all. I am very
sorry, but there it is''
The man was right. theoretically
there was not single argument upon
which it seemed that could base my
answer. But in history, theory and
practice are two very different things.
As I shall now try to make clear to
you and to myself as we'll.
Now. do not claim that history is
an infallible teacher, but If there is
one thing the old lady has shown us
beyond the shadow of doubt it is the
fact that there never has been a single
imperial nation which did not start
out upon its career loudly disclaiming
any and all intentions of annexing
any part Of its neighbors' territories.
I am willing to go on any platform
and debate this subject with all
comers. Rome, England, Russia, Hol-
land, Spain-all the great empire
builders of the past and the present
were originally small and self-con-
tanned states to whom the very idea