Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/triumphantameric01hals I 9 AND Triumphant America AND Her Mew Possessions INCLUDING AN ILLUSTRATED Li TORY OF Porto Rico, Hawaii a id the Philippines, and of e lr Sister Republic Cuba, Created b 7 the Chivalric Response of merican Valor; A History an 1 Description of the Propped Isthmian Canals, Panama and Nicaragua, and dstory of American Expansion, from the 1 iginal Thirteen States to America’s C m- manding Position as 2 V'orld Power. BY MURAT HALSTEA > Historian and Journalist SPLENDIDLY ILLUSTRATED AND FOUR / OS IN LOLORS SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONI COLONIAL PUBLISHING C APANY, MAKERS Or FINE BOOKS CHlCAGCi U. S. A Copyrighted, 1899, by H. L. BARBER. Chicago, 111., (J. S. A. Inscribed Co tfye farmer ^atfyers of tf?e Republic of tfye Uniteb States, Cfye Cxpanbers of our Dominions tDitfy Bigfyt anb XTtigfyt, Compelling Civilization mitfy Cf?e Ctxe, tfje Biflc anb tl)c piotv, Bloving H)est tfje Center of Population ©f tfye (Slorious XTation 3n tf?e Course tf?e PoebPropfyets D7arkeb on tb?e Soil anb in tf?e Sky $ox tfye Stars of (Empire, ©iving ©ceans for Bounbaries ©f tfye £anb Provibcb for Cfyeir CF}ilbren, tDitfy tfye Policy of Hen? Possessions Beyonb tfje Seas, 3nclubing tf?e Creasure 3slanbs ©f all tfye ^ones of tf?e ■Hortfjern pemispfyere $or Ctll tl}e People of dll tfye States dccorbing to tf?e Cogic of £)istory anb tfye Duty of Destiny. AUTHOR’S PREFACE This Pictorial History of Our New Possessions is a growth of current history. We were rushed into the war with Spain by the irrational obstinacy of the Spaniards, who were embarrassed by a Dynasty and a Tradition. The Dynasty was repre- sented by an Austrian woman, the Queen Regent, a good mother with a strong sense of personal dignity and public duty, and her baby boy, the son of the Spanish King who lost the girl wife of his youth and married a Grand Duchess of Austria for reasons of state. This youth, the child king, with the good woman his mother, appealed to Spanish chivalry and the pride of the race, the widowed mother and infant king being in their weakness stronger as the representatives of royalty than any strong man could have been. Spain has been unhappy in her revolutionary elements, and the constant threat of the pretender Don Carlos, and his adherents who hold him to be the legitimate and only constitutional monarch of the penin- sula. The Spanish dynasty in evidence has, therefore, been menaced on one side by a desperate body of murderous anarchists in the cities on the Mediter- ranean and the Atlantic, with just grievances enough to sustain a cause of rebel- lion, but whose remedies for wrongs have been the greater wrong of the dissolu- tion of the kingdom and the assassination of the organizers of order; and on the other side the agricultural districts of the Biscayan provinces and on the borders of the Pyrenees, the sturdy peasants whose ancient loyalty to the royal house commands them to be Carlists have been as a dark cloud. Thus there has been peril to the dynasty in the seaboard cities and the mountain gorges. The general sense of the heads of the Spanish Government, and the common instinct of the masses of the population, could not deal unencumbered with the devouring ques- tions evolved for the Peninsula by the insurrections in Cuba; and the impending close of the Spanish career in that island could not be permitted to appear in the light and be reckoned with on its merits, for the Carlists and other disorderlies were ready to take advantage of every misfortune — the inflammation of any pique of the people or prejudice vehement as shifty to overthrow the dynasty. The Tradition, holding on with all the force of an inveterate superstition, of Spain, was the vanity of dominion, and the political inability of the country to under- stand that the logic of the story of the independence of Mexico, Central and 9 10 AUTHOR’S PREFACE. Southern America, applied with irresistible force to the islands belonging to Spain in the East and the West Indies; and that the attraction of gravitation of the United States would soon determine the destiny of Porto Rico and Cuba at least. The stern old Spanish style had its latest embodiment in Cuba in Captain-General Weyler; and the plausible proclamations of benevolent policy of General Blanco were too late. In the midst of an extensive assortment of explosions came the blowing up of the Maine, and war flamed forth suddenly, though the cause had existed, flagrant, for two generations; and the consequence could have been fore- seen with glasses taking into account the elemental disturbances of the forward march of mankind, for many years, as certainly as the oscillating mercury visible in glass tubes, tells of the coming cyclone. Blanco’s Cuban experiences, instead of being that of pacificator and conquerer was confined to the evacuation of boasted fortifications, and his only success were his embarkation for Spain without being personally involved in the official ceremonies of inevitable surrender. “We, the people of the United States,” won by force of arips and the magnetism of our national prestige, the Spanish possessions in the West Atlantic and the West Pacific Oceans, on the American and Asiatic borders, and the momentum of the transfer carried with it the complications of the obstinately lingering obstacles to the final official occupation and possession of the Hawaiian Islands, pleasantly and properly termed in a popular way “The Paradise of the Pacific.” The current of our conquests was overwhelming, and the nations of the earth, the great powers of Europe especially included, gave the great Republic all the recognition possible by monarchial form and imperial deference, to a position grand as that of England, Germany or Russia. We took our place among the highest and foremost. Neither during the war in the waters and on the shores of the two Indies, one of which Columbus discovered while dreaming of the other, nor while peace making was going on in Paris between the American and Spanish commissioners, could Spain find help to aid her in the successive stages of her downfall. It was a war between one o'f the quick nations and one of the dead. Our vital forces controlled the essential situations, and the consummation was the cession of Porto Rico, the relinquishment of sovereignty over Cuba, and the consent that we had conquered and should dispose of the Philippines. This Volume of Six Books In One gives the story ancient and recent of the rich, beautiful and wholesome Island of Porto Rico, a possession amply worth all the war has cost us, leaving the rest clear gain. We find in this island, where the people were assured of the directness and permanence of the establishment of the sovereignty of the United States, contentment and peace, the good will of AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 11 the people in many ways manifested. It would have been a large advantage if our titles to Cuba and Luzon had been equally clear and perfected in the course of possession. Then we should not have been compelled to employ the varied process of preparing by predominating force, stable forms of Government for the mixed and difficult populations of our conquests. We have been at fault in a tenderness about the word “conquest/’ as if we had a square mile of land that we obtained with the “consent of the natives/’ with, perhaps, the exception of the tract for which that subtle statesman, William Penn, signed a treaty with the Indians. Here tire exception beautifully and formidably emphasizes the rule. We have to overcome the demonstrations of disaffection by the factions and the tribes, the soldiers of fortune and the adventurers in conspiracy, of Cuba and Luzon. In both were prepared elaborate pretenses of Government constructed for specula- tive purposes or experiments in local and native tyranny, by those who as insur- gents were enabled to hide their public character in the swamps and thickets of tropical forests until liberated by our triumphant arms. The people, so far as the inhabitants are worthy to be called by the name that distinguishes our own pre-eminent and sovereign power, the true people of Cuba and Luzon, are turning to us for protection from the petty despots who desire to succeed to the privileges and emoluments and persecuting cruelties that distinguished the domination of the discomforted Spaniards. It is our business, having driven off one swarm of bloodsuckers, to dispose of — using all necessary force to make the disposition final — those whose greedy and shameless ferocity appears in claiming on grounds not merely insufficient but outlandish, profligate and barbaric, the Spanish suc- cession to be continued and executed with reckless selfishness. That the Amer- icans may make way for the liberty of the inhabitants of our new possessions, they must do as was done in Manila when that city was stormed, the American forces driving the Spanish army into the walled city to be prisoners, with one hand, and wiping the Filipino horde, that were rabid for plunder and slaughter, into the jungles, with the other hand. We had a larger duty of this sort to accomplish, and, unfortunately, it has cost blood. Every drop of the blood of our country- men so shed seals an everlasting covenant of our dominion over the soil that it sanctifies. Hawaii and Porto Rico are absolutely and forever the property of the United States as much as Massachusetts, Florida, New Mexico, California, Oregon and Alaska. There are peculiarities about the Philippines that approve more and more as we get better acquainted with them the conservative wisdom of the Presi- dent, when he declined to take upon himself the responsibility of their final fate, referring the whole matter to the people, and, of course, the Congress, of the United 12 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. States, calling for testimony at the ends of the earth to inform the American com- mission in Paris, sending proclamations and orders, going to the extreme of con- cession to the Filipinos for the preservation of peace, even sending a civil com- mission to Manila to avert the conflict apprehended — the commissioners arriv- ing to find a state of war forced by the petty imitative tyrants of the large island. A book in this volume contains the attractive and enlightening matter of the Great Discussion that has taken place in both houses of Congress, on the platforms, and in the Press, of the engrossing and momentous question of Expansion — that is, the extension of the policy of the farmer fathers of the greater republic of more land for the people, to the islands of the great oceans, and from the Arctic and north temperate zones far into the tropics, going far beyond American waters, to hold in our hands the treasure islands of Asia — that we confront across the Pacific — the choicest archipelago of the East Indies, richer in natural resources and less incumbered by racial miscegenation, than the West Indies. The Philippine problem is one of the puzzles of civilization. We have selected that which fills the space devoted to the Discussion of Expansion, with conscien- tious impartiality, guided by the desire to give each side its strongest expression, and that the whole should be one of the most important and attractive chapters ever made up of the history of our country. The list of contributors includes the President, and both the living ex-Presidents of the United States, some of the most distinguished and brilliant members of the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, Andrew Carnegie, Carl Schurz, Henry Watterson and many others prominent and influential in public life. There has been no such illustration and exhibit as this volume comprises, in its books of the stories of the islands, over which half round the world our flag is flying in beauty and victory, resplendent under the southern constellations fluttering in the trade winds, the colors more radiant and the stars brighter than ever before. The books of our new possessions are as comprehensive as the expanded vision that sweeps the whole of the American horizon. If this grand Republicanism is Imperialism, make the most of it, for the word signifies the expression and consolidation of national power — the potentiality of the American People. We have so broadened the field of American achievement and ambition, that we send our regiments and ships of war both east and west to our Hew Possessions. We have dispatched five thousand of the regular troops that our anarchists and sickly sentimentalists go a-weeping about, through the Isthmus of Suez by the canal and down the Red Sea, and the transports that took them return across the Pacific. Leaving one side of our continent they come back AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 13 fo the other. What a tremendous object lesson, and how full of encouragement for the great and greater hereafter of the nation — the proud imperial Republic of the people! We are as Caesar was once imagined — “bestriding this world like a Colossus,” and the pigmies may play around our gigantic legs, if they please to behave themselves. We are interested alike in the Isthmus of Suez and the Isthmus of Darien, in the tawny deserts of one and the blue peaks of the other. We must in the interest of self-defense promote the completion of the essential waterways of the world, the demand for which becomes obvious when one glances at a globe. It is needful to America that the earth may be circumnavigated in tropical waters. There is no longer a necessity for ships bound for Asia from Europe to go around the Cape of Good Hope. A map of the American Hemi- sphere shows where the one slim streak of earth is to be severed, so that we of the nation that fronts on the Atlantic and Pacific may send our navies of peace and war from one side of our continental land to the other without the circum- navigation of South America. Hence the immediate interest in our book on the Isthmian Canals. We do not care whether the Panama or the Nicaraguan Canal is first finished. We want one or both. Either would do. The Hon. James R. Mann, representative in Congress of a Chicago district, has written a history of the Expansion of the United States, the most compre- hensive, thoroughly particular as to records and specific in all that is of national interest to the people at large, that has appeared. He prefaces it with these words, when reverting to the history of the consecutive and triumphal extension of our boundaries: “We have claimed the independence of our country for less than a century and a quarter. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence the extent of the territory claiming freedom under it was but little more than 400,000 square miles in area. Now our national sovereignty extends over nearly 4,000,000 square miles. Whence has come this increase? How have we acquired this territory? What is the history of this wonderful acquisition of national domain? “The school children of our land are taught with careful exactness the history of the discovery by Columbus; of the voyages of the Cabots; of the landing of De Soto; of the charter granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Walter Raleigh; of the story of the Pilgrim Fathers and their landing at Plymouth Rock; of James- town and the early settlements in Virginia; of the discovery and exploration of the Hudson River; of the patent of Maryland granted by Charles I. to Lord Baltimore; of t-he founding of the city of Providence, in Rhode Island, by Roger Williams, i 14 AUTHOR’S PREFACE. and the settlement of Pennsylvania by the Quaker* under the lead of William Penn, and their gentle amity with the Indians. “Every school history is full of information concerning the settlement and growth of the colonies which became the thirteen original States. We are all familiar with the story of the war of the Revolution. We have all recited the speech of Patrick Henry. We talk glibly about the principles declared by the Declaration of Independence and the provisions of the National Constitution. But what about the history of the growth of our country from an area of 400,000 to 4,000,000 square miles? And yet there is no more fascinating story in the world’s history. “The little strip of territory' along the Atlantic Ocean, with its sparse settle- ments, nowhere reaching the Gulf of Mexico, only touching the system of the Great Lakes, and barely crossing the Allegheny Mountains, has now expanded until it reaches from ocean to ocean, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico; until it has added to its charmed domain the great coast line of the Northern Pacific Ocean and the Islands of Hawaii.” We commend this book of the glorious growth of our country, as one that should be in all the libraries and all the schools. It is the true and full story of the expansion of the nation and fitly crowns the Majestic Edifice of American History. CONTENTS AUTHOR’S PREFACE BOOK I. -PORTO RICO. INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. The Island Is Ours Without the Annoyance of the Wolves and Wildcats of Philippine Politics — Porto Rico Determined Upon as a Second Objective Point in the War with Spain in the Western Hemisphere — Correspondence Between General Miles and the War Department Relative to the Porto Rican Campaign — Long to Sampson — The President Interposes, and Sampson and Miles Are Satisfied — Miles Leads the Campaign, and It Progresses Smoothly, with Little Loss. CHAPTER II. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. Size of Island in Comparison and in Figures — Comparison of the Island with Cuba — Porto Ricans a Better Class of People than Are the Cubans — Island Has Not Suffered from Spanish Rule as Much as Has Cuba — One of the Fairest Gems of the Ocean — American Flag Raised Over the Island Amid the Cheering of the People — Revenue and Expenses of the Island Government — Island Rich in Costly Native Woods — Home of the Tropical Fruits — Scarcity of Wild Animal Life, but Pestiferous Insects Are Plentiful — Rich in Minerals — Extensive Commerce with the Great Nations — Coffee, Sugar and Tobacco Leading Products and Exports — Healthiest Climate in the Antilles- — In Density of Population Ranks First in the West Indies — Extracts from United States Military Notes — Soil and Climate — Wet and Dry Seasons — Breezes, Winds and Hurricanes — Principal Mountain, River and Harbor — Cities and Towns — Highways and Railroads — Interesting Features of San Juan, the Capital and Principal City 15 , 9-14 . . 35-37 .. 38-50 51-81 16 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. Instructive Description of the Island Sixty-four Years Ago by Colonel Flinter of the British Army and Spanish Service — More from the Same Writer Quoted by the London Review — Valuable Statistics from the Edinburgh Review — Rev. Wm. Moister Adds Interesting Information — Natural Resources, Commercial Advantages and Physical Conditions Clearly Described — Social and Moral Standing of the People Fully Considered — Testimony That Reveals the Value of Our Insular Gem 85-102 CHAPTER IV. RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. Interesting Letter from a Scientist and Business Man, Giving an Account of the Island's Flora — Valuable Information About the Products and Exports, Gathered by C. W. Eves — Scientific American Quoted — Interesting Account of the Hurricanes, by Frederick D. Ober — Value of the Island’s Imports — Establishment of Electric Tram- ways — Possibilities for Coffee and Sugar Production — A Glowing Tribute to the Island, by James Rodway 103-122 BOOK II.— CUBA. INTRODUCTION 127-123 CHAPTER I. CUBA AFTER. THE WAR. The Changes of Three Years in Cuba — Recollection of the Weyler Period — The Fiery Invasion of Western Cuba by Gomez — The Fall of Maceo and Decline of the Flood of Rebellion — American Inter- vention and Spanish Retirement — The Stars and Stripes Over Morro Castle and the Governor’s Palace — The Spaniards’ Farewell to Havana — Wild Cuban Rejoicing — Spanish and Cuban Combina- tion Against American Rule — Gomez Meets a Special Commissioner and Listens to Reason — His Triumphant Journey to Havana and Ovation in the City — He Does Not Speak at the Banquet of Cuban Celebration — Spectacular Scenes in the Old Spanish Capital — The Prestige of Gomez Challenged by the Hysterical Cuban Assembly — He is Removed from His Command of the Army for Opposing CONTENTS. 17 the Creation of a Great Public Debt Without Value Received for the People — The Splendid Letter with Which He Thanked the Assembly for Relieving Him of Responsibility — The People Are with Him — As a Pacificator He Is a Statesman — The Catas- trophe to Spain of the Loss of Cuba — Her Golden Island in the Summer Seas — The Land of Promise for the Favorites of a Corrupt Government in the Details of Administration — The Harvest Field for the Degenerate of a Nation Fallen from the First Place — Did Not Occur Without Abundant Admonition, and Yet Seemed to the Spectators a Surprise in Suddenness 130-161 CHAPTER II. THE ISLAND OF CUBA. Official Information About the Island That Is of the Greatest Importance to Public Intelligence — Some Historical Facts — The Insurrections and Rebellions That Have Prevented the Development of the Island's Resources — The Military and Civil Governments — Climate, Soil and Productions — Sanitary Conditions and Prevailing Diseases — Abundance of Pestiferous Insects — Extensive Mineral Resources — Island Abounds in Valuable Woods — Classification of the Inhabitants - 162-186 CHAPTER III. THE CITIES OF THE QUEEN OF THE ANTILLES. Santiago de Cuba the Ancient City of the Island — Location and Com- mercial Importance — Its Strategic Position and Defenses as Set Forth in the United States Military Notes — Havana the Capital and Largest City in Cuba — Its Defenses, Water Supply and Sanitary Condition — The Density of Population — Matanzas the Third City in Population 187-198 BOOK III.— HAWAII. INTRODUCTION 203-206 CHAPTER I. HAWAII AS ANNEXED. The Star-Spangled Banner Up Again in Hawaii, and to Stay — Dimensions of the Island — What the Missionaries Have Done — Religious Belief by Nationality — Trade Statistics — Latest Census — Sugar Plantation Laborers — Coinage of Silver — Schools — Coffee Growing. .207-219 18 CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII. Report of the Hawaiian Commission — Description of the Islands — Their Resources — Commerce — Character of Their People — Detail of the Territorial Government — Recommended and Most Valuable Official Reports of the Features of Civilization and Material Resources of the Islands 220-2*16 CHAPTER III. EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. Captain James Cook’s Great Discoveries and His Martyrdom — Character and Traditions of the Hawaiian Islands — Charges Against the Famous Navigator, and Effort to Array the Christian World Against Him — The True Story of His Life and Death — How Charges Against Cook Came to Be Made — Testimony of Van- couver, King and Dixon, and Last Words of Cook’s Journal — Light Turned on History That Has Become Obscure — Savagery of the Natives — Their Whitten Language Took Up Their High Colored Traditions and Preserved Phantoms — Scenes in Aboriginal The- atricals — Problem of Government in an Archipelago Where Race Questions Are Predominant — Now Americans Should Remember Captain Cook as an Ulustrious Pioneer 271-306, BOOK IV.— THE PHILIPPINES. INTRODUCTION 311-314 CHAPTER I. OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. Character of Filipinos and Their Oppression by the Spaniards — The Furtive Leader Aguinaldo — His Professions and Proceedings — Cash for Peace and a Bribe for Banishment — Early Indications of Impertinence — Deception of Our Consuls 315-325 CHAPTER II. THE IMPORTANT STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. The True Inwardness of the Philippine Situation by a Friend of Admiral Dewey, Mr. Andre, Belgian Consul at Manila — A Letter from CONTENTS. 19 Andrew Carnegie That Is One of His Mistakes — General Merritt’s Opinions at Paris — Mr. Andre’s Memorandum in Full — Leading People of Manila Wish to Become Citizens of the United States — How General Merritt Drew the Line on Aguinaldo and Foretold the Way Trouble Would Come 326-337 CHAPTER ILL THE MOST NOTABLE OF THE STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. The Remarkable Utterance of Mr. John Foreman, the Historian of the Philippines — His Exposures of Spanish Tyranny and the Persecu- tion of the Poor — He Credits Stories About the Immorality of Spanish Priests and Gives Them — The Grievances of the Philip- pine Peasants — Extent of Spanish Occupation — Resources of the Islands — Habits of the People — Their Weakness and Strength — Vast Amount of Information and Suggestion — General Whittier’s Personal Observation — His Interview with Aguinaldo and Judg- ment as to the Philippine Riches and Possibilities 338-365 CHAPTER IV. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. Memorandum of the Mineral Resources of the Islands by Dr. Becker of the United States Geological Survey, Gathered for the American Treaty Commission — Coal, Petroleum, Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver, Iron, Quicksilver, Sulphur, Marble, Kolin, Pearl Fisheries — Strategic Importance — Cebu and Negros Islands — - Naval Stations — Harbors 366-406 BOOK V.— ISTHMIAN CANALS. INTRODUCTION 409-410 CHAPTER I. THE PANAMA CANAL. The Two Mediterraneans — The Era of Enterprise in the World’s Water- ways — The New Panama Company — Immense Work Done — Steady Prosecution of the Task — More than Three Thousand Men Employed in Excavating — The Curiously Interesting Story of the Canal — The Misfortune of the De Lesseps Failure Not Final- Facts and Figures That Should Restore the Faded Interest of the American People 413-471 20 CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. THE SUEZ CANAL. The Monument of Disraeli and De Lesseps That, Though of Shifting Nature in Shifting Sand, Is More Imperishable than Marble or Brass or Any Towering Structure Reared by Human Hands — What the Great Engineer, De Lesseps, Who, Though He Subsequently Made a Failure, Did Enough for Immortality, Had to Say — The Suez Canal the Grandest W r ork of Public Improvement in the Most Progressive Century — The Dramatic History Without a Parallel as a Scheme of Daring Scientific Fancy or Realization of Golden Dividends 472-492 CHAPTER III. THE NICARAGUA CANAL. Senator Morgan’s Strong Plea for an American Canal — The Claim that the Nicaragua Route, Though Longer than the Panama, Is More Practicable — Estimates of Enormous Special Advantages to America, Both Military and Commercial — Some Interesting State- ments of the Costs and Profits of the Suez Canal and Their Bearing Upon the Nicaragua Canal — The Shares That the British Bought in the Suez Canal for £4,000,000 Are Worth £20,000,000 — The Opposition to the Nicaragua Line in Congress Is Rather Against the Maritime Company than Opposed to the Enterprise Itself — The Views of Senators Pettigrew, Caffery and Teller 493-499 BOOK VI.-PROBLEM OF EXPANSION. INTRODUCTION 505-509 CHAPTER I. PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. The Weighty Unexpected Problems Before the Country — Not Our Fault that They Impose High Obligation — He Opposed War — No Nation Insisting Upon War Can Foretell the Story of It — The President Cannot Fix the Boundaries of Events — V r e Could Not Give Up Our Conquests to Spain — The Philippines Had to Go to Spain or Be Held by Us — We Did Not Need the Consent of the Filipinos to a Work of Humanity — The Future of the Philippines Is in the Hands of the American People — No Imperial Designs Lurk in the ©ONTENTS. 21 American Mind — The Free Can Conquer But to Save — The Bloody Trenches Bring Anguish to Hie Heart — The Filipinos Will Be Grateful for American Civilization 510-514 CHAPTER II. ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. Mr. Carnegie Assails the President and the Secretary of the Treasury for Changing Their Opinions as to Expansion — Doubts the President’s Convictions, and Says Gage Is Not a Manufacturer — Carnegie Desires Commercial Expansion — He Wants the President to Listen to the London Times — The Open Door Will Antagonize American Labor — Predicts Death Blow to “Imperialism” — Says No Citizen Can Be Deprived of the Right to Send His Products to Any Territory Under Our Flag Free of All Tariffs Within the Republic’s Domain — Trade of Philippines Cannot Be American — Spain Gets $20,000,000 for a Great Relief — Tribute to the Personal Virtues of the President — A Reply to Mr. Murat Halstead’s Address at Homestead 515-530 CHAPTER III. SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. The Distinguished Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Member of the Peace Commission Declares His Position — The American People Have Made an Immeasurable Advance Within a Year — The President’s Good Work — The Story of the Making of the Treaty of Peace — No W T arning that Americans Claimed Too Much — Filipinos Not Ready for Sovereignty Over Civilized People — Historical Antecedents of Expansion — The Question What We Shall Do with the Philippine Archipelago Not Yet Upon Us — It Will Be Fair and Honorable . . . .531-539 CHAPTER IV. COLONEL W. J. BRYAN. Astonished that Any American Citizen Would Uphold the Doctrine of Gaining Land by Conquest — He Could Have Told McKinley to Take Care Not to Confide in Public Opinion Formed at the Rear of a Car — Imperialism Wanted to Exercise Sovereignty Over an Alien Race — Self-Government W r as Gained in the School of Government — No Excuse for a Colonial Policy — Mr. Gage the Keyhole of the Administration — The Colonial Policy Rested on Vicarious Enjoyment — A Call for the Ancient Law-Giver on 22 CONTENTS. Sinai — Against a Larger Army — Imperialists Confuse Their Beati- tudes — Not Profitable to Buy a Lawsuit — Muffle the Liberty Bell — Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death 540-545 CHAPTER V. HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. The Drift of the Country — The United American People — Always the Same, Though Divided — The Labels on the Bottles — An Anti- Expansion Party Would Be a Foredoomed Failure — William McKinley and Joseph Wheeler — Tropical Vegetation in the White House — Eighty Millions of People Cannot Be Passive — How Stands the Debate Between the Friends and Foes of Expansion? 546-551 CHAPTER VI. CARL SCHURZ OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. Is It Our Policy that the Filipinos Shall Be Subjects or Citizens? — The Specifications of the New Departure We Are Taking — We Are Cultivating a Passion for Conquest — The Friendship of England Is Good to Have, Not to Need — The New Policy Demands a Great Standing Army — If We Have Rescued the Unhappy Daughters of Spain from Tyranny We Need Not Marry the Girls. . 1552-557 CHAPTER VII. MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. Expansion Is the Doctrine of the Fathers — There Was Not a Tenth of the Territory We Now Possess in the Thirteen Colonies When Jefferson Wrote the Declaration of Independence — Andrew Jackson Was an Expansionist — So Was William H. Seward — Admiral Dewey Is the Author of Our Philippine Policy — Andrew Carnegie and British India — Should England Give Up Gibraltar, Egypt and India? — If So, Why Not Ireland, Scotland and Wales? — Aguinaldo’s Exile with a Certified Check — Senator Hoar’s Forgetfulness of the Essential Facts in the Philippine Situation — The American Army Have Fought in Self-Defense, and in the Vindication of the Faith and Honor Pledged in the Final Article of the Capitulation of the Spaniards in Manila 558-564 CHAPTER VIII. MR. DOLLIVER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. ♦ Room for All Sorts of Speeches, but Only One Course of Action — The President Did Not Take Initial Responsibility of Disturbing the CONTENTS. 23 Peace — Dr. Parkhurst’s Boomerang Criticism — Cheap Newspapers Full of Malice — Americans on Blanco’s Platform — Our Experience with Acquired Territory — Andrew Jackson’s Territorial Policy — Two Mourners in a Palace Over the Collapse of the Republic — Bryan's Pitched Battle with American History — Not Canned Freedom, but Liberty on the Half Shell — A Tribute to General Wheeler — In “The Fear of God and Nothing Else,” as Bismarck Said, Take Up Duty 565-572 CHAPTER IX. HON. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. Porto Rico Is a Conquest; Are We to Give It Up on Moral Grounds? — There Were Croakers About Our Having Any Pacific Coast — It Was Six Months Away — “The Ashy Lips of Cowards and Traitors” — There Would Be Objections to Annexing Paradise — Do the Black Men Consent to Be Governed in All the States? — Why Say “Turkey” to the Yellow Heathen and “Buzzard” to the Black Christian? — When Did We Get the Consent of the Indians to Govern Them? — The Pilgrim Fathers Exterminated the Natives of Massachusetts — God Commanded the Killing of the Canaanites. .575-581 CHAPTER X. SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. This Is the Greatest Question Ever Discussed by the United States Senate — Almost the Greatest Since the Beginning of Mankind — Putting the Flag Up and Down — Wanted Messages Sent to the Philippines — W T hat Are We to Do with 10,000,000 Souls? — Poor People, Who Took Their Bows and Arrows — Aguinaldo’s Master- pieces — Dr. Johnson on Taxation — Trampling on Foreign People — Filipinos in Arms for Liberty 582-587 CHAPTER XI. SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. “We Are Attacking People Without Arms” — “'How Is the War to Be Concluded Without the Extermination of Those Poor People?” — “We Refuse to Permit the Rebel Party Men to Speak to Us” — “By What Authority Was Iloilo Fired Upon?” — “I Say We Made the Cause for War” — “We Shoot Them Down and Burn Their Buildings a la Weyler” — “How Long Shall Our Flag Remain Above an Unwilling People?” — The Whelp of a Lion and Caesar’s Ghost — England Never Guilty of More Cruelty — All Tyrants Charge Cutting Off Heads to the Lord — The Whole Archipelago Not Worth One American Boy — We Have Tasted Blood .58-8-59-i 24 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. Mr. Cleveland Thinks the Best Statesmanship Should Adhere to Conscience in Storm as Well as Sunshine — He Suggests We Should Not Kill People Who Would Lose Their Souls — Hon. Bourke Cochran Oners Objections to Expansion — Senator Money Takes a Favorable View of Aguinaldo — Mr. Bland Thinks Expansion Means to Enslave Americans to Plutocracy — Senator Caffery Says There Is No Opportunity for an Industrious White Man in the Philippines — Senator Tillman Quotes Kipling — Is Aguinaldo a Usurper Without Consulting Anybody? — Senator Turner on Grave State Reasons for Overriding the Opinion of Senator Foraker 595-605 CHAPTER XIII. PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. Ex-President Harrison’s Policy of Territorial Permanency and Message on the Annexation of Hawaii — Senator Lodge Says We Succeeded to the Sovereignty of Spain in Manila, and Philippine Patriots Have Never Been Oppressed by Any American Act — Senator Stewart Says Filipinos Can Never Come Here to Interfere with Labor — Senator Platt of Connecticut Says the Doctrine of Senator Hoar Would Have Prevented Our Possession of the Pacific Coast States — General Grosvenor Vindicates General Otis — Senator Platt of New York Says We Are Not Forcing Our Government Upon an Unwilling People — Senator Foraker Says Opposition Senators Talk About Theory — Mr. Brosius of Pennsylvania Quotes a Pearl of Poetry — Governor Oglesby Expands — Two of Kipling’s Poems Much Quoted in Congress 606-619 CHAPTER XIV. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN EXPANSION. Area of Our Territory When Jefferson Wrote the Declaration of Inde- pendence — The Westward Course of Acquisition — The Northwest Territory Added — Acquiring All Territory East of the Mississippi River — Exploring Expeditions Into Western Territory— The Louisiana Purchase — Views of Jefferson and Congress in 1803 — Annexation of Texas — Acquiring California and New Mexico — The Alaska Purchase — Expansion Opinions of Law Writers — Decisions of the Supreme Court on the Subject of Acquiring Territory — Beneficial Effects of Expansion — We Need Not Fear the Future, and We Dare Not Step Backward — The Dream of Columbus Will Soon Be Realized 620-681 ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Frontispiece — The Nation’s Great Expanders. 2. George Washington. 3. Thomas Jefferson. 4. Andrew Jackson. 5. Daniel Webster. 6. John C. Fremont. 7. Henry Clay. 8. U. S. Grant. 9. Abraham Lincoln. 10. Jas. G. Blaine. 11. Wm. McKinley. 12. City of San Juan, Porto Rico. 13. Street of the Cross, San Juan, Porto Rico. 14. A Porto Rico Poultry Vendor. 15. Market Women of Porto Rico. 16. A Porto Rico Country House. 17. Sea Wall of San Juan, Porto Rico. 18. The Princess Promenade, San Juan, Porto Rico. 19. A Porto Rico Belle. 20. Horses Laden with Maloja, in Matanzas, Cuba. 21. The Yumuri River at Matanzas, Cuba. 22. The Way Milk Is Sold and Delivered in Havana. 23. A Fruit Vendor in Havana. 24. A Cuban Ploughman. 25. Crushing Mill on a Sugar Plantation in Cuba. 26. Waianae Coffee Nursery, Showing Young Coffee Plants, in Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. 27. Famous Walk Between the Royal Palms in Honolulu. 28. Nuuanu Valley Pass, Pali Peak, 1,207 Feet High. Near Honolulu. 29. Entrance Through Grove of Tropical Trees to Queen's Hospital, Honolulu. 30. Section of Flume for Conveying Water to Sugar Mills, Hawaii. 31. Lava Formation at Kilauea Crater, 4,040 Feet High, Island of Hawaii. 32. Pineapple Ranch Near Pearl City, Island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. 33. Flume for Conveying Water to Sugar Mills, Hawaii. 34. Surf Boat of the Natives, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. 35. Travelers’ Tree, Honolulu, A Plant Curiosity. 36. Banana Plant, Hawaii, Showing Fruit on Tree. 37. Statue of Kamehameha I, Honolulu. 38. Princess Kaiulani at Ainahau, Honolulu. 25 26 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 69. Hawaiian Ilula Dancers in Native Costume. 40. Hawaiian School Girl in Native Decorations. 41. A Country Marriage, Philippines, Marriage Maker and Bridal Couple in Car- riage, Followed by Band, on Way to Church. 42. Ravine of Idalang. A Scene on the Road from Silang to Indang, Cavite. 43. View Near Indang, Cavite Province, Along Tibogan River. 44. View of the Bugasong River in the Philippines, Noted for its Auriferous Sand. 45. A Bathing Place in the Falls of the Uliau y Tagbacan River, in the Philip- pines. 46. Views from the Philippines. 47. Group of Native Dancers in Ati-Ati. 48. Bridge Over the Lagune in Santa Cruz. 49. Types of the Masses of the Filipinos. 50. Grinding Native Rice. 51. Native Wood Choppers. 52. Women of Balagas Washing Clothes. 53. A Sugar Cart in Batangas Province. 54. A Shepherd of Carabaos. 55. The Road to the Cemetery in Tansa, Province of Iloilo. 56. Views from the Philippines. 57. Royal Street in Lipa, Batangas Province. 58. School of Arts and Commerce in Iloilo. 59. Molo Church in Iloilo. 60. A Filipino Funeral Party in Iloilo, Grouped Around the Tomb. 61. A View of the San Sebastian Highway, Manila. 62. Romblon — Capital of the Island of Su Nombre. 63. View of the Paseo de Aguadas, Manila. 64. Filipino Carpenters of Iloilo at Work. 65. Landscape View, Showing Beauty and Luxuriance of Vegetation in the Phil- ippines. 66. Views in the Philippines, Mostly in and Around Manila. 67. In the Valleys of Carabao. 68. A Street in the District of Paco, Manila. 69. Aristocratic Residences in the Suburbs of San Juan del Monte. 70. Square of Santa Ana, in the District of San Sebastian, Manila. 71. View of the Royal Highway of La Concepcion. 72. The King’s Wharf, Manila. 73. The Aguilar Barrier in Tondo, Manila. 74. The Cathedral of Jaro, in Iloilo. 75. Native Method of Plowing. Scene in the Province of Batangas, Philippines. 76. Views in and Around Manila. 77. Street in the Suburb La Ermita. A PORTO RICO POULTRY VENDOR. (Copyrighted by J. M. Jordan.) MARKET WOMEN OF PORTO RICO. (Copyrighted, 1898, by J. M. Jordan.) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 29 78. Rosario Street in La Ermita. 79. Luneta Square in Manila. 80. Hospital of San Juan de Dios. 81. Manila Cathedral. 82. Royal Street in Malate. 83. Royal Street in Santa Ana. 84. Monument of Don Simon de Anda y Salazar in the Malecon Square. 85. Type of the Mestezo Women, Upper Class, Province of Cavite. 86. Views from the Philippines. 87. Wives of Chief Datto Pian of Jolo. 88. House of Chief Datto Pian of Jolo. 89. Barracks of the Civil Guard in La Ermita, Manila. 90. View of Chief Datto Pian’s Wagebon Ranche in Jolo. 91. Church of the Conception in Jolo. 92. The Weisic Barracks, Manila. 93. Entrance to the Military Hospital, Manila. 94. Front View of the Church of the Conception, Jolo. 95. Rift in the Jungles That Line the Coast of the Philippines. 96. Roadway in Botanical Gardens, Manila. 97. View of La Escolta Street, Manila. 98. Bathing Pool on Road to Das Marinas, at Imus, Province of Cavite. 99. Map Showing Natural Waterways and Canal Routes, Now and Future, to Our New Possessions, East and West. 100. Monument at San Jose, Costa Rica, Commemorating Valor of Central Amer- ican Amazons in Defeating Soldiers of Walker’s Filibustering Expedition. 101. Official Residence of De Lesseps at Colon, Colombia. 102. Coffee-curing Establishment, San Jose, Costa Rica. 103. Banana Train on Line from Port Limon to San Jose, Costa Rica. 104. Theatre at San Jose, Costa Rica. 105. School House in San Jose, Costa Rica. 106. View of San Juan River, Costa Rica. 107. Pier at Greytown, Nicaragua. 108. Coffee-curing Establishment, San Jose, Costa Rica. 109. Native House, Showing Kitchen, in Masaya, Nicaragua. 110. A Barber Shop in Masaya, Nicaragua. 111. Panama Canal, Cut at San Pablo. 112. Panama Canal, 14 Miles from Atlantic. 113. Panama Canal, Culebra Cut. 114. Panama Canal, 32 Miles from Atlantic. 115. Banana Depot, Near Blue Fields, Nicaragua, 116. Birdseye View of Lake Managua, from Managua, the Capital of Nicaragua. 117. Landing at Lake Managua, Receiving Passengers from Train at Corinto, Nic- aragua. 118. End of La Boca Pier at Beginning of Panama Canal. 30 LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 119. Panama Canal, 3 Miles from the Atlantic. 120. Panama Canal, 9 Miles from Colon. 121. Panama Canal, End of Culebra Cut. 122. Panama Canal, 27 Miles from the Atlantic. 123. Panama Canal, 33 Miles from the Atlantic. 124. Panama Canal, 34 Miles from Atlantic. 125. Map Showing Territory Ceded and Annexed at Different Times to the United States. 126. Benjamin Harrison. 127. Grover Cleveland. 128. Senator Cushman K. Davis of Minnesota. 129. Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts. 130. Senator Henry C. Lodge of Massachusetts. 131. Senator William E. Mason of Illinois. 132. William J. Bryan. 133. Carl Schurz. 134. Andrew Carnegie. 135. Henry Watterson. 136. Map of Porto Rico, in Colors, Prepared from Latest Official Surveys. 137. Map of Cuba, in Colors, Prepared from Latest Official Surveys. 138. Map of Hawaii, in Colors, Prepared from Latest Official Surveys. 139. Map of the Philippines, in Colors, Prepared from Latest Official Surveys. 140. Coffee-curing Establishment at San Jose, Costa Rica. 141. The Arena, Constructed of Bamboo, in Which the Bull Fights Are Given at Manila. 142. A Malay Chief of Magibon, Jolo Province, with His Family and Servitors. 143. Native Woman’s Dress, Manila. 144. Types of Filipino Women. 145. Panama Canal, Pier at La Boca. 146. Panama Canal, Great Culebra Cut. 147. Panama Canal, Culebra Cut. 148. Panama Canal, 32 Miles from Atlantic. 149. Steamship Passing a Dredge at Kautara, Suez Canal. 150. Harbor at Port Said, Beginning of Suez Canal. 151. Views Along the Suez Canal. 152. Stone Quarry at Timsah Lake. 153. Dam at Ismailia. 154. View of Suez. 155. Entrance to Suez Canal. 156. View of Landing at Port Said. 157. View of Port Said Harbor. 158. Steamers Waiting at Kautara. 159. S. A. Tewfik Pacha. 160. F. De Lesseps. BOOK I. PORTO RICO. INTRODUCTION. During the progress of our war with Spain, the people of the United States, studying the military and naval situations, and giving critical attention to the movements of our fleets and armies, were well informed of the advantages of Porto Eico. If Spain had not been an incapable country, if her battleships and squadrons of gunboats and torpedo destroyers had been what they were believed in Europe to be, a match for our own warships and boats, Porto Rico was placed so as to have been an advantageous basis of operations for the Spanish fleet; and if the Spaniards had been in condition to cross the Atlantic in force, this eastward island would have served the purpose of defending the West India waters and possessions of Spain, at the same time threatening our shores. It turned out that the degeneracy of Spanish administration had been as disastrously operative in the navy as the army, that the battleships were not ready in machinery or armament; though held to be superior to our own of the same class, were deficient. Spain never seriously disputed with us the mastery of the seas. This was a weakness that allowed the Spaniards no chance for successful defense of her islands. Porto Eico and Cuba were lost, unless our extemporized army could be used up by the rains and the fevers, and the acclimated Spaniards enabled to hold out in their intrenchments, fed out of the marvelously fertile soil, until the con- tinental monarchies should call for a suspension of hostilities on our part under the menace of coalition against us. We were influenced by consideration for inter- national opinion and regard for our own contracted conservatism as to interference abroad, and the philanthropic eloquence so exuberant in our public life, to promise a miracle of unselfishness in our purposes so far as Cuba was concerned. The Cuban annexationists were complacent under the proclamations to which they did not entirely subscribe, because they had confidence in the attraction of our bulk, the interest of Cuba to be under our wing, as a protected province if in no other relation, and the geographical proprieties, so that if the Spanish yoke was removed the island gifted alike with natural riches and beauties, would be ours by the irrepressible genius of Americanism. Still we agreed the Cubans, not the New York Junta in particular exclusively, but the Cuban people at large, should have the option of independence; and we must make our promise good. 35 36 INTRODUCTION. Senator Hoar says there is no necessity that we should marry any of the unfortu- nate daughters of Spain that have been abused by their mother, but it is quite certain if any of the girls come to our house as Naomi to that of Boa z and say they are going with us and be of our people and mean to stay and be of our household, we will not drive them away, but allow them to find places of repose and take for their own use reasonable measures of barley. We shall also instruct the reapers in our harvest fields to leave heads of grain for them to glean and deny them not the comforts of hospitality, even apples, as well as barley, as we understand the obligations of friendship in the north temperate zone. Before coming into possession of Porto Rico, ceded to us by Spain, we made no promises to her people and consented to no conditions of limitation of our sovereign rights. The island is as much ours as the Louisiana purchase was when we paid for it, or as Alaska and Arizona are ours. And it is gratifying to note that very few congressmen have wept in public over the imperialism of our acceptance of the ripe fruit that fell in our way as we walked under the tree. It is settled even if there are statesmen who feel that we have again fractured the Constitution of the United States, and fatally fastened ourselves to an island out of sight of our continental shore that Porto Rico is and shall remain our very own. We have got her and we will keep her. The island is the best in many ways in the West Indies, though not as large as Cuba or as high as Hayti. It is wholesome and of good report, and, with a naval station there worthy of our Sea-Power, we shall have an advanced post beyond Bermuda that hostile fleets, if any should ever move this way meaning to do us harm, will not venture to pass by. As to contiguity, those pleasant Danish islands, always for sale, are in the neighborhood. The fact is suggestive that ten cents apiece paid by the Amer- ican people would capture those gems of the ocean. The people of Porto Rico are of mixed races, and it is probable it will take them some time to assimilate Americanism even under the weighty expression of military authority. The deal- ings of the people of Porto Rico have been rather with Europeans than with ourselves. They will, we hope, and we base expectation founded upon ordinary human experience, trust, they will grow fonder of us as they find us out. It is an important point in our duty to make them feel at home under our flag and to soothe them if we observe restlessness in their manner when the novelty of being free Americans ceases to have an impressive fascination. Some of them may think reading certain interpretations by eloquent men of our Constitution, that it is a part of the contract implied when we took them in charge that they are to soon have a call to be heard in our general government. We have firmly but kindly INTRODUCTION. 37 to make known to them that they are mistaken. However, we have confidence they will be reasonable and “consent” to be governed without seeking trouble along lines of theory, promulgated in a spirit of benevolence by some of our eminent men in behalf of the Filipinos when they assaulted the American lines at Manila. We would advise friends in the colonies not to place a great deal of reliance upon the emotional element of patriotic gentlemen whose information is deficient, being radically erroneous. The people of Porto Rico, we are sure, will contentedly remain with us, partake of the bounty of our good will, consent to the investment of our capital in the improvement of the island, and be taught by us that they have not alienated but gained by our expansion including them in a liberal sense in the rights of man and an excellent opportunity of generous guidance in the better ways and means, in the language of the Declaration of Independence, for “the pursuit of happiness.” CHAPTER I. THE CONQUEST OF PORTO EICO. The Island Is Ours Without the Annoyance of the Wolves and Wildcats of Philip- pine Politics — Porto Eico Determined Upon as a Second Objective Point in the War with Spain in the Western Hemisphere — Correspondence Be- tween General Miles and the War Department Relative to the Porto Eican Campaign — Long to Sampson — The President Interposes, and Sampson and Miles Are Satisfied — Miles Leads the Campaign, and It Progresses Smoothly with Little Loss. Porto Eico has the advantage of being a part of the United States without terms or conditions of any sort. It is emphatically our New Possession, for the Hawaiian Islands have practically been ours for a long time, our commerce being dominant and our influence paramount. They are indebted for civilization to our merchants and missionaries, and European vices to our whalers and other traders and explorers. Porto Rico has long been the example of the colonial system of Spain best bearing scrutiny of impartial inquiry, and the critical assaults of the hostile. The island is too small and too well provided with roads to be the chosen field of such insurgents as the Spanish government produces; and in the absence of the warfare of ambuscade, massacre and desolation by fire, fashionable in the struggles of the children of Spain for freedom from the deadly embrace of their mother country, its history has been comparatively tame, and the people in a modest way exceptionally prosperous. The second article of our treaty of peace with Spain opens with the line “Spain cedes to the United States the Island of Porto Rico.” It is plainly, simply and satisfactorily ours by conquest, and the people have no bands of firebugs, or shadowy armies of haunting phantoms in the shrubbery, attempting or threaten- ing the assassination of American soldiers in the name of liberty and savage pride of self-government. There is no army of professed patriots who have been organ- izing famine with firebrand and chopping-lcnife, to appear in the field when the war is over with a pay-roll and refuse to disband until with imported money they are paid for their sufferings in securing home rule by burning houses and cane and tobacco. The Porto Ricans have no leader of rebellion, who has been exiled with a check-book and bank account, and returned after the Spanish power has been broken by Americans, to assume authority over the liberators and shoot 38 A CUBAN PLOUGHMAN, m CRUSHING MILL ON 4 SUGAR PLANTATION IN CUBA. THE CONQUEST OP PORTO RICO. 41 at them from jungles, because they landed to emancipate an enslaved people, with- out formally asking the slaves if the sacred soil could be used to overpower their merciless masters. The wolves and wildcats of Philippine politics have not ap- peared in the underbrush of Porto Rico. Contrary to the teaching and the examples of the Cubans and the Filipinos, the Porto Ricans do not ask to be paid for heroism in destroying the industries of their native soil, before permitting themselves to make a beginning of restor- ing sugar and tobacco culture. In Cuba the Spaniards had no objection to sugar- making and to growing and curing the tobacco of the golden leaves. But grind- ing cane was an abomination in the sight of Gomez of Hayti, who sought freedom by the San Domingo method. The fashion is hardly fixed in regard to the culti- vation of the land in Cuba as the excitement of a people, just freed from Spanish supervision, has not subsided. The Cuban armies will no doubt tolerate occa- sional manifestations of manhood at work on the rich soil and under the radiant sky of their island. In the Philippines they have a leadership that forbids toil in the fields while there are trenches to dig from which to fire upon the victors over the Spaniards. The next time we put forth our hands, and find in them an archipelago, we will know from experience that the way to establish peace is to allow no room for doubt that we are going to stay and be the ruling race. It makes the people of Spanish association and mixed blood uneasy to confront uncertainty. However, we have kept the faith both in Cuba and Luzon in a military occupation with a view to redeem the promise of the establishment of a “stable government;” and we are in honor bound to keep the peace if we have to fight for it, and to provide for the liberty of the people on the lands we have won by the sword, if we have to dust insurgents out of the way and apply the stern medicine of shrapnel. The Cuban republic under a New York Junta is one fake, and the Luzon government of Aguinaldo is another. The latter is no doubt held by the ignorant people, he calls “his,” and we have a school of statesmen who regard them as his belongings and the only people, and that he is the hero who conquered the Spaniards at Manila to be dispossessed of the fruits of his valor and conduct by the Americans intruding themselves upon a free people and preventing their development in the science and arts of self-government, where one man rules six millions, using a dainty, dandy cane as a scepter and keeping out of danger, because his life is too valuable to risk where bullets fly. As Porto Rico was the most eastern of the West Indian possessions of Spain and of fair sanitary reputation and a thousand miles nearer the Spanish peninsula 42 THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. than Havana, there was much speculation as to the propriety of the United States army and navy striking there first; and as our superiority in sea power developed from day to day, the consideration of a campaign in the eastern island became more serious, but there was encountered the fine fury of the Cuban Libre crusaders, who thought war conid not exist unless Havana was bombarded. The marble walls of Congress rang with cries of contempt for persons afraid of a rainy season; and as for yellow fever — no one need fear it who had been acclimated in our camps and heard the furious eloquence of our champions of freedom. The Major-General commanding had regard for tropical rains and fevers and wanted to spend the summer in working up a great army with which Havana was to be taken after the rains had passed and the fever was over, but the public impa- tience and the presidential judgment were not in agreement. It was resolved to strike a blow as soon as the sea was cleared of Spaniards and the regular army ready to lead the attack. The first serious thought was to land in Cuba on the northwestern coast, about as far west of Havana as the English landing in 1762 was east of that capital. The proposed Mariel landing meant that we should attack the Spaniards where they were strongest and the deadly climate was at its worst; that we should be pitted against tropical rains, the yellow fever, scarcity of water, and committed to force roads easily defended, while Blanco got together an army of eighty thousand effectives and more than a hundred and fifty field pieces. It was resolved to shift the scene of the first aggressive activity to the southern coast of Cuba, but not so far east as Santiago. It fell to General Shatter to be designated for this command. The Major-General commanding the army was fertile in plans of campaign, and had perfected one for each of three of the cardinal points of Cuba — North-west, South-west and North-east, and Porto Rico. The necessity of Admiral Cervera to obtain coal and his fear of American fleets took him to Santiago, where, if he had realized how widespread were the squadrons active in the blockade, and that the South coast was tolerably clear he would have made for Cienfuegos and been there in touch with Havana by rail. Commodore Schley did not understand that Cervera could be so short of coal and so shy of combat that he had to go to the prison of the Santiago harbor to give himself a lease of life, and, as he was approved at the time by Sampson, the Commodore discredited for a few days the story of the Spanish fleet at Santiago, believing it was unreasonable and was disposed to act as if Cervera had coal and was equipped for disturbing our calculations of movement. Cervera THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. 43 at Santiago carried the American army and fleet there, and the first stroke turned out the decisive blow. At Washington there were two campaigns in view — the one on the south coast shifted to Santiago by Cervera, called No. 1, and the one for Porto Rico, known as No. 2. The Major-General commanding of course anticipated taking charge of our most considerable army and there was a natural idea that the objective point of the principal force would be Havana. He was told by friends when he did not go promptly to the front with the southern shore movement that he was making the mistake of his life, and urged to go. This warning happened to begin at the house of the Secretary of War, and was given by the Adjutant-General. General Miles thought it would not be according to the correct estimate of the dignity of his commanding position to leave direct contact with the mighty army gathered, and go with a detachment not exceeding seven per cent of the whole; and he made the error of not heading the Santiago expedition in person. On the 26th of April General Miles wrote the Secretary of War that it was of “the highest importance” that the troops called for by the President might be disciplined for field service with the least delay, and he said they “ought to be in camp approximately sixty days in their States, as so many of the States have made no provision for their State militia, and not one is fully equipped for field service. * * * This preliminary work should be done before the troops leave their States. While this is being done, the general officers and staff officers can be appointed and properly instructed, large camps of instruction can be judiciously selected, ground rented, and stores collected. At the end of sixty days the regi- ments, batteries and tfoops can be brigaded and formed into divisions and corps, and proper commanding generals assigned, and this great force may be properly equipped, molded and organized into an effective army, with the least possible delay.” Thus it appears the earliest purpose at military headquarters was to fight it out on this line, taking all summer. On the 18th of April General Miles wrote: “It is extremely hazardous, and I think it would be injudicious to put an army on that island at this season of the year, as it would undoubtedly be deci- mated by the deadly disease, to say nothing of having to cope with some 80,000 troops, the remnant of 214,000, that have become acclimated, and that are equipped with 183 guns.” He added: “There is still time, if this is favorably considered, to put a small force of regular troops, numbering approximately 18,000 men, in 44 THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. healthful camps until such time as they can he used on the Island of Cuba with safety.” But it was not within the contemplation of the Major-General commanding to put himself at the head of this “small force.” The following letter shows that General Miles desired to be in the first expedi- tion off for the fateful adventure: Headquarters of the Army, Tampa, Fla., June 5, 1898. The Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.: This expedition has been delayed through no fault of any one connected with it. It contains the principal part of the army, which, for intelligence and efficiency, is not excelled by any body of troops on earth. It contains fourteen of the best conditioned regiments of volunteers, the last of which arrived this morning. Yet these have never been under fire. Between 30 and 40 per cent are undrilled, and in one regiment over 300 men had never fired a gun. I request ample protection at all times for this command by the navy. [This was changed by inserting the words “at sea.”] This enterprise is so important that I desire to go with this army corps, or to immediately organize another and go with it to join this and capture position No. 2. Now that the military is about to be' used, I believe that it should be continued with every energy, making the most judicious disposition of it to accomplish the desired result. MILES, Major-General Commanding Army. Washington, D. C., June 6, 1898, 2:35 P. M. Major-General Miles, Tampa, Fla.: The President wants to know the earliest moment you can have an expedi- tionary force ready to go to Porto Rico large enough to take and hold island without the force under General Shatter. R. A. ALGER, Secretary of War. Tampa, Fla., June 6, 1898. (Received 8:27 P. M.) Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.: Believe such a force can be ready as soon as sufficient transports could be gathered for (undutiful)* 23,000 volunteers. Will inform you definitely as soon as reports can be received as to exact condition of regiments and batteries. This corps has been organized and equipped in part for that purpose, and I believe ♦Cipher word "undutiful,” interpreted 23,000, should have been 30,000. See telegram June 11 from General Miles. THE PRINCESS PROMENADE, SAN JUAN, PORTO RICO. (Copyrighted, 1898, by J. M. Jordan. i \n THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. 47 it sufficient. I offer the following merely as a suggestion: To leave No. 1 safely guarded. This corps, with the combined assistance of the Navy, to take No. 2 first before it can be re-enforced. In order to make sure of this, have it followed by (unbearable) f 22,000 additional volunteers as quickly as transportation can be secured, utilizing what transports are now engaged, any prize steamers now at Key West, and any Atlantic auxiliary cruisers that can be spared by the Navy. Such a force ought to sail in ten days. Leaving sufficient force to hold No. 2, the capture of No. 1 can then be easily accomplished and the troops then landed at any point that might be thought advisable. MILES, Major-General Commanding Army. War Department, June 6, 1898. Major-General Miles, Tampa, Fla.: The President says no. He urges the utmost haste in departure of No. 1, and also of No. 2, as indicated by you, but that No. 1 must be taken first. R. A. ALGER, Secretary of War. Adjutant-General’s Office, Washington, June 7, 1898, 10 P. M. Major-General Miles, Tampa, Fla.: As you report that an expedition to Porto Rico (with 23,000 troops) can be ready in ten days, you are directed to assemble such troops at once for the purpose. The transports will be ready for you in ten days or sooner, if you can be ready. Acknowledge receipt. By order of the Secretary of War: H. C. CORBIN, Adjutant-General. It was understood at the war office that General Miles cared especially to handle the Porto Rican expedition. June 26th the Secretary of War wrote the Major-General commanding: “By direction of the President an expedition will be organized with the least possible delay, under the immediate command of Major-General Brooke, United States Army, consisting of three divisions taken from the troops best equipped in the First and Third Army Corps and two divisions from the Fourth Army Corps, for movement and operation against the enemy in Cuba and Porto Rico. The command under Major-General Shatter, or such part thereof as can be spared from the work now in hand, will join the foregoing expedition, and you will com- mand the forces thus united in person.” fCipher word “unbearable,” interpreted 22,000, should have been 10,000. No. 1 is Santiago; No. 2, Porto Rico. 48 THE CONQUEST OF PORTO RICO. This answers a great many questions and clears the scene of foggy imputa- tions. Whether it was the fault of General Miles that he was not at the head in person of the “small force” that was before Santiago, it was not his fortune to have that distinction. He was conducting a carefully planned and highly suc- cessful campaign in Porto Rico when the war closed and the energies of military commanders were directed to other forms of combativeness. May 3d Secretary Long telegraphed Admiral Sampson: Washington, May 3, 1898. Sampson, Key W r cst, Fla.: No large army movement can take place for a fortnight, and no small one will until after we know the whereabouts of the four Spanish armored cruisers and destroyers. If their objective is Porto Rico they should arrive about May 8, and immediately action against them and San Juan is then authorized. In such case the Flying Squadron would re-enforce you. LONG. Washington, May 5, 1898. Sampson (care United States Consul), Cape Haitien, Haiti: Do not risk so crippling your vessels against fortifications as to prevent from goon afterward successfully fighting the Spanish fleet, composed of Pelayo, Carlos V., Vizcaya, Oquendo, Colon, Teresa, and four torpedo-boat destroyers if they should appear on this side. LONG. May 6th this “confidential” dispatch was sent Sampson by Long: “Sir: Referring to the Department’s confidential instruction of the 6th of April, and (others) you are informed that the Department has not intended to restrict your operations in the West Indies, except in regard to the blockade of certain portions of Cuba and in the exposure of your vessels to the fire of heavy guns mounted on shore which are not protecting or assisting formidable Spanish ships. “The Department is perfectly willing that you should expose your ships to the heaviest guns of land batteries if, in your opinion, there are Spanish vessels of sufficient military importance protected by these guns to make an attack advisable, j your chief aim being for the present the destruction of the enemy’s principal vessels. “The Department writes this letter because it has been intimated by civilians, and it is believed by officers of rank serving under you, that you are not per- mitted to take the offensive even against small land batteries, and that you must wait to be fired upon before making an aggressive movement against any port, no matter how poorly fortified.” Admiral Sampson found there were no Spanish warships at San Juan, Porto THE CONQUEST OF PORTO EICO. 49 Rico, and April 18th “determined to attack the batteries defending the port, in order to develop their positions and strength, and then, without waiting to reduce the city or subject it to a regular bombardment — which would require due notice — turn to the westward. “Our progress had been so much slower than I had reason to anticipate, from Key West to Porto Rico, owing to the frequent breakdowns of the two monitors, which made it necessary to tow them both the whole distance, and also to the disabled condition of the Indiana, that eight days had been consumed instead of five, as I had estimated. “I commenced the attack as soon as it w r as good daylight. This lasted about three hours, when the signal was made to discontinue the firing. At Cape Haytien I received word from the Department that the Spanish vessels had been sighted off Curacao on the 14th instant and directed me to return with all dispatch to Key West.” Captain Evans of the Iowa reported injuries to his ship, one by a shot from the enemy and one by the shock of his own firing: “One shell, 6-inch or 8-inch, exploded in the skid frames, port side, abreast the after 8-inch turret. The fragments of this shell wounded three men, passed through the sailing launch, and made several holes in the stanchions, ventilators, galley funnels, and other deck fittings. One of the fragments probably struck the 6-pounder cage mount on the starboard after side of the forward bridge, break- ing and jamming the training securing bolt and also jamming the gun pivot. “Other fragments of this shell did considerable injury to the joiner work on the bridge. “Another shell or shrapnel exploded above the boat skids on the starboard side and inflicted trifling wounds upon the escape pipes, smokestacks, etc. “The injuries above summarized are indicated in detail on an accompanying sheet, appended and marked A. “In firing the last round from the after 12-inch turret, at about 15° on the starboard quarter, the following injury to the hull was inflicted by the blast of the discharge: “The deck planking on the starboard quarter is badly pitted by the uncon- sumed powder prisms. Some of these pits are two inches deep, an evidence that the gun does not properly consume its powder charge. “The hatch plate, newly fitted at the New York Navy-Yard in December last, was torn from its bolts and thrown back toward the gun, clear of the hatch. Two of the holding-down bolts were broken and several of the lugs on the plate cracked. The plate is very slightly twisted. “The deck beams, frames 82 and 83, abreast the cabin skylight hatch, star- board side, have been sprung and are out of line in the transverse sense. 50 THE CONQUEST OF POETO RICO. “The bulkhead about the cabin doors between frames 79 and 83, starboard side, is torn from its hangers on the beams, the rivets being sheared. “The deck over the after torpedo room is not sufficiently strong, and the blast of the 12-inch gun, when trained forward, made sufficient play to the deck to break the hangers hanging the training-trolley circle of the starboard torpedo tube. This is the second occasion upon which this accident has occurred. “The blast of the forward 12-inch gun smashed the partition forming the captain’s sleeping room in the pilot house.” Admiral Sampson did not furnish the aid General Miles wanted in his Porto Eico movement, and Miles requested “positive orders be given to the navy to cover the landing of ten thousand troops on the Island of Porto Rico without delay.” Here the President interposed with this conclusive dispatch: Executive Mansion, Washington, July 20, 1898. Hon. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy. Sir: I hand you a dispatch just received from General Miles. It is evident to me from this dispatch that Admiral Sampson is not proposing to furnish such assistance as I have heretofore directed. He should send enough ships, and strong enough, as will enable General Miles to land his troops in safety at Point Fajardo, Cape San Juan, and to remain so long as their assistance is needed. General Wilson has already sailed from Charleston, with orders to proceed to Point Fajardo. If your convoy is delayed he will reach Point Fajardo without any protection whatever, which must not be permitted. Wilson cannot be reached by wire. He has no guns on his ships. The Secretary of War says that General Wilson is due to arrive at Point Fajardo in three or four days. Prompt action should be taken to give General Wilson protection on his arrival there. It seems to me a cruiser or battle ship, or both, should be detailed for this duty. Please see that the necessary orders are issued at once. WILLIAM M’KINLEY. 12 M., Wednesday, July 20, 1898. This is in many ways a dispatch to be commended. The snarl was straightened out swiftly — Sampson and Miles satisfied. The conquest of Porto Eico progressed smoothly with little loss, though the Spaniards were in considerable force. The Peace Protocol came just in time to prevent a severe struggle, and our troops were charmed to see the welcome the people gave the Flag of the United States and delighted with the opening of numerous schools in the towns and many evidences of cultivation and good will. Porto Rico is one of the gems of the sea. CHAPTER II. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. Size of Island in Comparison and in Figures — Comparison of the Island with Cuba — Porto Ricans a Better Class of People than Are the Cubans — Island Has Not Suffered from Spanish Rule as Much as Has Cuba — One of the Fairest Gems of the Ocean — American Flag Raised Over the Island Amid the Cheering of the People — Revenue and Expenses of the Island Govern- ment — Island Rich in Costly Native Woods — Home of the Tropical Fruits — Scarcity of Wild Animal Life, but Pestiferous Insects are Plentiful — Rich in Minerals — Extensive Commerce with the Great Nations — Coffee, Sugar and Tobacco Leading Products and Exports — Healthiest Climate in the Antilles — In Density of Population Ranks First in the West Indies — Ex- tracts from United States Military Notes — Soil and Climate — Wet and Dry Seasons — Breezes, Winds and Hurricanes — Principal Mountain, River and Harbor — Cities and Towns — Highways and Railroads — Interesting Features of San Juan, the Capital and Principal City. Porto Rico is not quite as large as Connecticut, but larger than the States of Del- aware and Rhode Island. The climate of the island is delightful, and its soil exceed- ingly rich. In natural resources it is of surpassing opulence. The length of the island is about one hundred miles, and its breadth thirty-five, the general figure of it being like the head of a sperm whale. The range of mountains is from east to west, and nearly central. The prevalent winds are from the northwest, and the rainfall is much heavier on the northern shores and mountain slopes than on the southern. The height of the ridge is on the average close to 1,500 feet, one bold peak, the Anvil, being 3,600 feet high. The rainy north and the droughty south, with the lift of the land from the low shores to the central slopes and rugged eleva- tions, under the tropical sun, with the influence of the great oceans east, south and north, and the multitude of western and southern islands, give unusual and charm- ing variety in temperature. Porto Rico is, by the American people, even more than the Spaniards, associated with Cuba. But it is less than a tenth of Cuban propor- tions. Porto Rico has 3,600 square miles to Cuba’s 42,000, but a much greater proportion of Porto Rico than of Cuba is cultivated. Less than one-sixteenth of the area of Cuba has been improved, and while her population is but 1,600,000, ac- cording to the latest census, and is not so much now, Porto Rico, with less than a tenth of the land of Cuba, has half the number of inhabitants. Largely Porto Rico is peopled by a better class than the mass of the Cubans. Cuba is wretchedly provided with roads, one of the reasons why the Spaniards were incapable of putting 51 52 POETO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. down insurrections. If they had expended a fair proportion of the revenues de- rived from the flourishing plantations and the monopolies of Spanish favoritisms that built up Barcelona and enriched Captain-Generals, and in less degree other public servants, the rebellions would have been put down. The Spanish armies in Cuba, however, were rather managed for official speculation and peculation, were more promenaders than in military enterprise and the stern business of war. With Weyler for an opponent, Gomez, as a guerilla, could have dragged on a series of skirmishes indefinitely. The story of the alleged war in Cuba between the Span- iards and the Cubans was on both sides falsified, and the American people deceived. Porto Rico does not seem to have appealed so strongly to the cupidity of the Span- iards as Cuba did, and to have been governed with less brutality. The consequence is there has not been a serious insurrection in the smaller island for seventy years, and it falls into our possession without the impoverishment and demoralization of the devastation of war — one of the fairest gems of the ocean. It was October 18th that the American flag was raised over San Juan. The fol- lowing dispatch is the official record: “San Juan, Porto Rico, Oct. 18. — Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.: Flags have been raised on public buildings and forts in this city and saluted with national salutes. The occupation of the island is now complete. “BROOKE, Chairman.” On the morning of the 18th, the 11th regular infantry with two batteries of the 5th artillery landed. The latter proceeded to the forts, while the infantry lined up on the docks. It was a holiday for San Juan and there were many people in the streets. Rear-Admiral Schley and General Gordon, accompanied by their staffs, proceeded to the palace in carriages. The 11th infantry regiment and band with Troop H, of the 6th United States cavalry then marched through the streets and formed in the square opposite the palace. At 11:40 a. m., General Brooke, Admiral Schley and General Gordon, the United States evacuation commissioners, came out of the palace with many naval officers and formed on the right side of the square. The streets behind the soldiers were thronged with townspeople, who stood waiting in dead silence. At last the city clock struck 12, and the crowds, almost breathless and with eyes fixed upon the flagpole, watched for developments. At the sound of the first gun from Fort Morro, Major Dean and Lieutenant Castle, of General Brooke’s staff, hoisted the stars and stripes, while the band played “The Star Spangled Banner.” All heads were bared and the crowds cheered. Fort Morro, Fort San Cristobal and PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 53 the United States revenue cutter Manning, lying in the harbor, tired twenty-one guns each. Senor Munoz Rivera, who was president of the recent autonomist council of sec- retaries, and other officials of the late insular government were present at the pro- ceedings. Many American flags were displayed. Acknowledgment has been made of the better condition of Porto Rico than of Cuba, but the trail of the serpent of colonial Spanish government appears. Mr. Alfred Solomon writes in the Independent: “The internal administration of the island disposes of a budget of about $3,300,- 000, and is a woeful example of corrupt officialism. Of this sum only about $650,000 is expended in the island, the remainder being applied to payment of interest on public debt, salaries of Spanish officials, army, navy, and other extra-insular ex- penditures. But the whole of the revenue is collected in the island.” An article of great value by Eugene Deland, appeared in the Chatauquan of September, on the characteristics of Porto Rico, and we present an extract, showing its admirable distinction of accurate information well set forth: “The mountain slopes are covered with valuable timbers, cabinet and dye-woods, including mahogany, walnut, lignum vitae, ebony, and logwood, and various medic- inal plants. Here, too, is the favorite zone of the coffee tree, which thrives best one thousand feet above sea level. The valleys and plains produce rich harvests of sugar- cane and tobacco. The amount of sugar yielded by a given area is said to be greater than in any other West Indian island. Rice, of the mountain variety and grown without flooding, flourishes almost any place and is a staple food of the laboring classes. In addition to these products cotton and maize are commonly cultivated, and yams, plantains, oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, pineapples, and almost every other tropical fruit are grown in abundance. Among indigenous plants are several noted for their beautiful blossoms. Among these are the coccoloba, which grows mainly along the coasts and is distinguished by its large, yard-long purple spikes, and a talauma, with magnificent, ororous, white flowers. “Of wild animal life Porto Rico has little. No poisonous serpents are found, but pestiferous insects, such as tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, ticks, fleas, and mosquitos, supply this deficiency in a measure. All sorts of domestic animals are raised, and the excellent pasture-lands support large herds of cattle for export and home consumption, and ponies, whose superiority is recognized throughout the West Indies. “The mineral wealth of the island is undeveloped, but traces of gold, copper, iron, 54 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. lead, and coal arc found. Salt is procured in considerable quantities from the lakes. “Porto Rico carries on an extensive commerce, chiefly with Spain, the United States, Cuba, Germany, Great Britain, and France. In 1895 the volume of its trade was one-half greater than that of the larger British colony — Jamaica. The United States ranks second in amount of trade with the island. During the four years from 1893-9G Spain’s trade with the colony averaged $11,402,888 annually, and the United States, $5,028,544. The total value of Porto Rican exports for 1896 was $18,341,- 430, and of imports, $18,282,690, making a total of $36,624,120, which was an excess over any previous year. The exports consist almost entirely of agricultural products. In 1895 coffee comprised about sixty per cent, and sugar about twenty- eight per cent, of their value; leaf tobacco, molasses, and honey came next. Maize, hides, fruits, nuts, and distilled spirits are also sent out in considerable quantities. Over one-half of the coffee exported goes to Spain and Cuba, as does most of the to- bacco, which is said to be used in making the finest Havana cigars; the sugar and molasses are, for the most part, sent to the United States. Among imports, manu- factured articles do not greatly exceed agricultural. Rice, fish, meat and lard, flour, and manufactured tobacco are the principal ones. Customs duties furnish about two-thirds of the Porto Rican revenue, which has for several years yielded greater returns to Spain than that of Cuba. “The climate of Porto Rico is considered the healthiest in the Antilles. The heat is considerably less than at Santiago de Cuba, a degree and a half farther north. The thermometer seldom goes above 90 degrees. Pure water is readily obtained in most of the island. Yellow fever seldom occurs, and never away from the coast. The rainy season begins the first of June and ends the last of December, but the heavy downpours do not come on until about August 1st. “In density of population also this island ranks first among the West Indies, having half as many inhabitants as Cuba, more than eleven times as large. Of its 807,000 people, 326,000 are colored and many of the others of mixed blood. They differ little from other Spanish-Amerieans, being fond of ease, courteous, and hos- pitable, and, as in other Spanish countries, the common people are illiterate, public education having been grievously neglected. The natives are the agriculturists of the country, and are a majority in the interior, while the Spaniards, who control business and commerce, are found mainly in the towns and cities. “The numerous good harbors have naturally dotted the seaboard with cities and towns of greater or less commercial importance. San Juan, Ponce, Mayaguez, Aguadilla, Arecibo and Fajardo all carry on extensive trade. Intercourse between PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 55 coast towns is readily had by water, but is to be facilitated by a railroad around the island, of which 137 miles have been built and 170 miles more projected. The public highways of the island are in better condition than one might expect. Ac- cording to a recent report of United States Consul Stewart, of San Juan, there are about one hundred and fifty miles of good road. The best of this is the military high- way connecting Ponce on the southern coast with San Juan on the northern. This is a macadamized road, so excellently built and so well kept up that a recent traveler in the island says a bicycle corps could go over it without dismounting. Whether it is solid enough to stand the transportation of artillery and heavy army trains we shall soon know. Of telegraph lines Porto Rico has four hundred and seventy miles, and two cables connect it with the outside world, one running from Ponce and the other from San Juan.” Mr. Alfred Solomon, already quoted as an instructive contributor to the Inde- pendent, writes: ‘‘The population of Porto Rico, some 800,000, is essentially agricultural. A varied climate, sultry in the lowlands, refreshing and invigorating in the mountain ranges, makes possible the cultivation of almost every variety of known crop — sugar, tobacco, coffee, annatto, maze, cotton and ginger are extensively grown; but there are still thousands of acres of virgin lands awaiting the capitalist. Tropical fruits flourish in abundance, and the sugar-pine is well known in our market, where it brings a higher price than any other pine imported. Hardwood and fancy cabinet wood trees fill the forests, and await the woodman’s ax. Among these are some specimens of unexampled beauty, notably a tree, the wood of which, when polished, resembles veined marble, and another, rivaling in beauty the feathers in a peaeock’s tail. Precious metals abound, although systematic effort has never been directed to the locating of paying veins. Rivers and rivulets are plenty, and water-power is abundant; and the regime should see the installation of power plants and electric lighting all over the island, within a short time after occupation. On the lowlands, large tracts of pasturage under guinea grass and malojilla feed thousands of sleek cattle, but, as an article of food, mutton is almost unknown. The native pony, small, wiry and untirable, has a world-wide reputation, and for long journeys is unequaled, possessing a gait, as they say in the island, like an arm-chair. “Perhaps a third of the population of the island is of African descent; but, strangely enough, the colored people are only to be found on the coast, and are the fishermen, boatmen and laborers of the seaports. The cultivation of the crops is entirely in the hands of the jibaro, or peasant, who is seldom of direct Spanish 56 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. descent, while the financiering and exportation is conducted almost entirely by peninsulares, or Spanish-born colonists, who monopolize every branch of commerce to the exclusion of the colonian-born subject. “Coffee planting is largely engaged in, returning from ten to fifteen per cent, on capital. Improved transportation facilities, abolition of export dues and the con- solidation of small estates would, doubtless, help toward better results. This crop is marketed in Europe — London, Havre and Barcelona — where better prices are ob- tainable than in New York. With the exception of a few plantations in strong hands, most of this property could be purchased at a fair valuation, and would prove to be a very profitable investment. “Cocoa grows wild on the lowlands, but has not been cultivated to any apprecia- ble extent. Small consignments sent to Europe have been pronounced superior to the Caracas bean. The tree takes a longer period than coffee to come to maturity and bear fruit; but once in bearing the current expenses are less and the yield far greater. The same remarks apply to the cultivation of rubber, which, although a most profitable staple with an ever-increasing market, has received no attention whatever. n Corn is raised in quantities insufficient for home consumption. Of this cereal three crops can be obtained in two years; sometimes two a year. The demand is constant, and the price always remunerative. “In Porto Rico, as in most other West Indian islands, sugar is king. In the treatment of this product the lack of capital has been sadly felt. Planters possess only the most primitive machinery, and in the extraction of the juice from the cane the proportion of saccharine matter has been exceedingly small. Great outlay is necessary for the installation of a complete modern crushing and centrifugal plant.” A flattering picture of our new possessions is drawn in McClure’s Magazine, by Mr. George B. Waldron. “Here, then, are Cuba and Porto Rico in the Atlantic, and the Hawaiian and Philippine groups in the Pacific, whose destiny has become intertwined with our own. Their combined area is 168,000 square miles, equaling New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Their population is about 10,000,000, or perhaps one-half of that of these nine home States. The Philippines, with three-quarters of the entire population, and Porto Rico, with 800,000 people, alone approach our own Eastern States in density. Cuba, prior to the war, was about as well populated as Virginia, and the Hawaiian group is as well peopled as Kansas. What, then, can these islands do for us? PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 57 "Americans use more sugar in proportion to population than any other nation of the world. The total consumption last year was not less than 2,500,000 tons. This is enough to make a pyramid that would overtop the tallest pyramid of Egyptian fame. Of this total, 2,200,000 tons came from foreign countries, the Spanish pos- sessions and Hawaii sending about twenty-five per cent. Eive years earlier, when our imports were less by half a million tons, these islands supplied double this quantity, or nearly two-thirds of the nation’s entire sugar import. But that was before Cuba had been devastated by war and when she was exporting 1,100,000 tons of sugar to other countries. Restore Cuba to her former fertility, and the total sugar crop of these islands will reach 1,500,000 tons, or two-thirds our present foreign demand.” There is much more in Mr. Waldron’s summary of the vast addition that has been made to our resources by the occupation and possession of the islands that have recently been gathered under our wings by the force of our arms. It is enough to know that with the tropical islands we have gained, we have in our hands the potentialities, the luxuries, the boundless resources including, as we may, and must, Alaska, of all the zones of the great globe that we inhabit in such ample measure. The following notes were compiled for the information of the army, and embody all reliable information available. The notes were intended to supplement the military map of Porto Rico. The following books and works were consulted and matter from them freely used in the preparation of the notes: Guia Geografico Militar de Espana y Provincias Ultramarinas, 1879; Espana, sus Monumentos y Artes, su Naturaleza e Historia, 1887; Compendio de Geografia Militar de Espana y Portugal, 1882; Anuario deComer- cio de Espana, 1896; Anuario Militar de Espana, 1898; Reclus, Nouvelle Geographic Universelle, 1891; Advance Sheets American Consular Reports, 1898; An Account of the Present State of the Island of Porto Rico, 1834; The Statesman’s Year Book, 1898. Situation. — Porto Rico is situated in the Torrid Zone, in the easternmost part of the Antilles, between latitude 17 deg. 54 min. and 18 deg. 30 min. 40 sec. N. and longitude 61 deg. 54 min. 26 sec. and 63 deg. 32 min. 32 sec. W. of Madrid. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic, on the east and south by the sea of the Antilles, and on the west by the Mona Channel. Size. — The island of Porto Rico, the fourth in size of the Antilles, has, ac- cording to a recent report of the British consul (1897), an extent of about 3,668 58 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. square miles — 35 miles broad and 95 miles long. It is of an oblong form, extending from east to west. Population. — Porto Rico is the first among the Antilles in density of population and in prosperity. The Statesman’s Year Book, 1898, gives the population (1887) at 813,937, of which over 300,000 are negroes, this being one of the few countries of tropical America where the number of whites exceeds that of other races. The whites and colored, however, are all striving in the same movement of civilization, and are gradually becoming more alike in ideas and manners. Among the white population the number of males exceeds the number of females, which is the con- trary of all European countries. This is partly explained by the fact that the immigrants are mostly males. On an average the births exceed the deaths by double. The eastern portion of the island is less populous than the western. Soil. — The ground is very fertile, being suitable for the cultivation of cane, coffee, rice, and other products raised in Cuba, which island Porto Rico resembles in rich- ness and fertility. Climate. — The climate is hot and moist, the medium temperature reaching 104 degs. F. Constant rains and winds from the east cool the heavy atmosphere of the low regions. On the heights of the Central Cordillera the temperature is healthy and agreeable. Iron rusts and becomes consumed, so that nothing can be constructed of this metal. Even bronze artillery has to be covered with a strong varnish to protect it from the damp winds. Although one would suppose that all the large islands in the Tropics enjoyed the same climate, yet from the greater mortality observed in Jamaica, St. Domingo, and Cuba, as compared with Porto Rico, one is inclined to believe that this latter island is much more congenial than any of the former to the health of Europeans. The heat, the rains, and the seasons are, with very trifling variations, the same in all. But the number of mountains and running streams, which are everywhere in view in Porto Rico, and the general cultivation of the land, may powerfully contribute to purify the atmosphere and render it salubrious to man. The only difference of temperature to be observed throughout the island is due to altitude, a change which is common to every country under the influence of the Tropics. In the mountains the inhabitants enjoy the coolness of spring, while the valleys would be uninhabitable were it not for the daily breeze which blows generally from the northeast and east. For example, in Ponce the noonday sun is felt in all its rigor, while at the village of Ad juntas, 4 leagues distant in the interior of the mountains, PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 59 the traveler feels invigorated by the refreshing breezes of a temperate clime. At one place the thermometer is as high as 90 deg., while in another it is sometimes under GO deg. Although the seasons are not so distinctly marked in this climate as they are in Europe (the trees being always green), yet there is a distinction to be made between them. The division into wet and dry seasons (winter and summer) does not give a proper idea of the seasons in this island; for on the north coast it sometimes rains almost the whole year, while sometimes for twelve or fourteen months not a drop of rain falls on the south coast. However, in the mountains at the south there are daily showers. Last year, for example, in the months of November, December, and January the north winds blew with violence, accompanied by heavy showers of rain, while this year (1832) in the same months, it has scarcely blown a whole day from that point of the compass, nor has it rained for a whole month. Therefore, the climate of the north and south coasts of this island, although under the same tropical influence, are essentially different. As in all tropical countries, the year is divided into two seasons — the dry and the rainy. In general, the rainy season commences in August and ends the last of December, southerly and westerly winds prevailing during this period. The rain- fall is excessive, often inundating fields and forming extensive lagoons. The exhala- tions from these lagoons give rise to a number of diseases, but, nevertheless, Porto Rico is one of the healthiest islands of the archipelago. In the month of May the rains commence, not with the fury of a deluge, as in the months of August and September, but heavier than any rain experienced in Europe. Peals of thunder reverberating through the mountains give a warning of their approach, and the sun breaking through the clouds promotes the prolific vegeta- tion of the fields yith its vivifying heat. The heat at this season is equal to the sum- mer of Europe, and the nights are cool and pleasant; but the dews are heavy and pernicious to health. The following meteorological observations, carefully made by Don Jose Ma. Yertez, a Captain of the Spanish navy, will exhibit the average range of temperature: Degrees of heat observed in the capital of Porto Rico, taking a medium of five years. Degrees op Heat Observed in the Capital op Porto Rico, taking a Medium op Five Years. Hours of the Day. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. June. July. bb 0 < Sept. Oct. > o ft 6 © a Seven in the morning 72 721 74 78 78 82 85 86 801 77 76 75 Noon 82 81 82 83 85 86 90 92 88 85 84 80 Five in the evening 78 74 78 80 81 84 87 90 83 82 80 79 GO PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. The weather, after a fifteen or twenty days’ rain, clears np and the sun, whose heat has been hitherto moderated by partial clouds and showers of rain, seems, as it were, set in a cloudless sky. The cattle in the pastures look for the shade of the trees, and a perfect calm pervades the whole face of nature from sunrise till be- tween 10 and 11 o’clock in the morning, when the sea breeze sets in. The leaves of the trees seem as if afraid to move, and the sea, without a wave or ruffle on its vast expanse, appears like an immense mirror. Man partakes in the general lan- gour as well as the vegetable and brute creation. The nights, although warm, are delightfully clear and serene at this season. Objects may be clearly distinguished at the distance of several hundred yards, so that one may even shoot by moonlight. The months of June and July offer very little variation in the weather or temperature. In August a suffocating heat reigns throughout the day, and at night it is useless to seek for coolness; a faint zephyr is succeeded by a calm of several hours. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, and the body, weakened by perspiration, becomes languid; the appetite fails, and the mosquitos, buzzing about the ears by day and night, perplex and annoy by their stings, while the fevers of the tropics attack Europeans with sudden and irresistible violence. This is the most sickly season for the European. The thermometer fre- quently exceeds 90 deg. The clouds exhibit a menacing appearance, portending the approach of the heavy autumnal rains, which pour down like a deluge. About the middle of September it appears as if all the vapors of the ocean had accumu- lated in one point of the heavens. The rain comes down like an immense quantity of water poured through a sieve; it excludes from the view every surrounding object, and in half an hour the whole surface of the earth becomes an immense sheet of water. The rivers are swollen and overflow their banks, the low lands are completely inundated, and the smallest brooks become deep and rapid torrents. In the month of October the weather becomes sensibly cooler than during the preceding months, and in November the north and northeast winds generally set in, diffusing an agreeable coolness through the surrounding atmosphere. The body becomes braced and active, and the convalescent feels its genial influence. The north wind is accompanied (with few exceptions) by heavy showers of rain on the north coast; and the sea rolls on that coast with tempestuous violence, while the south coast remains perfectly calm. When the fury of the north wind abates, it is succeeded by fine weather and a clear sky. Nothing can exceed the climate of Porto Rico at this season; one can only compare it to the month of May in the delightful Province of Andalusia, where the PORTO RICO. OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 61 cold of winter and the burning lieat of summer are tempered by the cool freshness of spring. This is considered to be the healthiest season of the year, when a Euro- pean may visit the tropics without fear. The small islands, destitute of wood and high mountains, which have a powerful effect in attracting the clouds, suffer much from drought. It sometimes happens that in Curacao, St. Bartholomews, and other islands there are whole years without a drop of rain, and after exhausting their cisterns the inhabitants are compelled to import water from the rivers of other islands. “The land breeze” is an advantage which the large islands derive from the in- equality of their surface; for as soon as the sea breeze dies away, the hot air of the valleys being rarified, ascends toward the tops of the mountains, and is there con- densed by cold, which makes it specifically heavier than it was before; it then de- scends back to the valleys on both sides of the ridge. Hence a night wind (blowing on all sides from the land toward the shore) is felt in all the mountainous countries under the torrid zone. On the north shore the wind comes from the south, and on the south shore from the north. Storms. — The hurricanes which visit the island, and which obey the general laws of tropical cyclones, are one of the worst scourges of the country. For hours before the appearance of this terrible phenomenon the sea appears calm; the waves come from a long distance very gently until near the shore, when they suddenly rise as if impelled by a superior force, dashing against the land with extraordinary violence and fearful noise. Together with this sign, the air is noticed to be disturbed, the sun red, and the stars obscured by vapor which seems to magnify them. A strong odor is perceived in the sea, which is sulphureous in the waters of rivers, and there are sudden changes in the wind. These omens, together with the signs of un- easiness manifested by various animals, foretell the proximity of a hurricane. This is a sort of whirlwind, accompanied by rain, thunder and light- ning, sometimes by earthquake shocks, and always by the most terri- ble and devastating circumstances that can possibly combine to ruin a country in a few hours._A clear, serene day is followed by the darkest night; the delightful view offered by woods and prairies is diverted into the deary waste of a cruel winter; the tallest and most robust cedar trees are uprooted, broken off bodily, and hurled into a heap; roofs, balconies, and windows of houses are carried through the air like dry leaves, and in all directions are seen houses and estates laid waste and thrown into confusion. The fierce roar of the water and of the trees being destroyed by the winds. 62 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. the cries and moans of persons, the bellowing of cattle and neighing of horses, which are being carried from place to place by the whirlwinds, the torrents of water inundating the fields, and a deluge of fire being let loose in flashes and streaks of lightning, seem to announce the last convulsions of the universe and the death agonies of nature itself. Sometimes these hurricanes are felt only on the north coast, at others on the south coast, although generally their influence extends throughout the island. In 1825 a hurricane destroyed the towns of Patillas, Maunabo, Yabucoa, Hu- macao, Gurabo, and Caguas, causing much damage in other towns in the east, north, and center of the island. The island was also visited by a terrible hurricane in 1772. Earthquakes. — Earthquakes are somewhat frequent, but not violent or of great consequence. The natives foretell them by noticing clouds settle near the ground for some time in the open places among the mountains. The water of the springs emits a sulphurous odor or leaves a strange taste in the mouth; birds gather in large flocks and fly about uttering shriller cries than usual; cattle bellow and horses neigh, etc. A few hours beforehand the air becomes calm and dimmed by vapors which arise from the ground, and a few moments before there is a slight breeze, followed at intervals of two or three minutes by a deep rumbling noise, accompanied by a sudden gust of wind, which are the forerunners of the vibration, the latter following immediately. These shocks are sometimes violent and are usually repeated, but owing to the special construction of the houses, they cause no damage. Tides. — For seven hours the tide runs rapidly in a northwest direction, return- ing in the opposite direction with equal rapidity for five hours. Orography. — The general relief of Porto Rico is much inferior in altitude to that of the rest of the Great Antilles, and even some of the Lesser Antilles have mountain summits which rival it. A great chain of mountains divides the islands into two parts, northern and southern, which are called by the natives Banda del Norte and Banda del Sur. This chain sends out long ramifications toward the coasts, the interstices of which form beautiful and fertile valleys, composed in the high parts of white and red earths, on the spurs of black and weaker earths, and near the coasts of sand. To the northwest and following a direction almost parallel with the northern coast, the Sierra of Lares extends from Aguadilla to the town of Lares, where it divides into two branches, one going north nearly to the coast, near Arecibo harbor, and the other extending to the spurs of the Sierra Grande de Banos; this HOESES LADEN WITH MALOJA, IN MATANZAS, CUBA. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 65 latter starting from Point Guaniquilla, crosses the island in its entire length, its last third forming the Sierra of Cayey. The whole island may be said to form a continuous network of sierras, hills, and heights. Of these the Sierra del Loquillo is distinguished for its great altitude (the highest peak being Yunque, in the northeast corner of the island and visible from the sea, a distance of 120 kilometers), as is also Laivonito Mountain, near the south coast. The following are the four highest mountains, with their heights above the sea level: ' Yunque, in Luquillo, 1,290 yards; Guilarte, in Adjuntas, 1,180 yards; La Somanta, in Aybonito, 1,077 yards; Las Tetas de Cerro Gordo, in San German, 860 yards. All are easily ascended on foot or horseback, and there are coffee plan- tations near all of them. Approximate Height of Towns Above the Sea Level. — Aybonito, with its accli- matization station, 970 yards; Adjuntas, an almost exclusively Spanish town, 810 yards; Cayey, with a very agreeable climate, 750 yards; Lares, with a very agree- able climate, 540 yards; Utuado, with a very agreeable climate, 480 yards; Muricao, an exclusively Spanish town, 480 yards. To ascend to all these towns there are very good wagon roads. There are no fortifications of any kind in them, but the) are surrounded on all sides by mountains. Hydrography. — Few countries of the extent of Porto Rico are watered by so many streams. Seventeen rivers, taking their rise in the mountains, cross the val- leys of the north coast and empty into the sea. Some of these are navigable 2 or 3 leagues from their mouths for schooners and small coasting vessels. Those of Manati, Loisa, Trabajo, and Arecibo are very deep and broad, and it is difficult to imagine how such large bodies of water can be collected in so short a Course. Owing to the heavy surf which continually breaks on the north coast, these rivers have bars across their embouchures which do not allow large vessels to enter. The rivers of Bayamo and Rio Piedras flow into the harbor of the capital, and are also navigable for boats. At high water small brigs may enter the river of Arecibo with perfect safety and discharge their cargoes, notwithstanding the bar which crosses its mouth. The rivers of the north coast have a decided advantage over those of the south coast, where the climate is drier and the rains less frequent. Nevertheless, the south, west, and east coasts are well supplied with water; and, although in some seasons it does not rain for ten, and sometimes twelve months on the south coast, the rivers are never entirely dried up. 66 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. From the Cabeza de San Juan, which is the northeast extremity of the island, to the cape of Mala Pascua, which lies to the southeast, 9 rivers fall into the sea. From Cape Mala Pascua to Point Aguila, which forms the southwest angle of the island, 16 rivers discharge their waters on the south coast. On the west coast 3 rivers, 5 rivulets, and several fresh-water lakes communicate with the sea. In the small extent of 330 leagues of area there are 46 rivers, besides a countless number of rivulets and branches of navigable water. The rivers of the north coast are stocked with delicious fish, some of them large enough to weigh two quintals. From the river of Arecibo to that of Manati, a distance of 5 leagues, a fresh-water lagoon, perfectly navigable for small vessels through the whole of its extent, runs parallel to the sea at about a mile from the shore. In the fertile valley of Anasc-o, on the western coast, there is a canal formed by nature, deep and navigable. None of the rivers are of real military importance; for, though considering the shortness of their course, they attain quite a volume, still it is not sufficient for good-sized vessels. The rivers emptying on the north coast are Loisa, Aguas Prietas, Arecibo, Baya- mon, Camuy, Cedros, Grande, Guajataca de la Tuna, Lesayas, Loquillo, Manati, Rio Piedras, Sabana, San Martin, Sibuco, Toa, and Vega. Those emptying on the east coast are Candelero, Dagua, Fajardo, Guayanes, Majogua, and Maonabo. On the south coast: Aquamanil, Caballon, Cana, Coamo, Descalabrado, Guanica, Guayama, Guayanilla, Jacagua, Manglar, Penuela, Ponce and Yigia. On the west coast: Aguada, Boqueron, Cajas, Culebrina, Chico, Guanajibo, Mayagiiez, and Rincon. The limits of the Loisa river are: On the east, the sierra of Luquillo (situated near the northeast corner of the island); on the south, the sierra of Cayey, and on the west, ramifications of the latter. It rises in the northern slopes of the sierra of Cayey, and, running in a northwest direction for the first half of its course and turning to northeast in the second half, it arrives at Loisa, a port on the northern coast, where it discharges its waters into the Atlantic. During the first part of its course it is knowm by the name of Cayagua. The Sabana river has, to the east and south, the western and southern limits of the preceding river, and on the west the Sierra Grande, or De Barros, which is situated in the center of the general divide, or watershed. It rises in the sierra of Cayey, and, with the name of Pinones river, it flows northwest, passing through Ai- PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 67 bonito, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, and Dorado, where it discharges into the Atlantic to the west of the preceding river. The Manati river is bounded on the east and south by the Sierra Grande and on the west by the Siales ridge. It rises in the Sierra Grande, and parallel with the preceding river, it flows through Siales and Manati, to the north of which latter town it empties into the Atlantic. The Arecibo river is bounded on the east by the Siales mountain ridge, on the south by the western extremity of the Sierra Grande, and on the west by the Lares ridge. It rises in the general divide, near Adjuntas, and flows north through the town of Arecibo to the Atlantic, shortly before emptying into which it receives the Tanama river from the left, which proceeds from the Lares Mountains. The Culebrina river is bounded on the south and east by the Lares mountain ridge, and on the north by small hills of little interest. From the Lares Mountains it flows from east to west and empties on the west coast north of San Francisco de la Aguada, in the center of the bay formed between Point Penas Blancas and Point San Francisco. The Anaseo river is formed by the Lares mountain ridge. It rises in the eastern extremity of the mountains called Tetas de Cerro Gordo, flowing first northwest and then west, through the town of its name and thence to the sea. The Guanajivo river has to its north the ramifications of the Lares ridge, to the east the Tetas de Cerro Gordo Mountains, and on the south Torre Hill. In the interior of its basin is the mountain called Cerro Montuoso, which separates its waters from those of tis affluent from the right, the Rosaria river. It rises in the general divide, flowing from east to west to Nuestra Senora de Montserrat, where it receives the affluent mentioned, the two together then emptying south of Port Mayaguez. The Coamo river is bounded on the west and north by the Sierra Grande, and on the west by the Coamo ridge. It rises in the former of these sierras, and flowing from north to south it empties east of Coamo Point, after having watered the town of its name. The Salinas river is bounded on the west by the Coamo ridge, on the north by the general divide, and on the east by the Cayey ridge. It rises in the southern slopes of the Sierra Grande and flowing from north to south through Salinas de Coamo, empties into the sea. Coasts, Harbors, Bays, and Coves. — The northern coast extends in an almost straight line from east to west, and is high and rugged. The only harbors it has (18 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. are the following: San Juan de Porto Rico, surrounded by mangrove swamps and protected by the Cabras and the Cabritas islands and some very dangerous banks; the anchoring ground of Arecibo, somewhat unprotected; and the coves of Cangrejos and Condado. During the months of November, December, and January, when the wind blows with violence from the east and northeast, the anchorage is danger- ous in all the bays and harbors of this coast, except in the port of San Juan. Ves- sels are often obliged to put to sea on the menacing aspect of the heavens at this sea- son, to avoid being driven on shore by the heavy squalls and the rolling waves of a boisterous sea, which propel them to destruction. During the remaining months the ports on this coast are safe and commodious, unless when visited by a hurricane, against whose fury no port can offer a shelter, nor any vessel be secure. The ex- cellent port of San Juan is perfectly sheltered from the effects of the north wind. The hill, upon which the town of that name and the fortifications which defend it are built, protects the vessels anchored in the harbor. The entrance of this port is narrow, and requires a pilot; for the canal which leads to the anchorage, although deep enough for vessels of any dimensions, is very narrow, which exposes them to run aground. This port is several miles in extent, and has the advantage of having deep canals to the east, among a wood of mangrove trees, where vessels are perfectly secure during the hurricane months. Vessels of 250 tons can at present unload and take in their cargoes at the wharf. Harbor improvements have been recently made here. On the northwest and west are the coves of Aguadilla, the town of this name being some 4 kilometers inland. There are the small coves of Rincon, Anasco, and Mayaguez, the latter being protected and of sufficient depth to anchor vessels of mod- erate draft; the harbor of Real de Cabo Rojo, nearly round, and entered by a narrow channel; and the cove of Boqueron. The spacious bay of Aguadilla is formed by Cape Borrigua and Cape San Francisco. When the north-northwest and southwest winds prevail it is not a safe anchorage for ships. A heavy surf rolling on the shore obliges vessels to seek safety by putting to sea on the appearance of a north wind. Mayaguez is also an open roadstead formed by two projecting capes. It has good anchorage for vessels of 'a large size and is well sheltered from the north winds. The port of Cabo Rojo has also good anchorage. It is situated S. one-fourth N. of the point of Guanajico, at a distance of 5-|- miles. Its shape is nearly circular, and it extends from east to west 3 to 4 miles. At the entrance it has 3 fathoms of water, and 16 feet in the middle of the harbor. The entrance is a narrow canal. The south coast abounds in bays and harbors, but is covered with mangroves PORTO EICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 69 and reeis, the only harbor where vessels of regular draft can enter being Guanica and Ponce. The former of these is the westernmost harbor on the southern coash being at the same time the best, though the least visited, owing to the swamps and low tracts difficult to cross leading from it to the interior. The nearest towns, San German, Sabana Grande, and Yauco, carry on a small trade through this port. In the port of Guanica, vessels drawing 21 feet of water may enter with perfect safety. Its entrance is about 100 yards wide, and it forms a spacious basin, com- pletely landlocked. The vessels may anchor close to the shore. It has, in the whole extent, from 6-J to 3 fathoms, the latter depth being formed in the exterior of the port. The entrance is commanded by two small hills on either side, which if mounted with a few pieces of artillery would defy a squadron to force it. This port would be of immense advantage in time of war. The national vessels and coasters would thus have a secure retreat from an enemy’s cruiser on the south coast. There are no wharves, but vessels could disembark troops by running alongside the land and run- ning out a plank. Coamo Cove and Aguirre and Guayama are also harbors. The port of Jovos, near Guayama, is a haven of considerable importance. It is a large and healthy place, and the most Spanish of any city on the island after San Juan. There are good roads to the capital. Vessels of the largest kina may anchor and ride in safety from the winds, and the whole British navy would find room in its spacious bosom. It has 4 fathoms of water in the shallowest part of the entrance. However, it is difficult to enter this port from June to November, as the sea breaks with violence at the entrance, on account of the southerly winds which reign at that season. It has every convenience of situation and locality for forming docks for the repair of shipping. The large bay of Anasco, on the south coast, affords anchorage to vessels of all sizes. It is also safe from the north winds. Although on the eastern coast there are many places for vessels to anchor, yet none of them are exempt from danger during the north winds except Fajardo, where a safe anchorage is to be found to leeward of two little islands close to the bay, where vessels are' completely sheltered. The island of Vieques has also several commodious ports and harbors, where vessels of the largest size may ride at anchor. On the east coast is Cape Cabeza de San Juan, Points Lima, Candeleros, and Nar- anjo, and Cape Mala Pascua; on the south coast, Point Viento, Tigueras, Corehones, Arenas, Fama or Maria, Cucharas, Guayanilla, Guanica, and Morillos de Cabo Rojo; on the west coast, points San Francisco, Cadena, Guanijito, Guaniquilla, and Palo Seco. 70 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. Highways. — There are few roads or ways of communication which are worthy of mention, with the exception of the broad pike which starts from the capital and runs along the coast, passing through the following towns: Aguadilla, Bayamon, Cabo Rojo, Ilumacao, Juana Diaz, Mayaguez, Ponce, and San German. It has no bridges; is good in dry weather, but in the rainy season is impassible for wagons and even at times for horsemen. For interior communication there are only a few local roads or paths. They are usually 2 yards in width, made by the various owners, and can not be well trav- eled in rainy weather. They are more properly horse and mule trails, and oblige people to go in single file. In late years much has been attempted to improve the highways connecting the principal cities, and more has been accomplished than in Spanish colonies. There is a good made road connecting Ponce on the southern coast with San Juan the capital. Other good roads also extend for a short distance along the north coast and along the south coast. The road from Guayama is also said to be a passably good one. There are in the island about 150 miles of excellent road, and this is all that re- ceives any attention, transportation being effected elsewhere on horse back. In* the construction of a road level foundation is sought, and on this is put a heavy layer of crushed rock and brick, which, after having been well packed and rounded, is cov- ered with a layer of earth. This is well packed also, and upon the whole is spread a layer of ground limestone, which is pressed and rolled until it forms almost a glossy surface. This makes an excellent road here where the climate is such that it does not affect it, and when there is no heavy traffic, but these conditions being changed, the road, it is thought, would not stand so well. From Palo Seco, situated about a mile and a half from the capital, on the op- posite side of the bay, a carriage road, perfectly level, has been constructed for a distance oi 22 leagues to the town of Aguadilla on the west coast, passing through the towns of Vegabaja, Manati, Arecibo, Hatillo, Camuy, and Isabella. This road has been carried for several leagues over swampy lands, which are intersected by deep drains to carry off the water. The road from Aguadilla to Mayaguez is in some parts very good, in other parts only fair. From Aguadilla to Aguada, a distance of a league, the road is excellent and level. From thence to Mayaguez, through the village of Rincon and the town of Anasco, the road is generally good, but on the seashore it is sometimes interrupted by shelving rocks. Across the valley of Anasco the road is carried through a boggy tract, with bridges over several deep creeks of fresh water. From thence to the PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 71 large commercial town of Mayaguez the road is uneven and requires some improve- ment. But the roads from Mayaguez and Ponce to their respective ports on the seashore can not be surpassed by any in Europe. They are made in a most sub- stantial manner, and their convex form is well adapted to preserve them from the destruction caused by the heavy rains of the climate. These roads have been made over tracts of swampy ground to the seacoast, but with little and timely repair they will last forever. A road, which may be called a carriage road, has been made from Ponce to tha village of Ad juntas, situated 5 leagues in the interior of the mountains. The road along the coast, from Ponce to Guayama, is fairly good; from thence to Patillas there is an excellent carriage road for a distance of 3 leagues; from the latter place to the coast is a high road well constructed. From Patillas to Fajardo, on the eastern coast, passing through the towns of Maimavo, Yubac-ao, Humacao, and Naguabo, tha roads are not calculated for wheel vehicles, in consequence of being obliged to ascend and descend several steep hills. That which crosses the mountain of Mala Pascua, dividing the north and east coasts, is a good ’and solid road, upon which a person on horseback may travel with great ease and safety. The road crossing the valley of Yubacao, which consists of a soft and humid soil, requires more attention than that crossing the mountain of Mala Pascua, which has a fine, sandy soil. From Fajardo to the capital, through the towns of Luquillo, Loisa, and Rio Piedras, the road is tolerably good for persons on horseback as far as Rio Pie- dras, and from thence to the city of San Juan, a distance of 2 leagues, is an ex- cellent carriage road, made by the order and under the inspection of the Captain- General, part of it through a mangrove swamp. Over the river Loisa is a handsome wooden bridge, and on the road near Rio Piedras is a handsome stone one over a deep rivulet. One of the best roads in the island extends from the town of Papino, situated in the mountains, to the town of Aguadilla on the coast, distant 5J leagues, through the village of La Moca; in the distance of 3 leagues from the latter place, it is crossed by 10 deep mountain rivulets, formerly impassable, but over which solid bridges have now been built, with side railings. In the mountainous district within the cir- cumference of a few leagues no less than 47 bridges have been built to facilitate the communication between one place and the other. The following are the roads of 6 meters width, 4| in center of pounded stone. They have iron bridges and are in good shape for travel all the year. (1) San Juan to the Shore near Ponce. — From San Juan to Ponce the central 72 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. road is exactly 134 kilometers. Distances along the line are: Rio Piedras, 11; Caguas, 25; to Cayei, 24; Aybonito, 20; Coarno, 18; Juana Diaz, 20; to Ponce, 13; and to the shore, 3. Exact. (2) San Juan to Bayamon. — By ferry fifteen minutes to Catano, and from there by road to Bayamon 10 kilometers. This passes alongside the railway. (3) Rio Piedras to Mameyes, 36 kilometers; from Rio Piedras to Carolina, 12; to Rio Grande, 19; to Mameyes, 5. (4) Cayei to Arroyo, 35 kilometers; from Cayei to Guayama, 25; to Arroyo, 8; from San Juan to Arroyo, via Cayei, is 95 kilometers. (5 Ponce to Adjuntas, 32 kilometers. (6) San German to Anasco, 33 kilometers; from San German to Mayaguez, 21 kilometers; Mayaguez to Anasco, 12; Mayaguez to Mormigueros, 11; Mayaguez to Cabo Rojo, 18; Mayaguez to Las Marias, 23; Mayaguez to Maricao, 35; Hor- migueras to San German, 14. Near Mayaguez the roads are best. There are good roads in all directions. (7) Aguadilla to San Sebastian, 18. (8) Arecibo to Utuado, 33. Highways of first class in the island, 335 kilometers. Along these roads are, at a distance of 8 to 10 kilometers, a fort, stone, and brick barracks, or large buildings, where the Spanish troops stop and rest when on the march. Railroads. — In 1878 a report was presented to the minister of the colonies on a study made by the engineer and head of public works of the island in view of con- structing a railroad which should start from the capital and, passing through all the chief towns and through the whole island, return to the point of departure. Of this railroad the following parts have been completed: San Juan, along the coast through Rio Piedras, Bayamon, Dorado, Arecibo, and Hatillo, to Camuy; Aguadilla, through Aguado, Rincon, Anasco, and Ma} r aguez,_ to Hornigueros. A branch of this railroad from Anasco, through San Sebastian, to Lares. Ponce, through Guayanilla, to Yauco. This latter railroad follows the southern coast line and is followed by a wagon road throughout its course. In one place the railroad and road run within a few hundred yards of the coast line. According to the Statesman’.. Year Book for 1898 there are in operation 137 miles of railroad, besides over 170 miles under construction. All the railroads are single track, and the gauge is 1 meter 20 centimeters, or 3 feet 11-^ inches. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION: 3 The following are the railways of 1-meter gauge: (1) San Juan to Rio Piedras, 11 kilometers. (2) Catano to Bayamon, 10 kilometers. (3) Anasco to San Sebastian and Lares, 35 kilometers. Total of three lines, 56 kilometers. The lines are all in good shape, have plenty of engines and cars; speed, 20 kil- ometers per hour; use coal for fuel imported from the United States; supply usually large, may be small now; hard coal; fine stations; plenty of water, and everything in shape for business. Telegraphs. — The capital communicates with the principal towns of the coast and interior by means of a w r ell-connected telegraph system. There are in all some 470 miles of telegraph. Telephones. — The British Consular Report says that the telephone system of San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez have recently been contracted for by local syndicates. In Ponce a United States company obtained the contract for the material. There are 100 stations already connected, and it is expected that 200 more will be in opera- tion shortly. Administration. — From an administrative standpoint, Porto Rico is not con- sidered as a colony, but as a province of Spain, assimilated to the remaining prov- inces. The Governor-General, representing the monarchy, is at the same time Cap- tain-General of the armed forces. In each chief town resides a military commander, and each town has its alcalde, or mayor, appointed by the central power. The prov- incial deputation is elected by popular suffrage under the same conditions as in Spain. The regular peace garrison is composed of about 3,000 men, and the annual budget amounts to some 20,000,000 pesos. Education. — In 1887 only one-seventh of the population could read and write, but of late years progress in public instruction has been rapid. Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce. — In 1878 there arrived in the harbors of the island 1,591 vessels of different nationalities and 1,534 departed. The value of products imported was 14,787,551 pesos, and that of articles exported was 13,070,* 020 pesos. The following are the relative percentages of values: Flags. Relation. Per Cent. Spanish 49.91 American 13.47 English 21.43 .Various Nations 15.19 Total 100.00 74 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. Navigation is very active, but the part the inhabitants take in the commercial fleet is small. The Porto Ricans are not seagoing people. The eastern part of the island offers less advantage to commerce than the western, being to the windward and affording less shelter to vessels. Porto Rico has more than seventy towns and cities, of which Ponce is the most important. Ponce has 22,000 inhabitants, with a jurisdiction numbering 47,000. It is situated on the south coast of the island, on a plain, about 2 miles from the sea- board. It is the chief town of the judicial district of its name, and is 70 miles from San Juan. It is regularly built, the central part almost exclusively of brick houses, and the suburbs of wood. It is the residence of the military commander, and the seat of an official chamber of commerce. There is an appellate criminal court, besides other courts; 2 churches, one Protestant, said to be the only one in the Spanish West Indies; 2 hospitals besides the military hospital, a home of refuge for old and poor, 2 cemeteries, 3 asylums, several casinos, 3 theaters, a market, a municipal public library, 3 first-class hotels, 3 barracks, a park, gas works, a perfectly equipped fire de- partment, a bank, thermal and natural baths, etc. Commercially, Ponce is the second city of importance on the island. A fine road leads to the port (Playa), where all the import and export trade is transacted. Playa has about 5,000 inhabitants, and here are situated the custom house, the office of the captain of the port, and all the consular offices. The port- is spacious and will hold vessels of 25 feet draft. The climate, on account of the sea breezes during the day and land breezes at night, is not oppressive, but very hot and dry; and, as water for all purposes, including the fire department, is amply supplied by an aqueduct 4,442 yards long, it is said that the city of Ponce is perhaps the healthiest place in the whole island. There is a stage coach to San Juan, Mayaguez, Guayama, etc. There is a railroad to Yauco, a post office, and a telegraph station. It is believed that Ponce was founded in 1600; it was given the title of villa in 1848, and in 1877 that of city. Of its 34 streets the best are Mayor, Salud, Villa, Vives, Marina, and Comercio. The best squares are Principal and Las Delicias, which are separated by the church of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. The church, as old as the town itself, began to be reconstructed in 1838 and was finished in 1847. It is 86 yards long by 43 broad, and has two steeples, rich altars, and fine ornaments. The theater is called the Pearl, and it deserves this name, for it is the finest on the island. It has a sculptured porch, on the Byzantine order, with very graceful columns. It is mostly built of iron and marble and cost over 70,000 pesos. It is 52 yards deep by 29 wide. The inside is beautiful, the boxes and seats roomy and POETO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 75 nicely decorated. It may, by a mechanical arrangement, be converted into a danc- ing ball. About 1| miles northeast of the town are the Quintana thermal baths, in a build- ing surrounded by pretty gardens. They are visited by sufferers from rheumatism and various other diseases. San Juan is a perfect specimen of a walled town, with portcullis, moat, gates, and battlements. The wall surrounding this town is defended by several batteries. Facing the harbor are those of San Fernando, Santa Catalina, and Santa Toribio. Looking toward the land side is Fort Abanico, and toward the ocean the batteries of San Antonio, San Jose, and Santa Teresa, and Fort Princesa. The land part has two ditches, or cuts, which are easy to inundate. The fort and bridge of San Antonio that of San Geronimo, and the Escambron battery situated on a tongue of land which enters the sea. Built over two hundred and fifty years ago, the city is still in good condition and repair. The walls are picturesque, and represent a stupendous work and cost in themselves. Inside the walls the city is laid off in regular squares, six parallel streets running in the direction of the length of the island and seven at right angles. The peninsula on which San Juan is situated is connected with the mainland by three bridges. The oldest, that of San Antonio, carries the highway across the shallow San Antonio Channel. It is a stone-arched bridge about 350 yards long including the approaches. By the side of this bridge is one for the railroad and one for the tramway which follows the main military highway to Rio Piedras. Among the buildings the following are notable: The palace of the Captain- General, the palace of the intendencia, the town hall, military hospital, jail, Ballaja barracks, theater, custom house, cathedral, Episcopal palace, and seminary. There is no university or provincial institute of second grade instruction, and only one college, which is under the direction of Jesuit priests. The houses are closely and compactly built of brick, usually of two stories, stuccoed on the outside and pai&ted in a variety of colors. The upper floors are occupied by the more respectable people, while the ground floors, almost without exception, are given up to the negroes and the poorer class, who crowd one upon another in the most appalling manner. The population within the walls is estimated at 20,000 and most of it lives on the ground floor. In one small room, with a flimsy partition, a whole family will reside. The ground floor of the whole town reeks with filth, and conditions are most unsanitary. In a tropical country, where disease readily prevails, the conse- quences of such herding may be easily inferred. There is no running water in the PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 76 town. The entire population depend upon rain water, caught upon the flat roofs of the buildings and conducted to the cistern, which occupies the greater part of the inner court-yard that is an essential part of Spanish houses the world over, but that here, on account of the crowded conditions, is very small. There is no sewerage, except for surface water and sinks, while vaults are in every house and occupy whatever remaining space there may be in the patios not taken up by the cisterns. The risk of contaminating the water is very great, and in dry seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. Epidemics are frequent, and the town is alive with vermin, fleas, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and dogs. The streets are wider than in the older part of Havana, and will admit two car- riages abreast. The sidewalks are narrow, and in places will accommodate but one person. The pavements are of a composition manufactured in England from slag, pleasant and even, and durable when no heavy strain is brought to bear upon them, but easily broken, and unfit for heavy traffic. The streets are swept once a day by hand, and, strange to say, are kept very clean. From its topographical situation the town should be healthy, but it is not. The soil under the city is clay mixed with lime, so hard as to be almost like rock. It is consequently impervious to water and furnishes a good natural drainage. The trade wind blows strong and fresh, and through the harbor runs a stream of sea water at a speed of not less than three miles an hour. With these conditions no contagious diseases, if properly taken care of, could exist; without them the place would be a veritable plague spot. Besides the town within the walls there are small portions just outside, called the Marina and Puerta de Tierra, containing two or three thousand inhabitants each. There are also two suburbs, one, San Turce, approached by the only road leading out of the city, and the other, Catano, across the bay, reached by ferry. The Marina and the two suburbs are situated on sandy points or spits, and the latter are surrounded by mangrove swamps. The entire population of the city and suburbs, according to the census of 1887, was 27,000. It is now (1896) estimated at 30,000. One-half of the population con- sists of negroes and mixed races. There is but little manufacturing, and it is of small importance. The Standard Oil Company has a small refinery across the bay, in which crude petroleum brought from the United States is refined. Matches are made, some brooms, a little soap, and a cheap class of trunks. There are also ice, gas, and electric light works. The Island of Porto Rico in 1509 was invaded by Spaniards from Haiti, and has since that time been a Spanish colony. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 71 A range of lofty mountains called Luquillo, covered with wood and inter- sected by numerous deep ravines, runs through the center of the island, begin- ning near the northeast point and terminating south of Arecibo in a hill called the Silla de Caballo. The highest peak of this chain (3,714 feet high) is visible in clear weather from a distance of sixty-eight miles. It forms an excellent land- mark. It is called El Yunque, or Anvil Peak. In the interior are extensive savannahs, on which large herds of cattle are pastured, and along the coasts are tracts of level, fertile land. The principal ports of export are San Juan and Arecibo on the north coast, Aguadilla and Mayagiiez on the west, Guanica, Guayanilla, Ponce, and Arrayo on the south, and Humacao and Naguabo on the east coast. The coasts of the island are by no means well known, and urgently need to be resurveyed. On the eastern coast of Porto Rico there are nine small rivers emptying into the sea, and several ports frequented by small vessels to load with sugar and molasses. The instructions which can be given for this coast are so deficient that it would be by no means safe for a stranger to cruise here without a pilot, who may be obtained at San Juan, St. Thomas, or sometimes at Port Mula, on Crab Island. The population in 1800 was 666,000. Hurricanes. — Although the island is south of the usual track of hurricanes, it has been severely visited by them. The cyclones of 1782 and 1825 were espe- cially destructive. The summit of Mona Island is nearly flat, with a few bushes and trees, and it may be seen from a distance of eighteen miles. It is of volcanic formation; its north, east, and northwest sides, consisting of high perpendicular bluffs, afford no landing place. On the west and southeast sides are a number of caves form- ing entrances to extensive subterraneous galleries which run in every direction. The surface of the island is composed of calcareous slate-colored rock, full of holes containing soil in which the trees and brushwood grow. .There are numbers of wild goats and hogs on the island, and turtles during the season. A ridge of rocks runs off the southwest point, and a vessel should not come inside the depth of eight fathoms of water, which will be found at the distance of one-quarter of a mile. The eastern and northern parts of the island are said to be clear of danger and steep. The northwest end terminates in a promontory, and its extremity 78 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. rises to a lofty perpendicular rock, which when on a bearing N. 6* E. (N. 6° E. mag.) or S. 6° W. (S. 6° W. mag.), has the appearance of a sail, with Monito open westward of it. From this end, named Cape Barrionuevo, round by south to the east end, the island is bordered by a bank of white sand and rocks with eighteen to three and one-half fathoms water on it. It extends off one and one-half miles between Capes Barrionuevo and Julia, also called Caigo 6 no Caigo Point (I fall, or I don’t fall). It takes the latter name from an enormous rock on its summit which is very curiously balanced and threatens every moment to fall. The tides on the eastern coast of Porto Rico run with great strength to the northeast seven hours and to the southeast five hours. The north coast of Porto Rico is rugged and uneven; it runs in a nearly straight line east and west, and between San Juan Plead and Port San Juan presents no shelter whatever. San Juan Head slopes gradually from the summit of the hills to the sea and terminates in a low, but clearly defined point; for about fourteen miles westward from the head the coast is composed of dark, rugged looking cliffs, breaking down from the mountain side, but as the hills turn inward the land becomes low and undulating and appears to be well cultivated, many chimneys of steam sugar mills being seen above the trees. From off the west end of this high and cliffy portion of the coast, the fortifications and part of the city of San Juan will be seen. The south coast of Porto Rico is generally foul, and should be very guardedly approached, for there is very little correct information respecting it. It appears, however, that in some parts soundings extend to a considerable distance from the shore, and the lead should, therefore, be well attended. In running down, it is advisable not to come within four or five miles of the land. From the offing this side of the island appears lofty, but the shore is generally low and bounded by mangroves. Sixteen small rivers empty into the sea from this shore, but few are capable of admitting even boats. The Bay of Ponce is nearly three miles across between Carenero, the eastern, and Cucharros, the western point; the port is in the northeast corner of the bay, and on its shore is the village of Port Ponce, containing 1,500 inhabitants. The custom-house, a long, white, two-storied building, with flat roof and flagstaff, is the most prominent object in the village, and is very conspicuous from sea- ward. The shores are low and bounded by mangrove and cocoanut trees, but two or three miles westward of Cucharros Point the land rises and becomes hilly. PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 79 The winds around Porto Rico appear to be of the same character as those met with at the Virgin Islands. There is no regular land breeze to take advantage of, although the usual trade wind generally slackens during the night in the immediate vicinity of the shore. Under the west end the wind in the daytime will incline inward. In the winter months north and northwest w r inds some- times occur, and blow hard, and in the summer long calms and light southeast airs prevail, with terrific squalls and heavy rains, especially on the south side. Vieques was temporarily occupied during the two centuries preceding the present by the English and French, but is now entirely under Spanish dominion. Its riches and population are developing from day to day in an admirable man- ner. Its government is politico-military, exercised by a colonel. It has a well- built church of masonry at the town of Isabel Segunda. On the southern coast, opposite the harbor of Ponce, and apparently joined to Porto Rico by a reef, is the Caja de Muerto Island, in which there is a good anchoring ground. Its coasts abound in fish and are surrounded by keys. To the west of Cape Rojo is the Island of Mona, of volcanic origin. Its coasts rise perpendicularly to a great height above the sea level. It is inhabited by a few fishermen and abounds in goats, bulls, and swine in a wild state. To the north-northeast of the foregoing and opposite Cape Barrionuevo is Monito Island. It is a small and elevated rock, inhabited by innumerable water fowl. Guanica. — A small town of 1,000 inhabitants, on southern ^rst, about six miles south of Yauco, of which city it forms the port, and with which it is con- nected by a good road practicable in dry weather. It is situated on the Bay of Guanica, which is one of the best ports in the whole island. The banks to the right are steep and form a good natural wharf. Three vessels can lie alongside and unload by means of gang plank. Vessels of thirty feet draft can easily enter the bay and proceed close inshore. No fortifications or mines. Guayama. — A village of 4,500 inhabitants, with a jurisdiction numbering 12,884. It is the chief town of the judicial district of its name, and is situated on the south coast forty-nine miles from San Juan. It has a telephone, a rail- road station, a postoffice, and a telegraph station. It was founded in 1736. Its church is one of the finest on the island, being rich in altars and orna- ments. It was constructed in 1873, with twenty yards front by forty-four deep. San Juan, the capital, is situated on the northern coast, on a long and narrow island, separated from the main island, at one end, by a shallow arm of the sea, over which is the bridge of San Antonio, connecting it with the mainland, which 80 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. runs out at this point in a long sand spit, some nine miles in length, apparently to meet the smaller islands. At the other end the island ends in a rugged bluff or promontory some hundred feet high and three-fourths of a mile distant from the main island. This promontory is crowned by Morro Castle, the principal fortification of the town. The form of the castle is that of an obtuse angle, with three tiers of batteries, placed one above the other, toward the sea, their fires crossing each other. Toward the city it has a wall, flanked by two bastions of heavy artillery, which dominates all of the intermediate space, which has the name of Morro, and also part of the city and the north shore of the sea. It has the usual bar- racks. large water tanks, warehouses, chapel, and the necessary offices— all bomb- proof. A mine descends from it to the seashore, -through the entrance of the port, its issue being defended by a battery. Mayagiiez is the second port for coffee, the average annual export being 170,- 000 hundredweights. The quality is of the best, ranging in price with Java and other first-rate brands. The lower grades are sent to Cuba. About 50,000 bags of flour are imported into this port every year from the United States out of the 180,000 bags that are consumed in the whole island. The climate is excellent, the temperature never exceeding 90° E. The city is connected by tramway with the neighboring towns of Aguadilla, and a railroad is being con- structed to Lares, one of the largest interior towns. It has a civil and military hospital, two asylums, a public library, three bridges, a handsome market, con- structed of iron, a slaughter-house recently constructed, a theater, etc., and a number of societies of instruction, recreation and commerce. It has a postoffice and telegraph station. It was founded in 1760, was given the title of villa (village) in 1836, and that of city in 1877. On the east and south it is bounded by the Hormigueros Mountains, on the north by those of Anasco, and on the west by the sea. The part comprised by the vega (plain) is very fertile, and here are grown all fruits of the island. Aguadilla. — A city of 5,325 inhabitants, of whom 4,200 are white and 1,125 colored. The municipal jurisdiction has 16,085 inhabitants — 11,100 white and 4,985 colored. It is the capital and port of the judicial district of its name, and is situated eighty-one miles from San Juan. The climate is hot but healthy, and there yellow fever seldom appears. It has a postoffice and telegraph station. It has one of the most picturesque aspects of any town in the country. It is situated on the shore between Cape Borinquen and Culebrinas River, at the foot of Jaic-oa Mountain, stretching along in a narrow strip between the sea and the A PORTO RICO COUNTRY HOUSE. (Copyrighted, 1898, by J. M. Jordan.) THE SEA WALL OF SAN JUAN, POBTO EICO. (Copyrighted, 1898, by J. M. Jordan.) PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. 83 latter. The mountain is very steep, crowned with leafy trees, and on its slopes are many orange and lemon trees, palms, etc. A stream of crystalline water flows from a spring about half way up its side, and passing through Fuente, Mirador, and Comercio streets of the town, empties into the sea. To add to the scenic beauty of the town and mountain a church rises from the mountain side near the source of the stream mentioned. It is of antique construction and has two steeples, and, although old, is in good repair; there is a bell in one steeple and a clock in the other. Father Thomas Ewing Sherman r — “Father Tom,” as his friends call him, the son of General William Teeumseh Sherman, has made a report to General Brooke of recent tours through the Island of Porto Rico, and they have been made public by Assistant Secretary Meiklejohn through the division of customs and insular affairs. Father Sherman says that as far as he observed the people of Porto Rico are gentle, docile and kindly and that the Spaniards living there rejoice with their Porto Rican friends in the change of sovereignty. The dis- orderly element is a very small fraction in the teeming population of the island. There is some timidity expressed on the part of property-holders, but this is largely due to the paternal system to which they have become accustomed. He says that a liberal public outlay on the roads would add immensely to the commerce and security of the island. Father Sherman says it is common talk that the disorders of the last few months have been caused by bands composed partly of prisoners released by the Spaniards and of Spanish soldiers discharged and remaining in the island. Having, he says, ridden about the island alone and as a rule unarmed for the last three months, having visited many priests and alcaldes and prominent merchants, he is strongly impressed by the fact that profound respect is felt for American authority and utmost confidence in the courage of any and all of our men. At the same time, Father Sherman says, we cannot too strongly emphasize the needs of an island at once tropical and mountainous, where the bandit finds myriad nooks for hiding and easy sustenance even on the mountain tops; where passions are easily heated and an overcrowded population leaves large numbers out of employment. Father Sherman says the state of religion on the island is very unsatisfactory. Though in every town of any size there is found a large and handsome edifice, the services are very poorly attended. All the inhabitants of the island, with few exceptions, are nominally at least Roman Catholics. Very few of the men are more than Catholic in name. They are baptized, married and buried by the 84 PORTO RICO, OUR ANTILLEAN POSSESSION. priest; that is the extent of their Catholicism. Now that the priests are deprived of governmental aid many are leaving the country and more intend to depart before the winter is over. Religion is dead on the island. Whether it can be revived as a living influ- ence is highly problematical. There is little or no observance of the sanctity of Sunday. With regard to education Father Sherman says he is not prepared to make anything like a full report, and the system of burial in Porto Rico has been bar- barous. In places corpses are thrown into shallow graves, sometimes without boxes or casket. The cemeteries are too small and frequently crowded. The state of morality can be inferred from the fact that the number of illegitimate children exceeds that of the legitimate. Concubinage is said to be common and is not sufficiently discountenanced, either legally or socially. The eradication of this great evil presents one of the most difficult problems in Porto Rico, owing to the mixture of races there. It is often asserted that the Catholic clergy are partly to blame for this deplorable state of affairs, because marriage is said to be expensive. CHAPTER III. EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. Instructive Description of the Island Sixty-four Years Ago by Colonel Flinter of the British Army and Spanish Service — More from the Same Writer Quoted by the London Review — Valuable Statistics from the Edinburgh Review — Rev. Win. Moister Adds Interesting Information — Natural Resources, Com- mercial Advantages and Physical Conditions Clearly Described — Social and Moral Standing of the People Fully Considered — Testimony that Reveals the Value of Our Insular Gem. The Edinburgh Review of 1835, page 329, gives a most interesting account of the Island of Porto Rico, sixty-four years ago, by Colonel Flinter of the British army and Spanish service. This article in the famous Review has the recom- mendation of presenting us with a full and interesting account of this valuable island, less known to this country than even Japan or Madagascar. It possesses the additional value of being the production of a writer who evidently formed his opinions on his own account. His sentiments do not savor of any class or school; on the contrary, he frequently advances in the same breath positions which are usually maintained by persons of opposite principles in political mat- ters. Being an officer in the service of Spain, he had a high respect for the admin- istration of the late King Ferdinand and a thorough contempt for all the various liberal sects which overturned his absolute throne and took his daughter under their protection. He, moreover, holds in abhorrence all the promoters of South American revolutions. “Colonel Flinter appears to have commanded, for several years, the regiment of Spanish troops which was in permanent garrison at Porto Rico and must have had ample opportunities of becoming fully acquainted with its internal condition. It will he perceived, no doubt, that his local partialities sometimes lead him into apparent overstatements and manifest contradictions; but every candid reader will make allowance for the spirit of exaggeration that appears occasionally, to dictate his eulogies on his favorite colony. “The early history of Porto Rico affords few features of interest. Although one of the oldest colonies of the Spanish crown, it served for three centuries only as a convict station; and its free population presented until a few years ago a marked specimen of the besotted indolence which characterized a Spanish settle- 85 86 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. ment of the old times. The military and civil expenses were defrayed by remit- tances from Mexico; and it was not until the revolution caused these remittances to cease in 1810 that the island, owing to the extreme embarrassment of its financial condition began to attract the notice of the mother country. In 1815 a decree was published in its behalf, distinguished like many of the early acts of the restored government by its enlightened sagacity. But this decree, whilst it greatly encouraged free industry, unfortunately at the same time gave an impulse to the employment of slave labor, which had hitherto been unused, rather from indolence and want of capital than from motives of humanity. Colonists were invited to the island on the most liberal terms — lands were allotted gratis, the settlers were free from direct taxes, and for a certain number of years from the tithes and alcabala, as well as from the exportation duties which formed one of the most impolitic features of the old Spanish system. From the period of this decree the advance of Porto Rico in wealth and poprdation has been unexampled, even in the virgin regions of America. A great additional impulse was given by the arrival of capitalists driven by civil war from the Spanish main: — men dis- tinguished in the more prosperous times of South America for their steady regu- larity and probity in the transaction of business. “The island appears to be one of the most lovely of all those regions of love- liness which are washed by the Caribbean Sea. Even in that archipelago it is distinguished by the luxuriance of its vegetation, and the soft variety of its scenery. It comprises every kind of tropical landscape in a space not much exceeding the area of one of the larger English counties. Like Jamaica, it is divided from east to west by a range of forest-covered mountains, which do not appear to exceed 3,000 or 4,000 feet in height, hut which are sufficient to create a very marked difference of climate between their opposite declivities. The northern dis- trict is moist, subject not only to the periodical rains of the West Indies, but visited also by occasional showers. Hence its undulating surface is adapted for pasture and the more ordinary kinds of cultivation and is intersected by numerous perennial rivers, whilst the southern part of the island is frequently without rain for many months together, although even here water, according to our author, is always found at half a yard below the surface. The sugar cane, notwithstanding the drought, thrives abundantly and most of the chief plantations of the island are formed on this coast. This inestimable benefit of moisture Porto Rico derives from its forests, which as yet clothe a large portion of the interior, the thick cover at once attracting the rain and preventing evaporation. By the laws of the colony every person who cuts down a tree is bound to plant three in its EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 87 place. Blit it is to be feared that a law so difficult of enforcement is habitually violated and that it will come, like some other islands, which formerly exhibited a similar feature, to present a naked surface to the ineffectual vapors of the Atlantic; its fertility will then diminish and its perennial rivers waste away, even as the clearing of the forests from various parts of the Mediterranean coast — in peninsular Greece and Sicily for example — which were well wooded within the historical era, has diminished the classical rivers of antiquity into mere historical torrents. “Although the climate of Porto Rico does not appear to differ materially, as far as its effects can be measured by instruments, from that of the other islands of the Gulf of Mexico, yet its inhabitants certainly seem to enjoy a more than ordinary exemption from the evils which afflict humanity in these sickly regions. The mortality, according to our author's tables, does not exceed that which prevails in some of the healthier countries of Europe. A still more singular characteristic appears to distinguish this island from its neighbors, namely, the great deficiency of native animals of every sort and especially the entire absence (if our author can be credited) of those noxious reptiles and insects which seem to inherit the rest of the West Indies as their peculiar possession. Colonel Flinter says: “ ‘Like the peasantry of Ireland, the Porto Ricans are proverbial for their hospitality, and, like them, they are ever ready to fight on the slightest provocation. They swing themselves to and fro in their hammocks all day long, smoking their cigars and scraping a guitar. The plantain groves which surround their houses and the coffee-tree which grows almost without cultivation afford them a frugal sustenance. The cabins are thatched with the leaves of the palm tree; the sides are often open, or merely constructed of the same sort of leaves as the roof — such is the mildness of the climate. Some cabins have doors, others have none. A few calabash shells and earthen pots — one or two hammocks made of the bark of the palm tree — two or three game cocks and a machete form the extent of their movable property. A few coffee-trees and plantains, a cow or a horse, an acre of land in corn or sweet potatoes, constitute the property of what would be denominated a comfortable Xaviro — who, mounted on his meager and hard-worked horse, sallies forth from his cabin to mass, to a cockfight — or to a dance, thinking himself the most independent and happy being in existence. “ ‘Riding out one afternoon in the country, I was overtaken by one of those sudden showers common in tropical climates. I fled for shelter to the nearest cottage of a poor Xaviro. I placed my horse without ceremony under the pro- jecting roof. I entered the humble dwelling with the usual salute, which is the 88 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. same as in Ireland, “God save all here,” which w r as courteously answered by the man of the house. He was coiled up in a hammock. One foot rested on the ground, with which he propelled the hammock to and fro, and at intervals with his great toe he turned a large sweet potato which was roasting on a few embers placed on a flag on the ground close to him. He had a guitar in his hand. On my entrance he offered me the hammock, which I, of course, refused. Two small children, perfectly naked, were swinging tt> and fro in another small hammock. The woman of the house was squatted on the floor, feeding four game cocks which were lodged in the best part of the house, while the husband every now and then would warn her not to give them too much corn or too much water. The people received me with an .urbanity unknown to the peasantry of Northern Europe. They placed a large leaf of the palm tree over my saddle to protect it from the rain, and pressed me to sit down in the kindest manner. The host was very communicative and enumerated the battles his game cocks had won. He pointed out to me one which he said was “a most delicate one,” an expression made use of by the Xaviros to denote its great value, and he concluded by offering it to me as a present. Indeed a Xaviro would form a. very poor opinion of a person who could not discuss the merits of a game cock. In going away they offered me their cabin with as much politeness as if had been a palace, and hoped to see me again. I was forcibly struck with the native courtesy of these people, and it gratified me to observe the content and happiness they enjoy without a thought for the present or care for the future — without wants, without wishes, without ambition.’ ” The Monthly Review, London, 1834, gave an account of the state of the Island of Porto Rico in that year, taking Colonel Flinter’s book as a basis, and saying: “The author in his leisure hours from his first landing as a British officer in the West Indies, twenty-one years ago, to a late period when he has been doing duty on the staff of the Spanish army which garrisons the colonies of Her Most Catholic Majesty, have been dedicated to the acquisition of every informa- tion that could throw light on the colonial policy of Spain. His principal object is to make known the great and growing importance of the colonies that remain to Spain in the western hemisphere, and especially of the valuable and fertile Island of Porto Rico. There is doubtless about Colonel Flinter a strong admira- tion of what is Spanish, and yet the author recommends to the Government of Her Catholic Majesty immediately to drive back from the ports of Cuba to the coast of Africa every slave ship with its cargo that might be captured by the EAELY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 89 cruisers of France or England. At firsthand for the space of three centuries after its discovery;, notwithstanding all the advantages of soil and situation, Porto Rico was considered only as a place of banishment for the malefactors of the mother country. But in 1S15 a royal decree was passed fraught with beneficent and enlightened views. Flourishing towns and smiling villages have risen. Colonel Flinter says: “ ‘The person who carries into foreign countries national habits and preju- dices will always find abundant room for ridicule and criticism. A stranger who had never visited Spain or her colonies, on reading the prejudiced and false descriptions given of them by many modern writers, would dread to sleep a single night among the inhabitants. But the writer who honestly aims at furnishing the public with sound and accurate information, should divest himself of all illiberal and narrow propositions. He should look on the whole world as his country and on all mankind as his countrymen. “ ‘Rome, the greatest empire of the world, was first peopled by robbers and assassins. It need not,, therefore, appear strange that this island should have received a part of her white inhabitants from the dregs of society as well as some from the higher classes. This, perhaps, has happened at the first coloniza- tion of almost all countries. Porto Rico was formerly only a military post; and the troops that garrisoned it were stationary. The officers, despairing of returning to Europe, married with the Creole ladies, many of whom, proud of descending from the first conquerors, were considered noble. In this manner the officers, becoming at once soldiers and agriculturists, looked on Porto Rico as their home, and they and their children form a considerable part of the white population that is this day found here. Many of the most opulent and respectable families descend from them. They look back with pride to their origin, and they form an indissoluble link of connection with the mother country. These and the descendants from the conquerors form what may be called the Porto Rico aristoc- racy, and some of them support their pretensions with as much pride as if they were grandees of Spain. Even in the midst of poverty they are inexorable in exacting from their inferiors the homage paid to superior rank. Merchants, shop- keepers, and all the inferior branches of traders and mechanics, have more or less contributed to the white population. “ ‘The merchants of this island import and retail foreign goods. They are generally composed of the active and industrious Catallans, persevering and eco- nomical, are much attached to their native customs and native land. They seldom marry or establish themselves permanently in the colonies. When they have 90 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. realized a competency, they retire to Europe to enjoy the fruits of their industry, while their place is generally supplied by their young relations, who follow the same occupation and the same line of conduct. They may therefore be con- sidered rather as transient visitors than as a permanent part of the population. “ ‘Tradesmen and artisans generally marry and establish themselves perma- nently. This class of people, if they conduct themselves with propriety, are sure of doing well. I know two blacksmiths who have made fortunes, and I know an Irish carpenter, who a few years ago came to this island with only twenty dollars, and who in the space of five years has become possessed of property to the value of twenty thousand dollars, which he acquired by a sedulous attention to his business: such is the rapid accumulation of capital by industry in these countries. The acquisition raises the blacksmith and the carpenter to a higher rank in society; they become land proprietors and associate with the aristocracy.’ “The Colonel goes on to say that the island swarms with what might be called T)unco-steerers,’ gaudily dressed foreigners announcing themselves to be of the European nobility, who go about seeking whom they may devour. And there are also swarms of French barbers, pretending to be great physicians and doing incalculable harm and feeling no responsibility, for the many lives lost through their inability. The author also speaks of a ‘very mischievous set of men,’ foreign lawyers w r ho often defend both parties at the same time and ‘how many unfortu- nate men have been condemned to drag a chain who have deserved it a thousand times less than these men, who, like a swarm of locusts, desolate the land where they alight.’ Continuing, the Colonel says: “ ‘The last class of whites which I have to describe require a separate and particular consideration, as they form no inconsiderable portion of those who have colonized this island. These are men who, for political or civil crimes, have been sent to the galleys of this fortress. They are condemned for different periods, according to the nature of their offenses; at the expiration of their term of punish- ment they are set at liberty, and few of them have any inducement to return to their native country. If their conduct is good, their former faults are soon forgotten: if active and industrious, they soon find employment. They are looked on with pity rather than with detestation. To be white is a species of title of nobility in a country where the slaves and people of color form the lower ranks of society, and where every grade of color ascending from the jet-black negro to the pure white carries with it a certain feeling of superiority. You might naturally expect to find society and manners in some degree tinctured with the vices and propensities of these convicts. It is something novel and extraordinary to see EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 91 men who have been dragging a criminal's chain, on a sndden becoming peaceable and orderly citizens. Removed far from the scene of their former offenses, far from the vigilant and persecuting eye of the laws they had outraged, and the persons they had offended, removed far beyond the view of the relatives and friends they had dishonored, they feel desirous of returning to the bosom of society in a country where their persons and their crimes are unknown. The Creoles of Porto Rico, ever ready to extend their arms to the unfortunate, ever generous and hospitable, have their sympathy doubly awakened at seeing a white man reduced to a state of misery greater than that of the African slave. The moment that the banished criminal sets his foot on the land of Porto Rico, a prospect of hope opens to his view. He sees many of those who have preceded him in crime restored to society, possessing property, and living in the bosom of their families: this example, this hope, is a strong inducement to good conduct. To return to Spain his record would be like a millstone around his neck. It is not so in Porto Rico. “ ‘The native of Porto Rico is passionately fond of horses. The Xivaro must be very poor, indeed, who has not one or two horses, which serve to carry both his person and the produce of his land to market; for the Xaviro, be his horse ever so lean, or the burden ever so heavy, seats himself on the top of it and thus guides the animal. He will sooner steal a horse for a day and ride him than walk a league. The rich have always several saddle horses which are solely reserved for riding. A large pillion made of strong linen and stuffed with straw is girded on the horse’s back; two square wicker baskets, very neatly made, about a foot long and eight inches wide, united by a leather strap, are thrown over the pillion on either side, close to the horse’s neck. They are firmly girded on. A cushion is placed on the pillion, which is covered with a cloak or carpet to protect from the rain. Every man in the country, rich and poor, carries an immense basket-hilted sword a yard and a quarter long, which is placed in the basket or under the cushion-panel with the point sticking out behind and waving to and fro in the air. There are no stirrups. The horseman, or horsewoman, sits on the cushion with the face towards the horse’s head, the feet gently hanging on either side of his neck; and the baskets which have handles to them serve to hold by in case of emergency. A person mounted on horseback in this way has a very curious appearance, but it is a commodious and easy way of traveling. Two per- sons can ride on the same horse, and the man travels in this way with his wife or daughters. If the horse happens to stumble on a bad road, the rider seldom 92 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. sustains an injury from a fall. In crossing streams the feet are kept dry, which is so important to health in warm climates. “ The women of Porto Rico are generally of the middle size. They are elegantly and delicately formed; their waists are tapering and slender. Their pale complexion creates interest, which is heightened by the brilliancy of their fine black eyes. Their hair is black as jet; their eyebrows arched. They have, in a high degree, that seductive and elegant air which distinguishes the ladies of Cadiz. They w T alk with the grace which is peculiar to the fair of Andalusia. Their manners are not only pleasing but fascinating. Without having the advan- tage of the brilliant education of the ladies of London or Paris, they are pos- sessed of great natural vivacity, and an ease of manners which in England is only to be found in the best society. They converse with fluency, and their natural talent and wit supply the artificial aids of education. They are, on the whole, more interesting than beautiful, more amiable than accomplished. They dress with an elegance of taste that I have seldom seen surpassed; the Parisian fashions being invariably followed and imitated. The public balls are splendid. A stranger who should walk through the city in daytime or in the evening, meeting with not a single female, except persons of color, would be surprised at night to attend a public ball. His eyes would be dazzled by an assemblage of Porto Rico ladies; he would scarcely believe that he was in the same capital where he could not find, during the whole day, the trace of a fair one. This admiration is expressed by all strangers, for most certainly the ladies of this island, in a ballroom, would do honor to any country in the world. Although too little attention is paid to cultivating their natural abilities, yet there are many of them who, by the force merely of talent and application, have made great proficiency in French and paint- ing. Without being taught by a dancing master, they dance with grace and ele- gance, and, like all the ladies of America, they are fond to excess of dancing. They are passionately fond of their own country, but they have the politeness and good breeding in conversation not to make odious comparison of it with others. In domestic circles they are affectionate waves, tender mothers, and attached and faithful friends. “ They criticise dresses, speak of marriages, discuss love affairs, and pry into their neighbors’ concerns, precisely as happens in almost all small places in all countries. Why should this island be an exception to the general rule? We speak of mortals, not of angels. I have heard it asserted before I visited the island that the ladies were much addicted to smoking cigars. I have never seen them smoke, I must confess; and if many of them do indulge they must do it very EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 93 privately. However, I should prefer to see a lady smoking than drinking gin, as some are said to do in Germany and Holland. The women soon come to maturity in this climate; they marry very young, are exceedingly prolific, and consequently their charms decay at an early age, when in Europe they would be in the full bloom of beauty. It is not an uncommon thing to see a grandmother and her grandchildren in the same dance. All the ladies, whether rich or poor, if white are on visiting terms. Visits are made and received with the most punctilious exactness. The ladies seldom go out of doors, unless to the shops at night, or the country on horseback. In the evenings they take the air on the flat roofs of their houses. They bathe frequently, and are very attentive to tfie cleanliness of their persons and their houses.’ ” The Edinburgh Review of 1835, page 331, says: “Porto Rico produced in 1830 414 quintals of sugar, 250,000 of coffee, and 35,000 of cured tobacco, besides other colonial produce, and it possessed in addi- tion very numerous herds of cattle, divided among numerous proprietors — from the three or four who owned upwards of a thousand each to the poorest of the peasantry who possessed a cow or two for the supply of their family. The revenue is stated at 800,000 Spanish dollars; its whole expense, civil and military, at 630,000. “The free colored inhabitants of Porto Rico are by far more numerous than in any other West India island, and this fact alone — when we consider the inerad- icable prejudice attaching to color which has brought such infinite misery and social discomfort over a great part of the world — speaks more than any eulogy in favor of its people and their government. The whole British West Indies contained before 1834 not more than 80,000 free colored inhabitants, and a population of ten times that amount. Of these 16,000 were to be found in Trinidad alone, — an island which had long been governed by Spanish laws Although white blood is in Porto Rico, as everywhere else beyond the Atlantic, a patent of nobility, yet the Xaviro no more treats with contempt and contumely His inferior in caste, than the grandee of Old Spain his inferior in station. * * * (Colonel Flinter quoted:) ‘Xo national character, perhaps, is so deeply engrained with the opposite hues of excellence and evil as that of the Spaniard. The same natural and fundamental goodness of disposition — paradoxical as it may seem to speak thus of a people whose evil deeds are blazoned in the worst pages of European history, — prevails wherever the Castilian standard has been raised, and the industrious Catalan and Biscayan have assembled around it. The Spaniard 94 EAELY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. is, above all mankind, subject to strong and overpowering passion. His good- ness of disposition, although radical, is but a passive quality, easily subdued by the prevalence of strong emotions. His reasoning powers are of the same char- acter as his moral — fundamentally good, yet swayed and distorted by every impulse of prejudice. Thirst for gold in former times, then zeal for religion, and, lastly, the spirit of party, have roused up in him all the savage ferocity of which nature is capable. Yet in the worst crisis of the passions, when the evil spirit was silenced even for a moment in the bosom which it swayed, a natural and grateful kindness of heart has often shone forth in full brightness. It was while the mania of avarice ruled the early conquerors of America and seduced them into practices revolting to human nature, that the foundations were laid for a code of laws both for slaves and the native Indians, the spirit of which has ever since pre- vailed among the Spanish Creoles, and which puts to shame the nations which arrogate to themselves exclusively the title of enlightened. Shallow thinkers have often entertained the paradox that free states show less humanity in their colonies than is shown those under absolute monarchies. Of all West Indian annals, those of the French islands, before the Revolution, were, perhaps, the most darkly stained with cruelty. And the free states of South America, on the other hand, have not only followed, but have still further extended, in the midst of their anarchy and factions, those principles of Christian mercy and justice which Spain alone, until recently, knew and practiced.’ “In 1823 Jamaica, with 340,000 slaves, exported 1,400,000 quintals of sugar. Porto Rico, with 45,000 slaves, produces about 410,000. The French colony of Guadaloupe, with twice as many slaves as Porto Rico, produces an eqrial crop of sugar. The soil of the latter is far more fertile than that of the other islands, already in a great measure exhausted. But, on the other hand, capital and industry form essential elements of the manufacture, in the British and French isles, while the Spaniards are far behind in the pursuits requiring either. From these premises our author concludes, not unreasonably, that a large proportion (which elsewhere, however, he calculates at one-fifth only) of tills crop of sugar is raised by free labor. “But it must be remembered that, besides the greater estates, there are in Porto Rico some 1,200 to 1,300 small sugar plantations, the property of the Xaviros of the interior, who live cheaply and work lazily, but who contrive to raise a small quantity of this valuable article, together with provisions and cattle. If such rough cultivation as this succeeds at all, it can only be in consequence of the vast productiveness of the soil, cleared of its forests only within the last EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 95 twenty years, which gives the planter the same advantage over his brethren to windward and leeward as the settler of Illinois has over the cultivator of the worn-out ‘old fields’ of the Atlantic coast. Such production can in the nature of things be only temporary. On the other hand, the great sugar estates, which must form the main sources of this commodity, are evidently cultivated here as elsewhere — by slaves; and, although at present the cultivation of sugar on a large scale is extremely unprofitable, a rise in its price would undoubtedly cause at once an increased importation of slaves, and the application of more capital and ingenuity to the business, until the small farmers would be driven from the market by the slave-owning capitalists. Many contingent events might occasion such a rise; — as a temporary diminution of the produce of the British Islands; or an increased consumption in Great Britain in consequence of a reduction of the duty. Upon the whole, therefore, notwithstanding the flattering anticipations of the author, we cannot see, in the present state of Porto Rico, much to justify his prophecy that slave labor will be permanently dispensed with merely from the preference which free labor will find in the market. “At present the question of the future destiny of this beautiful and happy island may be said to remain undecided.” The decision of destiny came when Spain ceded the island to the United States. Naturally, as England has been for centuries deeply interested in the West Indies, we derive the most valuable accounts of the islands, the character of their people, and their history from Englishmen, and we quote the “West Indies,” by the Rev. Wm. Moister, a London publication by T. Woolmer: “The Island of Porto Rico is situated about sixty miles to the east of San Domingo, from which it is separated by the Mona Passage. It is of an oblong shape, about 140 miles in length and forty in breadth, and its climate, soil and scenery resemble most of the other West Indian islands, and therefore need not be very minutely described. It is rugged and mountainous in the interior regions and the country is generally diversified by woods, valleys and plains and watered by numerous springs and rivers, which impart a remarkable freshness to the scenery throughout the year. Four of the rivers which flow from the mountains to the sea are navigable for boats and small vessels for a few miles up into the country and are utilized for the transit of goods and produce; and thus compensate in a measure the lack of good roads, which is so notorious. The north coast is gen- erally lined by a coral reef under water at a little distance from shore, which pre- 96 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. vents the approach of ships except at certain openings. The east coast is indented with many bays formed by the continued action of the waves of the sea, which roll in with considerable force in that direction. A chain of about fifty small islands, extending more than twenty miles in length, lie off the northeast coast, which were the favorite rendezvous of smugglers and pirates in the times of the buccaneers, the water which surrounds them being so shallow that they cannot be approached by large vessels. The principal harbor is large and commodious, affording ample accommodation for 300 vessels at one time. It is approached from the sea by a winding, rocky channel, the navigation of which is somewhat intricate; a circumstance which gives security to the place in times of war and commotion. “Porto Rico was discovered by Columbus in 1493, but, like many other islands, it received little attention for several years in eonseqimnce of the claims of more important places. In 1509, however, the extermination of the natives and the exhaustion of the gold mines of Hispaniola had so far advanced that the avaricious Spaniards began to look about for other fields of enterprise. They accordingly fixed upon Porto Rico, and an expedition was fitted out under the direction of a man named Ponce de Leon with a view to make a conquest of the island, which was at that time said to contain a population of about 600,000 aborigines. “The simple-minded Indians had heard of the calamities which had befallen their countrymen in Hispaniola since the arrival of the pale-faced strangers, and when they saw big ships in the distance they trembled at the prospect of their approaching fate. But so superstitious were they that the preposterous notions which they had associated with their ideas of the Spaniards entirely overpowered their reason and bereft them of hope. They considered them a superior race of beings, and even doubted whether they were mortal. Instead, therefore, of attempting to oppose the landing of their enemies, their chief consideration seems to have been how they might most gracefully submit themselves to their yoke. The invaders consequently landed on the shores of Porto Rico without meeting with any resistance whatever, and made an easy conquest of the place without the loss of a man. The Spaniards proceeded at once to intrench and fortify them- selves and to search for gold, which was the highest object of their ambition. They were conducted to the mountains, where shining particles of the precious metal had often been collected in the sandy beds of the rivulets which flowed from them. Mining operations were commenced, and the natives, who were regarded as a conquered people and a race of slaves, were subjected to the same enforced EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 97 labor and cruel treatment which, had ground down and wasted the natives of Hispaniola. “The Indians were soon convinced that they had gained nothing by their ready submission to the Spaniards, and, writhing under the miseries to which they were subjected, they began to consider whether it were not still possible to resist the tyranny of their oppressors. For some time they hesitated to take any action in the matter under the superstitious notion that, if the Spaniards should prove immortal and incapable of death, their resistance would be vain and only tend to aggravate their sufferings. At length a plan was arranged for the settlement of this moot point. A cacique named Broyo was charged with the important business of ascertaining by some means ‘whether a Spaniard could possibly die.’ Broyo, attentive to his charge, suffered no promising moment to pass unnoticed, although to elude suspicion and escape detection required no small dexterity on his part. It w r as not long, however, before a favorable opportunity presented itself. Salzedo, a young Spaniard, was traveling one day in a direction in which Broyo wished to intercept him. The chief, having entertained the lonely white man in his hut for awhile very agreeably, offered the services of two or three of his men to act as escorts, or guides, on his departure. The proposal was agreed to with expressions of gratitude. The Indian guides well understood their business. On coming to a small river one of them offered to convey the Spaniard across on his shoulders, and when in the midst of the stream, staggering under his precious burden, he managed to stumble, and in his fall he plunged on one side into deep water. His companions hastened forward, pretending to render assistance, but instead of doing so they held the traveler’s head under water until he was drowned. They then dragged the body to the hank of the river and having watched it attentively all that day and the next, without observing any motion or signs of life, they came to the conclusion that ‘a Spaniard could die.’ “Encouraged by this strange experiment, the Indians now resolved to make a vigorous attempt to cast off the yoke of the invaders, which had become intolerable. They rose en masse and armed themselves with such weapons as they could command. These were chiefly clubs and bows and arrows. Their arrows they dipped in virulent poison prepared from the sap of the Manchineel tree, which abounds in Porto Rico, a wound from which issues almost invariably a speedy death. The Indians fell upon the Spaniards at a moment when they little expected such an attack, and they suffered considerably, one hundred of their number falling on the field. The unequal contest was of short duration, how- ever, for the glittering deadly weapons of the Spaniards with the smoke and roar EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. of their guns soon dispersed the Indians with great loss and caused the survivors to flee precipitately to the woods and mountain fastnesses to escape the fury of the invaders. “The Spaniards now sent for re-enforcements to Hispaniola, effectually to put down what they called the ‘rebellion’ of the natives of Porto Rico. They soon received an accession of colonists, soldiers, and bloodhounds, and a war of extermination was forthwith commenced, the details of which are too sickening to record in these pages. Suffice it to say that the scenes of cruelty and of blood which followed were similar in every respect to those which had been wit- nessed in Hispaniola and Cuba, and were literally disgraceful to any people bearing the Christian name and calling themselves civilized. “In proportion as the number of colonists increased, the want of laborers to work the mines, till the ground, tend the cattle, and perform other necessary duties on the plantations was felt, and the attention of the Spaniards was at once turned to Africa, from whence negro slaves were being constantly imported into the other colonies, with such satisfactory results, according to the ideas which were prevalent at that early period. The impulse given to the horrid traffic in human beings by the establishment of another Spanish colony in the West Indies may be readily imagined from what we have said in reference to Hispaniola and Cuba under sim- ilar circumstances, for the sufferings and sorrows of the poor negro slaves were almost identical in all the islands. “The colony of Porto Rico progressed rapidly under the new regime, large tracts of land being brought under cultivation, plantations laid out, and additional houses erected both in town and country. But a time of general war came, and this, in common with other dependencies of the crown of Spain, was exposed to hostile attacks, which were so common in those days. As early as 1580, England being involved in war with Spain, an important expedition was fitted out partly by Queen Elizabeth and partly by private enterprise, the avowed object of which was to attack and seize upon some of the most valuable colonies of America and the West Indies. The entire squadron consisted of twenty-six ships of different dimensions, on board of which were embarked 2,500 troops under the leadership of Sir Thomas Baskerville. The command of the entire expedition was committed to Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake. On reaching the West Indies they heard that a richly laden Spanish treasure ship was at anchor in the harbor of Porto Rico, and an attack upon the place was promptly resolved upon. The squad- ron reached the island on November 13th, and a vigorous attack was made upon the shipping in the port. But the Spaniards, having heard of the intended attack, EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. 101 had made every possible preparation to resist it. They had brought in all their available troops and strengthened the fortifications at the entrance of the harbor, from which they poured such a destructive fire upon the English ships that they were obliged to retire, after inflicting considerable damage, without accomplishing the object of their visit. “In the year 1589 another expedition was fitted out in England for the express purpose of subduing the island of Porto Rico. The command of this armament, which consisted of nineteen ships and two barges, was given to Sir George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, who, authorized by Her Majesty’s letters patent for raising forces to serve in the expedition, soon levied twelve companies of eighty men each; and with these and a proportionate number of seamen he sailed from Plymouth on March 5th. In the month of May they reached the West Indies. On one of the Virginia Islands, which he found without inhabitants, the earl landed his troops to examine their condition; and after the review he informed the men of the object of the expedition, giving them suitable exhortation before going into action. From thence he proceeded direct to Porto Rico and landed about 1,000 soldiers on June 6th without meeting with any immediate opposition. The English lost a large number of men, however, from the desolating influences of the climate, whilst they gained but little advantage; and at the restoration of peace the island was restored to its original owners. “From that time to the present Porto Rico has belonged to the Spanish; but for many years after the departure of the British the colony continued in a very languishing state, San Domingo, Mexico, Peru and other places commanding more attention. It was not till the Spaniards had lost their hold of some of these A r al- uable possessions that Porto Rico, in common with Cuba, received due consider- ation and became a place of refuge and shelter for colonists fleeing from insurrec- tion and turmoil. Towards the close of the last century the population of the island was considerably increased by the influx of Spanish colonists and the intro- duction of thousands of negro slaves brought from the coast of Africa to cultivate the rich virgin ground, which was laid out for plantations in various parts of the country by the newcomers. In subsequent years the colony progressed rapidly and the imports and exports were greatly increased. “The principal articles cultivated for exportation are sugar, cotton, coffee and tobacco; and an ample supply of Indian corn and various kinds of ground pro- visions are grown for home consumption. The soil in the valleys and plains is gen- erally very fertile, and it is capable of much improvement by the application of modern methods of agriculture. The uplands and mountain slopes afford fine pas- 102 EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF PORTO RICO. turage for countless numbers of cattle, horses, and mules, which are reared and exported in large quantities to the neighboring colonies. The climate, in common with that of most of the larger islands of the West Indies, is very unhealthy at certain seasons of the year, especially in localities which are low and swampy; but it might be greatly improved by clearing and draining the land in the neighborhood of the towns, villages and plantations, which are the chief centers of population. “San Juan, the capital of the colony, has risen to the position of a consid- erable city, with a population of about 30,000. It is situated on the west point of an islet joined to the mainland by a bridge. It contains six straight streets, running from north to south, crossed by six others, which intersect them at right angles. The houses of the first class are built of stone and are large and commo- dious, but many others are wooden buildings and of a very inferior description, whilst the huts of the slaves in the suburbs are miserable hovels. The principal public buildings are the cathedral and other churches, two convents and a general hospital. There are several other small towns and villages in different parts of the island, and the negro huts on the respective plantations form small villages, the same as in other islands. Near the village of Caomo, on a considerable river of the same name, on the south coast, there is a warm sulphurous spring whose tem- perature is 95 degrees and which is said to be very useful in certain diseases of the skin. Other villages and settlements are situated on the banks of the Rio Lovisa, a river which is navigiable for small vessels to a considerable distance from its mouth. “The greatest drawbacks to our pleasure in contemplating Porto Rico are the prevalence of slavery, the low type of Roman Catholicism which pre- vails, and the immoral and degraded character of a great part of the popula- tion of all classes and conditions. Nor has anything been done by the missionary and philanthropic societies of Europe or America to promote the social and moral elevation of the people. Indeed, it is generally understood that the intolerance of the Romish priesthood will not admit of any form of protestant missionary labor. If slavery were abolished and religious liberty allowed, Porto Rico might become a fine field for philanthropic and evangelistic effort. Genuine Christians of every name will do well to watch and wait and pray for openings for the intro- duction of the gospel to this and other countries which are similarly circumstanced, and where the inhabitants are sitting in the regions of the Shadow of Death.” CHAPTER IV. RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OP THE ISLAND. Interesting Letter from a Scientist and Business Man, Giving an Account of the Island’s Flora — Valuable Information about the Products and Exports, Gathered by C. W. Eves — Scientific American Quoted — Interesting Account of the Hurricanes, by Frederick D. Ober — Value of the Island’s Imports — - Establishment of Electric Tramways — Possibilities for Coffee and Sugar Production — A Glowing Tribute to the Island, by James Rodway. We quote from the familiar publication, “Nature/’ Vol. 29, published by The Macmillan Company: “Through the courtesy of Sir Joseph Hooker, we are able to publish the fol- lowing interesting communication from Baron Eggers on the Island of Porto Rico: “ ‘St. Thomas, October 22, 1883. “ ‘Dear Sir Joseph Hooker: — It is a long time since I wrote you last. I have meantime, at least, accomplished my long-cherished design, partly at least, of ex- ploring the Luguillo mountains in Porto Rico, which island I visited during April and May this year. I spent about five weeks there, living for some time in the hut of a “Xiharo,” or native laborer, on the Sierra at an altitude of about 2,200 feet, on the edge of the primeval forests that still cover all the higher parts of the mountain range. Since my return I have been busy arranging my collection, the greater part of which appears in the ninth and tenth century of my “Flora Indue Occidentalis Exsicceata.” “ ‘As for the general character of the Sierra forests, they of course resemble in their main outlines those of the other West India islands. There is, however, especially one feature which strikes me as being peculiar to this mountain ridge compared with the woods of other islands, for example, of Dominica. Whilst the climate is just as moist in the Sierra of Porto Rico as in that of Dominica, the forests of Porto Rico seem nearly entirely destitute of etiphytes with the exception of some few Bromeliades and a very rarely occurring stray orchid. But orchids in general and epiphytical ferns, such as Trichomanes and Hymenophyllum, etc., are conspicuous by their absence. Of palms I found but one species, which I have distributed in my “Flora.” I believe it a Euterpe, grows gregariously at an altitude of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. No cycads were to be seen at all. On the other hand, I found several interesting trees, especially a beautiful Talama, with immense white odorous flowers and silvery leaves which would be very ornamental. The wood is used for timber, and called Sabino. A Hirtella with crimson flowers I also found rather 103 104 RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. common; it is not described in any of Grisebaeh’s publications. An unknown tree with beautiful, orange-like foliage, and large, purple flowers, very similar in shape to those of Sccevola Plumieri, split along one side, a tall Lobeliacea, a large Heli- conia, nearly allied, it seems, to H. caribboea, Lam., and several other as yet unde- termined trees and shrubs are among the most remarkable things found. “ ‘On the whole, I was somewhat disappointed with regard to the result of the voyage, as I had expected a greater number of novelties, as well as a richer vegeta- tion in general, at least something like the Caribbean islands. But these partly negative results may no doubt be of some value also in forming an idea of the West Indian flora in general. Of tree ferns, Cyathea Serra and an Alsophila were not uncommon. One of the most conspicuous trees in some parts is the Coccoloba macrophylla, which I found on my first visit to Porto Rico. This tree is found up to an altitude of 2,000 feet, but chiefly near the coast, where it forms extensive woods in some places, which at the time of flowering, with immense, purple spikes more than a yard long, are very striking. The tree is named Ortegon by the inhab- itants; it does not seem to occur on any of the British Islands, but to be confined to Hayti and Porto Rico; at least I do not see it mentioned in Grisebach’s “Cat. Plant, cubensium.” The people cultivate sugar-cane in the plains, which are very fertile, yielding three hogsheads on an average per acre without any kind of ma- nure. Besides this staple produce, a very good coffee is produced; it does not appear that any blight has as yet perceptibly affected the shrubs here. Rice is very commonly cultivated on the hills and the Sierra. I suppose it must be a kind of mountain variety, as no inundation or other kind of watering is used. Rice is, in fact, the staple food of the laborers, together with plantain and yaudia, i. e. Cala- dium esculentum. Immense pastures of Hymenachne striatum (Malahojilla) oc- cupy a part of the lowland, and feed large herds of cattle of an excellent quality. St. Thomas and the French Islands all obtain their butcher’s meat from Porto Rico; I believe even Barbados comes to Porto Rico for cattle. “ ‘The island is very richly endowed by nature, but miserably governed, and the people themselves not worth a much better government, being given to gam- bling in the extreme throughout, from the rich planter and priest down to the lowest laborer and beggar. Yet they are hospitable and very polite to strangers, with that remarkable, unchanging, inbred Spanish politeness. “ ‘It may finally interest you to hear, from the fact that you take a prominent part in the advancement of the material progress of the English West India islands, how we are working in that respect here in St. Thomas. I have on my estate now about 4,000 Divi-Divi trees growing and doing well, except for the deer, which do much damage. On the coasts I have over 2,000 cocoanut trees planted; cultivation of the Sanseviera guineensis is going on for making fibres; a large tract of land stocked with Hcematoxylon I have now preserved, and try to make it a regular forest to be cut down gradually. In company with an engineer here I have now ordered a machine from England, Smith’s fibre machine, which is being used in the Mauritius, in order to work up our immense quantity of Agave and Fourcroya, RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. 105 the raw material being close at hand in unlimited quantity near the sea. I am also going to try experiments with the manufacture of tannin extracts from bark of Coccoloba, Rhizophora, and the pods of the various Acacias, which are a great nuisance here on account of their rapid growdh. The Aloe sempervirens will also be made useful in a similar manner as in Barbados and Curacoa, it growing here spontaneously on barren rocks. H. EGGERS.’ ” “The West Indies,” of C. Washington Eves, published by Sampson Low, Mars- ton, Searle & Rivington, London, says of Porto Rico: “It is very hot, but relieved by a breeze during the day. Hurricanes have visited the island. It is extremely fertile, possessing woods, hills, valleys and meadows. It is known for its herds of wild cattle. Through the middle of the island from east to west there runs a chain of mountains, from which rivers and streams descend to water the plains below. The hills are generally covered with trees. Sugar, ginger, cotton, flax, coffee, cassia, incense and hides were among its early productions. Mules were also exported. It produced also rice, maize, plan- tains, pines, oranges, citrons, lemons, calabashes, potatoes, melons and fine salt. At first the Spaniards made little use of it except as a port of call. The capital of Porto Rico has the dedicatory title of San Juan. It is situated on a small island on the north side, united by means of a. causeway to the main island. The port is large, convenient and safe. The city was founded by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1510. Sir Francis Drake once burnt all the vessels in the port. In 1598 the English obtained the mastery over the island, and then abandoned it with much spoil. In 1615 there was an attack by the Dutch, and another attempt was made in 1742 by the English, but these attempts led to no practical results for the invaders. “In 1886 the export trade of Porto Rico was in a very unsatisfactory condition. There was a falling off, owing to bad seasons, of more than 25 per cent. The sugar exported was 65,189 tons, or 25 per cent less than in 1885, when 63,489 tons were exported to the United States and 17,379 tons to Great Britain and British provinces, a further 8,000 tons going to other countries. The total produc- tion of sugar has sometimes reached a hundred thousand tons. In 1887 it was 80,792 tons. The coffee export had also declined. A considerable trade is still done in the export of cattle. The imports amount to £2,000,000 in round numbers, and the exports to about the same, a very considerable proportion of the imports consisting of British goods. Cottons, woolens, jute for sugar and coffee bags, metals and rice, are the main items of the British trade. The British colonies supply the codfish, the value of which is estimated at £95,000. Flour is imported from the United States and Spain, estimated in value between £200,000 and £300,- 106 RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. 000. Other provisions are also sent by the United States and Spain to a consider- able amount. Coal is almost exclusively supplied by Great Britain. A large amount of English and Spanish capital is invested in business, collecting and work- ing up the produce of a number of cane plantations. The population is 784,700. Slavery was abolished in 1873.” In the opinion of Rojas (Scientific American — “Porto Rico: Its Natural His- tory and Products”) the island is outside of the seismic currents which extend under the ocean from the Old World to the new, and consequently it alone of the Antilles group has thus far been free from the great seismic movements which have ruined many American towns. Nevertheless, and doubtless on account of the proximity of the volcanic origin of the islands of San Yicente, Santa Lucia, and Guadalupe slight earthquakes are apt to be felt, and on two occasions they were worthy of being called severe, these at the end of April, 1786, and in 1843, when the city of Martinique was ruined. Slight quakes were also felt in 1867 and in March of the following year. In the beginning of 1882 it was noticed that the waters of the bays of Mayaguez and Ponce retreated two or three times to a level of more than thirty feet below the ordinary water line of the coasts, and this phenomenon coin- cided with earthquakes at Colon and Panama. The commonest minerals are gold, copper, carbonate and sulphate and mag- netic iron, which are found in great masses in the neighborhood of Juncos; galena is also found, as well as traces of mercury, manganese, bismuth, and some other minerals. The fuels are represented by the lignites of Utuado and Moca, although they occur in thin layers and are generally charged with pyrites; at the latter place amber is also found. There is an abundance of varieties of marble and compact limestone, and in general materials for construction and ornamentation. In the Historical American Exposition at Madrid, in 1892, were exhibited remarkable ex- amples of magnetic iron, oxide of iron, and carbonate of copper, all from Juncos; also ferruginous white quartz from the auriferous zone of Sierra Luquillo, and calcareous spar, pearl spar, fibrous gypsum, malachite, and pure blue copper from Naguabo. Native gold is found principally in the alluvial deposits and in the rivers in the vicinity of Luquillo. When auriferous sand is washed, it is found that in some places there is a deposit of magnetic iron with the grains of gold. There are natural salt marshes at Guanica and Salinas on the south and at Cape Rojo on the west. Hot springs are found at Juana Diaz, San Sebastian, San Lorenzo, and Ponce, but the most famous are the baths at Caomo on the south and near the city of Santa Isabel. RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. 107 Observations carried on for years show that 81° is the average temperature. From 1878 to 1880 the thermometer in the shade ranged from 62-96° to 72-8° F. The monthly average varied from 72-32° to 86.07° F., the former being for the month of February, 1880, and the second for June, 1878. The mean height of the barometrical column was about 30 inches. The “mountain dog,” a reversion of the domestic species that haunts the more inaccessible forests and is dangerous only to calves, poultry and young swine, is the only creature that can be termed “wild.” Rats exist in abundance, but have a bitter foe in the otherwise harmless “hunter snake,” a species of boa that grows from six to nine feet in length. Ants and beetles are numerous, and one of the latter, known as the “comegen,” bores into wooden structures, and is sometimes danger- ous to buildings. Bees are comparatively plentiful in the forests, but are smaller than the domestic forms, and produce an amber colored honey, very rich, but that speedily ferments and sours, and the wax is of a violet hue. “Lucernas” or fire- flies abound; they are like small butterflies with phosphorescent rings about the eyes, and when masses fly at night they produce sufficient light to illuminate the fields and plantations. There are also “cucuyos” similar to the cricket, which are phosphorescent under the wings. Some of the bats seek sleeping animals at night to suck their blood. The chigoe bites through the shoes and stockings, or enters between the nail and the skin; and copper worms, ticks, cockroaches, mosquitoes, chinches, etc., are most vexatious. Plans have been made for five first class roads, viz.: from the capital to Ponce by Caguas and Coamo, a distance of 84 miles; from the capital (the suburb Catano) to Mayaguez by Arecibo and Aguadilla, 101 miles; Mayaguez to Ponce, 60 miles; from the first named road to Arroyo by Guayama, 21 miles; Cagual to the city of Baguabo by Humaco, 30 miles; making a total of 286 miles. A few miles of in- ferior roads have been constructed, viz.: from Arecibo to Ponce by Uruado and Ad juntas, 24 miles; Rio Piedras to the Port of Fajardo, 31 miles; from Lares to Aguadilla, 16 miles; a branch connecting the two first named roads through Guay- nabo, 8 miles; making a total of 89 miles. The general plan of railroads consists of a line around the island divided into four sections: one from San Juan to Maya- guez by Arecibo and Aguadilla; from Rio Piedras or Humacao by Fajardo; from Ponce to Mayaguez by San German; from Ponce to Humacao by Arroyo, a total of 341 miles, of which, however, only 17 miles have been built. There are tram ways from the capital to Rio Piedras, 7J miles, from Ponce to the shore, from Mayaguez to the shore and from Catano to Bayamon, 5 miles. The telegraph system is divided into the Western Line, from the capital to 108 RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. Rio Piedras, Bayamo, Dorado, Yoga Baja, Manati, Arecibo, Aguadilla, Anasco, Mauaguez, Ilormacao, Yabucoa, Maunabo, Patillas, Arryo, Guayama, Salinas, and Ponce. The Central Line extends from the capital to Cayey, Aibonita, Caoma, Juan Diaz, Ponce and its bay, and the eastern branch from the capital to Carolina, Luquillo, Fajardo, Naguado, and Ilumasao. This system has also been extended from Arecibo to Ponce, with stations at Ad juntas and Utuado. The total length of the lines amounts to 486 miles and that of the wires to 676 miles, and 152,786 dispatches were sent in 1892. There are cables from the capital to St. Thomas, in communication with the Lesser Antilles and South America; from the capital to Jamaica, in communication with Cuba, the United States and Europe; and from the bay of Ponce to Jamaica and Santa Cruz, connected with St. Thomas. “Puerto Rico and Its Resources,” by Frederick D. Ober (D. Appleton & Co., publishers), is a work full of instruction as to the island that is suddenly one of our new possessions. We find here accounts full and particular of the mountains and the hurricanes, two of the features of Porto Rico: “In the mountains the inhabitants enjoy the coolness of spring, while the valleys would be uninhabitable were it not for the daily breeze which blows gen- erally from the northeast and east. For example, in Ponce the noonday sun is felt in all its rigor, while at the village of Adjuntas, four leagues distant in the interior of the mountains, the traveller feels invigorated by the refreshing breezes and temperate climate. At one place the thermometer is as high as 90°, while in another it is sometimes under 60°. Although the seasons are not so distinctly marked in this climate as they are in Europe (the trees being always green), yet there is a distinction to be made between them. The division into wet and dry sea- sons (winter and summer) does not give a proper idea of the seasons in this island; for on the north coast it sometimes rains almost the whole year, while sometimes for twelve or fourteen months not a drop of rain falls on the south coast. How- ever, in the mountains at the south there are daily showers. “As in all tropical countries, the year is divided into two seasons — the dry and the rainy. In general, the rainy season commences in August and ends the last of December, southerly and westerly winds prevailing during this period. The rainfall is excessive, often inundating fields and forming extensive lagoons. The exhalations from these lagoons give rise to a number of diseases, but, nevertheless, Porto Rico is one of the healthiest islands in the archipelago. “The hurricanes which visit the island, and which obey the general laws of tropical cyclones, are the worst scourges of the country. For hours before the ap- pearance of this terrible phenomenon the sea appears calm; the waves come from RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. 109 a long distance very gently until near the shore, when they suddenly rise as if im- pelled by a superior force, dashing against the land with extraordinary violence and fearful noise. Together with this sign, the air is noticed to be disturbed, the sun red and the stars obscured by a vapor, which seems to magnify them. A strong odor is perceived in the sea, which is sulphurous in the waters of rivers, and there are sudden changes in the wind. These omens, together with the signs of uneasi- ness manifested by various animals, foretell the proximity of a hurricane. “This is a sort of whirlwind, accompanied by rain, thunder and lightning, sometimes by earthquake shocks, and always by the most terrible and devastating circumstances that can possibly combine to ruin a country in a few hours. A clear, serene day is followed by the darkest night; the delightful view offered by woods and prairies is diverted into the dreary waste of a cruel winter; the tallest and most robust cedar trees are uprooted, broken off bodily, and hurled into a heap; roofs, balconies, and windows of houses are carried through the air like dry leaves, and in all directions are seen houses and estates laid waste and thrown into con- fusion. “The fierce roar of the water and of the trees being destroyed by the winds, the cries and moans of people, the bellowing of cattle and neighing of horses, which are being carried from place to place by the whirlwinds, the torrents of water inun- dating the fields, and a deluge of fire being let loose in flashes and streaks of light- ning, seem to announce the last convulsions of the universe and the death agonies of nature itself. “Sometimes these hurricanes are felt only on the north coast, at others on the south, although generally their influence extends throughout the island. “Earthquakes are somewhat frequent, hut not violent or of great consequence. The natives foretell them by noticing clouds settle near the ground for some time in the open places among the mountains. The water of the springs emits a sul- phurous odor or leaves a strange taste in the mouth; birds gather in large flocks and fly about, uttering shriller cries than usual; cattle bellow and horses neigh, etc. A few hours beforehand the air becomes calm and dimmed by vapors which arise from the ground, and a few moments before there is a slight breeze, followed at intervals of two or three minutes by a deep rumbling noise, accompanied by sud- den gusts of wind, which are the forerunners of the vibration, the latter following immediately. These shocks are sometimes violent, and are usually repeated, but, owing to the special construction of the houses, they cause no damage. “The West Indians guard as much as possible from the hurricanes by building their houses of stone, in the main, with massive walls, and providing strong bars 110 RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. for doors and windows. When the barometer gives notice of the approach of a storm these bars are brought out and everything is at once made fast. Doors and window shutters are closed, barred and double-locked, and the town looks as if it were deserted by all human beings. The state of suspense, while the hurricane rages, is simply awful, for no one knows when the house may fall and bury all be- neath its ruins. Add to this the howling of the blast, the crash of falling trees, the piercing cries for help from wounded and dying, and one may faintly picture the terrible scene. To venture out is almost certain death, the air is so filled with fly- ing missiles, such as boards, branches of trees, tiles, bricks and stones. “One of the most destructive hurricanes occurred so recently as 1891, when the island of Martinique was prostrated by a terrible tornado, from the effects of which it may never recover. “ ‘Early on the- morning of the 18th of August,’ says the United States Consul in his report, ‘the sky presented a leaden appearance, decidedly threatening, with occasional gusts of variable winds, mostly from east-northeast. The temperature was very oppressive during the day. The barometer varied only slightly, when it commenced to fall, at first gradually, then very rapidly. It is stated by fishermen who were in the vicinity of Carvael Rock (in the sea channel) that an immense wave, about a hundred feet high, passed from the direction of St. Lucia, closely fol- lowed by another smaller one, although the sea in the vicinity was quite calm at the time. The storm struck the east side of the island at about 6 p. m., rushing through the ravines and destroying everything in its path. On the elevated plains the ruin was complete. One very peculiar feature of the hurricane was the deafness experienced by everyone during the storm — possibly the result of the reduced barometic pressure. During the cyclone the wind veered from east-northeast to south-southeast, from the latter point being the most destructive; there were in- cessant flashes of sheet lightning unaccompanied by thunder, and immediately after the storm two distinct shocks of earthquake at intervals of about five seconds. “ ‘Early in the September following I visited La Trinite and noted that all the way the destruction was most complete, the trees and all vegetation looking as though there had been a forest fire, although without the charred appearance. The sugar-cane suffered least, and the loss, with favorable weather, did not amount to more than one-fifth its normal value. The factories and distilleries seem to have been more completely destroyed than any other property. The thermometer ranged from 90° to 100° during the storm, and there was a deluge of rain, one account stating that over four inches fell in a few hours that evening. “ ‘My own residence was unroofed and flooded with water, as was the case of RECENT DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ISLAND. Ill nine-tenths of the buildings in St. Pierre, and throughout the island. The loss of life was comparatively small in the capital, but larger in the interior towns, notably in Morne Rogue (a mountain resort above St. Pierre), where eight in one family lost their lives. The total loss of life, so far as reliable information can be obtained, was seven hundred, and the loss of property was enormous. All the fruit, the main reliance of the laboring classes, was destroyed, and prices of pro- visions at once advanced three hundred per cent. Every vessel along the coast was either wrecked or badly damaged, about fifty sail in all. The scene the island pre- sents would be difficult to describe, and the inhabitants are sorely stricken and demoralized. Such a night of terror the imagination can scarcely picture.’ ” MEAN MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AT SAN JUAN DE PORTO RICO DUR- ING FIVE YEARS’ OBSERVATION. >» Hours of the day. Fh a d d A p o P d ►“S o> fa d £ Seven in the morning .. 72 72% 74 Noon .. 82 81 82 Five in the evening . . 78 74 78 m P a> rO a 02 & a o» a 72 p. < May. o> p P ►“3 3 P bo P < a O £ o> o to be a principal constituent part of the Owhyean politics. “For these substantial reasons, whenever he was disposed to listen to such dis- course, I did not cease to urge the importance and necessity of his adopting measures so highly essential to his happiness as a man, and to his power, interest and authority a6 the supreme chief of the island. All this he candidly acknowledged, but his pride threw impediments in the way of a reconciliation, which were hard to be re- moved. He would not himself become the immediate agent; and although he con- sidered it important that the negotiation should be conducted by some one of the principal chiefs in his fullest confidence, yet, to solicit their good offices after having rejected their former overtures with disdain, was equally hard to recon- cile to his feelings. I stood nearly in the same situation with his favorite friends; but being thoroughly convinced of the sincerity of his wishes, I spared him the EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 299 mortification of soliciting the offices he had rejected, by again proffering my services. To this he instantly consented, and observed that no proposal could have met his mind so completely; since, by effecting a reconciliation through my friendship, no umbrage could he taken at his having declined the several offers of his country- men by any of the individuals; whereas, had this object been accomplished by any one of the chiefs, it would probably have occasioned jealousy and discontent in the minds of the others. “All, however, was not yet complete; the apprehension that some concession might be suggested, or expected, on his part, preponderated against every other consideration; and he would on no account consent, that it should appear that he had been privy to the business, or that it had been by his desire that a negotia- tion had been undertaken for this happy purpose, but that the whole should have the appearance of being purely the result of accident. “To this end it was determined that I should invite the queen, with several of her relations and friends, on board the Discovery, for the purpose of presenting them with some trivial matters, as tokens of my friendship and regard; and that, whilst thus employed, our conversation should be directed to ascertain whether an accommodation was still an object to be desired. That on this appearing to be the general wish, Tamaahmaah would instantly repair on hoard in a hasty man- ner, as if he had something extraordinary to communicate; that I should appear to rejoice at this accidental meeting, and by instantly uniting their hands, bring the reconciliation to pass without the least discussion or explanation on either side. But from his extreme solicitude lest he should in any degree be suspected of being concerned in this previous arrangement, a difficulty arose how to make him ac- quainted with the result of the proposed conversation on board, which could not be permitted by a verbal message; at length, after some thought, he took up two pieces of paper, and of his own accord made certain marks with a pencil on each of them, and then delivered them to me. The difference of these marks he could well recollect; the one was to indicate that the result of my inquiries was agreeable to his wishes, and the other that it was contrary. In the event of my making use of the former, he proposed that it should not he sent on shore secretly, hut in an open and declared manner, and by way of a joke, as a present to his Owhyhean majesty. The natural gaiety of disposition which generally prevails among these islanders, would render this supposed disappointment of the king a subject for mirth, would in some degree prepare the company for his visit, and completely do away with every idea of its being the effect of a preconcerted measure. 300 EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. “This plan was accordingly carried into execution on the following Monday. Whilst the queen and her party, totally ignorant of the contrivance, were receiving the compliments I had intended them, their good humor and pleasantry were in- finitely heightened by the jest I proposed to pass upon the king, in sending him a piece of paper only, carefully wrapped up in some cloth of their own manufacture, accompanied by a message; importing, that as I was then in the act of distributing favors to my Owhyhean friends, I had not been unmindful of his majesty. “Tamaahmaah no sooner received the summons, than he hastened on board, and, with his usual vivacity, exclaimed before he made his appearance that he was come to thank me for the present I had sent him, and for my goodness in not having forgotten him on this occasion. This was heard by everyone in the cabin before he entered; and all seemed to enjoy the joke except the poor queen, who appeared to be much agitated at the idea of being again in his presence. The in- stant that he saw her his countenance expressed great surprise, he became imme- diately silent, and attempted to retire; but, having posted myself for the especial purpose of preventing his departure, I caught his hand and, joining it with the queen’s, their reconciliation was instantly completed. This was fully demonstrated, not only by the tears that involuntarily stole down the cheeks of both as they embraced each other and mutually expressed the satisfaction they experienced; but by the behavior of every individual present, whose feelings on the occasion were not to be repressed; whilst their sensibility testified the happiness which this appar- ently fortuitous event had produced. “A short pause, produced by an event so unexpected, was succeeded by the sort of good humor that such a happy circumstance would naturally inspire; the con- versation soon became general, cheerful and lively, in which the artifice imagined to have been imposed upon the king bore no small share. A little refreshment from a few glasses of wine concluded the scene of this successful meeting. “After the queen had acknowledged in the most grateful terms the weighty ob- ligations which she felt for my services on this occasion, I was surprised by her saying, as we were all preparing to go on shore, that she had still a very great favor to request; which was, that I should obtain from Tamahmaah a solemn prom- ise that on her return to his habitation he would not beat her. The great cor- diality with which the reconciliation had taken place, and the happiness that each of them had continued to express in consequence of it, led me at first to consider this entreaty of the queen as a jest only; but in this I was mistaken, for, notwith- standing that Tamaahmaah readily complied with my solicitation, and assured me L,. 25. Wives of Chief Datto Pianof Jolo. 26. House of Chief Datto Pian of Jolo. 27. Barracks of the '-/lvu Guard in La Errnita, Manila. 28. View of Chief Datto Pian’s Wagebon Ranche in Jolo. 29. Church of io v° nce Pti9 n in Jolo. 30. The Weisic Barracks, Manila. 31. Entrance to the Military Hospital, Manila. >2. Front \ iew of the Church of the Conception, Jolo. VIEWS FROM THE PHILIPPINES. ! RIFT IN THE JUNGLES THAT LINE THE COAST OF THE PHILIPPINES. ROADWAY IN BOTANICAL GARDENS, MANILA. EAELY HISTOEY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 303 nothing of the kind should take plaee, yet Tahowmannoo would not be satisfied without my accompanying them home to the royal residence, where I had the pleasure of seeing her restored to all her former honors and privileges, highly to the satisfaction of all the king’s friends, but to the utter mortification of those who by their scandalous reports and misrepresentations had been the cause of the un- fortunate separtion. “The domestic affairs of Tamaahmaah having thus taken so happy a turn, his mind was more at liberty for political considerations; and the cession of Owhyhee to his Britannic Majesty now became an object of his serious concern.” Captain Cook makes a strong plea in his journal that he was the very original discoverer of the Sandwich Islands. Eeferring to the wonderful extent of the sur- face of the earth in which the land is occupied by the Polynesial race, he exclaims: “How shall we account for this nation's having spread itself, in so many de- tached islands, so widely disjoined from each other, in every quarter of the Pacific Ocean! We find it, from New Zealand in the South, as far as the Sandwich Islands, to the North! And, in another direction, from Easter Islands to the Hebrides! That is, over an extent of sixty degrees of latitude, or twelve hundred leagues, North and South! And eighty-three degrees of longitude, or sixteen hundred and sixty leagues, East and West! How much farther, in either direction, its colonies reach, is not known; but what we know already, in consequence of this and our former voyage, warrants our pronouncing it to be, though perhaps not the most numerous, certainly, by far, the most extensive, nation upon earth. “Had the Sandwich Islands been discovered at an early period by the Span- iards, there is little doubt that they would have taken advantage of so excellent a jsituation, and have made use of Atooi, or some other of the islands, as a refresh- ing place to the ships, that sail annually from Acapulco for Manilla. They lie al- most midway between the first place and Guam, one of the Ladrones, which is at present their only port in traversing this vast ocean; and it would not have been a week’s sail out of their common route to have touched at them; which could have jbeen done without running the least hazard of losing the passage, as they are suf- ficiently within the verge of the easterly trade wind. An acquaintance with the Sandwich Islands would have been equally favorable to our Buccaneers, who used sometimes to pass from the coast of America to the Ladrones, with a stock of food and water scarcely sufficient to preserve life. Here they might always have found 'plenty, and have been within a month’s sure sail of the very part of California 304 EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. which the Manilla ship is obliged to make, or else have returned to the coast of America, thoroughly refitted, after an absence of two months. How happy would Lord Anson have been, and what hardships he would have avoided, if he had known that there was a group of islands half way between America and Tinian, where all his wants could have been effectually supplied; and in describing which the elegant historian of that voyage would have presented his reader with a more agreeable picture than I have been able to draw in this chapter.” And yet there seems to be reason for believing that there was a Spanish ship cast away on one of the Hawaiian group, and that their descendants are distinctly marked men yet: There was also a white man and woman saved from the sea at some unknown period, of course since Noah, and they multiplied and replenished, and the islanders picked up somewhere a knack for doing things in construction of boats and the weaving of mats that hint at a crude civilization surviving in a mass of barbarianism. Captain George Dixon names the islands discovered by Captain Cook on his last voyage: “Owhyhee (Hawaii), the principal, is the first to the southward and eastward, the rest run in a direction nearly northwest. The names of the principals are Mowee (Maui), Morotoy (Molokai), Ranai (Lanai), Whahoo (Oahu), Attooi (Kauai), and Oneehow (Niihau).” This account Dixon gives of two curious and rather valuable words: “The moment a chief concludes a bargain, he repeats the word Cooeoo thrice, with quick- ness, and is immediately answered by all the people in his canoe with the word Whoah, pronounced in a tone of exclamation, but with greater or less energy, in proportion as the bargain he has made is approved.” The great and celebrated Kamehameha, who consolidated the government of the islands, did it by an act of treachery and murder, thus told in Alexander's history: “The Assassination of Keoua. — Toward the end of the year 1791 two of Kame- hameha’s chief counsellors, Kamanawa and Keaweaheulu, were sent on an embassy to Keoua at Kahuku in Kau. Keoua’s chief warrior urged him to put them to death, which he indignantly refused to do. “By smooth speeches and fair promises they persuaded him to go to Kawaihae, and have an interview with Kamehameha, in order to put an end to the war, which had lasted nine years. Accordingly he set out with his most intimate friends and EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 305 twenty-four rowers in his own double canoe, accompanied by Keaweaheulu in an- other canoe, and followed by friends and retainers in other canoes. “As they approached the landing at Kawaihae, Keeaumoku surrounded Ke- oua’s canoe with a number of armed men. As Kamakau relates: ‘Seeing Kame- hameha on the beach, Keoua called out to him, “Here I am,” to which he replied, “Rise up and come here, that we may know each other.” ’ “As Keoua was in the act of leaping ashore, Keeaumoku killed him with a spear. All the men in Keoua’s canoe and in the canoes of his immediate company were slaughtered but one. But when the second division approached, Kamehameha gave orders to stop the massacre. The bodies of the slain were then laid upon the altar of Puukohola as an offering to the blood-thirsty divinity Kukailimoku. That of Keoua had been previously baked in an oven at the foot of the hill as a last indignity. This treacherous murder made Kamehameha master of the whole island of Hawaii, and was the first step toward the consolidation of the group under one government.” This is one of those gentle proceedings of an amiable race, whose massacre of Captain Cook has been so elaborately vindicated by alleged exponents of civilization. There is found the keynote of the grevious native government in an incident of the date of 1841 by which “the foreign relations of the government became involved with the schemes of a private firm. The firm of Ladd & Co. had taken the lead in developing the agricultural resources of the islands by their sugar plan- tation at Koloa and in other ways, and had gained the entire confidence of the king and chiefs. On the 24th of November, 1841, a contract was secretly drawn up at Lahaina by Mr. Brinsmade, a member of the firm, and Mr. Richards, and duly signed by the king and premier, which had serious after-consequences. It granted to Ladd & Co. the privilege of “leasing any now unoccupied and unim- proved localities” in the islands for one hundred years, at a low rental, each mill- site to include fifteen acres, and the adjoining land for cultivation in each locality not to exceed two hundred acres, with privileges of wood, pasture, etc. These sites were to be selected within one year, which term was afterwards extended to four years from date.” Of course there are many safeguards, particularly in this case, but the points ff the possession of land conceded, the time for the people to recover their rights aever comes. One of the difficulties in the clearing up of the foggy chapters of the history )f the Hawaiian islands is that within the lifetime of men who were young at the 306 EARLY HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. close of the last century, the Hawaiian tongue became a written language, and made the traditions of savages highly colored stories, in various degrees accord- ing to ignorance, prejudice and sympathy, accepted as historical. The marvels accomplished by the missionaries influenced them to deal gently with those whose conversion was a recognized triumph of Christendom, and there was an effort to condemn Captain Cook, who had affected to nod as a God, as a warning to blas- phemers. Still, the truth of history is precious as the foundations of faith to men of all races and traditions, and the Englishman who surpassed the French, Span- iards and Portuguese in discoveries of islands in the vast spaces of the Pacific Ocean, should have justice at the hands of Americans who have organized states and built cities by that sea, and possess the islands that have been named its para- dise because endowed surpassingly with the ample treasures of volcanic soil and tropical climate. There the trade winds bestow the freshness of the calm and mighty waters, and there is added to the bounty of boundless wealth the charms of luxuriant beauty. All Americans should find it timely to be just to Captain Cook, and claim him as one of the pioneers of our conquering civilization. BOOK IV. THE PHILIPPINES. INTRODUCTION. The article® relating to the Philippines in the Treaty of Peace with Spain are III, IV and V — as follows: “Article III. — Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line: “A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Green- wich to the parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4° 45') north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and forty-five minutes (4° 45') north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nine- teen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north, thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north to its intersection with the one hundred and six- teenth (116th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning. “The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,- 300,000), within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. “Article IV. — The United States will, for the term of ten years from the late of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, admit Spanish ships ind merchandise to the ports of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships ind merchandise of the United States. “Article V. — The United States will, upon the signature of the present 311 312 INTRODUCTION. treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American forces. The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to them. “Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, pro- ceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacua- tion of Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, under the Protocol of August 12, 1898, which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely executed. “The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands of colors, uneaptured war vessels, small arms, guns of all calibres, with their carriages and accessories, powder, ammunition, livestock, and materials and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the land and naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field artil- lery, in the fortifications and coast defenses, shall remain in their emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from the exchange of ratifications of the treaty; and the United States may, in the meantime, purchase such material from Spain, if a satisfactory agreement between the two Governments on the subject shall be reached.” The treaty containing these provisions was signed by the American and Spanish Commissioners in Paris, December 10, 1898, ratified by the United States Senate February 6, 1899, and received the President’s signature of approval two days later. On this instrument is recorded the cession of Porto Rico, the relinquishment of Cuba and her fringe of islands, the surrender of Guam, and the abandonment of the Philippines, the loss by Spain of the last of her colonies that were once the distinction of her grandeur and the envy of other nations. It records also the signal triumph of American arms in the Indies East and West, on the seas and the islands. There is no other country where the management of a war so trium- phant would not be applauded universally — just cranks enough in antagonism to define clearly the overwhelming expression of the public opinion; no country in which the acquisition of the fairest and richest islands in the world would not have been gratefully received as a glory and a benefaction. We find here a per- sistent fury of criticisms, and an industry artful and unscrupulous, sensational and scandalous, in the propagation and circulation of misapprehension and widespread misrepresentation of facts, while the wail of the demagogue and the howl of the anarchist are heard over the payment proposed of 25 cents cash by each of the INTRODUCTION. 313 American people for land equal to New England, New York and New Jersey in extent, and of immense resources in soil, minerals, fruits and staples, cotton, rice, copper, hemp, tobacco, sugar, and indigo, raised on one island. But the question of the Philippines has been referred to the American people, and they are talking it over in their own way, and conscious, we are glad to say, of the power they are exercising. It is true that the Philippines are far away, that there are demagogue incendiaries in the islands, a gang with aims in their hands posing as the whole people. It is on account of our methods of delay that the warfare around Manila has come about. The news of the day is common property all over the world, and Americans are known to the Philippines to he to some extent of uncertain temper, and every resolution that looks to running away from our conquest, afraid of ourselves, means the lolling and wounding of more of the American hoys, called for by Admiral Dewey when he had cleared the sea to hold the land. The publication of the protocols of the commissions of the United States and Spain in Paris and the information sought and found touching the islands, shows how earnestly and laboriously our commissioners performed their duty — how they were resolved to become possessed of the whole truth and sought it at the ends of the earth. The documents submitted to the country along with the treaty trans- mitted by the President to the Senate, the injunction of secrecy removed January 11, is a treasure of history. The light is poured upon all the dark places. The commission investigated the state of the islands, summoning Mr. Foreman, the historian of the Philippines, and obtaining statements from the Belgian Consul and others of the gravest interest to all the people. The consular reports from the Asiatic cities giving the history of Aguinaldo and his policies, and proving his treacherous weaknesses and presumption shading gradually into intolerable inso- lence, are almost unknown to the public, and invaluable in tracing the influences that give trouble. The importance of Aguinaldo was factional until he managed to excite the imaginations of his susceptible tribe, while his association with the American victors over the Spaniards and his appropriation according to Filipino logic and sense, of a great share of the credit of liberation — the whole of which, with the exception of an almost unappreciable fraction, belonged to the Amer- icans — made him the leader of those ignorant and easily agitated islanders who have been brought up in the belief that all government is tyranny and all races of European origin tyrants — whose whole education is that freedom should be exercised in fighting, and that the true aspiration of manhood is rather in leisure than in labor. If these people are let alone, they are industrious — that is, if 314 INTRODUCTION. they are not dragged from their homes by tribal influences and promises that they can enrich themselves by plundering those against whom they are prejudiced because they are in possession of a little property. It is on these lines that Aguinaldo’s insignificance has been magnified until he has become idealized by the tragedians of statesmanship into a sort of a La Fayette, and his make-up out of fantastic endowments passes him along as an imperial creature, an insurgent who is to be commended because he is a revolutionist, no matter what the cause behind him or how much scandal and fraud there is in the manifest and gro- tesque deception. He has put his fanciful and fraudulent prestige to the bloody test of war and will be unmade as he was made — he took on his sudden accession of greatness and he wall perish by the sword of America. The pages of this book give the history that is expressly applicable to the enlightenment of the people for the solution of the problems of the Philippines. General Merritt’s opinion was, when questioned closely by the commissioners, that from twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand troops would be wanted for a time in the Philippines if we held them, but that after a time there would not be need of so large a force, and the soldiers needed might be largely enlisted from the Philippines themselves. CHAPTER I. OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. Character of Filipinos and Their Oppression hy the Spaniards — The Furtive Leader Aguinaldo — His Professions and Proceedings — Cash for Peace and a Bribe for Banishment — Early Indications of Impertinence — Deception of Our Consuls. General Aguinaldo made a treaty with the Spaniards, and with thirty-two of his “compatriots” accepted $400,000 in Mexican money, $200,000 in gold, and betook themselves to Hongkong, where this leader had nothing to say for some time. He had been brought up in such an atmosphere of oppression that he could not understand freedom of speech, and liberty to him was a mystery. The Span- iards were to pay more money, but were false to all their promises, as is their way in such cases, and the treaty was regarded with contempt by the officers of Spain of all grades. They had robbed a bank in Manila, and while Aguinaldo took a vacation at Hongkong the Spanish had a season of comparative rest, but there appeared another swarm of insurgents, under another leader, and there was the accustomed skirmishing, ambuscades, expeditions, assassinations, executions, and the fleet that Dewey destroyed, the most efficient weapon of the Spaniards. When our war with Spain broke out, Aguinaldo was at Singapore, attempting to organize and equip for a return to Luzon. He was in high favor and had much corre- spondence with our consuls at Singapore, Manila and Hongkong, who gave no consideration to Talleyrand's order to liis staff in the foreign office of France — “Above all, no zeal.” At the suggestion of the Hongkong consul Admiral Dewey cabled to Aguinaldo to join him at once, but moved with so much rapidity that the insurgent chieftain did not get to Hongkong until the day after Dewey's vic- tory in Manila Bay, and when he arrived at Cavite, finding the Americans in pos- session, and himself welcomed as a friend, the prestige of the American victory gave the Filipino guerrilla an immense send-off as the representative man of his countrymen. As far as the news spread the insurgents gathered and swarmed to the standard of Aguinaldo, and he soon began to have visions of grandeur, and to assume the haughty airs of a conqueror. Before the American troops arrived he became troublesome and desired to dictate to those who had taken him out of the exile to which he had betaken himself with a certified check. The fact that 315 316 OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. he did not divide the proceeds with his partners in retirement, hut held the Mexican silver fast for Agoncillo to buy arms with, is relied upon as proof of his integrity. One of the earliest revelations of his sinister policy was in a letter to General T. M. Anderson, who commanded the first American troops to arrive at Cavite, July 23, 1898, that his object in leaving Hongkong was to “prevent” his “country- men from making common cause with the Spanish against the North Americans,” and he made haste to notify Anderson “of the undesirability of disembarking North American troops in the places conquered by the Filipinos from the Spanish without previous notice to this government.” Now, this government was the machine he set up, and he further mentions “the necessity that before disembarking troops you should communicate in writing to this government the places that are to be occupied and also the object of your occupation.” Thus this “La Fayette” was already supercilious and dictatorial and in a pert and shabby way bent upon insulting, interfering with and harassing his friends and benefactors. Since the frozen snake that the woodman in the fable warmed before the fire, there has been no case of ingratitude more instruct- ive as a lesson of inherent viciousness. The serpent of the tropics changes his stripes and becomes more subtle and deadly than his kind in the north temperate zone, but his poison is ranker and in propensities and accomplishments he is more subtle. This fanciful and malicious pretender gabbling about George Washing- ton not having thought of himself as a La Fayette, for if he knew something about the beloved Frenchman who came to help us in our need he knew that he was fighting an army of La Fayettes who had broken the chains with which he and his race had been bound to a horrible servitude. He was taking this high ground of sovereignty three weeks before the fall of Manila. There was not a chance worth international consideration that the Filipinos ever could take that city. It was far beyond their power to do more than skirmish in the suburbs. Until the Spanish fleet was destroyed the most warlike of their proceedings was to raid the country villages in the neighborhood of the town. August first Aguinaldo wrote the American Consul at Manila, that official then being with Admiral Dewey: “I was brought from Hongkong to assure those forces by my presence that the Filipinos would not make common cause with the Spaniards.” The small dictator proceeded to say the Americans were only passably co-op- erating with the Filipinos — that is, they were not consulting and deferring to him. As soon as serious operations were undertaken against Manila by the Amer- ican army the first thing needful was to crowd the Philippine insurgents out of the OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 317 way. They were not besieging the town, but popping around the edges and had to be removed from ground needed to carry on a real siege. They did not fire a shot within a mile of an armed Spaniard on the day the American colors floated over Manila, and they were ordered to stand back, because it was known they would sack the town, Aguinaldo crying by letter to General Anderson that his troops had been “promised they were to appear in Manila.” This is what he had promised and he wanted to “avoid any conflict which would be fatal to the interests of both peoples,” adding, “My troops are forced from yours by means of threats of violence to retire from positions taken.” Of course they had to go, but they had taken no positions. Then he wanted “joint occupation,” and has been a nuisance ever since, and we have statesmen who are quoting Abraham Lincoln as saying, “no man is wise enough to govern another,” as though this fragile, malignant and preposterous imperialist was the foreordained creature to rule millions who have never been consulted about him. The Belgian Consul at Manila, Mr. Andre, estimates the number of Philippine insurgents to be about one in two hundred of population. It is the same story we had in Cuba, that the United States troops should, when they conquered the island, assume that the guerrilla bands must be held to be the great and only “people.” There never was a more atrocious imposition upon human nature. The opposition congressmen have been constant and loud in eloquence to the effect that the Cuban and Philippine people were exclusively the bands of bushwhackers; that the army of Gomez, 150 strong, the fire bugs of the cane fields, were the true and sovereign populace of the Queen of the Antilles and must take possession of all the lucrative branches of the government and gorge themselves at once with the plunder won by American blood. Aguinaldo, on authority of the Consul at Manila, is “not permitted by his people to personally lead in battle” — of course not! He is not that kind of a hero. He is an Asiatic potentate, w r ho speaks of “his” people and is too thoughtful to go on the fire line. He wrote General Merritt: “I have permitted the use of water 5 ’ — that is, he had “permitted” the American soldiers who had freed Manila from Spanish tyranny to have the city supply of water from the mountains instead of compelling them to partake of the tainted supplies of the old cistern! That was benevolence! If the insurgents had not “permitted” the water to flow they would have been driven away from the waterworks, enough of them shot to instruct the rest. There was a rush of fiery statesmen made just before we were at war with Spain to “recognize the alleged belligerent rights” of the “alleged Republic of Cuba” in such form that our troops would have been under the authority of the alleged 318 OUR INTEREST IN TIIE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. Cuban chieftains, and the general result, the pecuniary plethora of the fire bug financiers, glad to have our assistance in floating at a good figure an issue of bonds to make up for the Cuban “debt” the United States had declined to pay. The great first principle in Cuba seems to be to have a big “debt” to be liquidated in good time by the United States. The cane was burned and the tobacco trampled to furnish security for Cuban bonds. The victory of the American arms in the battles of Manila on the bay and the shore have thrown upon us great responsibility, and the condition of the islands before we became acquainted with them by possessing them is of the highest interest, because the better we understand the people the more certainly and effectively we can apply the policy of reconstruction demanded after the demolition of the Spanish edifice. Our very zealous and active Consul at Manila, Mr. Oscar F. Williams, writing from his consulate February 22, 1898, says: “Peace was proclaimed, and since my coming festivities therefor were held; but there is no peace, and has been none for about two years. Conditions here and in Cuba are practically alike. War exists, battles are of almost daily occurrence, ambulances bring in many wounded, and hospitals are full. Prisoners are brought here and shot without trial, and Manila is under martial law. “The Crown forces have not been able to dislodge a rebel army within ten miles of Manila, and last Saturday, February 19, a battle was there fought and five dead left on the field. Much of such information is found in my longer dispatch, referred to, and which is at your command. “The Governor-General, who is amiable and popular, having resigned, wishes credit for pacification, and certain rebel leaders were given a cash bribe of $1,650,- 000 to consent to public deportation to China. This bribe and deportation only multiplied claimants and fanned the fires of discontent. “Insurgents demand fewer exactions from church and state, a half of public offices, and fewer church holidays, which seriously retard business. “A republic is organized here, as in Cuba. Insurgents are being armed and drilled; are rapidly increasing in numbers and efficiency, and all agree that a general uprising will come as soon as the Governor-General embarks for Spain, which is fixed for March. “While some combatant regiments have recently been returned to Spain, it was for appearance only, and all authorities now agree that unless the Crown largely re-enforces its army here it will lose possession.” QUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 319 “Consulate of the United States, “Manila, Philippine Islands, March 19, 1898. “Sir: Matters are in a serious state here. I have daily communication by cable and letter with Commodore Dewey, but we pass letters by British and other shipmasters and by private parties, because cables and letters are tampered with. “Insurrection is rampant; many killed, wounded, and made prisoners on both sides. A battleship, the Don Juan de Austria, sent this week to the northern part of Luzon to co-operate with a land force of 2,000 dispatched to succor local forces, overwhelmed by rebels. “Last night special squads of mounted police were scattered at danger points to save Manila. “I caution Americans against bearing arms in violation of local law, although threats have been made by Spaniards that all Americans would soon have- their throats cut. Certain ones are so frightened as to frequently come to my consulate and hotel, and spies watch all my movements. “Rebellion never more threatening to Spain. Rebels getting arms, money, and friends, and they outnumber the Spaniards, resident and soldiery, probably a hundred to one. “Report says that Holy Week the insurgents plan to bum and capture Manila.” Mr. Williams to Mr. Cridler, March 27, says: “Having given daily information to Commodore Dewey as to disturbances here I have assumed that he informed the Washington Government, and I have writ- ten little on war matters. “Cuban conditions exist here possibly in aggravated form. Spanish soldiers are killed and wounded daily, despite claimed pacification, and the hospitals are kept full. “The majority of casualties are reported from the ranks of the native insur- gents, and the cruelties and horrors of war are daily repeated. “Cavite is the naval port of Luzon, situated about eight miles across the bay from Manila, and about twenty miles distant by way of bay shore and public high- way, and last Thursday, March 24, a Crown regiment of natives, the Seventy- fourth, stationed there was ordered to advance against native insurgents near by. The regiment refused to obey orders, and eight corporals were called out and shot to death in presence of the regiment, which was again ordered to advance and threat made that a refusal would be death to all. All did refuse and were sent to barracks to await sentence. On the morning of the following Friday, March 25, the entire regiment, with arms and equipment, marched out of the barracks and deserted in a body to the insurgents, saying they were willing to fight the foreign enemies of Spain, but would not fight their friends. “Since beginning this dispatch I learn of the desertion to the insurgents of another entire regiment. These are said to be the severest set-backs received by Spain during the two years’ insurrection here. 320 OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. “On Friday morning, March 25, a church holiday, a meeting of natives was being held near my consulate in Manila, the natives being unarmed. The building was surrounded by police and military, the meeting broken up, twelve natives wantonly shot to death, several wounded, and sixty-two taken prisoners. Satur- day morning, March 2G, the sixty-two prisoners were marched in a body to the cemetery and shot to death. “The Crown forces are now building a cordon of small forts on city’s out- skirts for defense against provincial natives, who are expected to soon attack Manila. In fact, two detectives and one messenger have come to me this evening with information that attack was to be made to-night, and everybody is anxious, as 8,000 native insurgent soldiers are encamped only five miles away. “The insurgents seem to lack arms and organization, but, so far as I can learn, outnumber the Spanish forces and inhabitants twenty to one. Arms are being obtained and organization slowly effected, and all classes fear the near future. It is said that the only reason why Manila has not been taken and burned is because a vast majority of its population is in perfect accord with the insurgents. “Last week, Thursday, March 24, at Cavite, near here, the Seventy-fourth Spanish Regiment, recruited among the natives of the southern islands of this group, refused to obey orders and attack the native insurrectionists. Eight cor- porals were called out and shot to death in presence of the regiment. Again orders to advance were given and disobeyed, when death to all was threatened. The regiment expressed a willingness to fight the foreign enemies of Spain, but said they would all be shot rather than fight their friends. All were sent to barracks to be punished later, but the next morning all took arms and deserted to the insurgents. “On Friday, March 25, a church and legal holiday, unarmed natives were holding a meeting near my consulate. The building was surrounded by police and the suspicious military, the meeting broken up, twelve natives shot to death, several wounded, and sixty-two jnisoners taken, certain of whom were mere passers- by, not having attended the meeting. The next morning these sixty-two prisoners, without form of trial, were marched in a body to the cemetery and all shot to death. “Hardly a day passes without such scenes of middle-age treachery and bar- barity. A recent uprising at Cape Bolinao, on the northwest coast of this island (Luzon), about 300 miles from Manila, was crushed by united action of two regi- ments of infantry aided by the battleship Don Juan de Austria. A British ship- master there at the time reports about forty killed and forty wounded. After surrender the Spaniards put dead and wounded together in a horrse, and, by burning it, cremated all. “Months ago pacification was claimed by the Governor-General. It was false. A truce had been bought with $1,650,000, during which the Governor-General hoped to embark for Spain, but all was a hollow farce. The Madrid Government seems now to understand all, and the Governor-General has been ordered to remain, and his appointed successor sent to one of the provinces. PANAMA CANAL, 3 MILES FROM THE ATLANTIC. PANAMA CANAL. 9 MILES FROM COLON. OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 3 23 “Now 5,000 armed rebels, which for days have been encamped near Manila and have been re-enforced from the mountains, plan to attack the city to-night. All is excitement and life uncertain.” This is the official report of the Manila situation before the fleet of Admiral Dewey steamed across the sea of China to break the power of Spain, but not to establish a government of guerrillas to wipe out the Spanish civilization, which was, in a sense, barbarous, but not savage. A proclamation was issued at Hong- kong by the Filipino Junta just before Dewey sailed containing these paragraphs: “At the present moment an American squadron is preparing to sail for the Philippines. “We, your brothers, are very much afraid you may be induced to fire on the Americans. No, brothers, never make this mistake. Rather blow your own brains out than fire a shot or treat as enemies those who are your liberators. “Your natural enemies, your executioners, the authors of your misery and unhappiness, are the Spaniards who govern you. Against these you must raise your weapons and odium; understand well, against the Spaniards, and never against the Americans. “Take no notice of the decree of the Governor-General, calling you to arms, although it may cost you your lives. Rather die than be ungrateful to our Amer- ican liberators. “There, where you gee the American flag flying, assemble in numbers; they are our redeemers.” There was a strong tendency in our able and interesting Consuls at Hong- kong, Manila and Singapore to be too familiar, sympathetic and co-operative with the two or three “people” of the Philippines — Aguinaldo and his interpreter — and Mr. F. Agoncillo, the Aguinaldo agent, modestly manifested at Washington he seemed to expect a call to be the Dean of the diplomats by common consent, at- tempted, November 3, 1897, to open a trade with the United States for arms! He then held a commission giving unlimited power to conclude treaties with for- eign governments. This powerful personage wanted the United States to supply 20,000 stand of arms to the Filipinos, “to be paid for on the recognition of his government by the United States. He pledged as security two provinces and the custom-house at Manila. He is not particular about the price — is willing the j United States should make 25 per cent and 30 per cent profit.” This diplomatic gentleman had commercial instincts and was willing to see the United State* 'make some money! It was very kind of him, but our Consul with whom he com- 1 municate 1 was instructed to be “brief” with him and not encourage his advances. Secretary Day, June 16, telegraphed: 324 OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. “Consul-General Pratt: Avoid unauthorized negotiations with Philippine in- surgents.” On the same date the Secretary wrote Mr. Pratt: “To obtain the unconditional personal assistance of General Aguinaldo in the expedition to Manila was proper, if in so doing he was not induced to form hopes which it might not be practicable to gratify. This Government has known the Philippine insurgents only as discontented and rebellious subjects of Spain, and is not acquainted with their purposes. While their contest with that power has been a matter of public notoriety, they have neither asked nor received from this Government any recognition. The United States, in entering upon the occupation of the islands, as the result of its military operations in that quarter, will do in the exercise of the rights which the state of war confers, and will expect from the inhabitants, without regard to their former attitude towards the Spanish Government, that obedience which will be lawfully due from them. “If, in the course of your conferences with General Aguinaldo, you acted upon the assumption that this Government would co-operate with him for the further- ance of any plan of his own, or that, in accepting his co-operation, it would con- sider itself pledged to recognize any political claims which he may . put forward your action was unauthorized, and can not be approved. Respectfully yours, “WILLIAM R. DAY” There has not appeared any clearer definition than this of the policy of the United States in dealing with insurgents. It is solid sense and will stand. Tht tone of our representatives at this time was extremely eulogistic of Aguinaldo and needed the cooling application it got. Mr. E. Spencer Pratt, Consul-General tc the United States at Singapore, wrote after Aguinaldo had sailed for Hongkong “Considering the enthusiastic manner General Aguinaldo has been received by the natives and the confidence with which he already appears to have inspired Admiral Dewey, it will be admitted, I think, that I did not overrate his impor- tance and that I have materially assisted the cause of the United States in the Philippines in securing his co-operation. “Why this co-operation should not have been secured to us during the month General Aguinaldo remained awaiting events in Hongkong, and that he was allowed to leave there without having been approached in the interest of our Government I can not understand. “No close observer of what had transpired in the Philippines during the past four years could have failed to recognize that General Aguinaldo enjoyed abovt all others the confidence of the Filipino insurgents and the respect alike of Span- iards and foreigners in the islands, all of whom vouched for his high sense oi justice and honor.” OUR INTEREST IN THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO. 325 Aguinaldo had impressed all our Consuls that he was almost a great and good American, and Mr. Wildman, Consul at Hongkong, wrote July 18, 1898: “I have lived among the Malays of the Straits Settlements and have been an honored guest of the different sultanates. I have watched their system of govern- ment and have admired their intelligence, and I rank them high among the semi- civilized nations of the earth. The natives of the Philippine Islands belong to the Malay race, and, while there are very few pure Malays among their leaders, I think their stock has rather been improved than debased by admixture. I consider the forty or fifty Philippine leaders, with whose fortunes I have been very closely con- nected, both the superiors of the Malays and the Cubans. Aguinaldo, Agoncillo, and Sandico are all men who would be leaders in their separate departments in any country, while among the wealthy Manila men, who live in Hongkong and who are spending their money liberally for the overthrow of the Spaniards and the annexation to the United States, men like the Cortes family and the Basa family, would hold their own among bankers and lawyers anywhere. “I believe I know the sentiments of the political leaders and of the moneyed men among the insurgents, and, in spite of all statements to the contrary, I know that they are fighting for annexation to the United States first, and for independ- ence secondly, if the United States decides to decline the sovereignty of the islands. In fact I have had the most prominent leaders call on me and say they would not raise one finger unless I could assure them that the United States intended to give them United States citizenship if they wished it.” The exaggerated rumors were afloat about the proceedings of our Consuls with the insurgents, and Assistant Secretary of State Moore cabled Wildman at Hong- kong, August 6, that if a report in the Daily Mail of what he had written Aguin- aldo was correct, “your action is disapproved, and you are forbidden to make pledges or discuss policy.” The reply of Mr. Wildman was that he “never made pledges or discussed policy of America with Aguinaldo further than to try to hold him to promises made before Dewey took him to Cavite.” Williams of Hong- kong said: “On May 2 Aguinaldo arrived in Hongkong and immediately called on me. It was May 16 before I could obtain permission from Admiral Dewey to allow Aguinaldo to go by the United States ship McCulloch, and I put him aboard in the night. According to his own statements to me by letter, he has been approached by both the Spaniards and the Germans, and has had tempting offers made him by the Catholic Church.” It was the fixed faith of Wildman that the great majority of Aguinaldo’s fol- lowers “had but one desire — wanted to become citizens of the United States.” CHAPTER II. THE IMPORTANT STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. The True Inwardness of the Philippine Situation by a Friend of Admiral Dewey, Mr. Andre, Belgian Consul at Manila — A Letter from Andrew Carnegie That Is One of His Mistakes — General Merritt’s Opinions at Paris — Mr. Andre’s Memorandum in Full — Leading People of Manila Wish to Become Citizens of the United States — How General Merritt Drew the Line on Aguinaldo and Foretold the Way Trouble Would Come. When a memorandum prepared by the Belgian Consul at Manila was about to be read before the American Commission at Paris fashioning the Peace Protocol into a Treaty of Peace, General Merritt, said (we quote the official report of the proceedings): “General Merritt: ‘That is rather important. The man is an intelligent man He expresses himself very poorly in English, and I have tried to have his report corrected to an extent, but I think a good deal of reliance can be placed upon it He is very earnest in hoping that the Spanish will be excluded and the Filipinos not allowed to govern themselves, hut some government established there which will protect the merchants and business men. It might be remarked that he if largely interested in business matters, and has been there, I think, for about four- teen years; is quite a wealthy man, and gives his views from that standpoint.’ “The statement was then read by the secretary. “Mr. Frye: ‘How old a man is he?’ “General Merritt: ‘He is quite a young man. He tells me he has been then fourteen years. He states his case entirely from the point of view of a rich mer chant. He does not sign himself as the Belgian Consul, because he said he coulc not do so, but he gives his statement as his personal opinion. He seems to thinl the United States is engaged in a crusade for the benefit of the oppressed of al lands.’ “Mr. Gray: ‘Where is this Belgian Consul resident?’ “General Merritt: ‘In Manila.’ ” General Merritt’s remarks hardly present the full force of the instructive testi mony of the Belgian Consul. He was of great service to Admiral Dewey and influ ential in impressing the Spaniards of the absolute necessity there was to be quie while the American Admiral abstained from bombarding the city, and the preven tion of widespread destruction and much bloodshed is largely credited to thi 326 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 327 Consul, Mr. Andre, one of the closest friends of Admiral Dewey, whom he assisted in supplying his crews with fresh meat, a service of which Mr. Andrew Carnegie spoke in his mournful letter to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Hon. James Wilson, in these distressful words: “The good work you are doing for the agricultural interests of the country induces me to call your attention to the following: “PROVISIONS FROM AUSTRALIA FOR DEWEY’S FLEET. “Vancouver, British Columbia, December 2, 1898. “Advices from New South Wales say that the steamer Cugon has sailed from Sydney with a cargo of provisions for Rear Admiral Dewey’s fleet at Manila. The cargo consists of 5,000 carcasses mutton, 250 lambs, 125 tons of potatoes, 81 tons of onions, and 22 tons of carrots. “Secretary Gage finds ‘commercial expansion’ a sufficient reason for recanting his former opinions and becoming an imperialist. Is this a sample of the ‘com- mercial expansion’ which has captivated him, I wonder? Mr. Secretary, none know better than yourself that the ‘open door’ which the President has given to the foreigner in the Philippines means the ‘closed door 5 to the products of the soil and of the mine of your own country. The foreigner gets the trade — the American pays the taxes! “The Philippine Treaty is soon to come before the Senate. Surely every farmer of the United States can look to you, as the head of the Agricultural Department, to secure a change in the clause which puts the producers of America, both of the soil and of the mine, at so serious a disadvantage, being thousands of miles farther away. “One would have thought that the food of our soldiers might have been pur- chased by the Government upon the Pacific coast; but even San Francisco is thou- sands of miles farther from the Philippines than the competitive agricultural country of Australia. Even India is nearer still. As the New York Tribune justly says, ‘The Philippines are 7,000 miles away; far nearer to other great powers or their possessions than to us, and belonging to the geographical and commercial system of another continent.’ “Knowing your strict guardianship of the interests of agriculture in this country, I beg to lay the subject before you, knowing that you will give it due attention. “With sincere congratulations upon your successful work in various directions, rery respectfully yours, ANDREW CARNEGIE.” Mr. Carnegie is the greatest manufacturer of steel in the world, but as an agriculturist he is not a conspicuous success, and as an American statesman he has intervals of melancholy inaccuracy. 328 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. It was necessary the men of the American fleet in Manila Bay should be sup- plied with fresh meat, and it could not be procured in a few days from the United States. The transports had been taken up to convey the troops. Beef experiments were going on, but the meat spoiled in a few hours. Consul Andre was immensely useful at this juncture. Mr. Carnegie should restore his reason before delivering further judgments. When the author of this volume was calling on Admiral Dewey aboard the flagship Olympia he asked the famous victor in the May-day battle three months and three weeks before as to the beef question, and the Admiral pointed to a long iron ship, his nearest neighbor, and said it was a Belgian vessel and fitted for “cold storage.” “You see the smoke from her funnel,” said the Admiral. “They are making ice with fire, and they can produce a temperature 40 degrees below zero. The Australian beef and mutton aboard are perfectly pre- served;” and he added, “if it is thawed slowly it is as good as if the animals had been killed but a few hours before, and the quality of it excellent.” The conditions preventing obtaining meat from the United States at that time were exceptional, and Mr. Carnegie’s letter is not impressive. He is too passionate, whom protection has made so rich he is a free trader. Mr. Andre was careful not to present his views to the Paris commission as the Belgian Consul at Manila, but in a strictly personal capacity. We quote what he had to say in full: “Manila, August 29, 1898. “The future of the Philippine Islands is an eager and most interesting ques- tion; and if the United States does not take these islands under their protection, the country will he utterly ruined and all the foreign merchants will leave these islands. “The retention of the Island of Luzon only is not enough, and only a half measure, and the United States must take all or nothing. If the south of the Philippines remains in the hands of Spain, the insurgents will attack these islands and they will be in a constant revolt, exactly as happened in Cuba, and the United States will have a second edition of what has happened already, and will prepare a second war for the same reasons. jj “Spain will always remain as she is now. She will even be exactly the same j under any form of government. The numerous empleados (officeholders) will always be the plague of all the ministers and always want lucrative posts, with a high pay. They will never admit that it would be better for them and their country to work. As the positions of these empleados (officeholders) are very uncertain, their only object is, as soon as they occupy their posts, to make as much money as they can. Even those who occupy the very highest posts in the Philip- pines only attend to their own fortune and hardly pay attention to public affairs. STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 329 As they give the example of a most corrupt administration, they are unable to pre- vent their subordinates to do the same. The justice is likewise mismanaged, and when the accused does not bribe the judges they will leave them in jail for years without paying the slightest attention to these unfortunates, and some of these prisoners have been in jail more than ten years. “The monks, more united, have always taken advantage of the troubled state of affairs and offered their protection to those who consented in allowing the money of the government to go in their hands. They exacted all the money that they could of the Indians, and the Spanish governors protected openly these extortions. Such state of things exasperated the Filipinos, and those who suffered the most began the rebellion with a fury that astonished everybody. “The rebellion broke out from the lower classes, and they still predominate in the actual rebellion. Even the chiefs are ancient tenants of the monks. The rebellion has no committee or representatives in the United States, as the Cubans. This proves that those who revolted only act as mechanics and not as an intellectual people. Those who are in Hongkong, and represent there the revolution, went there as fugitives to escape from Manila, and later on they formed a meeting, and no serious man will admit that they are leading men of the revolution. Their names are not even known in Manila. “The Indians are good soldiers, and suffer very little of the war. They can stay for days in the swamps, or can make a long march in this hot climate without injury. White men can not stand it, and it must be recognized that if the Indians are very poor leaders in politics they are good enough soldiers to be taken in good consideration. “Since the Americans arrived in the Philippines a new period seems to take place, and many members of the upper classes of the Mestizos appeared among the rebels, and since then it has been possible to discuss some matters and to demonstrate to them that if they wanted to be taken into consideration that they must act as civilized people, and not retain as prisoners private citizens, women, and children, and drop many abuses that they commit exactly as the Spaniards have done and taught them. During the blockade of Manila many prominent families of Mestizos preferred to take refuge among the insurgents rather than stay at the mercy of the Spanish authorities in Manila, whose arbitrary acts are too well known. “There is actually in Europe and Paris an important colony of Filipinos be- longing to the leading families of Manila, and these appear to be actually the representatives of the rebels. The principal of them pretended, however, that he never rebelled, and claimed his properties seized by the Spanish Government. He bribed the judges, and they publicly recognized that he never was a rebel, and restored his properties. Now he is the chief representative of the rebels. His name is P. P. Eoxas. This duplicity is not much in his favor, but it reveals the character of the Indians or Mestizos, and in all their acts it will be remarked that they never are sincere. 330 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. “Money is what means the most to the rebellion, and this leads the rebels to many unlawful acts. Until the present time most all the money has been raised from the lower classes. The higher classes gave very little, and these are very unwilling to facilitate funds. This class is composed entirely of usurers and pawnees. All the pawnshops and gambling-houses belong to the principal Mestizos families. There is not one family free of that stigma. This proves enough the morality of them, and what can be expected of them. They surely will not risk their capital in the rebellion, because they are not sure enough that they will, be repaid with interest. They do not care a snap for the country, and many told me that they would be glad to see the United States take these islands under their protection and put an end to the constant appeal for funds from the rebels. This was said to me by Bemito Legarda, a rich Mestizo, who was with Aguinaldo in Bacoor and acted as counsel, and this deceived him. “In the plantations belonging to the rich families of Mestizos or Indians, the workmen are treated very inhumanly. If they do not work quick enough they treat them exactly as slaves were treated in South America. The most common punishment is to lash their backs with a thin bamboo; twenty-five lashes is the most ordinary punishment. I saw some receive 100 lashes in Negros Island, in the estate of Aniceto Lacson, an Indian. One hundred and twenty-five lashes were given to a man in Albay (south of Luzon) by the Indian Mayor of Albay. The same man threatened to give 100 lashes to one of my workmen, but his wife warned me and I stopped it. Since then I stopped always this treatment when I happened to know it, and more than once had rows about it with the Spanish Governor of the province, Mr. Valdes. This was in 1892. He told me that he would put me in prison if I interfered with the authorities. The custom all over the Philip- pines is to engage men and to pay for them their personal papers. This is the beginning of a debt that will make a slave of a man; for each dollar advanced an interest of 5 cents is added. At the slightest fault the man is fined and his debt grows. Whenever he needs money to baptize a baby or bury a parent the planter pays the fees direct to the curate, and always adds to the small sum advanced two or three dollars and the 5 cents for interest. This last way is the most heavy yoke. At the end of the year he owes his master $50 or $60, and as long as he does not pay his debt he is considered as a slave, and if he runs away he will be arrested and returned to his master and is awfully lashed. “When an estate is sold, nearly always the papers are accompanied with a list of the debtors. The buyer makes a bargain and buys the debts, and those who owe the money become his slaves. This is about the same as buying the slaves wfith a plantation. Now, the Mestizos and Indians are the hardest masters, and if ever they dominate they will be most despotical to the Indians. The Spanish Government always tolerated this, and even protected those who used to treat the men as slaves and allowed the pirates to abuse the poor Indians. Therefore it is easy to show the Indian that it would be much better for him to he ruled by Americans than by his own countrymen. Whatever may be the education of the STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 331 Mestizos, they always will behave just the same as the Indians, from whom they descend. They will eat with their hands, go barefooted, and sit on the ground. There is an enormous difference between them and a white man. “In the assemblies of the chiefs of the rebels and of the Mestizos of Manila, even when very serious matters were discussed, they used to joke one with the other and give his neighbor a nip and a laugh and behave as monkeys would do. This happened the 21st of June in the house of P. Paterno in Manila, and in Cavite in the house of Ozorio on the 3d of August. “The Chinese Mestizos join the sordidness of the Indian to the craftiness of the Chinaman, and give the type of the 'rapacious Pawnee. The Spanish Mestizo joins the presramption of the Spaniard with the duplicity of the Indian, and give the type of the Sioux. “'This is enough, I believe, to give a very slight idea of what the Filipinos are and to demonstrate that they belong to an inferior race, unfitted to rule a country, and with such individuals distinguished rules must not be expected. “Of course the education and example given by the monks and Spaniards is the principal cause, but even then they are worse than their masters, and that proves their inferiority, and therefore it is more than time that the United States should have pity on these people and show them better. “The Spaniards, with their accustomed carelessness, are unable to manage properly the Philippines, and these rich islands, which contain gold, iron, coal, etc., and on which splendid forests are abandoned; there is only one very little railway, hardly some good bridges and no harbors. Nothing has been done with the $15,000,000 that these islands give annually. “The foreign merchants in Manila are constantly robbed by the custom-house officers, and no protection is given to them. If a merchant makes a claim, he will be bothered all the year round. The United States can assure a steady govern- ment in these islands, and in their hands the country will increase in wealth, and will, in a short time, be able to return to the United States the money laid out; and it would be certainly much cheaper and more humane to take the entire Philippines than to keep only part of it and to run the risk of a second war with Spain for the very same reason that provoked the present conflict. It is a duty of the United States to do so and to protect the entire country. Everybody in the Philippines begs them for protection; even the Spanish merchants. Now, at is to be hoped that the United States will not deceive those who anxiously await the result of the meeting in Paris. “The Indians do not desire independence. They know that they are not strong enough. They trust the United States, and they know that they will be treated rightly. The present rebellion only represents a half per cent of the inhabitants, and it would not be right to oblige 6,000,000 inhabitants to submit to 30,000 rebels. Luzon is only partly held by them, and it is not to be expected that a civilized nation wdll make them present with the rest of the island, which is hostile to the Tagals of Luzon. The Spanish officers refuse to fight for the sake of the priests, 332 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. and if the Spanish Government should retain the Philippines their soldiers will all fall prisoners in the hands of the Indians in the same way as they did already, and this is because the army is sick of war without result, and only to put the country at the mercy of the rapacious empleados and luxurious monks. “The monks know that they are no more wanted in the Philippines, and they asked me to help them to go away as soon as possible, and it is principally for them that I asked for the transports to the United States Government, and to send them to Hongkong. The Indians will be delighted to see them go, and will be grateful to the United States. “If some chiefs of the rebellion will be a little disappointed in their personal pride, they will be convinced that it is better for them to submit in any case, for most of these chiefs prefer American authority, and they are very anxious to know the result of the meeting of Paris. “If the United States keeps the islands they will remain quiet, but if the Spanish authority is restored in the islands, or part of them, they will attack the Spaniards and be in a constant revolt. This has been told to me by Aguinaldo, Landico, Ziroma, Mabim, and other principal chiefs, and repeated on Sunday, 28th of August. Very respectfully, ANDRE.” Mr. Andre represents something more than a rich man’s view, as General Merritt related. He speaks for all the property that stands between the people and utter poverty, and for a government that is conservative of the rights of industry. He also states that the Indians as a mass do not desire independence. The reason is they know that the Aguinaldo Tagal disorderlies would be greater despots, robbers and cut-throats than the Spaniards themselves; and Mr. Andre adds the insurgent element represented one-half per cent of the inhabitants before the United States seemed shaky. The considerable force of Tagalos and some other tribesmen gathered in the jungles about Manila, have been rallied because the uncertain attitude of this country has been disturbing, and the disaffected dema- gogues and military managers of the Malays who have drawn the first full breath of their lives under American protection, are not to be depended upon as a “stable government.” The idea would not have prevailed to a very mischievous extent if it had not been for the prolongation of the debate in the Senate; and the information of the Filipino agents at Washington was that we were a halting, timid, stumbling parcel of partisans incapable of governing ourselves and not to be trusted in friendship or as protectors. The correspondence following shows the movement in Manila, submitting allegiance to the Government of the United States: STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 333 MR. WILDMAN TO MR. DAY. Consulate of the United States, Hongkong, May 6, 1898. Sir: Supplementary to my cable of this date, I have the honor to inclose, by request, statement of Don Dorotes Cortes, Don Maximo Cortes, and Dona Eustaquia, wife of Don Maximo; also like statement of Arcadio Rosario, Gracio Gonzaga, and Don Jose Maria Basa, all very wealthy landholders, bankers, and advocates of Manila. ' They desire to tender their allegiance and the allegiance of their powerful fam • dies in Manila to the United States. They have instructed all their connections to render every aid to our forces in Manila. The letters to the President, inclosed, explain themselves. I have the honor to be, etc., ROUNSEYILLE WILDMAN, Consul.. MR. CRIDLER TO MR. WILDMAN. June 16, 1898. Sir: The Department has received your dispatch No. 42, of the 6th ultimo, reporting that a number of influential families of Manila desire to tender their allegiance to the United States. In reply I have to inform you that a copy has been sent to the War Depart- ment, with the suggestion that the information be conveyed to General Merritt. Respectfully yours, THOS. W. CRIDLER, Third Assistant Secretary. MR. WILDMAN TO MR. DAY. Consulate of the United States, Hongkong, May 14, 1898. Sir: I have the honor to inclose, by request, the statements of Severino Rotea, Claudio Lopez, A. H. Marti, and Eugenia Plona, all wealthy and prominent land- holders of the Philippine Islands. They desire to submit their allegiance and the allegiance of their famdies in the Philippine Islands to the United States. The letters to the President inclosed explain themselves. I have the honor to be, etc., ROUNSEYILLE WILDMAN, Consul. To the President of the United States of North America: Severino Rotea and Lopez, proprietor and farmer, native of Negros Oriental (Visayas), Philippine Islands, with great consideration exposes: 334 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. Having known the history and Constitution of the noblest liberal and rightful nation of the United States, he willingly adheres to the Government in annexing his country, and it will be for him a great honor to be joined it as soon as an additional star to the victorious flag of the United States of America and con- sidered him as one of its citizens. Hongkong, May 11, 1898. (Signed) SEVERINO ROTEA. To the President of the United States of America: Claudio Lopez, merchant and proprietor and vice-consul of Portugal at Iloilo, native of the Philippine Islands, emigrant to this colony of Hongkong for political causes, exposes with great consideration: Having known the history and Constitution of the noblest liberal and rightful nation of the United States of America, he, for the present, adheres to the Govern- ment in annexing his country, and considers that it will be for him a great honor to join his country as an additional star to the always victorious flag of the United States of America and to count him as one of its citizens. Hongkong, 9th May, 1898. (Signed) CLAUDIO LOPEZ. To the President of the United States of America: We, the subscribers, natives of the Philippine Islands, emigrants to this colony, for political causes, with great consideration expose: Having known the history and the Constitution of the noble, liberal, and right- ful nation of the United States of America, for the present, they adhere to the Gov- ernment, considering that it will be for them a great honor to join their country as an additional star to the always victorious flag of the United States of America and considered them as its citizens. (Signed) A. LI. MARTI. To the President of the United States of North America: Eugenia Plona and Padillo, proprietor and farmer, native of Negros Occidental (Visayas), Philippine Islands, and emigrant to this colony for political causes, with great consideration exposes: Having known the history and Constitution of the noblest liberal and rightful nation of United States, he willingly adheres to the Government in annexing his country, and it will be for him a great honor to be joined it as an additional star to the always victorious flag of the United States of North America and considered him as one of its citizens. Hongkong, May 10, 1898. (Signed) EUGENIA PLONA. STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 335 It goes without much saying that these people, in case the Government of the United States should turn the islands over to the Tagalos or the Spaniards, would be imprisoned, executed and their estates confiscated, and that this would be on our part a base desertion that would justify the interference of any one or all of the European nations to spare and share the riches we threw away. Of course this is preposterous and impossible, but that is not the way, according to great speakers, that a good many congressmen look at it, for they assume that the only “people’'' in the islands are the dark little men in the high grass, shoot- ing at the American soldiers who have destroyed Spanish dominion and bestowed on Aguinaldo a vicarious glory. It has been in evidence that Aguinaldo was deeply moved by the question of the boundary line between his forces and the American army, very soon after our troops occupied Manila. Before the American com- mission in Paris General Merritt testified he received letters from General Aguinaldo — claiming to have conquered positions and that the reply was “he must withdraw his forces outside the limits” that had been defined. General Merritt goes on: The commission he (Aguinaldo) refers to was brought to me by General Anderson. He asked me if I would talk to them, and I said I would. It was a few days after the surrender, and I received them at my headquarters in Mknila, and they agreed the insurgents should withdraw outside any lines I might desig- nate. I detailed two officers. General Greene and General MacArthur, to designate a line in red pencil, and give it to them on a map, and told them I should insist on the withdrawal of his troops. It took in part of the lines Aguinaldo’s troops had occupied previous to our getting there, but it was necessary to enforce a proper status between the insurgents and our own forces and to keep them out of Manila. Before that time, rather early after my arrival there at Manila, I had tele- graphed to the War Department of the possible trouble that might arise with the insurgents, and asked for instructions as to whether I should consider them as enemies and treat them accordingly in s-uch case. To that request I had no reply, and 'the consequence was I had to mix diplomacy with force in order to avoid a tilt with them. I knew if bloodshed was once had that would be the end of an amicable status there, and to that end I was careful only to enforce that which was proper and which I conceived must be executed in order to have my troops fully occupy the ground we had taken. In his letters to General Anderson he speaks of concessions they made there in the occupation of lines. They did. I told General Greene — gave him the instructions — to try to get these positions by an amicable arrangement if possible, but, if necessary, to report the fact to me, and I should use force to secure them. At the time I went there I found we had no 336 STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. lines, no base upon which to approach Manila. The insurgents had their pickets to the front of ours, and our main guard was in the rear of their main guard, and I gave General Greene orders to change that status, which he did, and purely by arrangement with that general of whom Major Bell speaks as being a very sensible fellow and a good fellow. It appears, when the request was made of him he corresponded with Aguinaldo, and the latter agreed to it. Mr. Reid: Do you think any danger of conflict is now reasonably remote? General Merritt: I think there is no danger of conflict as long as these people think the United States is going to take possession there. Mr. Gray: Suppose, by final treaty with Spain, we should abandon Luzon and all the Philippines, exacting such terms and conditions and guarantees as we should think necessary, and abandon them entirely, reserving only a coaling station, perhaps; what do you think they would do about it? General Merritt: I think in the island of Luzon they would fight to the bitter end. I have talked with a number of them, intelligent men, who said their lives were nothing to them as compared with the freedom of the country, getting rid of Spanish government. Mr. Davis: Do you think Spain would be able to reduce them? General Merritt: No, sir. Mr. Gray: Do you think, in the event of such an abandonment, it would be possible for them to set up a self-government? General Merritt: It would take time to do it. They -would have to be edu- cated up to it. They want a protectorate, but they do not exactly understand what that means. Their idea is that they should collect the revenues and keep them in their treasury, and that we should be at the expense of maintaining an army and a navy there for their protection, which is the kind of a protectorate they would like very much. Mr. Frye: I suppose their idea of government is practically derived from the Spaniards? General Merritt: Yes, sir. The Chairman: What they desire is a government for their benefit, main- tained and paid for by us? ; General Merritt: Yes, sir. Mr. Davis: Do you understand that condition of slavery prevails which is described in that letter read? General Merritt: Yes, sir; entirely as described by Mr. Andre. Mr. Gray: If Admiral Dewey had sailed away after accomplishing that naval STATEMENT OF THE BELGIAN CONSUL AT MANILA. 337 achievement and left this people as he found them, except for the destruction of the Spanish fleet, what, in your opinion, would have been the condition of the island as to Spanish supremacy and their ability to suppress the rebellion? General Merritt: If the Spaniards had replaced their fleet with another, I do not believe the revolutionists could have taken Manila. Along the hay it is thirty miles, seventeen by water, and the coast shows the evidences of where the Spaniards have used the guns of their fleets, riddled the houses with shells, and prevented the insurgents from approaching the town; and the insurgents would have been driven to approach the town from the interior, where the Spanish troops were concentrated against them. It was only after the destruction by Dewey of the fleet and his occupation of the hay that these people surrounded the place and held their positions and took possession of the waterworks, which they held for some two or three months. For two months, perhaps three months, the water had been cut off from the town. Mr. Reid: What is the nature of that supply? General Merritt: Very good. CHAPTER III. THE MOST NOTABLE OF THE STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMIS- SION IN PARIS. The Remarkable Utterance of Mr. John Foreman, the Historian of the Philip- pines — His Exposures of Spanish Tyranny and the Persecution of the Poor — He Credits Stories About the Immorality of Spanish Priests and Gives Them — The Grievances of the Philippine Peasants — Extent of Spanish Occupation — Resources of the Islands — Habits of the People — Their Weak- ness and Strength — Vast Amount of Information and Suggestion — General Whittier’s Personal Observation — His Interview with Aguinaldo and Judg- ment as to the Philippine Riches and Possibilities. The statement of the highest authority and the greatest interest before the American Treaty Committee at Paris was that of Mr. John Foreman, an English- man and author of the most valuable book on the Philippines. This gentleman lived in the islands nine years, and traveled a great deal. He had an interest in a London firm of engineers, whose work was principally for sugar machinery and who did the foreign work. He stated to the Commission as to the places he had lived in in the Philippines: “I have been practically all over the island of Luzon; several times over in a number of years; I have been everywhere in Negros; I have been all over Panay; I have been in the island of Zelu or Jolo, and was a guest of the Sultan. I have been in three-fourths of the places occupied by the Spaniards in Mindanao. I went on foot from Zamboanga, right through the Province of Zamboanga, up to Misamis on the north.” [I In the course of his travels Mr. Foreman resolved to Avrite a book on the islands, and his subsequent studies intensified his interest. As to the character of the inhabitants he said to the Commission, and we quote him only in that con- nection: The people were o*f “the most plastic nature; that which can be most easily molded and attracted, and drawn to accommodate themselves to and accept a new system which might be established for their future government, would be certainly the inhabitants of the Island of Luzon.” The Viscaya Islands are the Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bojol, Leyte, Samar and Masbate. The entire group are called by the Spaniards Zolo, and they have a Sultan, who resides at Maybun, and as to his jurisdiction, “the Spaniards have tried 338 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 341 to reduce it to his own island, but the inhabitants of this island of Mindanao give allegiance to him and acknowledge him as their chief, and also the Batnos tribes on the island of Palawan, and the islands running down to the island of Bilbaoc.” The people of the Zolos are Musselmen and the Spaniards speak of them as Moors. The Tagals (the tribe of Malays of which Aguinaldo and Agoncillo are representative in blood) Mr. Foreman regards as of a very easy and willing nature, who “would fall into any new system adopted,” but the Yiscayas are more uncouth, less hospitable and more averse to association with outsiders. They would “want a little more pressure, have to be guided and watched, and, perhaps, a little more of the iron hand.” In the Island of Panay, the neighborhood of Iloilo, are half castes, the issue of Chinese men and Viscayan women, who hold the trade so far as it is in native hands, and the same thing is noticeable at Manila. They are not sociable, and not the organizers, still “the cream of the civilization of the Isle of Panay,” about the best of the islands. The Island of Negros “is a planting land,” and the land-owners live elsewhere as a rule. Negros is the richest island of the archipelago for the production of sugar. There was a rapid development there when steam navigation was used and a governor was appointed. Mr. Fore- man says of him that he “was murdered because he was going to make raids into the interior of the island and brush it up generally, and build roads, etc., and as he was to do this so as to cost nothing to the state, he seized people on the pretext of being criminals and on all sorts of pretexts to get large gangs of men to utilize them for the purpose of making these roads. Of course the most of them were not criminals, and they saw that they were going to have a hard time, and so they dispatched the governor. Another governor was selected, and when he heard what had been done there he did not want to go.” As to the inhabitants of Mindanao and the Zulu group Mr. Foreman says: “From the beginning of the occupation of the islands by the Spaniards in 1751 they used to make periodical piratical raids upon the other islands. They did not interfere with Spanish dominion, because the Spaniards had never hitherto pretended to trouble themselves much about the Viscayas or central group. But the Spaniards thought it would be an easy matter to wipe out these people in a little while, in an easy campaign, but they found they had opened up a hornet’s nest. They -went down to attack these people, known as the Moros, and ever since that time these people have made a dead set upon them. They never left them any peace. One time they came with their craft, known as vinitos, right up the Bay of Manila, though they have never touched the city, and from that 842 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. time until year before last there has been constant trouble with these people. They have been determined that they would not be subjected by the Spaniards at least. “The last little war — and it became quite a custom, a thing understood, that almost every Governor-General should win an honor, a decoration, a medal, or something of that sort in his career by making war in Mindanao — the last war was known as the campaign of Maraout in the north of Mindanao. That was year before last, and so it would probably have been the custom forever. They will not acknowledge the Spaniards; they positively refuse their dominion. The Spaniards kill a few and break up some of their strongholds, and then the thing goes on as before; they never will admit the Spaniards there. For other for- eigners it is very different. I know there are Germans there. “The Spaniards hold Zulu or Jolo town itself in Zulu Island. Frequently there are raids made into the town. When I was there once, just a few days before they had made a swoop on the town and killed two or three officers who were sitting outside a cafe, a drinking shop or shanty; and this used to go on all the time. Frequently it was so. They really do not hold on the Island of Zulu more than the town itself.” On Mindanao the Spaniards have only a few posts and missions. The in- habitants of Luzon are so hospitable that there is no hotel on the island outside Manila. This hospitality is, Mr. Foreman says, an “extraordinary thing,” the extent of which “cannot be realized by anyone who has not been there.” It is the opinion of Mr. Foreman that Luzon is not largely populated as supposed — not more than a million and a quarter of people — the whole people of the archipelago being six million, of which five are nominal Catholics. The islands were aban- doned by the Spaniards for nearly fifty years after the death of Magellenes, and then a priest who resided in the City of Mexico pressed the matter of the annexation of the islands for the saving of souls upon the King very forcibly. At last the King gave way and orders were issued for an expedition to leave Mexico for that pur- pose, and the islands were ruled through Mexico — “New Spain.” One of the most remarkable statements of Mr. Foreman was in answer to the question “What is the relation of the church to-day to land titles, to the people, and to the government?” — A. There are four orders of monks, the Augostinos, or Augustinian friars, the Dominican friars, the Recolletto friars, and the Franciscan friars. These are the monks who are alleged to have usurped the incumbencies and are vicars of parishes. In addition to them are the Jesuits, who now, for some years past, have had nothing whatever to do but to take care of the education of the people. There is not anything like the same animosity against them that there is to the others, and I am inclined to think that the people STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 343 look upon them very well. They do not interfere with the personal liberty of the people. Mr. Reid: Q. The morality of the Jesuits is better, also, is it not? — A. Yes, sir; it is very good. There is nothing to be said against them now. The head of the church is the archbishop. The archbishop is usually, but it is not absolutely neces- sary that he should be, an individual of one of these orders. The immediate chief of each of these orders is called a provincial. The provincial is the business man of the order, and these provincials are not very much subjected — they are nom- inally, but not very much really — to the archbishop. In fact, they sometimes, it is well known, have shown insolence and insubordination to the archbishop. The present archbishop seems to have very little hold upon them; what the provin- cials wanted to do they did. The case against the friars is this, and it showed itself in a little outbreak, called the rebellion of Cavite, in 1872. The secular clergy — these monks are the regular ordained clergy — claimed, under the conditions of the Council of Trent, that these monks, as missionaries, were not entitled to hold the incumbencies; that by a papal bull which settled this matter when it was raised these monks were allowed to be only missionaries, and could only open and establish missions, but that when these missions became parishes and when the people around them adopted the Catholic faith, they should then retire from these parishes and the incumbency should be taken by the secular clergy. Q. What do you mean by “incumbency”? — A. The position occupied by the parish priest — the incumbency of the parish. Q. The titles to lands are usually in the hands of these monies? — A. Yes, sir; they hold large tracts. Q. How did they get these lands? — A. Usually they simply took possession — appropriated it. They have in their orders what are called “brothers.” There are “fathers” of the orders and ‘brothers.” “Brothers” are simply persons who have taken certain vows, but who are not allowed to celebrate mass — simply work- men — and they put these in charge to take possession of the land. Q. They took possession. Did they have no decree from the Spanish Govern- ment, or the Governor-General, authorizing them to take possession of the land? — A. Not at first. Subsequently they received decrees, but never could they get title deeds, owing to the opposition of the natives. The lands taken were not devoid of settlers, but most of them were simply squatters. The habit is for a tenant to hold land for three years, and when the time is up he has to turn over the improvements to the landlord, and the possession is 344 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. often that of corporations, and as they are capitalized and improved, higher rents are required. Mr. Foreman remarks of the Spanish corporations that they “steal the fruits of labor.” In the province of Laguna, Dr. Rizal was shot by the Spaniards on De- cember 30tli, 1896, because he raised the question of land titles in his native town with the Dominican order, and no title deeds could be shown. One-thirtieth of the land that is cultivated is, however, all that the holding of the corporations amount to. There are not more than six estates held by foreigners not Spaniards. Three thousand acres would be a large estate. As to the moral character of the friars, Mr. Foreman says a large number of them lead loose lives and get up societies and persuade women to join them and become servants; and he adds there are “a great many of the sons and daughters of priests throughout the islands” and “there is no secret about it.” Mr. Foreman, it will be remembered, in reply to a question from Mr. Reid, said, in regard to the moral standing of the Jesuit priests, that they stood well, and this is in the line of a great deal of evidence from the Filipinos and also from visitors to the islands, who join in praising Jesuits for educational labors, in- stancing famous schools, the observatory at Manila and its records, known all over the world, and the introduction of sugar making, coffee raising, and other indus- tries. But the same people who speak in such good terms of the Jesuits have no hesitation in denouncing the other orders of the church; and the grand passion of the insurgent Filipinos is directed toward the extermination of the friars at large — reserving a cooler temper for the Jesuits only, and, whilst stating that they are moral and of utility, pour forth the most abominable accusations about the Spanish members of the orders generally. Mr. Foreman, curiously enough, is no exception to this rule of generalization. Soon after bearing testimony that the Jesuits were good citizens he gave in detail incidents assuming the responsibility of personal knowledge of them of a scandalous nature quite startling, specifying a case at the house of a friend, and going on to say: “My friend’s name is Henry George Brown. He lives now at Saffron- Walden in Essex, England. I have known him about seventeen years, and I was staying at his place, on the Island of Luzon, and a letter came from the corporation saying that Father So-and-So ‘is going to pass through your town on his way to Tamina, due north of this place, and will you please take charge of his goods and parcels, and see that they are sent on to Tamana?’ I was there at the time the small steamer came in, and a drenching rain came down, and simply drenched the things, and Brown said that it would be a good act to open those things STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 345 and dry them, and so we had the cases opened and the things spread out to dry, and he called to me and said Must look here; is this not astonishing?’ And he showed me some filthy prints, photographic slides for a sort of kaleidoscope arrangement, slides and prints of a most filthy nature. He said: T show you this because it does not seem possible that, coming in the package of a priest, these things could be possible.’ He said it was no business of ours, hut that he showed them to me for their moral effect, and I mentioned it in my hook. And that is the man who was to take charge of the souls of the parish he was appointed to. That man had been turned out of the parish he had because he was so obnox- ious; he was simply a human beast.” There was another case. When I first went to Manila there was quite a hub- bub about a certain priest called Pierre, who held a parish in Pampanga province, and he had beaten a boy to death, so he was taken away from there and sent farther north to a town called San Miguel de Mayamo. I had occasion to go to that town and they told me about it — it was notorious. A woman came to see him, and he kicked her in the abdomen and she fell down, badly hurt, and died. This became too notorious, and they removed him from there. It was talked about freely — what a scandal it was, etc. That was when I arrived, seventeen years ago, and they said, “Is it possible we are going to have these priests free from justice, and that they can do as they like with us?” so he was taken away and sent down to the province of Cavite, and there the rebels caught him in this last rebellion, and, more to ridicule him than anything else, I think, they made him their bishop. They said, “Mind what you do. You can be our bishop and take charge of our clergy, but don’t you attempt anything behind our backs.” He thought he was quite safe, and he was found taking sketches and notes of their strongholds. He had already made arrangements with the monks for their delivery. They caught him, and they said it was treachery — he had made negotiations with the Augustine monks in Manila — and after proper trial he w r as condemned to death. He was tied to a post, without a hat and without water, and died of sunstroke, fever, and hunger, and that was his end. And no one regrets it. Q. How much influence on the civil government and the administration of the courts do these orders have? — A. The priests can not be summoned to an ordinary court, nor can they pursue others in court; they can not appear in court at all, but when a priest makes a declaration it is accepted as a fact, and no proof is necessary. It is quite sufficient that Father So-and-So signs it. The admin- istration governor may be regarded as purely and simply the executive of the priests, who are the ruling order there. Over and over Governors-General have 346 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. been sent away on the recommendation of the monastic orders in recent times. At the end of 1892 I was in Spain, and the son of General Despujols came to visit me, knowing that I was well acquainted with the country, and he told me that his father was going out as Governor-General of the islands and he would like to have a chat with me. I asked him how his father stood with the priests. He said he stood very well, that he would try to recognize their power and stand in har- mony with them, and I said that if he did that he was all right. General Despujols went out, and I went out there in 1893, and he had just left. He had been eight months in power. Appointed for three years, at the end of eight months he had been obliged to clear out, from the influence of the monastic power. The main points against him were these: This man, Dr. Rizal, who went down and raised the point of the deeds, etc., with the monks, had been to Europe and had studied in Germany. He was a very clever man, quite an exception to the general rule, and had published three books against the priests — one called Noli me Tangere, another Filibustero, and another was a reproduction of a book written by a priest years ago, who was also an exception. For this he was looked down upon by the priests as a disturbing element. He came to Hongkong, and from there he was cajoled to Manila on the promise that he would not be molested. He went there to the Governor-General, but they detained his baggage and pre- tended that he carried incendiary leaflets for the purpose of raising a rebellion. The priests required that he should be executed, but the Governor-General refused to allow it; said that it was utterly impossible that he should be executed for what he had written, and refused. All they could get out of the Governor was, “Very well, you are banished to the island of Mindanao.” This is the place to which he was banished, and where he remained for four years, Dapitan. I saw his little hut there on the bay, and visited him there. That displeased the priests very much. They had strife and questions between them and the Governor- General, and the latter said, “I am going to see how you are working,” and, all of a sudden, he had a raid made upon the residences of the Augustino monks in a place north of Manila, and had the place suddenly seized and raided, and it is very well known that he found a printing press printing these same incen- diary leaflets, and the priest who was employed in doing so was perfectly we 11 known to every one in Mailaban, to Americans and English, where there is a b sugar-refining establishment owned by Americans and English, the English res dent in Manila and the Americans in Hongkong, and known personally to thei The man disappeared and was never seen again. I can not say where he wer These leaflets were seized, and from that moment the Governor-General was condemned man, and he left. I went out in 1893 and he was not there. STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 347 Q. You regard these orders as the dominating power? — A. Yes, sir. General Blanco was out there in Manila, where I saw him nearly every day. He was there at the beginning of this insurrection in 1896. The archbishop is the most blood- thirsty man there. I knew him perfectly well. I used to meet the priests and hear what they had to say, and they said that what Blanco had done did not please them at all; did not suit their view of it, though, of course, I had very little to say — nothing to say, in fact. But their complaints were that General Blanco was not sufficiently bloodthirsty for them, and that is the reason he went away from there. Mr. Foreman spoke in high terms of the climate, and Mr. Reid asked: Q. Are there any prevalent fevers there? — A. People do get fever, but very seldom. Q. Is it a pernicious fever, such as they have in Cuba? — A. Oh, no; very light, indeed; and the natives will get a fever more often than Europeans; it is owing to their mode of living. Q. Is it a malarial fever? — A. No, sir; I consider malarial fever to be that which comes from the opening of new ground. Q. Would it be with chills? — A. Not malarial fevers, as I understand them. I was once at Vera Cruz, and I saw that there was a lot of fine land back of the city which was not used at all, and I asked why it was not utilized, and they explained to me that the minute they turned the sod the people were attacked by the fever and dropped down with it, and died within eight hours after. I never knew or heard of men being troubled from the opening of new ground in Manila or the Philippines. The Chairman: Q. Which is the best and farthest advanced of these islands? — A. Luzon I consider the most advanced, owing, of course, to the close association with the Europeans. Q. More insurrections break out there. — A. Yes; and it is just because they are able to see other things. What they ask is perfectly just. Their insurrection is not from a love of quarreling or opposition to white men at all. There is no such thing as any hostility to white men; such a thing does not exist. Q. What are the causes, briefly, of insurrections? — A. Very broadly speak- ing, the main cause is the persecution of the priests, their interference in the little petty details of a man’s life, his wife, his daughter, the constant persecution, the petty revenge. These parish priests interfere in a man’s own home and household, in the interior workings of a man’s house. And all of a sudden a priest will take a dislike for some little thing, or nothing, and then that man is marked, and 318 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. periodically the priest will take a piece of paper and write on it and say that he has reason to believe the individuals marked in the margin are — whatever he wants to call them — disturbers of the peace, etc., and will request that they be removed from his district, and the man will be taking his coffee in the morning, getting ready to go to his estate, and the civil guard will appear and say, “You are wanted.” “What for?” “By order of the Governor.” And he is walked off, and if he shows the least disposition to dispute, his arms are tied behind him and he has to tramp, tramp, tramp, down, and down, and down to Manila. That is one of the points especially raised by Aguinaldo, that arbitrary power to arrest at any time simply on the name of the Governor. Mr. Gray: Q. Has the person so arrested no chance for a judicial inquiry? — A. No, sir; the Governor-General has the exclusive power. Mr. Foreman said one of the greatest misfortunes of the people of the Philip- pines was there was no fair administration of justice. When a foreigner got into a lawsuit he might as well flee from the islands. He gives a remarkable instance: That in the case of the Hongkong and Shanghai bank, which had some question with the house of Jurado & Co. The question is still on. They went to court over it. The bank certainly did make a mistake in wishing to close down upon them for certain promissory notes before they were due, but they put it on the ground that the promissory notes had been indorsed by everybody and anybody, even by boys back of the counter. “The thing came into court, and Jurado & Co. found themselves in bad shape, and it came out and back again, and went from civil court to criminal court, and sometimes one side would get the best of it and sometimes the other. The bank was shut up, and Mr. Townsend, the manager of the bank there, was notified that he must consider himself a prisoner. The Consul protested against it, and he was ordered to be sent to Bombay or Calcutta as a persona non grata. He removed his things, and the whole thing was shut up. They sent for an English- man who was a machinist to pry the locks of the safe, and he said he could not do it. He was working on it for a week, and then said he could not do it, that he could not possibly pry these locks, and then they got up a little syndicate of natives, a little banker there whose name I forget, and some others, to personate the bank, and they thought they would be able to make a large claim out of it, and the last I heard of it the claim was for $930,000 Mexican, the claim made by this house of Jurado & Co., and they have kept on and can not get a settlement, and it is still pending. I bank myself with the bank. It has its offices in London at 31 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 349 Lombard street, and the brother of this man Jurado is also living in London, I beheve in Chelsea, but his office is at 21 Billeter street. “Q. They will never get a settlement? — A. No, sir; never. Years after this came up I was in Madrid, and I was going down by the offices of the Minister of War, and I met this man Jurado from London, and he said the whole thing would be settled in a fortnight, and that he would get his claim. I went on to the Minister of War, with whom I had an engagement, and he said I was a little late, and I told him that I had been detained by meeting this man and his conversation with me, and that he said the whole thing would be settled in a fortnight. He asked me if I would meet the man again, and I said that I might, perhaps. ‘Tell him it is a lie, and that the matter is not settled yet.’ ” There was a rule that for a small tax all the people over eighteen years of age, men and women, had to hold a paper of identification, and one found with- out it had to pay the officer a bribe. Another abuse is that the countrymen have to give a period of fifteen days’ forced labor to the Government, and the libera- tion of workingmen from this exaction enabled the officers to establish a system of blackmailing the poor. There is a civil guard to keep order, and this organ- ization coidd not be dispensed with, and yet was fruitful of abuses. For example: An officer will send a patrol of two men to walk through the district, and generally to patrol it and see what is going on around there. These men, as they go along from hut to hut will steal — the people are miserably poor, and it is a great thing for them to lose two or three chickens or a little tobacco or sugar — and they go along and pick up anything they like. They will go to a man and say: “Where is your document of personal identity?” and the man is out in the field, perhaps, and he says: “I have not got it; I left it somewhere else, at the house,” and they arrest him at once. He says: “Let me off.” “How much?” and he gets off if he pays. They do this on their own account. They will also trump up charges against the natives. If an officer of the civil guard can not get milk delivered as he wants it, or sugar, or whatever else he wants, or can not get a man to run his horses gratis, or anything whatever he w r ants for his use, he will trump up a charge, and the man is taken off to the principal town of the province on some trumpery charge. Then they will allow" a certain license in the cock fighting. It is supposed to be prohibited, but it is alleged that it is so set in the native character that it can not be eradicated, and on Sundays and certain other days they allow it, and the guards will go in, and if they do not get a certain percent- age of the bets, etc., they are dowm on them. They are also constantly interfering with the internal workings of the households amongst the natives. 350 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. Mr. Gray: Q. Would the passing into the hands of an anti-Catholic power he a source of irritation? — A. No, sir; the matter of religion would not trouble them at all. The Chairman: Q. They submit to the present religion because it is a matter of policy to do so? — A. Yes, sir. Q. What do you say as to whether or not, if it should be concluded that Luzon should be separated from the rest of the group, a government could be maintained there of sufficient resources in that island for the maintenance of gov- ernment? In short, what would be the effect of seeking to establish a colonial government on the island of Luzon by itself first? — A. For the moment there would be a difficulty of labor. Nature is so prolific there that man can get along almost entirely without work. Of course in the city of Manila it is not the same, but the people from among whom you would draft for labor can almost live without work and get all they want, construct their houses entirely of wood, get wearing apparel to merely cover their nudity, and can get all they want to eat and drink without the necessity of working. But I think if Luzon were kept by yourselves, they would be so startled by the perfect paradise it would seem to them under the Government of the United States that the natives of the other islands would hear of it from all sides. There would be steamers and canoes coming to and fro, and they would hear that they could walk the streets perfectly free, without being obliged to carry a piece of paper to show, and they would be as much astonished as was Aguinaldo when he found that he was on free soil and could open his mouth when he was at Hong- kong. It was months before he could open his mouth to speak freely concerning the Philippines. I think that would draw large immigration from the other islands to Luzon, assuming that the other islands were under Spanish dominion. Con- ditional on that, I think it would draw very large numbers from there, and that you would thus get over the labor difficulty, and the island of Luzon, being worked up, would be sufficient to establish a very prosperous colony. I think it would be a very fine colony. In the course of his examination Mr. Foreman said that he thought he had “said enough about the priests,” and, upon inquiry by Mr. Frye, said his remarks did not apply to the Jesuits nor to the native priests. The natives wanted to clear out the priests except Jesuits as educators. “In my interview at Bacoor, August 25th, 1898, with General Aguinaldo, I asked him, after he had said the Spanish priests ‘should go, ought to, want to go, and had better go,’ whether STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 351 [vhat lie said applied to the Jesuits, and he said, after a moment’s hesitation, ‘The Fesuits also must go.’ He added that the native priests were respected and not placed in the list of those who must be deported or destroyed.” Mr. Foreman holds the native not capable of self-government because he has 10 “expansive ideas,” and could not go so far as to understand the common veal. An attempt at native government would be “a fiasco altogether.” The his- orian also gave a glancing account of the fertility of Luzon, but did not know d any coal good enough to depend upon in raising steam. He answered several earching questions in an instructive way, as follows: The Chairman: Q. You think the entire group could be taken and governed, or that Luzon ould be taken and governed, with the free-trade regulations between the islands nd the other stipulations you mentioned? — A. Yes, sir; either course could be airsued. Mr. Davis: Q. Do you think the native priests would assist in establishing and main- aining good government there? — A. Oh, yes; you would certainly have no oppo- ition from the native priests. Q. Would we have their active aid? — A. The native priests would not ppose at all; they would not take a hostile course; there would be no difficulty liere. The Chairman: Q. Flow would they regard the Protestant missionaries? — A. I think it ould be a matter of indifference to them. Q. You think the only trouble would be with the monastic orders? — A. rom a religious point of view only; I do not think the native priests would give le least trouble. Mr. Gray: Q. Are these priests supported by the State? — A. Yes, sir; by the govern- lental funds. Q. Would the withdrawal of government support make trouble with them? — I do not think they could get up any trouble. Mr. Davis: Q. Would they be disposed to do so? — A. I do not think it would go past ich individual feeling a little sore. You must remember they constitute the cular clergy, and the secular clergy are not bound by any vow of poverty. They ■e very good fellows, indeed; very hospitable, and will put you up any time 352 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. for a night or two. I should say that 75 per cent of the secular clergy have quite sufficient to live upon. And they have lands. Q. State, if you know, what the amount of aid furnished, per annum, to one of these secular priests will average. — A. It is very trifling all around; I should say possibly $500 Mexican to each one would be a fair average; about $40 per month. Q. I think you stated in your book that about seven-tenths of the revenues of the island are turned over to the church. How is that? — A. I will read an extract from an article written by me which it may be interesting to you to hear: “The total revenues for the island, estimated, for 1896, were, in round numbers, 86,000,000 pesetas. If you will divide that amount by ten, it will give the amount in gold dollars, or $8,600,000.” Mr. Davis: Q. Where do you derive that? — A. From statistics sent me from Madrid for the purposes of my literary work. To the clergy I suppose we might call it an allowance made for the Government to the clergy, general allowance, 7,000,000 pesetas out of a total of 86,000,000 pesetas. Mr. Gray: Q. Seven hundred thousand dollars? — A. Yes, sir. For the Franciscan College in Spain, and passages of priests from Spain to the islands, 275,000 pesetas, or $27,500 gold. For the maintenance of Manila Cathedral, 294,000 pesetas, or $29,400 gold. For the maintenance of the choir school, 20,000 pesetas, or $2,000 gold. Total, 7,589,000 pesetas, or $758,900 gold; so that the net result is three- quarters of a million dollars gold out of a total of $8,000,000 gold. Mr. Davis: Q. About 10 per cent of the entire amount? — A. Yes, sir. Of course the total amount varies from year to year. Another curious item comes out of this total revenue which, of course, would cease to exist under new arrangements— pensions and allowances paid outside the colony, of absolutely no interest to the Philippine Islanders. I have not noted it here, but they are pensions to the descendants of Christopher Columbus, to a man known as the Marquis de Bade- mont, the maintenance of consuls in the far East, which are absolutely of no value to the Philippine Islands. The consuls, as at Hongkong, are under the jurisdiction in no sense of the Governor-General of the islands; if the Governor- General wants to make use of them, he telegraphs to Spain and Spain telegraphs back to Hongkong, while, as a matter of fact, the distance is only 630 miles from Manila to Hongkong. This amount is 5,890,000 pesetas, or $589,000 gold. For STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 353 public works, highways, bridges, and public buildings, nothing. Besides the above amounts, paid direct to the clergy, the sums extorted by the priests for marriages, sale of indulgences, feasts, masses, burials, baptisms, scapularies, etc., are esti- mated at about 10,000,000 pesetas, or $1,000,000 gold. Mr. Frye: Q. What would be the effect of stopping cockfighting and lotteries? — A. Lotteries you can stop at once. Q. There would be no trouble about that? — A. No, sir. Q. How about the cockfighting? — A. I think there would be cockfighting carried on secretly. I think it would be advisable to tolerate it. The life of these people is very dreary, these natives; they live in these rural districts and .see nothing but mountains and planted lands, and if this is prohibited their vices will break out in some other form; they would have to have some form of amuse- ment. I do not think it would be practicable to absolutely suppress the cock- fighting. Q. You think the lottery could be abolished without any trouble? — A. Yes, sir. The natives are so used, when they do get a prize, to having to tip so many people and to having so many squeezes that they get very much disgusted and say it is a fraud, but it is not a fraud. I believe the matter is entirely fair; but the base of a lottery system is about as strong as a house built of a pack of cards put on end. In 1878, when the Martines Campos treaty with Gomez was announced, Mr. Foreman w 7 as in Spain, and when the news of peace came the flags were flying and there was great joy. Campos returned to Spain the idol of the people, and was wanted for Prime Minister. The King sent for Canovas, who said, “You had better let him go in; the higher he goes, the lower he will fall.” Campos made it the object of his government to get Cortez to ratify the treaty, but “he was pooh-poohed and laughed at. They said, ‘The Cubans have laid down their arms, everything is quiet; why should w r e do anything more? we have accom- plished what we wanted/ He said, T have given my word of honor; my personal honor is affected.’ But they said, ‘Oh, you have fallen out of power, and you will never come in again. It is a very good trick. You have got each one to lay down his arms and go to his house, and now let the reforms go; never mind the engagement.’ They have done the same with the treaty or agreement of Biac-na-bato, made with Emilio Aguinaldo, the rebel general. They paid, of course, the first installment, which had to be paid simultaneously with the exile of Aguinaldo and the thirty-two rebel leaders, and which w ? as deposited in the 354 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. Shanghai bank, but they paid no more. One of the conditions was that the families and others connected with the rebellion should not be molested in any form or sense whatever; but immediately that Aguinaldo left for Hongkong the priests started to persecute those left behind, and the result was that another chief turned up — I knew his father very well — Alejandrino. He had fled, but returned, and is one of the leaders now.” Mr. Gray: Q. If that exodus of the friars, these priests of the monastic orders, was carried out, either voluntarily on their part or with some degree of compulsion applied to them, what disposition would be made of their holdings of land; what would become of the land? — A. What the natives, I think I may say pretty decidedly, would aspire to would be that the land should be declared to be the possession of those actually in possession as tenants to-day. holding it in rent from these corporations. It is let in parcels. They would say, “the priests are gone, let us, as we stand, hold the land,” and with very little disturbance at all the man in possession holds his patch of land. Q. They hold by a legal title now? — A. Only by a contract with the priests. Q. I mean the monastic orders hold by a title? — A. No, sir. That is to say, I draw my information from this source — that Dr. Rizal challenged the priests to bring forward their titles. He said, “If you will exhibit your title deeds, it will be satisfactory for you and for us; I shall be satisfied, my agitation will end, the people interested roundabout will be satisfied, and you certainly will insure to yourselves tranquillity by settling this matter on the exhibition of your title deeds,” and they could not do it. They would go to the length of intriguing for three or four years to bring about the execution of this Dr. Rizal rather than show their title deeds, and we can only surmise that the title deeds did not exist. Q. How long have they been flourishing there and holding these titles, So called?— A. I can not say. Q. It is an old business?— A. Yes, sir; very old. In concluding his testimony Mr. Foreman said as to raising horses, if one had a fine pony the Spaniards would take it unless the native rider had a permii in his pocket. There is a very fine wood in the Island of Mindora, twenty-two varieties, and in the Island of Mindanao, speaking of woods, there is knowr to be the ironwood, an extremely hard wood. It is very, very hard indeed. 0: course, at the same time, it has the defect of being somewhat brittle, but in sub stantial sizes, say in three-inch growth, it is tremendously strong. Q. Is there not oil in those islands? — A. Only in one place has it beei STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 355 discovered so far; that is in the Island of Cebu, on the estate known as Calumam- pao, belonging to an Englishman named Pickford and a Mr. Wilson, an American. Earthquakes have been destructive. The cholera came to the Philippines in 1882, and twenty Europeans and forty thousand natives died. Typhoons are not so serious except once in six or seven years. In the lake near Manila, Laguna del Bayao, there is a pretty and famous volcano known as the one of Taal, which was in eruption when I last heard from Manila. There is a business to be done there — the export of sulphur. At one time it was permitted, but all of a sudden the Government expressly prohibited it. There is another volcano there which is very famous, and one of the finest things to he seen, with the most perfect cone to be seen. In nature it is like an enormous limpet shell, and the most perfect, on the clean-cut style, and that is the volcano of Mayon, in the extreme east of the Island of Luzon, in the province of Albay. That is a very fine volcano; a grand sight to see it at night. Of course the whole island is supposed to he of volcanic origin, and when the volcanoes are in eruption you know there is no danger; you know that there will be no earthquakes, and they do no damage. Of course some of the natives are stupid enough to live in the immediate vicinity and occasionally get killed. Q. When is the rainy season? — A. The middle six months of the year; the first three months and the last three months is the dry season. Q. From April to October? — A. Yes, sir. Q. It is rather an uncomfortable season? — A. Yes, sir; drenching rains come, frightful downpours sometimes, but everything dries so quickly. Q. How in the other six months, from October to April? — A. Out of those six months four months absolutely not a drop; approaching it, it shades off. Q. Pleasant months? — A. Delightful. I would not choose any other place to live in the month of December. Anywhere in the islands is simply delicious; a most wonderful climate; altogether it is very agreeable living, a very pretty place. The well-informed historian thought if we took all of the islands the burden m us would be “only a little more expense of administration, which, I think, vould be covered by the islands themselves.” He concluded: “The name of Japan has been brought up. It is, of course, quite out of the piestion, because it is a pagan nation. The natives have been brought up as Christians, and I am sure it would be opposed to the popular opinion in Europe, md in America, I should think. That excludes Japan, in my opinion.” Commander Bradford of the United States Navy was asked by Mr. Frye: 356 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. “Suppose the United States, in the progress of war, found the leader of the present Philippine rebellion an exile from his country in Hongkong and sent for him and brought him to the islands in an American ship, and then furnished him 4,000 or 5,000 stands of arms, and allowed him to purchase as many more stands of arms in Hongkong, and accepted his aid in conquering Luzon, what kind of a nation, in the eyes of the world, would we appear to be to surrender Aguinaldo and his insurgents to Spain to be dealt with as they please? — A. We become respon- sible for everything he has done; he is our ally, and we are bound to protect him.” This was in October, 1898. Aguinaldo is better known now. General Charles A. Whittier of New York, a business man of mild knowl- edge and enterprise, and a soldier of distinction, was one of the Commis- sioners who arranged with the Spaniards the terms of the surrender of Manila. He says: “Admiral Monti jo seemed to have his wits about him better than the rest.” The Captain-General reported in trepidation that the insurgents were coming into the city. General Whittier made it his business to see the country and says: “I went over the line of the only railroad in the Philippines, leaving one Saturday morning and going up 120 miles through the rice fields, a country of marvelous and most extraordinary fertility. “Q. What sort of looking people are the insurgents? — A. They are some- what undersized, are fairly good in appearance, are brave, will stand any amount of hunger and hardship, and, well led, would be very good soldiers. The country on the line of railroad is divided into four parts or zones. There was one General Macabulus, whose headquarters w r ere at Tarlac, and it was said that Aguinaldo rather dreaded his popularity, and wanted to transfer him. There was good feeling between them, however, and he sent down by Higgins $36,000 as a contribution. This was Mexican, of course. “The next Sunday, in company with a member of one of the chief mercantile houses and the senior British medical officer at Hongkong, Colonel Evatt, we went up the River Pasig on the launch of the former. We went up about twenty-eight miles to the laguna. Paixanang would have been better to see, but time would not permit. We went to Banos, a health resort. There is a tract of land on the laguna on the market, held by the priests. They wish to sell it for $1,700,000. It is an enormously productive country. You pass cascos loaded with cocoanuts and quantities of nipa thatching for roofs. General Whittier quotes as his own idea Frank Swelltenham of the British Straits Settlement Colony: STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 359 “The Philippines are Malays, with more intelligence, more education, mor courage, perhaps, than their confreres in the Peninsula. “In one sense they would he easier to govern, because they have been fot many years in contact with white men and understand their ways. Moreover, the majority are not Mohammedans. “But, on the other hand, they have aspirations for political institutions and the management of affairs without the necessary experience, perhaps without the essential qualities to secure success. “I should say that our experiment in the Malay Peninsula might be success- fully repeated in the Philippines, provided that the controlling power made it clearly understood at the start that they meant to control and not only to advise and educate. “If that point were never in doubt, and the means of enforcing authority were in evidence for a short time, the rest would be easy, and I firmly believe the results would surpass all anticipations.” It is the opinion of General Whittier that if any sensible nation governs the islands a Bureau of Science should be at once established and the results would be great and surprising. The General had little prejudice against Spaniards, but he was convinced by contact with people in Manila “that they are without prin- ciple or courage, and brutally, wickedly cruel, with no improvement on three hun- dred and twenty-five years ago in the days of Philip II. The bones (skulls, arms, legs) of their dead lie without the honor of a covering of earth, exposed in their fashionable cemetery, exhumed on account of a failure by their descendants to pay rent for the tomb. The shooting in the Luneta (their favorite driveway) of dozens of so-called ‘rebels’ and conspirators, notably Dr. Rizal, a man of literary merit, with no trial, vague charges of belonging to secret societies, with the hope of making their victims confess to what, in many cases, did not exist, was made a fete, advertised in the papers. ‘There will be music,’ and I have been frequently told that women and children attended in their carriages. The tortures inflicted with the same view of eliciting confessions, are too brutal to commit the narra- tive to paper. “I have brought from Manila for the inspection of the Commissioners four carvings in wood representing tortures inflicted by the Spaniards upon the natives. They were executed by Bonifacio Arevelo, who is now practicing as a dentist in Manila. He is a man of fine presence, benevolent aspect, not sensational at all in his utterances, and in submitting them to me he wrote the wish that upon teaching Paris I would not forget that the Filipinos begged me to use my efforts :S6Q STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. to convince all concerned of the utter impossibility of the return by them tc Spanish domination. He also gives a description of the models: “Figure No. 1. — This figure represents the chastisement which one of the municipal authorities of Jaen (Nueva Ecija) suffered in the prison of that town, the Spanish employees of the prison entertaining themselves by applying the most horrible tortures. “Figure No. 2.— This represents an honorably and peaceably inclined resi- dent in a village of the province of Nueva Ecija, taken prisoner, brutally treated for being suspected, without cause, of belonging to the Katipunan, and afterwards shot. “Figure No. 3. — This figure represents one of the many natives of the Philip- pines whom, during the late insurrection, the Spaniards shot without previous trial, in the outskirts of the village, leaving their corpses without burial. “Figure No. 4. — This figure represents Mr. Moses Salvador, a young Tagalo, who studied several years in Europe. He is a native of Manila, and was impris- oned in September, 1896, for being a Freemason, was horribly martyrized in the headquarters of the police, and, after many months of imprisonment, was shot by order of the Spanish General Polavieja in the Luneta, in company with several of his countrymen, all condemned on the same charge, of which several were abso- lutely innocent. “The opinion of Alexandre Dumas, Sr., in regard to the Spaniards was often quoted in the Philippines, that they possess ‘honor without honesty, religion without morality, pride with nothing to be proud of.’ “The rapacity, stealing, and immoralities of the priests are beyond question, and the bitterness of the natives against them has been caused and aggravated by years of iniquity. To demand a wife or daughter from a native has been a common occurrence. Failing to obtain acquiescence, the husband’s or father’s goods have been seized, he deported or thrown into jail, under an order easily obtained from the government in Manila. The priests’ influence was paramount — they are rich, and fathers (not only of the church), despised and hated by the 'people. “The inefficiency, to put it mildly, of the Spaniards in war has been so clearly demonstrated in this war that I will call attention only to the facts in Manila Bay and the defenses of the town. When it was absolutely known by everyone there, on the last day of April, that our ships were on the way and very near, that night many of their naval officers spent in town, far from the fleet. All their ships were destroyed, and every man of the American fleet (except one, upon whom STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 361 some heavy metal on one of our ships fell) reported for duty the next day. And yet Admiral Montijo applied to Dewey for a certificate of good conduct on that occasion to show to the Madrid authorities, who lately ordered him home. “Their inefficiency (and the creditable work of the insurgents as well) is fur- ther proved by the fact that they were driven by the natives from Cavite twenty odd miles into the defenses of Manila, with never a successful attack, never a capture of arms or men. All the success was on the native side, and yet the Spaniards surrendered between 7,000 and 8,000 men, well armed, plenty of ammu- nition, and in good physical condition. The excuse of the latter may be that their enemy was in small bands — but they never captured one of these — and the small bands cfcove them to their walls. Jaudenes, the acting Captain-General, in reply to Merritt and Dewey’s notice to remove his non-combatants, acknowledged that the insurrectionists surrounded the city, and that he could not move women, children, etc., out. (His fear and solicitude about the natives entering the city when I received the surrender of Manila were almost painful to witness.) This admission demonstrates as well the military ability shown by the Filipinos, whose characteristics I will now enumerate. “Aguinaldo went to Cavite, under the permission of Admiral Dewey, in reply to a telegram sent by Spencer Pratt, Esq., our Consul-General at Singapore, who offered that chief money for his expenses. The offer was declined. After arrival (on one of our ships) he went ashore, accompanied by thirteen staff officers, to organize his army; but no adherents appeared the first day, and Aguinaldo, rather discouraged, meditated returning to Hongkong. I think Dewey advised him to make another effort, at the same time saying that he must leave the public build- ings at Cavite, where he had made his headquarters. Soon, from across the bay and from all sides, men gathered. The fact that Dewey permitted the armed men to move from the surrounding districts and for the rebels to take arms (not many, says the Admiral) in the arsenal was the only help we gave him, excepting, of course, the most important destruction of the Spanish navy. From that time the military operations and the conduct of the insurgents have been most creditable. Positions taken and the movements of troops show great ability on the part of some leader — I do not say it was necessarily Aguinaldo, but he gave the directions. “I believe the natives to be brave (under good leadership), most tolerant of fatigue and hunger, and amenable to command and discipline, if justice and fair dealing rule. They are very temperate, as most of the natives of the East are. I have never seen a drunken one, and this with the example of our soldiers, whom 362 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. they imitate in everything else; very quiet, no loud quarrels, very good house servants and cooks. “Their skill in trades, occupations, and professions is very great. Critics will call this imitation, but imitation of good things is not reprehensible. I refer now to the common people, and so will omit very able lawyers (one or two having ranked as the best of all nationalities in the Philippines), and the higher professions. “As accountants, they are excellent. In the custom-house sixty (more before) were employed during my administration. Any information desired, say the amount of imports and exports of last year, kind of articles, whence obtained, and where going, duties, etc., was sought from them, and the reply was always given in writ- ing in a neat, satisfactory manner. All the cash was received by a native — $1,020,000,’ from August 22 to October 21, much of this in silver — all counterfeits and filled dollars were detected at once by his skill, and only $1 was returned to us from the banks. His neighbor, who kept the record of receipts, was most systematic and able. The Spaniards depended absolutely on them for the clerical work of the office, and the same in the other departments. “I visited three factories for the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes: First, that of H. J. Andrews & Co., where 150 to 200 natives were employed; second, the Alhambra, which had 300 in April, now 600; third, the Insular, with 2,000. The Tabacallera, largely owned in Paris, I was unable to see; it has 4,000. These work- ing people seemed to me of the best — quiet, diligent, skillful. The same qualities were apparent in the one cotton mill of the place, where at least 200 were em- ployed. _l‘As mariners, quartermasters of large boats, and managers of small ones, their skill has been proverbial over the East for years, and we had great opportunities during our three weeks in the bay of proving their ability and cleverness. “Manila straw hats have been famous for years; also pina cloth and jusi cloth, the former made of pineapple fiber and the latter made of pineapple fiber and hemp. “The station masters and employees of the Manila Railway compare favor- ably with any I have ever seen at ordinary way stations. Clean, neat, prompt, well disciplined, their superiority is largely due to excellence of the general manager, Mr. Higgins, a man of great ability. Still the quality is in the men. The three servants in his house (on the line) have all learned telegraphy by observation and mitation. “I have also some fine samples of their embroidery. “They are admittedly extraordinary musicians, and their orchestras and bands STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 363 have found places all over the East, playing without notes with great harmony and sweetness. It seems to be instinct, and is all instrumental, with little or no vocal talent. All these accomplishments do not argue greatness, but they do show that they are something more than ignorant and brutal savages. I do not mean to ascribe to them all the virtues — they may be liars and thieves, it is a wonder they are not worse after the environment and example of centuries — but to my mind they are the best of any barbaric or uncivilized race I have ever seen, and open, I trust, to a wonderful development.” General Whittier visited Aguinaldo at Moloros and “found his headquarters in a very nice house ten minutes’ drive from the railway station” and the “president” was “dressed in a smoking jacket, low-cut waistcoat and trousers, both black, large white tie — in fact, the evening dress common at our clubs during the summer.” The “president was told that General Whittier would soon leave to go to the Paris Commission, and would like to be able to present to the Commission his and his people’s views and demands and what relation they expected to hold to the United States in case we decided to keep the islands. “Aguinaldo replied, rather naively, that his people were divided into two parties — those in favor of absolute independence and those of an American pro- tectorate; that the parties are about equal; that he is waiting to see who will have the majority, in that case to take his position. I pointed out to him that it would probably be useless to try to bring those in favor of absolute independence to any change of opinion, but they must consider that they are without any navy and without capital, which is greatly needed for the development of the country; that the Philippine government alone did not possess the element of strength to insure the retention of the islands without the assistance of other governments. They would be at the mercy of half a dozen powers striving to take either a part or the whole of the islands, and they must consider that their greatest prosperity would come by the gradual accession of power under American auspices. “He said: ‘But the civilized nations of the world would, see that our posses- sions were not taken from us.’ I replied: ‘How has it been in China, where England, Russia, France, Germany, etc., all strive to control territory?’ To this he could make no reply. I further asked what that side would expect America, acting the role of protector, to do. He said: ‘To furnish the navy, while the Filipinos held all the country and administered civil offices with its own people.’ ‘And what then would America get from this?’ said I. ‘That would be a detail,’ he said, ‘which would be settled hereafter.’ “I asked how far they controlled Luzon and other islands. ‘Almost entirely,’ 364 STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. he said. That the different bands, little by little, were expressing their desire to join him. The Igorrottos had sent in some of their leaders the day before and were acting with him. That he had had three representatives from Iloilo within a few days on the same mission. “We pursued all this subject of a protectorate for some time without getting any nearer any satisfactory result. Mr. Higgins felt that Aguinaldo had been simply repeating a lesson, but I did not feel so sure of that. He said that he had had many Americans to interview him, most of them reporters, I fancy, and he had always told them the same thing. Thereupon I stated that this was quite a different case. ‘I am ordered, as an officer of the United States Army, to proceed to Paris and give evidence on points which may be of vital interest to you.’ After that his tone was different. Buen Camino returned, and .Aguinaldo reported to him everything he had said to us. After a little talk between the two, Buen Camino said he, and he was sure the president, was in favor of an American protectorate, and seemed to approve the suggestion that we should have the nucleus of an army; that his people should be joined to it, filling the places of minor officers; and the possibility and the hope within a few years that they should fill the most important civil and military functions. “Buen Camino said I could be certain that if a protectorate were granted that they would do their best to have it accepted by their people on the lines that I have stated, agreeing with me fully that to hold one island and giving the others to other powers would be most unfortunate, and not to be considered. “They expressed pleasure at my having come to them, feeling that they had been rather neglected by the Americans. “This I dictated hastily just after the visit, and it does not give the impres- sion which the interview left upon me — a great desire for our protection, for the improvement of their people materially and intellectually, the wish to send their young people to America for education. “Subsequently (October 31, the day I left Manila) he sent three officers to me with the friendliest messages, expressing the wish that I should use my best influence with the Commission in their favor. “Many methods of government, with them as allies or subjects, are possible. I had often thought that it might be expedient at first to admit them to some of the minor offices in army and civil government, and if they show capacity, to enlarge their powers and opportunities, until finally they should have entire control, after proper compensation or an agreed subjection to us for our work and assist- ance to them. But, and I hope that I shall not be considered English mad in my STATEMENTS BEFORE OUR COMMISSION IN PARIS. 3G5 deference to their practice, the result of so many years of successful colonial government, — I am told by a governor of one of their colonies, Sir William McGregor, when I suggested such a course, that they have never thought it safe or expedient, when they have a colony of so many (in this case millions) of blacks, and so few white men, to intrust the government to the former. If of whites, as in Australia, yes, after trial trust the government to them, with what are practically supervising, or, perhaps, honorary governors, who maintain the connection with the mother or controlling country. “It will be admitted that England has been the only successful administrator of colonial government in the world. Holland has had a great career, but possibly things are not so well with it just now in Java and Sumatra; at any rate, it is not comparable to England.” CHAPTER IV. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. Memorandum of the Mineral Resources of the Islands by Dr. Becker of the United States Geological Survey, Gathered for the American Treaty Commission — Coal, Petroleum, Gold, Copper, Lead, Silver, Iron, Quicksilver, Sulphur, Marble, Ivolin, Pearl Fisheries — Strategic Importance — Cebu and Negros Islands — Naval Stations — Harbors. REPORT OF DR. GEORGE F. BECKER, OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, ON THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. Department of State, Washington, D. C., November 4, 1898. Sir: I have the honor to inclose, for the information of the Commission, copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting a copy of a preliminary report made by Dr. George F. Becker, of the United States Geological Survey, in regard to the geological and mineral resources of the Philippine Islands. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN HAY. HON. WILLIAM R. DAY, Chairman of the United States Peace Commission, Paris, France. (Inclosure: From Interior Department, October 29, 1898, with inclosure.) Department of the Interior, Washington, October 29, 1898. Sir: In May, 1898, by arrangement between the honorable the Secretary of War with this Department, Dr. George F. Becker, geologist, of the United States Geological Survey, accompanied the military expedition to the Philippine Islands, for the purpose of procuring information touching the geological and mineral resources of said islands. Dr. Becker has made a preliminary report on the subject, a copy of which, together with a copy of a letter from the director of the Geological Survey, sub- mitting the same for my consideration, are herewith transmitted for your informa- tion. Very respectfully, C. N. BLISS, Secretary. The Honorable the Secretary of State. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 36 MEMORANDUM ON THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE PHILIP- PINE ISLANDS. By GEORGE F. BECKER, United States Geological Survey. This brief memorandum, prepared at the request of Admiral Dewey, probably covers all the main discoveries in the geology of the Philippines which are of economic interest. It is drawn up from data recorded in the Spanish Mining Bureau (Inspeccion de Minas), but not published, manuscript mine reports by the late William Ashburner, verbal information obtained in Manila, and from various technical publications, of Semper, Santos, Roth, Drasche, Abella, and others. Only about a score of the islands are known to contain deposits of valuable minerals. These are arranged below in the order of their latitude to give an idea of their geographical distribution, and to facilitate finding the islands on the map. The latitude of the northern end of each is taken as that of the island. The character of the valuable minerals stated in the table will afford a general notion of their resources. MINERAL-BEARING ISLANDS AND THEIR RESOURCES. Island. Lat. N. end. Character of mineral resources. Luzon 18° 40' Coal, gold, copper, lead, iron, sulphur, marble, kaolin. Catanduanes 14 8 Gold. Marinduque. . . . 13 34 Lead, silver. Mindoro 13 32 Coal, gold, copper. Carraray 13 21 Coal. Batan 13 19 Do. Rapu Rapu 15 Do. Masbate 12 37 Coal, copper. Romblon 12 37 Marble. Samar 12 36 Coal, gold. Sibuyan ...... 12 30 Gold. Semerara 12 7 Coal. Panay 11 56 Coal, oil, gas, gold, copper, iron, mercury (?). Bilikan 11 43 Sulphur. Leyte 11 35 Coal, oil, mercury (?). Cebu 11 17 Coal, oil, gas, gold, lead, silver, iron. Negros Coal. Bohol 10 10 Gold. Panaon 10 10 Do. Mindanao 9 50 Coal, gold, copper, platinum. Sulu Archipelago 6 30 Pearls. The distribution of each mineral or metal may now be sketched in somewhat greater detail. In many cases the information given in this abstract is exhaustive, 368 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. so far as the available material is concerned. The coal fields of Cebu, however, have been studied in some detail by Mr. Abella, and in a few other instances more extended information has been condensed for the present purpose. COAL. So far as is definitely known, the coal of the Philippine Islands is all of Ter- tiary age, and might be better characterized as a highly carbonized lignite. It is analogous to the Japanese coal and to that of Washington, but not to the Welsh or Pennsylvania coals. Such lignites usually contain considerable combined water (8 to 18 per cent) and bear transportation ill. They are also apt to contain much sulphur, as iron pyrite, rendering them subject to spontaneous combustion and injurious to boiler plates. Nevertheless, when pyritous seams are avoided and the lignite is properly handled, it forms a valuable fuel, especially for local con- sumption. In these islands it would appear that the native coal might supplant English or Australian coal for most purposes. Lignite is widely distributed in the archipelago; some of the seams are of excellent width, and the quality of cer- tain of them is high for fuel in this class. Coal exists in various provinces of the Island of Luzon (Abra, Camarinos, Batan, Sorsogon). The finest beds thus far discovered appear to be in the small Island of Batan, lying to the east of the southern portion of Luzon, in latitude 13° 19'. These seams vary from 2 feet 6 inches to 14 feet 8 inches in thickness. Analyses have been made in the laboratory of the Inspeccion de Minas, and the mean of seven analyses gives the following composition: Per cent. Water 13.52 Volatile matter 37.46 Fixed Carbon 44.46 Ash 4.56 Sum 100.00 One pound of this coal will convert 6.25 pounds of water at 40° C. into steam at 100° C. The heating effect is about three-fourths of that of Cardiff coal. The same beds are known to exist in other small adjacent islands, Carraray and Rapu Rapu. A number of concessions for coal mining have also been granted on the main island of Luzon, just south of Batan, at the town of Bacon. No doubt the beds here are either identical or, at least, closely associated with the coal seams in the little islands. The coal field of southern Luzon is said to extend across the Strait of San Ber- RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 369 nardino into the northern portion of Samar. Here coal is reported at half a dozen localities, but I have been able to ascertain no details as to the thickness or quality. In Mindoro there are large deposits of coal in the extreme southern portion (Bulacao) and on the small adjacent islands of Semarara. This fuel is said to be similar to that of Batan. The islands of Masbate and Panay contain coal, the deposits of which thus far discovered do not seem of much importance. Specimens from the southwestern portion of Leyte, analyzed in the laboratory of the Inspeccion de Minas, are of remarkably high quality, but nothing definite about the deposit is known to me. The first discovery of coal in the archipelago was made in the island of Cebu in 1827. Since then lignitic beds have been found on the island at a great variety of points. The most important croppings are on the eastern slope, within some fifteen or twenty miles of the capital, also named Cebu. Though a con- siderable amount of coal has been extracted here the industry has not been a arofitable one hitherto. This is at least in part due to crude methods of transpor- ;ation. It is said, however, that the seams are often badly faulted. At Uling, about ten miles west of the capital, the seams reach a maximum hickness of fifteen and one-half feet. Ten analyses of Cebu coal are at my dis- )osal. They indicate a fuel with about two-thirds the calorific effect of Cardiff coal nd with only about 4 per cent a§h. Large quantities of the. coal might, I suspect, ontain a higher percentage of ash. The Island of Negros is nearly parallel with Cebu and appears to be of imilar geological constitution, but it has been little explored and little of it aems to have been reduced to subjection by the Spaniards. There are known a be deposits of coal at Calatrara, on the east coast of Negros, and it is believed : rat they are of important extent. In the great island of Mindanao coal is known b) occur at eight different localities, but no detailed examinations of any kind ppear to have been made. Seven of these localities are on the east coast of Min- anao and the adjacent small islands. They indicate the presence of lignite from jae end of the coast to the other. The eighth locality is in the western province died Zamboanga, on the gulf of Sigbuguey. PETROLEUM. In the Island of Cebu petroleum has been found associated with coal at Toledo l the west coast, where a concession has been granted. It is also reported from sturias, to the northwest of Toledo, on the same coast, and from Algeria to the 370 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. south. Natural gas is said to exist in the Cebu coal fields. On Panay, too, oil is reported at Janiuay, in the province of Iloilo, and gas is reported from the same island. Petroleum highly charged with paraffin is also found on Leyte, at a point about four miles from Villaba, a town on the west coast. GOLD. Gold is found in a vast number of localities in the archipelago from northern Luzon to central Mindanao. In most cases the gold is detrital, and found either in existing water courses or in stream deposits now deserted by the current. These last are called “aluviones” by the Spaniards. It is said that in Mindanao some of the gravels are in an elevated position, and adapted to hydraulic mining. There are no data at hand which intimate decisively the value of any of the placers. They are washed by natives largely with cocoanut shells for pans, though the batea is also in use. In the Province of Abra, at the northern end of Luzon, there are placers, and the gravel of the River Abra is auriferous. In Lapanto there are gold-quartz veins as well as gravels. Gold is obtained in this Province close to the copper mines. In Benguet the gravels of the River Agno carry gold. There is also gold in the Province of Bontoc and in Nueva Ecija. The most important of the auriferous Provinces is Camarines Norte. Here the townships of Mambulao, Paracale, and Labo are especially well known as gold-producing localities. Mr. Drasche, a well- known German geologist, says that there were 700 natives at work on the rich! quartz veins of this place at the time of his visit about twenty- five years since. At Paracale there are parallel quartz veins in granite, one of which is twenty feet in width and contains a chute in which the ore is said to assay thirty-eight ounces of gold per ton. One may suspect that this assay hardly represented an average sample. Besides the localities mentioned, many others of this province have been worked by the natives. The islands of Mindoro, Catanduanes, Sibuyan, Simar, Panay, Cebu, and Bohol are reported to contain gold, but no exact data are accessible. At the south end of the small island of Panaon, which is just to the south of Leyte, there are gold quartz veins, one of which has been worked to some extent. It is six feet in thickness, and has yielded from $6 to $7 per ton. In the Island of Mindanao there are two known gold-bearing districts. One of these is in the Province of Surigao, where Placer and other townships show gravels and veins. The second district is in the Province of Misamis! Near the settlement of Imponan and on the Gulf of Macajalar, there are said to be many RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 371 square kilometers of gravel carrying large quantities of gold with which is asso- ciated platinum. The product of this district was estimated some years since at 150 ounces per month, all extracted by natives with bateas or cocoanut-shell dishes. COPPER. Copper ores are reported from a great number of localities in the Philippines. They are said to occur in the following islands: Luzon (provinces of Lepanto, Benguet, and Camarines), Mindoro, Capul,* Masbete, Panay (province of Antique), and Mindanao (province of Surigao). Many of these occurrences are probably unimportant. The great Island of Mindanao, being practically unexplored, is full of possibilities; but as yet no important copper deposit is known to exist there. An attempt was made to work the deposit in Masbete, but no success seems to have been obtained. On the other hand, northern Luzon contains a copper region which is unquestionably valuable. The best known portion of this region lies about Mount Data, a peak given as 2,500 meters in height, lying in latitude 16° 53', longitude 120° 58' east of Greenwich or 124° 38' east of Madrid. The range of which data forms one peak trends due north to Cape Lacay-Lacay and forms a boundary for all the provinces infringing upon it. Data itself lies in the Province of Lepanto. In this range copper ore has been smelted by the natives from time immemorial, and before Magellan discovered the Philippines. The process is a complicated one, based on the same principles as the method of smelting sulpho-salts of this metal in Europe and America. It consists in alternate partial roasting and reductions to “matte,” and eventually to block copper. It is generally believed that this process must have been intro- duced from China or Japan. It is practiced only by one peetdiar tribe of natives, the Igorrotes, who are remarkable in many w r ays. Vague reports and the routes by which copper smelted by natives comes to market indicate that there are copper mines in various portions of the Cordillera Central, but the only deposits which have been examined with any care are those it Mancanyan (about five miles west of Mount Data) and two or three other ocalities within a few miles of Mancanyan. The deposits of Mancanyan are de- scribed as veins of rich ore reaching seven meters in width and arranged in groups, ilean assays are said to show over 16 per cent of copper, mainly as tetraliedrite md allied ores. The gangue is quartz. The country rock is described as a large piartzite lens embedded in a great mass of trachyte. An attempt has been made * I am unable to find this island, which probably is a very small one. 372 EESOUECES OF THE PHILIPPINES. by white men to work these deposits, but with no considerable success. Th failure does not seem to have been due to the quality or quantity of ore found. LEAD AND SILYEE. A lead mine has been partially developed near the town of Cebu, on th island of the same name. The most important deposit of argentiferous galena is said to be at Torn jot on the small island of Marinduque (latitude 13° 34'). A metric ton, or 1,00' kilograms, is said to contain 96 grams of silver, 6 grams gold, and 565.5 kilogram of lead. In Camarines, a province of Luzon, lead ores occur, but are worked only fo the gold they contain. IEON. There is iron ore in abundance in Luzon, Carabello, Cebu, Panay, and doubtles in other islands. In Luzon it is found in the provinces of Laguna, Pampaaga and Camarines Norte, but principally in Bulacan. The finest deposits are in th last-named province, near a small settlement named Camachin, which lies i: latitude 15° 7 ' and longitude 124° 47' east of Madrid. A small industry exist here, wrought iron being produced in a sort of bloomery and manufactured int plowshares. The process has been described in detail, so far as I know. It woul appear that charcoal pig iron might be produced to some advantage in this regior The lignites of the archipelago are probably unsuitable for iron blast furnaces. QUICKSILVEE. Eumors of the occurrence of this metal in Panay and Leyte have failed c verification. Accidental losses of this metal by prospectors or surveyors some times lead to the reports of the discovery of deposits, and ochers are not seldoi mistaken for impure cinnabar. NON-METALLIC SUBSTANCES. Sulphur deposits abound about active and extinct volcanoes in the Phili] pines. In Luzon the principal sulphur deposits are in Dacian, in the Provincfj of Benguet, and at Colasi, in Camarines. The finest deposit in the archipelag is said to be on the little Island of Biliran, which lies to the northwest of Leyt Marble of fine quality occurs on the small Island of Eomblon (latitude 12° 37' It is much employed in churches in Manila for baptismal fonts and other purpose: RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 373 Marbles are aiso quarried at Montalban in the Province of Manila, and at Binan- gonan in the Province of Marong. There are processions for mining kaolin at Losbanos in Laguna Province. Pearl fisheries exist in the Sulu archipelago and are said to form an impor- tant source of wealth. Manila, September 15, 1898. DATA CONCERNING THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR HISTORY, PEOPLE, GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, RESOURCES, AND STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE. INTRODUCTION AND NOTES ON THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES. By Ensign EVERETT HAYDEN, United States Navy. The data herewith, selected as carefully as possible in the short time at my disposal, consist for the most part of quotations from authoritative sources, giving an outline history of the islands, their geology, geography, people, and resources. There is included also a copy of a special memorandum of information prepared for the President, by direction of the Secretary of the Navy, on the islands of Cebu and Negros, their mineral and other resources and availability as naval stations, and a compilation of data regarding coal and petroleum in the Philippines and vicinity, a subject of the greatest importance in connection with the present value and disposition as well as the future development of the islands. Jagor, the well-known German authority, made the following striking predic- tion in the concluding words of his work on the Philippines, published in 1573: “In proportion as the navigation of the west coast of America extends the influence of the American element over the South Sea, the captivating, magic power which the great Republic exercises over the Spanish colonies will not fail to make itself felt also in the Philippines. The Americans are evidently destined to bring to a full development the germs originated by the Spaniards. As conquerors of modern times, they pursue their road to victory with the assistance of the pioneer’s ax and plow, representing an age of peace and commercial prosperity in contrast of that by-gone and chivalrous age whose champions were upheld by the cross and protected by the sword. A considerable portion of Spanish America already belongs to the United States, and has since attained an importance which 374 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. could not possibly have been anticipated either under the Spanish Government or during the anarchy which followed. With regard to permanence, the Spanish system can not for a moment be compared with that of America. While each of the colonies, in order to favor a privileged class by immediate gains, exhausted still more the already enfeebled population of the metropolis by the withdrawal of the best of its ability, America, on the contrary, has attracted to itself from all countries the most energetic element, which, once on its soil and freed from all fetters, restlessly progressing, has extended its power and influence still further and further.” The actual present resources of the islands are well indicated in the accom- panying papers, and in considering their future, under the control of one or more governments that develop and foster, rather than conceal and suppress, natural resources and native talent, we must bear in mind the probable vast increase in production, population, and commerce, accompanied by the introduction of modern methods and all the established improvements in transportation, communication, and sanitation. The commercial future of the islands, under such new conditions, will be a revelation to the world, and their strategic position and features must become of supreme importance in this great future field of commercial and naval rivalry. It has been pointed out by a recent writer that the opening of the Suez Canal brought untold misery upon the comparatively happy and industrious Malays in the Philippines, inasmuch as it resulted in the establishment of a Spanish line of steamers, bringing bureaucratic administration in place of the old paternal regime and awakening into renewed life and activity the dormant curse of Spanish civil and military rule. It seems safe to predict, however, that with the opening of the Nicaragua Canal, which will put 500 miles of the Sulu Sea, from Surigao to Balabac, on the direct great-circle route of equatorial steam navigation around the earth, the dawn of a new and glorious era of prosperity will succeed the long night of nearly four centuries of Spanish domination. The Philippines are very nearly as large in area as the British Isles; they are larger than New Zealand, and as large as Italy, with her own Sicily and Sardinia and French Corsica and British Malta added. Indeed, the eastern archipelago may be roughly compared to beautiful, fertile, volcanic Italy, only more so. Imagine the plains and hills of northern Italy rent from the snowy Alps by some volcanic cataclysm to form a big island like Luzon, with Genoa for Manila; southern Italy shattered into a score of islands, large and small, Masbate, Samar and Leyte, 41. Street m the Suburb of La Ermita. 42. Rosario Street in La Erruita. 43. LunetaJSquare in Manila. • Hospital of San Juan de Dios. 45. Manila Cathedral. 46. Royal Street in Malate. 47. Royal Street ioanta Ana. 48. Monument of Don Simon de Anda y Salazar in the Malecon Square. VIEWS IN AND AROUND MANILA. £ :-.vJfefi®B®|W| TYPE OF THE MESTIZA WOMEN, UPPER CLASS, PROVINCE OF CAVITE. ■ mm ' ; i m msm>. EESOUECES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 377 Negros and Sebu, Panay, Bohol; Sicily enlarged to thrice its size, like Mindanao, joined by a line of islets and reefs to the projecting cape of Tunis, as the Sulu Islands join that island to northeast Borneo; call Corsica Mindoro; elongate Sar- dinia to almost reach the African mainland, as Palawan does the northern point of Borneo. The inclosed Tyrrhenian Sea will then correspond to the Sulu Sea, the Mediterranean of the far East, through which commerce from the Pacific must pass on the direct route to Singapore, as it does here from Suez to Gibraltar; to the northward, the distant mainland (Austria, France, and Spain) will correspond to China, Tongking, and Siam; to the southward (Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco), to New Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, and Sumatra; and the strategic impor- tance of the archipelago, in peace or war, is clearly manifest. This great inland sea, the Sulu or Mindoro Sea, if once well charted, its channels lighted and buoyed, its Malay pirates suppressed, its fertile islands cul- tivated and their mineral wealth explored, must become the scene of an enormous commerce, composed not merely of the vessels of a local coasting trade, but the seagoing ships and steamers of every nation engaged in the Asiatic, East Indian, and Australasian trade. The completion of the Nicaragua Canal may result in the establishment of an equatorial steamship line whose vessels will circumnavigate the globe on schedule trips in eighty days, and the great-circle route from Brito, Nicaragua, to Singapore, via Honolulu and Guam Island, passes diagonally through 500 miles of the Sulu Sea, from Surigao Strait to Balabac. Similarly, the shortest route from Hongkong to all Australian and New Zealand ports, from Tongking to New Caledonia, from the Yellow Sea to eastern Java, Celebes, and west Australia, and from the entire North Pacific Ocean to the Straits of Sunda and Singapore, is by way of the channels of the Philippine archipelago and its great inland sea. Strategically the Philippines are admirably located for commercial and naval operation, in peace or in war, but every consideration of offensive or defensive war, as well as the preservation of peace, seems to me to require that the entire group shall be the property of a single power; indeed, it were far better for that power to own also what is now British North Borneo, bounding the Sulu Sea to the southward. One might think, from a casual glance at a map, that the defense of this great inland sea, with its intricate channels and numerous islands, exits, and entrances, would be difficult if not impossible. A closer examination of a chart, however, shows but seven clear channels, four on the east (San Bernardino, Surigao, Basilan, and Sibutu) and three on the west (Verde, Mindoro, and Balabac). Good harbors, timber, iron, and coal are prolific, even now when the ultimate 378 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. resources of the islands are not even estimated; hemp, the best in the world, is the product par excellence of this region. In fact, the entire material of modern naval warfare is at hand, awaiting only the personnel to utilize it. Coal, the very life of modern commerce and naval war, is abundant in many islands of the group and may occur in all. The ownership of such resources, so near at hand, by a commercial rival and possible enemy, and the establishment close by of naval coaling stations and dock yards, would not tend toward the preservation of peace or the successful finish of a prospective war. It is not, probably, either desirable or necessary to go into details here regard- ing the strategic value of the various islands, harbors, and channels, better shown on charts than in type, nor to discuss the relative value of each. In fact, as stated above, all are so intimately related that it is practically impossible to disassociate them in any scheme of offense or defense. It will be better for the welfare of the native inhabitants, for the commercial interests of all nations, and for the peace of the world if the control of the entire group of the Philippine Islands remains permanently in the hands of the United States. The more one studies the subject, in the light of past history and the certainty of a vast future expansion of our trade with China and Australasia, the more convinced does he become that sovereignty over the entire group, from the little islands north of Luzon to the farthest coral reefs that stretch toward the equator from Palawan and the Sulu Islands, is essential to our future potential energy in the far East. Even the wild and unexplored Palawan, which forms a natural breakwater for 300 miles against the sweep of the southwest monsoon, is capable, if occupied, developed, and fortified during long years of peace, of becoming a formidable base of operations in time of war. The importance of Manila is due largely to its being for centuries the capital of the archipelago and the reservoir of its pro- ductions and supplies. Divide the group and you cut off streams of wealth that help fill the reservoir. With a rival established at Tacloban, Iloilo, Sebu, or even Ulugan, the enormous resources of the Visayas and Mindanao might, and probably would, be diverted to build up a metropolis that would surpass Manila in wealth and importance. Strategically the Philippines seem, like our Union, to be “one and inseparable.” SEBU AND NEGROS ISLANDS, PHILIPPINES: THEIR MINERAL AND OTHER RESOURCES AND AVAILABILITY AS NAVAL STATIONS. 1. The inclosed data have been prepared for the President in compliance with the order of the Secretary of the Navy dated August 8, 1898. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 379 2. The information has been compiled in this office, from records on file here, together with quotations and abstracts of information taken from books in the library of the Navy Department and the United States Geological Survey. In the latter library a large collection of books on this general subject has been made, and a catalogue of publications relating to the Philippines. 3. The data herewith consist of an outline map of the Philippines, upon which the principal coal-bearing islands, so far as known, have been shaded in green, and quotations and abstracts from various publications relating to the two islands under consideration, including extracts from recent consular reports aublished by the State Department,! and cablegram from our naval attache in Paris. 4. Negros and Sebu are about the center of the Philippine group, forming Dart of what are called the Bisayas or Yisajms Islands. Negros comprises about 5,000 square miles, and Sebu about half as many. They are long, in a north- ;outh direction, and narrow, and separated by the Strait of Tahan. A volcanic nountain ridge stretches the whole length of each island, rising to a height of ibout 9,000 feet in the north of Negros. The flanks of the ridges and the low ands near the coasts are covered with luxuriant tropical vegetation. 5. The principal coal deposits thus far developed occur in these two islands nd in Masbate and Batan,! farther north. The coal, while inferior in quality, lakes a good steaming coal when mixed with anthracite or Cardiff coal, and oubtless, when the mines are developed, will prove very valuable for naval and ommercial uses. 6. The geological formation of the entire group seems to be like Borneo i the southward and Formosa to the northward, the carboniferous beds being roken through by volcanic peaks, their exposed edges upturned along the flanks f these peaks and partly covered by lava flows, etc., thence dipping under the mestone and coral beds near the sea. There seems to be no reason to doubt that le coal-bearing beds may be found upon any and all of the islands of the entire hilippine group, connecting the already developed mines of Borneo with those l Formosa. All the islands give strong indications of other mineral wealth, ich as gold, copper, iron, lead, and precious stones. Their development hitherto as been haphazard and unscientific, but the results achieved are very promising. 7. With regard to the availability of Negros and Sebu for naval stations, the art of Sebu, one of the oldest in the Philippines, is small, but easily defended, t Omitted here. JA little island southeast of Luzon, lat. 13° 15' N., long. 124° 05' E. 380 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. and might make a useful naval and coaling station, not equal, in any way, however, to Iloilo, Manila, or Suing Bay, excepting for its nearness to known coal deposits. It should be noted that these islands in the central portion of the group can only be reached through narrow straits with intricate navigation, and if light-houses and other aids to navigation in these straits were in the hands of another power than that owning these two islands, they would be more or less inaccessible, espe- cially in time of war. 8. The value of Negros and Sebu as naval stations for this country would be greatly lessened if various other nations established stations in other islands of the Philippine group. As coal is likely to occur in any of the islands, the tendency to establish such stations would apparently be very great, in addition to the agricultural and mineral wealth of the region. EVERETT HAYDEN, Acting Chief Intelligence Officer. Office of Naval Intelligence, Navy Department, August 9, 1898. [Coal Trade Journal, May 1, 1895, p. 349.] Coal Mining in the Philippine Islands. — The coal deposits in the Island of Sebu are now being extensively developed. They are receiving the support of the Government, in that they are giving preference to native over foreign coal. [Hongkong, 1895, Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan, etc.] 1 ■ I This is the capital of the Island of Sebu, and ranks next to Iloilo among the ports of the Philippines. It was at one time the seat of the administration of revenue for the whole of the Visayas, but this was removed to Manila in 1840. Sebu is a well-built town and possesses fine roads, but the people are devoid of commercial enterprise. The trade of Sebu consists principally of hemp and sugar. The neighboring islands of Levte, Mindanao, and Camiguin possess extensive hemp plantations, a large proportion of the produce of which finds its way to Sebu for shipment. There are some very valuable and extensive coal deposits in the Island of Sebu, but the mines have not as yet been worked with any enterprise. The trade in 1892 is represented by the following figures: Imports, $165,881; exports, $2,448,433, as compared with $263,695 and $3,638,039, respectively, in 1891. The principal exports of 1893 were: Sugar 17,246,442 kilograms, and hemp, 23,299,015 kilograms. j RESOURCES OP THE PHILIPPINES. 381 [Stanford’s Compendium of Geography, Yol. II, p. 81-82.] Sebu, or Cebu, is a long and narrow island, lying immediately to the east of Negros, from which it is separated by a strait from five to fifteen miles wide and over 100 miles in length. Sebu is 130 miles long and not more than twenty miles broad in its widest part and contains 2,275 square miles, or rather less than half the area of Negros. Several chains of mountains of no great height traverse it from north to south, but little is known of its geology except that it produces gold, silver, and lead, and has no active volcanoes. Coal occurs abundantly, and is of fairly good quality; but the complete neglect of all mineral wealth by the Spaniards is exhibited here as elsewhere. The inhabitants are almost exclusively Biscayans, but there are said to be a few Negritos. The population has greatly increased of late years, owing to the great development of the sugar and abaca cultivation, and now numbers 518,000, but locusts and low prices have recently dealt as heavy a blow to Sebu as to Panay. In all these islands sugar growing will probably give place to hemp or some more paying crop. In 1890 only 3,000 tons were exported, as against 11,000 tons in 1889, and while in the latter year thirty-four vessels— almost all of which were British — entered the port, the num- ber in 1890 only amounted to fourteen. The capital, Sebu, dignified by the title of city, is the oldest settlement in the Philippines, and was the seat of government until the founding of Manila. It was the first place of any importance visited by Magellan on his discovery of the group, and it was upon the little island of Mactan, which forms the harbor of Cebu, that he met with his death on the 27th of April, 1521. Fifty years later Legaspi planned and built the city. It is picturesquely situated and has a fine cathedral and several churches, but the population is not large. The island forms a province of itself, under the administration of a military governor. [Hongkong, 1895, Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan, etc.] The Island of Negros is extremely fertile and contributes three-fourths of the sugar shipped from Iloilo, the quality of which is excellent. [Stanford’s Compendium of Geography, Volume II, p. 80.] Negros lies to the southeast of Panay, from which it is separated by a strait about fifteen miles in width. It is 130 miles long and on the average about thirty miles wide. Its area is 4,650 square miles. Its coast is comparatively little broken by bays or inlets, and it has no good harbors. A central chain of mountains runs through its entire length. For the most part these are of 382 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. no height, but the Malaspina or Chalcon volcano, situated towards the northern end, forms an exception. Its height is estimated at 8,192 feet, and it is in a state of intermittent activity. Owing to the narrowness of the island, there are nc navigable rivers. The inhabitants are chiefly Biscayans, and number with the Negritos, from whose abundance the island received its name, about 226,000. The island is fertile, and produces sugar, rice, tobacco, and the textile abac-; and pina, and in common with Sebu and Samar a large amount of cocoa. Its coal mines appear to be no longer worked. The capital is Bacoled, on the west eoasi opposite to Iloilo, where the “politico-military” governor resides, and there an numerous large villages around the coast, though few in the interior. Hinigaran the former capital, contains over 12,000 inhabitants. [Stanford’s Compendium of Geography, Volume II, p. 34.] Lead occurs in Sebu, and iron ores are very abundant in Luzon and Min danao. That there are extensive coal measures in the archipelago there is littli doubt, but they have been little exploited, and coal forms one of the larges imports of the group. The Compostela mine only turned out 700 tons in 1881 As yet no deep shafts have been driven, and what has been obtained affords ver rapid combustion, and is not well suited for steamers. Sebu and Negros ar< especially rich in this product. Since the archipelago lies midway between tin great coal beds of northern Borneo and Formosa, it is probable that the minera will in future be worked to great advantage. [British Admiralty, Eastern Archipelago, Part I, Eastern Part, 1890.] Negros Island. — So called from the number of Negritos or Actas found on i by the Spaniards; is about 118 miles long, and, though larger than Sebu Island is neither so rich nor so populous. Its coast is very little broken by bays o inlets, and does not contain any good harbor. A central chain of mountains tud through it from north to south, which attains its greatest height toward th latter point. The rivers are but small, and unfit for the navigation of vessel of burden. The island produces the best cocoa in the Bisayas, besides rice, maize, suga: tobacco, cotton, and abaca (a variety of the banana plant from which Manil hemp is obtained). Note. — The Encyclopaedia Britannica says the population in 1887 was 175,000. [From same publication as above.] Sebu Island.-— Sebu is an island of some importance and interest, as its po RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 383 has been thrown open to foreign commerce. It is long and narrow, 111 miles in length, with a greatest width of eighteen miles in the northern part. A chain of mountains traverses the island through its entire length, containing beds of mineral coal, and, it is stated, veins of gold. The rivers are numerous but small, and generally unfit for either navigation or irrigation. With the exception of a few fine valleys, cultivation is confined mainly to the seaboard. The population of the island is estimated at 3S,000 souls. The chief exports are sugar, oil, hemp, tobacco, coffee, and pina silk. The chief imports are European goods, coal, and rice. [Note. — The Encyclopaedia Britannica says the population in 1867 was 462,000. Reclus gives it as 518,000. — E. H.] [By Sir John Bowring, London, 1859.] Speaking of minerals, it is stated that gold is found in many of the islands — “the mountains of Caraga and Zebu are the most productive. Many Indian fami- lies support themselves by washing the river sands. In the time of heavy rains gold is found in the streets of some of the pueblos when the floods have passed.” Iron is also found in various islands. “A coal mine is being explored in Guila Guila, in the Island of Zebu, on the River Manango, at a distance of about six miles from the town of San Nicholas, which has nearly 20,000 inhabitants, and is by far the largest town in the island. There are reported to be strata of coal from one to four feet in thickness.” Various copper mines have been worked from time immemorial, and favorable reports sent to Europe. [From the American Naturalist, September, 1886. — By J. B. Steere.] The south end of Negros has appeared, as we passed around it, a great stretch of grassy plains and hills, now dry and yellow, and burned over in some places. The mountains approach nearer at Dumaquete, and we could see forests on their heights. They were volcanic, and what we judged to be ancient lava streams extended down from a height of two or three thousand feet to near sea level, and with such an even grade that they looked like gigantic railroad embank- ments. * * * We found it (a variety of plant known as abaca, a so-called mineral hemp) growing luxuriously at a height of 3,000 feet, while those varie- ties used for food thrived best near sea level and in the greatest heat. * * * Deer and wild hogs were abundant. [From Travels in the Philippines. — By F. Jagor, London, 1875.] “Sebu, with a population of 34,000, is the chief town of the island of the 384 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. same name, the seat of government and of the bishop of the Biscayans, and within forty-eight milesf of Manila by steamer. It is as favorably situated with regard to the eastern portion of the Bisayan group as Iloilo is in the western, and is acquiring increased importance as the emporium for its products.” Among prod- ucts mentioned are sugar, tobacco, rice, coffee, wax, Spanish cane, and mother- of-pearl. “The Island of Sebu extends over seventy-five square miles. f A lofty mountain range traverses it from north to south, dividing the east from the west side, and its population is estimated at 340,000 — 4,533 to the square mile.f The inhabitants are peaceable and docile; thefts occur very seldom, and rob- beries never. Their occupations are agriculture, fishing, and weaving for home consumption. Sebu produces sugar, tobacco, maize, rice, etc., and, in the moun- tains, potatoes; but the rice produced does not suffice for their requirements, +here being only a little level land, and the deficiency is imported from Panay. The island possesses considerable beds of coal the full yield of which may now be looked for, as the duty on exports was abandoned by decree of the 5th of May, 1869. According to the Mineral Review, Madrid, 1866, the coal in Sebu is dry, pure, almost free of sulphur pyrites, burns easily and with a strong flame. The coal of Sebu is acknowledged to be better than that of Australia and Labuan, but has not sufficient heating power to be used unmixed with other coal on long sea vo} r ages. According to the catalogue of the products of the Philippines (Manila, 1866), the coal strata of Sebu have, at many places in the mountain range, which runs from north to south across the whole of the island, approached a thickness of two miles. The coal is of middling quality, and is burned in the Government steam works after being mixed with Cardiff. Average price, Sebu, $6 per ton. [From Oceanica. — By Elisde Reclus, New York, 1890.] The whole surface of the Philippines is essentially mountainous, the only plains that occur being the alluvial districts at the river mouths and the spaces left at the intersection of the ranges. Most of the surface appears to be formed of old rocks, especially schists, and, in the north of Luzon, granites. Extensive coal fields are found in the central islands, especially Cebu and Negros, and in many places these carboniferous beds seem to have been buried under more recent lavas. Later limestones have also been developed by the coral builders round all the seaboard, and there is clear evidence that along extensive stretches t Evidently German miles, of which 1 (linear)=4% statute. EESOUECES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 385 of the coast line these formations have been upheaved to a considerable height above sea level. They form at some points broad horizontal tables round the headlands, and here are found shells and other marine remains belonging to the same species still living in the surrounding waters. But about the Gulf of Davao, in South Mindanao, the contrary movement of subsidence has taken place, as shown by the dead or dying forests invaded by the sea. The Philippines abound in minerals. The natives collect gold in the alluvia of all the islands, but especially in the Province of Benguet, central Luzon, and about the northeast point of Surigao, in Mindanao. Copper is common in the Lepanto hills, bordering on the same central district of Luzon, where from time immemorial the natives have extracted the ore and wrought it into imple- ments and ornaments. The blacksmiths also have at hand an excellent iron ore for their arms and instruments. Cebu is said to contain lead glance yielding nearly half of its weight in pure metal, while the solfataras of many extinct volcanoes have formed inexhaustible deposits of sulphur. [Extracts from Letters of German Captains. XV, Hansa, Vol. 21, 1884, p. 147.] The harbor of Zebu, capital of the Philippine island of the same name, is formed by a very narrow arm of the sea separating the Island of Macton from that of Zebu. It has a northern and a southern entrance, both very small and narrow, especially the northern one, where it is quite impossible to pass by a vessel of over 200 or 300 tons. On the other hand, there would be no difficulty in passing even a larger ship in the southern entrance. There are for both entrances regularly appointed government pilots, who are supposed to be stationed in the northeast monsoon, near the light-house at the northern entrance, and in the southwest monsoon, near the beacons Norma and Lipata, at the southern entrance. When I came from Manila and passed the light-house at the northern entrance about 4:30 o’clock P. M., there was no pilot in sight (perhaps because it was Sunday), but as I had a good Spanish chart, and as the channel moreover is well indicated by buoys on both sides, I went on and got a pilot shortly before dark not far from the old tower Mandaui. This is the narrowest place of the channel, hardly wide enough for a larger ship lying at anchor to swing around. Although we now had the current against us, a light land breeze took us to a safe anchoring place. In the northeast monsoon the anchoring place southwest of the fort is in sixteen to twenty meters depth. Ships are moored with chains of about sixty meters each. There is a regular ebb and flood tide, but high and low water never coincide with the change of the current. 386 RESOUKCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. Besides, there seem to be, at the anchoring places of the larger ships, severa counter-currents (eddies), for the ships lie very uneasy, rolling from side to side and hardly have the chains been made clear during the day when there is anothe: half turn or round turn found in them in the morning. The best plan is, in case there is already a round turn in the chain, to mak the two chains fast together, and then to give plenty of play to one chain. Iiov great the strain is on a taut chain when the ship swings is shown by the far that from our starboard chain, which was pretty taut, a link two inches thiol was twisted loose and broken. If the chains had not been fastened together wi should have lost anchor and chain. There are three wharves here, hut only om of them, the one farthest east, is sometimes used by steamers and by sailin; vessels arriving with cargoes of rice and salt. For use by them there are twi iron mooring-buoys south of the wharf (bridge). * * * Hard wood is good and cheap. Calking work can be done by the natives forging, if not too expensive, by Chinese or natives. Fresh water, I am told, is paid for at the rate of $1 per barrel. We go all of our drinking water ourselves, partly from the well near the fort, partly fror that near St. Nicholas Church; the latter water is the better of the two. * * : —A. L. [Copy of cablegram received August 5, 1898, from naval attache at Paris.] Have received reliable information that the commander-in-chief (of) th German squadron in China recently forwarded to Berlin, Germany, extensiv report (of the) German engineer on mineral resources of the Philippine Islands particularly coal deposits, all of which described containing considerable sulphui excepting one deposit which, being free from sulphur, is necessary to the develop ment of the mineral resource. I can not give name of the island containing thi deposit. Note. — A later telegram from naval attache at Berlin states that the island abov referred to is probably Sebu. COAL AND PETROLEUM IN THE PHILIPPINES AND VICINITY. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., p. 749.] Minerals. — Though hitherto little advantage has been taken of its existenct there appears to be in several of the islands a fair amount of mineral wealtl Two coal fields are known to exist, one beginning in Caransan in the south c Luzon, and probably extending southward across the Strait of San Bernardin RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 387 to Catbalongan, in Samar, and another occupying the western slopes of Cebu and the eastern slopes of Negros, and thus probably passing under the Strait of Tahon. In the first basin there is a bed from ten to twelve feet thick cropping out of Gatbo, which has given good results as a fuel for steamboats; in the second Centeno reports at least five beds, of varying thickness and quality. The first discovery of the mineral was made in Cebu in 1827. Hitherto little success has attended the schemes of exploitation. [From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Coal, p. 59.] In the Dutch settlements, coal has been found in Sumatra and Borneo, the best known deposits being that at Pengaran, on the southeast of the latter island, where a mine has been worked by the Dutch authorities for several years. * * * In the British island of Labuan, off the north coast of Borneo, five workable seams, together about twenty-seven feet thick, are estimated to cover the whole island. The most important southern coal deposits, however, are those of Australia, which extend, with short intervals, from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Bass Straits. In the northern districts the distribution appears to be somewhat similar to that seen in South America, Secondary and Tertiary basins occupying the ground near the sea, while true carboniferous coal is found further inland. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., under Formosa, p. 416.] Coal, sulphur, and petroleum are the only mineral productions of Formosa which are known to exist in quantities sufficient to make them of economical importance. The principal coal fields are in the north of the island, near Kelung and Tam-sui, and the coal is all shipped in Ivelung Harbor: In 1873, 45,000 tons; in 1874, 15,221 tons; in 1875, 27,665 tons; in 1876, 31,593 tons. [From the Statesman’s Year-Book, 1898.] Gold mining is being carried on in Luzon with favorable prospects, and coal mining in Cebu, where, when arrangements for carriage are completed, the output is expected to be about 5,000 tons per month. Longman’s Gazetteer of the World, London, 1895, says that coal occurs in Luzon, Caransan, Negros, and Cebu. [Australasia, Vol. II, Guillemard. In Stanford’s Compendium of Geography, London, 1894.] Philippine Islands (p. 35). — That there are extensive coal measures in the 388 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. archipelago there is little doubt, but they have been little exploited, and coal forms one of the largest imports of the group. The Compostela mine (Zebu) only turned out 700 tons in 1881. As yet no deep shafts have been driven, and what has been obtained affords very rapid combustion and is not well suited for steamers. Zebu and Negros are especially rich in this product. Since the archi- pelago lies midway between the great coal beds of northern Borneo and For- mosa, it is probable that the mineral will in the future he worked to great advantage. Panay (p. 79). — Gold, copper, iron, and quicksilver have been found, and coal in Antique, but none of these are worked. Negros (p. 80). — Its coal mines appear to be no longer worked. Zebu (p. 81). — Coal occurs abundantly and is of fairly good quality, but the complete neglect of all mineral wealth by the Spaniards is exhibited here as elsewhere. Samar (p. 82). — Coal is found, but no attempt has been made to investi- gate the minerals of the island. Mindanao (p. 87). — It is probable that gold exists in tolerable quantities, and coal also. Java (p. 105). — Coal, indeed, is plentiful, but it is poor, occurs in thin strata, and hardly repays working. Sulphur is abundant, and a further exploitation of the mineral oils should give good results. (P. 138.) The mineral-oil lamps which light nearly every peasant’s hut con- sume over 20,000,000 gallons per annum. Concessions were granted in 1890, both in Java and Sumatra, for the working of petroleum, and the prospects are said to be very encouraging. Sumatra (pp. 208, 209). — The mineral wealth of Sumatra still remains for the most part undeveloped, although it is probable that before long the rich coal fields of Ombilin, which are situated toward the head waters of the Batang Hari, will be opened. They were discovered in 1869, and have been estimated by M. de Greve to contain 370,000,000 cubic meters. The mineral is of the Tertiary period, as it is probable that most of the Sumatran measures will prove to he. M. Forbes found coal in the Palembang district, and it exists near Malabu and other places in Ache. South of Padang, at Moko-moko, it is worked. * * * Concessions were granted in 1891 for working some petroleum wells lately dis- covered. Borneo (pp. 219-221). — The abundance and wide distribution of coal in RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 389 the islands is remarkable. In this respect Borneo is by far the richest of all the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Schwaner says: “The occurrence of coal is more widespread than one might be led to think by a first examination. In the whole of the hill formation it constitutes a most important and almost never-failing factor. All fissures and openings that have been made use of for the investigation of the underground geology have led to the discovery of coal seams, and even the banks of the great rivers disclose them in many places.” As far as is known, there is no coal of greater age than the Tertiary period. Most of it belongs to the Eocene, hut the brown coals of the Miocene also occur plentifully. Mr. Motley, in his report on the geology of Labuan and neighborhood, gives the following interesting description of its peculiarities: “The coal, dense and perfectly carbonized as it is, yet exhibits most unequivo- cally its vegetable origin, and not only that, but even the kind of vegetation of which it has been composed is evident from the most cursory inspection of the heaps of coal brought out of the levels. It is clearly the product not of a ibed of peat produced by the decay of small vegetation, but of a mass of huge timber. At least one-half of the mass displays the grain and structure of wood, and frequently it separates naturally into the concentric layers of dicotyledonous wood. All the specimens I have examined have exactly the structure of the dip- teraceous trees now forming the bulk of the timber growing above them. The trees must have been of vast dimensions. I traced one trunk upward of sixty feet, and for the whole of that distance it was not less than eight feet wide. * * H: ” It is remarkable that such an evidently recent formation should be so much upheaved, the coal measures of Labuan and Brunei dipping from an angle of 24° to nearly or quite vertical, the dip being north-northwest, or about at right angles to the direction of the great chain of mountains which rises nearly parallel to the coast. Mr. Motley’s account of this coal formation would lead us to conclude that dense tropical forests growing on an extensive plain or river delta have been suddenly overthrown by flood or earthquake, or by sudden depression of the land, and had been covered with a deposit of clays or sands. He well remarks on the quantities of trees and shrubs which in the tropics grow on the seashore, or even in the salt water, and thus accounts for the presence of marine shells in the shales, and even in the coal itself. (Pages 245-246.) The coal measures are practically inexhaustible, and have 390 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. been worked at various places in almost every part of the island, both by Europeans and natives. The results, however, have been almost uniformly unsuccessful, but this failure must be ascribed to the undeveloped state of the country and other causes of secondary importance, and the mines will doubtless be worked with remunerative results in the future. The “Julia Hermina” mine, near Banjar- masin, which promised well, was hardly completed when, in 1859, an insurrection took place, the European staff were murdered, and the works completely de- stroyed. The Pengoran coal mine, also in the neighborhood of Martapura, was commenced in 1848, but did not average a larger annual output than about 6,000 tons, and was abandoned in 1884, as was also the neighboring Asahan mine, which had been working fourteen years with much the same results. A mine was also working in Ivoti, abandoned, and once more reopened in 1886. In Sarawak the raja opened a mine on a tributary of the Sadong River in 1880, the prospects of which are promising, nearly 50,000 tons having been raised in 1886. He also purchased, two years later, a concession for the working of the seams at the mouth of the Brunei River. On the Island of Labuan is a mine, till lately abandoned, which has caused the failure of three or more companies, but is now being successfully worked; while in Pulo Laut, the large island at the southeast point of Borneo, about 5,000 tons are yearly raised by the natives and supplied to Dutch steamers. There is little doubt that petroleum, which has been found in many places, will eventually become a workable and most valuable product. Labuan (pp. 254-255). — The Island of Labuan is situated on the northwest coast of Borneo, opposite the mouth of Brunei Bay. * * * The coal mines are now being worked by the new Central Bornean Company, who have steamers running twice a month to Singapore. Celebes (p. 301). — Coal is found in various places in the Makassar district. (Page 304.) Coal of an inferior quality is found on the island. The Moluccas (p. 325). — Near Batjan are some coal mines which have been worked intermittently, though to no great profit, for nearly half a century. Obi Group (p. 326). — Coal and lignite exist, and probably gold, but no explorations have been made, and the existing charts of the island are extremely inaccurate. Ceram (p. 329). — Coal exists, but of what period does not seem clear. New Caledonia (p. 457). — Gold, antimony, mercury, silver, lead, copper, nickel, cobalt, and chrome have all been obtained, as well as coal of various kinds. * * * The coal beds are believed to occupy a very large area. Of late the Government RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 391 las charged itself with their exploration, and they are about to he worked; but litherto they have produced nothing for want of capital and proper labor. It is stimated that the coal, which is said to he of good quality, can be sold at Noumea or as low a price as 12 shillings per ton. [Coal Trade Journal, May 1, 1895, p. 349.] Coal Mining in the Philippine Islands. — The coal deposits in the Island of ■ebu are now being extensively developed. They are receiving the support of be Government in that they are giving preference to native over foreign coal. / [Hongkong, 1895, Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan, etc.] Sebu. — There are some very valuable and extensive coal deposits in the sland of Sebu, but the mines have not as yet been worked with any enterprise. [British Admiralty, Eastern Archipelago, Part I, Eastern Part, 1890.] Sebu Island. — A chain of mountains traverse the island through its entire ngth, containing beds of mineral coal. [Bowring, London, 1859.] Cebu. — A coal mine is being explored in Guila Guila, in the Island of Cebu, a the River Manango, at a distance of about six miles from the town of San icholas, which has nearly 20,000 inhabitants, and is by far the largest town of le island. There are reported to be strata of coal from one to four feet in liekness. [F. Jagor, London, 1875.] Sebu. — The island possesses considerable beds of coal, the full yield of which ay now be looked for, as the duty on exports was abandoned by decree on the h of May, 1869. According to the Mineral Review, Madrid, 1866, the coal in Sebu is dry, ire, almost free of sulphur pyrites, burns easily and with a strong flame. The al of Sebu is acknowledged to be better than that of Australia and Labuan, it has not sufficient heating power to be used unmixed with other coal on long a voyages. According to the catalogue of the products of the Philippines lanila, 1866), the coal strata of Sebu have, at many places in the mountain nge which runs from north to south across the whole of the island, approached thickness of two miles. The coal is of middling quality and is burned in the ivernment steam works after being mixed with Cardiff. Average price, Sebu, ;i per ton. 392 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. [From Oceanica, Elisee Reclus, New York, 1890.] Extensive coal fields are found in the central islands, especially in Cebu and Negros, and in many places these carboniferous beds seem to have been buried under more recent lavas. [Board of Trade Journal, London, May, 1898.] A dispatch, dated 6th April last, has been received at the foreign office from Her Majesty’s minister at The Hague, transmitting statement of the pro- duction of petroleum m the Dutch East Indies, according to which, in the course of the past year or two, there has been a considerable development of this industry, which promises to become very extensive. The prospective market for the product is a very large one, for not only among the natives of the Dutch East Indies is petroleum pretty sure to replace to a great extent the cocoanut oil now used for lighting purposes, but the whole of the eastern coasts of Asia, and especially China, will almost undoubtedly become consumers. The oil obtained in Sumatra is reported to be of excellent quality, with a higher flashing point and with a smaller loss in refining than the current American oils, while the cost of production is asserted to be materially lower than that of the latter. Among the most important enterprises lately brought before the Dutch public is the Mocara Enim concession in Sumatra. This concession appears to have been pitched upon by the well-known American monopoly, the Standard Oil Company, for the purpose of obtaining a footing in Netherlands India. Proposals were made to and entertained by the board of the Mocara Enim Company by representatives of the Standard Oil Company, which would have had the effect of bringing the first-named company’s operations directly under the control of the latter, and a general meeting of the shareholders of the Mocara Enim Company was advertised to have been held in the last days of February last for the purpose of ratifying the proposed agreement. Immediately before the day fixed for the meeting, however, the board of the Mocara Enim Company received from the Netherlands colonial minister a cate- gorical declaration to the effect that the company’s concession, which is of a preliminary nature only, would not be ratified should the company be placed under the control of the American monster monoply. The meeting had in conse- quence to be postponed. It is understood that negotiations with the Standard Oil Company have been RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 395 ■oken off for the present; hut it is stated that the latter company had already irchased a considerable interest in the Mocara Enim Company. Since the interference of the colonial minister the Royal Netherlands Mroleum Company, for the exploitation of petroleum wells in the East Indies, lich is the principal undertaking of that nature in Sumatra, has also made pro- isals to the Mocara Enim Company with a view to a practical amalgamation. As yet, however, no decision has been arrived at by either company as to e course to be adopted, but it is thought probable that a meeting of the Mocara n im Company will be held shortly. Cebu. — The two coal mines situated in the east coast of the Island of Cebu e said to yield sufficient coal to supply the local demand, and the quality is ited to be a little inferior to Australian and better than Japanese. Amour Valley. — The Amour Valley and those of several of its tributaries e ric-h in coal. In the valley of the Zeya, near its confluence with the Selendja, found an inferior mineral, and in the Boureya Valley almost vertical seams five been proved in three or four places. In the neighborhood of Innokentieva, i the Amour, several lignite seams three feet thick are worked by the inhah- mts, and on the lower Amour a series of seams, together six and one-half feet iek, has been discovered. Near Vladivostok coal deposits abound, while they also cur on the shores of the Japan Sea. Sakhalin. — Coal has been largely worked for forty years in Sakhalin, and the present time attention is being especially directed to the deposits discovered the immediate neighborhood of the gold mines on the shores of the Okhotsk Sea. [Engineering, London, August 12, 1898.] Gold is also found in some quantity, and there are two coal mines situated i the east coast of the Island of Cebu, which yield sufficient coal to supply the cal demand, and the quality is stated to he little inferior to Australian and better an Japanese. [Advance Sheets of Consular Reports, No. 131, June 3, 1898.] Ambassador Hay sends from London, under date of May 18, 1898, a pamphlet, jritten by Mr. Frank Karuth, F. R. G. S., entitled A New Center of Gold reduction, describing conditions in the Philippines. Mr. Karuth, who is presi- ;nt of the Philippines Mineral Syndicate, Limited, says in the letter to Arn- issador Hay accompanying the pamphlet: * * * I do not know of the occurrence of true coal in the islands. The 396 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. beds which have been intermittently worked in the islands of Cebu and Mas! consist of lignite of very good quality. Some years ago large outcrops of such c were found near the beach in the Island of Masbate; but most of it, which col be got without mining, has been removed for the use of interinsular steamers. ( ; of the syndicate’s engineers, a man of experience as manager of coal mines i Lancashire, found Masbate coal quite useful for steamers. He calculates i quantity of coal available in a concession of about sixty acres at 1,200,000 to, The Masbate beds are so tilted as to form an angle of 70° with the horizon! * * * Masbate. — The coal which up to present times has been found in the Phil ■ pine Islands is not true coal, but lignite, probably of the Tertiary period, and o i variety which can scarcely be distinguished by the eye from true coal. There i no reason why true coal should not eventually be found, for it is found and worl 1 in Japan, whose geological formation has much in common with that of is Philippines. There has been no systematic search made in these islands for cc, and wherever it has been found it has betrayed its presence by outcrops. Th , in the Island of Masbate, a local steamship owner drew his supplies from a t. of coal which is so tilted as to have the appearance of a vein. He suppli. himself as long as his native laborers could get the coal with crowbars. Mr. Hilton, who examined this bed cursorily, estimated the available quant of coal at about 600,000 tons in that particular concession. He is, however, opinion that very much larger quantities are available in adjoining concession These mines are practically untouched, and, as they are situated within a f miles of the coast, they can be worked at a profit by whomsoever should venti to introduce the necessary capital. Mr. Hilton, after trying it in a local steam gives it the character of a “very good steam coal.” A similar quality of lign has recently been found in the district where the Philippines Mineral Syndic! is now working, and it will soon be tried for the production of steam. Cebu. — The only coal deposits which have been to a certain extent develop in the Philippine Archipelago, and of which a scientific and reliable record exi ) in the shape of a report by the chief inspector of mines, Senor Enrique Abe y Casariego, are those in the Island of Cebu. This report is embodied in a wo: entitled Rapida Descripcion Fisica, Geologica y Minera de la Isla de Cebu (Are! pelago Filipino). * * * The coal deposits of Cebu were first examined 1855 by the Government mining engineer, Senor Hernandez, who, without he tation, described the coal as “lignita” (lignite). A few years later, howev, another Government engineer, Senor Centeno, declared the formation in whi RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 397 the coal occurs to belong to the true carboniferous system, and proclaimed the discovery of a true coal field of large dimensions, the eastern rim of which cropped out in the Island of Cebu, while its western rim came to the surface in the Island of Negros. Analysis proved Senor Centeno to be in the wrong, for the contents — or carbon — of the coal of Cebu do not exceed 54 per cent, against the mini- mum of 75 per cent, which true coal contains. Senor Abella describes the Cebu coal as lignita pieiformes (pitchy lignite), very black, and in some instances resembling cannel coal. In carefully conducted official trials, best Cebu coal figured as follows in relation to good Australian and British coal, viz., 156 parts Cebu equal to 147 parts Australian and 121 parts British coal. The carboniferous formation extends over the greater part of the Island of Cebu. From Balamban and Sogod, as far as Malabuyuc and Bojoon, a distance of over fifty miles, there is scarcely a village that has not its show of coal out- crops. These have been worked on many points, and the aggregate amount of development is not inconsiderable. At one time the Government attached so much importance to the coal deposits in Cebu that it established a monopoly, but this was soon abandoned and the industry thrown open to all comers. For a time coal mining in Cebu became quite a rage, any number of concessions were taken up, and several companies established for their development. In one or two cases a considerable amount of capital was expended. Although faults frequently occur, large quantities of workable coal were found; but the absence of roads, and the necessity of invest- ing large sums in railways, in order to meet the competition from England, Aus- tralia and Japan, soon caused a reaction and put a stop to the industry. The present annual production of Cebu does not meet one-tenth of the demand of Manila, where the annual consumption of coal exceeds 60,000 tons * * * In the mines of TTlung five beds have been ascertained to occur, measuring, respect- ively, 3 feet 8 inches, 3 feet 8 inches, 3 feet 8 inches, 5 feet 8 inches, 5 feet.* ******:£ [Advance Sheets of Consular Reports, No. 152, June 28, 1898.] On the small Island of Batan, to the southeast of Luzon, just through the Straits of San Bernardino, there are extensive coal deposits, now worked by * Note by Mr. Karuth. — True coal has not been found as yet in the islands. All the coal mined in Cebu, Masbate, and elsewhere is “lignite” of very good quality, but want- ing the proportion of carbon which is characteristic of true coal. True coal will perhaps be found in the islands of Mindero and Mindanao. 398 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. Messrs. Gil Hermanos, of Virao, Island of Catanduanes. This coal is used by their own steamer Josefa Gorrono, plying around the coast of Catanduanes, and occasionally coming to Manila with hemp, and also by other local steamers. The mine is called Yisaya, and stocks of coal are generally on the beach. There is a safe anchorage for vessels close by during the northeast monsoon. In the south- west monsoon vessels can anchor anywhere around in smooth water. The coal is not equal to Japanese, hut is good enough for emergency and easily obtainable. The mines are situated in latitude 13° 15" north, longitude 130° 16" east (meridian of San Fernando), approximately. Other extensive coal mines are also being worked in the village of Com- postela, close to the city of Cebu. This coal is of superior quality and stocks are always available. [China Sea Directory, London, 1889, and Supplement, 1893.] Northwest Coast of Borneo (p. 145). — Coal is obtained from mines in the vicinity of Muara Harbor. (Supplement, 1893, says: “These mines are known as the Brooketown collieries. The seam being worked is twenty-eight feet thick. There are many coal seams in the vicinity of Muara River.”) The mines now being worked (1888) are connected by a tramway with the pier at the village, and are one mile distant from it. The coal is light, very friable, but of good quality, and is delivered on board for $6 per ton. Quantities from 500 to 2,000 tons are kept in store, under cover. Two fifty-ton schooners and a small tug are available for coaling vessels at the anchorage, and sixty tons can be put on board from them in twelve hours, the coal being taken off in bulk and put on board in baskets. In February, 1888, the principal mine was on fire; but as coal seams varying in thickness from eighteen to twenty-five feet, running in a north by east and south by west direction have been found between Bruni Bluff and Pisang Mount, and are believed to exist from the town of Bruni northward to the sea, the supply in this district, as soon as the necessary mining skill and money are forthcoming, may be said to be jmactically inexhaustible. The annual output of the mines, worked with the present crude means, is 10,000 tons, the depth as reached being eighty-five feet. About 220 Malays are employed. Labuan (p. 158). — A large supply of coal obtained from the coal mines at the north end of the island was formerly kept in store in Victoria Harbor; latterly about 300 tons obtained from the Muara coal mines has been usually kept in stock and put on board in baskets, either from the jetty or from lighters, at $7 a ton. The attendance of lighters can not always be depended on. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 399 Tong-King (p. 42, supplement).— Coal mines have been found a few miles off Mines River, east of Hongai Bay or Port Courbet. A railway about four miles in length connects the Nagotna mine with the port jetty, and a large output was anticipated in 1891, something approaching 800 tons daily. The coal is said to be of good quality. A steamer of 2,000 tons burden can lie afloat at the jetty, and there is a good workshop for small repairs. Tong-King (p. 486). — Several channels lead from Fai tsi long Bay, past Colosse Island, 738 feet high, to Kehao, where important coal beds have been found similar to those at Port Courbet. Borneo (p. 4). — Borneo appears to he rich in minerals. In the state of Landak the great diamond of the rajah of Matan was found. The territory of Montrado, north of Landak, has several gold mines. In British North Borneo gold, copper, tin, and coals have been found. In Province Dent a seam of coal rises to the surface and is said to he of excellent quality. China Sea (p. 6). — Coals can be obtained at the following ports: Sarawak, Muara Harbor, Labuan, Kudat Harbor, Manila, Port Sual, Bangkok, Saigon, I Touron Bay, and Hoihau Bay. Northwest Luzon (p. 347). — Coals are brought from Lingayen to Sual at $18 the ton. Anam, China, latitude 16° N., longitude 107° E. (p. 461). — At Hong Sone, two days’ journey to the southwest of Touron, is a considerable coal mine. The coal obtained from it burns quickly when used by itself; its price in 1883 was 29 shillings the ton. [Eastern Archipelago, Part I. (Eastern Part), 1890. (British Admiralty).] Negros (p. 247).- — Layers of coal have recently (1879) been discovered in this part of Negros, and outcrops of coal have been found in the rivers which enter the sea near the towns of Calatrava and Talahe. [Isaac M. Elliott, ex-U. S. Consul at Manila, in Scribner’s Magazine for July, 1898, Manila and the Philippines, p. 19.] Mindoro. — The mineral wealth of these islands is not believed to he of great importance, although vast regions are practically unexplored. Gold has been found, but not in paying quantities. A discovery of immense value was made a few years ago in an accidental manner. The American ship Richard Parsons was wrecked on the western coast of the Island of Mindoro. Captain Joy, of Nantucket, Mass., and his crew were forced to cross to a port on the eastern coast in order to reach any vessel that could carry them to Manila. To do this they 400 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. made a seventeen days’ journey through the wilderness and over a range of moun- tains. In these mountains they came upon great ledges of coal, which are out- cropping, and thousands of tons had broken off and accumulated at the base of the cliffs. On hearing of this discovery the Spanish Government immediately confiscated the lands, but they have never done anything toward developing this great deposit of coal. All the coal now used in the islands is imported from Australia. [Johnson’s Cyclopedia, New York, 1894.] Japan. — Coal is largely worked on the northern coast of Kiushiu (Nagasaki, Karatsu), and "in Yezo (Poronai). [W. B. Williams, President. Wm. Jamison, Secretary.] Hiteman Miners’ Committee, Hiteman, Iowa, May 31, 1898. Dear Sir: I made suggestions to our Representative in Congress (J. F. Lacey) that it would be to the advantage of our Government if they would send an organ- ized company of miners to the Philippine Islands to help establish and maintain order in those islands, and when that is done that we look after the mineral resources of the country. Inclosed you will find his reply, which is confidential. I shall now try to explain why I think it would he of benefit to us to control the coal mines in those islands. In the first place, the mines there have not been developed, for the reason that under the Spanish only they were taxed so that it was impossible to successfully work them. In Caransan there is quite a coal basin — this is south of Manila — and in the upper part of the Island of Luzon* there are several veins of coal, which is of good quality; in some respects it is superior to the coal from Vancouver. Now, if we hold those islands and this mineral exists there, I think it would certainly show bad management on the part of our Government if we neglected to make use of it. And if we could supply coal for our vessels in the Indian Ocean from the coal mines in the Philippines it would be a great saving to the Government and also be an incentive to enterprise and industry. Now, Mr. Curtis, from reading your letters in the Record for the past four years, I know you are in a position so that you can call the attention of the proper authorities to the suggestions which I advance, and if I have the sanction of the authorities, I can organize a com- plete company of miners, from mining engineers to mule drivers, and all of the skilled labor needed around a coal mine, and if it is not too much trouble I wish ♦Probably the mines near Lingayen are meant. — E. H. RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 401 y.L would call some of the officials’ attention to this matter. I am no father’s sc, hut I am an American. Respectfully, yours, WM. JAMISON. WLLIAM E. CURTIS, Chicago Record. Hiteman, Iowa, September 1, 1898. : iB. Bradford, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: My information in regard to coal in the Philippines has been :iied by intimate acquaintance with a Swede miner named Swanson, who had eked for some English company in their mines north of Manila. He left here c e five w r eeks since, and said he was going back to the islands if he could ’( >ibly get there. Respectfully, yours, WM. JAMISON. [Copy of cipher cablegram received August 5, 1898, from naval attache at Paris.] Have received reliable information that the commander-in-chief (of) the nman squadron in China recently forwarded to Berlin, Germany, extensive re irt (of the) German engineer on mineral resources of the Philippine Islands, aieularly coal deposits, all of which described containing considerable sulphur, x pting one deposit, which being free from sulphur is necessary to the develop- ii t of the mineral resources. I can not give name of the island containing this e >sit. OTE — A later telegram from naval attache at Berlin states that the island above 3l 'red to is probably Sebu. B R. von Drasche, published in Proceedings of the Royal Geological Service, Vienna, Austria, March 7, 1876, p. 251.] Reference to coal mines of Bakon, in the extreme southeast of the Island of >n; no details given. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. [Johnson’s Universal Cyclopedia (1895). — Article revised by C. C. Adams.] A group of over 400 islands, extending across 16 degrees of latitude, between nosa, and the Muluccas, and forming the northern part of the Malay Archi- Uo. The largest are Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Mindoro, Panay, Leyte, Negros, aiate, and Sebu. The total area is estimated at 114,326 square miles, all under aiish rule and divided into forty-three provinces. Population about 7,000,000. fi Philippine Islands are of volcanic origin. Active volcanoes are found through- RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 402 out the whole group, such as Mayon iu Luzon and Buhayan in Mindanao, ai earthquakes are frequent and often violent. In 1863 Manila, the capital of Luzc was nearly destroyed, and in 1864 the whole province of Zamboanga, in Mindam was fearfully devastated. The soil is exceedingly fertile, and, as water is abundai both in lakes and rivers, and the climate is hot and moist, vegetable life reach here an almost gigantic development. The mountains, rising to a height of 7,000 feet, are covered to their very to with forests of immense trees, yielding excellent timber and many of the m< valuable sorts of wood. Teak, ebony, cedar, and gum trees, iron and sapan wo are interspersed with breadfruit and cocoanut trees, oranges, citrons, mango, tan rinds, and other varieties of fruit trees, the whole hound together with floati garlands of huge climbing plants and brilliant parasites. On the extensive slo] and in the valleys are cultivated abaca, or hemp, of which about 65,000 tons : annually exported. In 1890 8,000 tons of tobacco and 110,000,000 cigars w« exported. The other products are cotton, sugar, coffee, indigo, rice, wheat, mai , pepper, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, etc. Of dangerous wild beasts there t none; oxen, buffaloes, horses, goats, sheep, and swine of peculiar but excellent bre< i are extensively reared; deer, wild hoars, pheasants, ducks, and fine fish are abi ■ dant; the forests swarm with monkeys, squirrels, parrots, sunbirds, and bees; 1: jungles with lizards, snakes, tarantulas, mosquitoes, and other insects. Gold i found, also iron, copper, coal, vermilion, saltpeter, quicksilver, sulphur (in lau quantities both pure and mixed with copper or iron) mother-of-pearl, coral, amt, and tortoise shell. The Philippine Islands were discovered in 1521 by Magellan, who died h i in the same year, and a few years later the Spaniards, under Villalobos, took p ■ session of the group and named it in honor of King Philip II. of Spain. 1,1 inhabitants consist partly of Negritos, who have woolly hair and other charact- istics of the negro, and seemed to have formed the aboriginal population. Tlj live in the interior, are repulsive and savage in aspect, and roam in bands. Tin are only a few thousand pure-blood Negritos left, as they have long been in proof of extermination by the Malay immigrants, or of absorption through cross-breed f with other peoples. The Malays are in a large part Roman Catholics, settled t villages, and engaged in agriculture and fishing. They possess many fine branci of industry, as, for instance, their beautiful mats and their elegant linen fabii and they imitate European industry, shipbuilding, leather dressing, carriage buj ing, etc., with great success. TEe Chinese and the mestizos, descended from Chiu fathers and native mothers, are mostly engaged in commerce. Very few Spanifi RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 403 reside in the islands, bnt the Chinese are very numerous, and natives of the Malayan race form the vast majority of the population. ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE ON PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. [In Longman’s Gazetteer of the World, London, 1895.] Minerals: Gold (Luzon, Benguer, Vicols, Mindanao, Misamis, Surigao); galena (50 per cent pure); copper (arsenical pyrites, 16 per cent pure copper, Luzon, Lepanto, Camarines, Masbate, Panay); coal (Luzon, Cavansan [Carausan?], Negros, Cebu); sulphur (Leyte). Products: Hemp, sugar, tobacco (only cultivated in all the Philippines since 1882), coffee (principally since 1880), woods, rice, some cacao, cotton. Only one- fifth of the islands are under cultivation. Industries: Making cigars, abaca tissues, straw hats, perfumes, sugar (£2,500,000 exported). Imports: Food, dress materials, fuel, arms, machinery, and iron. Commerce: Greatest with England, then United States, Spain, and Germany. Exports and imports: 1891, £10,000,000; 1892, £12,500,000. Railroad: Manila to Dagupan, seventy miles. Telegraph: Seven hundred and twenty miles; also cable to Hongkong. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. [From Engineering, London, August 12 , 1898 .] The present state of affairs in the Philippine Islands naturally directs atten- tion to the condition of their trade and causes speculation to be made regarding its future. A glance at the map shows that their geographical, and therefore their political, position is very important. They, along with Borneo, form the eastern shores of the South China Sea, which are therefore one-half Spanish and one-half British, while the British Malay Peninsula and French Cochin China form the western shores, with Hongkong, our chief far Eastern possession, at the head of this narrow storm-tossed sea. Not only do they form an important station in the far Eastern seas, and a step to the vast population of China, but their great natural resources cause them to he a most desirable possession; so that from various points of view it is of the utmost importance that they should not fall into the hands of any foreign power except America or Britain, either of which would not only develop their natural resources, but also use them for 404 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. the purpose of maintaining an “open door” for the commerce of all countries with the far East. The Germans are beginning to express the opinion that they do not possess their legitimate share of the world, and to insist that in any new partition of any part of the earth they should get their fair share. They are supposed to have cast longing eyes on the Philippines, but they are not likely to interfere by force, for they know that such a step would immediately open up a very large question, and nothing has happened in connection with the recent events which gives them any grounds for diplomatic intervention, which the United States would be certain to resent. It is, indeed, probable that the real difficulties of the United States will only begin when they have made peace with Spain. If we are to judge from the opinions expressed in the American journals, the future government of the Philip- pines is very uncertain. The New England press, as a whole, is decidedly opposed to the permanent holding of the islands. It is pointed out that under the Con- stitution there is no machinery for the government of 8,000,000 or 10,000,000 of people who could not be admitted to citizenship. Moreover, the possession of the islands would rend the Monroe doctrine from top to bottom, and would tell very much against the United States in any difficulty with a foreign power. On the other hand, some influential journals favor annexation and main- tain that the time has come when America must abandon her isolation and join in the universal search for markets and footholds in distant parts of the world. They maintain that the possession of the Philippines would support an Asiatic fleet and give the United States a better position among the nations of the world, not only by increasing their commerce in the far East, but generally by enabling them to take that place among nations which the wealth, population, and mental resources of the country entitle it to. The Pacific coast papers are specially eager in the matter, and insist that with an important station in the far East, San Francisco and the Pacific coast as a whole would become, in time, nearly as impor- tant as is the East now. American merchants and manufacturers, under the pro- tection of the Stars and Stripes, would develop the riches of the islands and create an immense field for commercial enterprise. Those journals not in favor of annexation are of opinion that the island should be transferred to England or Japan, whose interests are essentially the same as those of the United States. Such a step, however, would at once raise the opposition of Russia, and, probably, also of Germany and France. The well-known Russian journal, the Novoe Yremya, had the following remarks on the subject: EESOUECES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 405 “It looks as if the settlement of the question of the fate of the Philippine stands will be prolonged for some time to come, since all the powers that have ny use of their hands take a keen interest in this ripe and tempting bunch of rapes. The future fate of the Philippines can he assumed in the following lanner: Firstly, the United States can rest content with Cuba, and leave the hilippines to Spain; secondly, Spain may retain the Philippines, hut under the aaranty of the United States the necessary reforms shall be introduced into le islands; thirdly, the Philippines might he given up by Spain, and then estab- sh a more or less independent republic under the protection of the United States; id, fourthly, the Philippines can be annexed by the United States on the ground ' enjoyment of the rights of a separate State. The last solution of the question ems to us the least likely to he carried into effect if one takes into consideration e distance of the islands from the American continent, the general predilection i the part of Americans to observe the Monroe doctrine, and the numerous popula- m of the islands; this population can scarcely be expected to allow themselves be turned into American citizens without a struggle.” "Whatever solution is arrived at, the writer thinks it desirable that Eussia ;ould have a coaling station in the Philippines. As the war between Japan id China started a great many important questions, so in like manner is that 'tween the United States and Spain certain to raise some new factors in the tmplex game which is being played in the far East. The rebels against Spain in the Philippines evidently mean to insist on a mblic under the protection of the United States, an arrangement which they t'j will not disturb the balance of influence in the far East, and they promise t respect and protect the interest of all powers. They remember, they say, that 1 5 Japanese are their kinsmen; that England is the great nation that commands per cent of their import trade, and whose capital is invested to so large an e;ent in their undertakings; that America is their principal market for the export ( sugar and hemp; that Germany -and France are now opening up considerable t de, and that Eussia, Austria, and Italy have no business connections in the ;:mds. The principal articles imported into the islands include: From Spain, printed cton cambrics, colored yarns, gunny bags, hats, umbrellas, leather goods, most o the wine, comestibles, etc., lentils, pulse, beans and beer; from the United Iigdom goods made of fine yarns, such as muslins, etc., printed jaconets, corru- ged and sheet iron for roofing, cast-iron and yellow-metal goods, earthenware, t ned provisions, ham, bacon, and flour; from Germany, hardware and galvanized 406 RESOURCES OF THE PHILIPPINES. and enameled iron goods, cutlery, paints and oils, and beer; from the United States, practically all the flour consumed on the Manila market. The protective tariff, which came into force in 1891, has caused a large and steadily increasing quantity of the trade in cotton goods and yarns to be diverted from the United Kingdom to Barcelona, and has also put a stop, practically, to the import oi linen goods. Gunny bags, which used to be imported from Calcutta, come nov almost exclusively from Barcelona, and Spain likewise provides the greater pari of the comestibles, wine, etc., for the same reason. The staple products and prin- cipal articles of export from the Philippines are tobacco (leaf and cigars), sugar hemp, and copra; and of minor importance, coffee, sapan wood, and buffalo hides There is a large quantity of sugar machinery imported into the Philippine! every year, mostly of British manufacture; but lately German manufacturers havi been sending out some burnished mills, which have taken the fancy of many o the native planters, who like show and also long credit. The natural product; of the islands are timber, including many valuable woods yielding resins, gums dye products, fine-grained ornamental wood, and heavy timber suitable for build ing purposes, copper, and copper and iron pyrites. Gold is also found in som quantity, and there are two coal mines situated on the east coast of the Islam of Cebu, which yield sufficient coal to supply the local demand, and the quality i stated to be little inferior to Australian and better than Japanese. The report on the trade and commerce of the Philippine Islands for th year 1897, by Mr. Consul Rawson Walker, contains a considerable amount of infoi mation, but as it was written before the arrival of the United States fleet, many o the conditions are now completely changed. The most interesting feature in tli report is a plan of the new harbor works at Manila, and which in the intervf have been the scene of such important events. It is stated that when the wort are completed at the port of Manila, there will be abundance of room, not onl for men-of-war, but for all kinds of mercantile craft seeking to discharge fchei cargoes, or coming in ballast seeking freight. The possession of this harbor wi add to the value of the Philippines as a naval and commercial station. BOOK V. HE ISTHMIAN CANALS. THE WATERWAYS TO OUR TROPICAL POSSESSIONS, EAST AND WEST. INTRODUCTION. The debate about the expansion of the United States that so largely occupies the attention of our own people goes on in all civilized and semi-barbarous coun- tries. More than ever before in the records of the nations the great powers of Europe are interested in the extension, organization and cultivation of their colonies. Those who have the largest area of possessions that are not contiguous — the scraps of distant continents and islands remote, especially in the tropics — are the most eager of the expounders and the exemplars of expansion. The only country in which there is any misgiving that appears prominently in public discussion about the pursuit of this policy is our own. There has been something of hesitation in Germany and France, but that has passed away. Italy has had a bitter experience in Africa, hut she has a grand passion to possess a piece of China and is anxious to advertise her solicitude. There is no need to speak in detail of the imperial policy of Great Britain and Russia. Germany is eagerly in the market for the few remnants we did not insist upon taking of the groups of islands that were, after she lost her continents, the pride of Spain. There is no sensitiveness in any part of the world about the great powers absorbing the smaller ones except among the professors of statesmanship in the United States; and it is safe to say that no other nation has a Colonial System ready made and long tried that is in all respects as available and susceptible to the legitimate influences of public opinion, as that which we have, in the Government of the territories under the laws of Congress and the adminis- tration of the President. There are excellent and conclusive examples in our his- tory of the success of this form of government over territories and of people that it is not the national policy to permit to become states. The peculiar distinction of our States — that element in them that makes them sovereign, subordinate only to the nationality of all the States — gives scope and verge for the expansion of our boundaries without embarrassment of the General Government, and for the consid- eration — to use the phrase of ex-President Harrison — of “the quality as well as the numbers” of the inhabitants. The singular sentimentality, that has had many deliverances in opposition to our own occupation of our conquests from Spain, and that has insisted strangely and with a ludicrous obstinacy in repetition, that we have been conquering archipelagoes simply through benevolence based upon infinite charity, without other selfishness than that which arises from the due consideration of our health, is something that has come down to us in a thin streak from former generations. The persons and the views, both rather cloudy in mind and will and 409 410 INTRODUCTION. uncertain in attention, that have formed this milky way so that it shows faintly upon the sky that arches our imperial domain, is made of the individualities that perpetually yield to an instinct that guides and drives them into the minorities that look on and scold, while the majorities in their masterful way that is demo- cratic and according to the forms that are republican, “order and command,” the procession of the events that mark progress. The fact that we send troop ships from both our ocean fronts to the luxuriant archipelago that borders the sea of China on the east, and that our ships going east and west meet in the harbor of Manila, girdling the earth in doing so, is of universal fame. The attention of all enlightened peoples is directed by these political, military and naval phenomena, to the Isthmus of Suez and the Isthmus of Darien, the links — would that they were missing — that bind the southern con- tinents of America and Africa to the dominant North and vast and ancient Asia; and there is a consensus of opinion uniting the living nations that at last we must have another isthmian ship canal. One cannot look upon a map of the world with- out the conviction that the Isthmus of Darien will be cut through, as that the Suez Isthmus has been severed, and that the United States of America with her ocean and sea and lake boundaries, has the greater responsibility to press this gigantic work, for we would have the greater profit of it, not merely in the prosperity of commerce, but in the strength of our situation. Beyond this, the waterways around the earth, now no longer in dreamy contemplation, but matters of urgency, will aid all" the good works of men by making, the nations more neighborly. The Suez Canal is one of the wonders of enterprise successful in proportion to its magnitude, and the expansion of America — and the bugles have sounded it, as a movement that can never be recalled — has made definite and certain that one of the proposed Darien canals, the Panama or the Nicaragua, between the greater ocean of the globe and the Mediterranean of our hemisphere, must and shall soon be constructed. We do not enter upon the question of precedence between the Panama and Nicaragua schemes, but consider carefully in the occupancy of space the equities, just as if there were no embarrassing conditions — nothing but the physical obstacles to be overcome — giving the larger share to the Panama route because lately it has been least before our people; and the mystery of the omission of Congress to act, we have tried to clear away pro bono publico. There is a question of stock companies and inter- national principles that must be decided before we are committed to one project or the other. We shall probably have to wipe out a few corporations and promote the negotiation, ratification and execution of honest and substantial treaties that we may plant our inevitable millions — perhaps more than one hundred of millions — under an unclouded title upon indestructible foundations. biLH-OIid i Ilia .fHJ, HOIHM S.I OOHTVYJT v *TO ! A MALAY CHIEF OF MAGIBON, JOLO PROVINCE, WITH HIS FAMILY AND SERVITORS. NATIVE WOMAN’S DRESS, MANILA. TYPES OF FILIPINO WOMEN. CHAPTER I. THE PANAMA CANAL. The Two Mediterraneans — The Era of Enterprise in the World’s Waterways — The New Panama Company — Immense Work Done — Steady Prosecution of the Task — More than Three Thousand Men Employed in Excavating — The Curiously Interesting Story of the Canal — The Misfortune of the De Lesseps Failure Not Final — Facts and Figures That Should Restore the Faded Interest of the American People. There are two Mediterranean seas — one in the Eastern and one in the Western hemisphere. That situated between Europe and Africa and bounding Central Asia on the west from Egypt to the Hellespont is the ocean of the ancients whose history is most familiar to us — the seat of the sea power of the earlier empires — transpierced in the center by the Italian peninsula, with the Island of Sicily, for which the Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans fought, until Rome became the master of the world that surrounded the sea that was in the middle of the earth. Africa seems to hang to Asia by a narrow neck of land, and swing in the abyss of the Southern Oceans — a vast river, the Nile, flowing north from South Africa to the historic Mediterranean, the other great channels of African drainage pouring their floods into the Atlantic. Through the Isthmus of Suez is excavated the most famous of canals, and it has become the key to the British Empire, committed now to hold Egypt as long as she governs India, and cares for her commerce in Asiatic waters. We, the people of the United States, have a deeper interest in the haunts of the ancients than in other days, when we study the voyages of our regiments by way of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal en route in our troopships for Manila. The canal between Africa and Asia has become a highroad for our ships and troops from Atlantic shores to our new possessions on the other side of the world. The Gulf of Mexico is the American Mediter- ranean, North America on the north, and South America on the south, the peninsulas of Florida and Yucatan with the Island of Cuba separating the huge Gulf from the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The correspondence between the two Mediterranean seas, that of the old world, from which Columbus came and that of the new he discovered, is in many respects remarkable. No map of the world fails to make conspicuous the two seas that are central to the old and the new. South America seems suspended like a prodigious pendulum, as we turn 413 414 THE PANAMA CANAL. a model of the globe, by the Isthmus of Darien, to North America, whose gigantic arctic region is fixed in eternal ice; and the construction of a canal uniting the American Mediterranean with the Pacific, as that of Suez with the old Mediter- ranean by way of the Eed Sea with the Indian Ocean, and that, by the Sea of China with the Pacific, has ceased to be of dreams like those of flying to the moon, and is a colossal enterprise, not only an ultimate hope, but an improvement certain of execution at no very distant day. There is Capital and Labor to do it, and the first difficulty is the obstinate and momentous one of the choice of routes. There are rival plans, the Panama and the Nicaragua. The latter has absorbed the greater attention in America, the former in Europe. It is probable that sooner than would be readily conjectured, both will be completed and in competi- tion until they find it reasonable and profitable to adopt the railroad trunk-line transcontinental policy, fixing rates to improve the standing of the stock, repre- senting tremendous investments. Once it was a wonder that there should be a railroad across the continent of North America. Now the average citizen does not know the number of lines that bind our dominions in bonds of steel, and span our Rocky Mountains and alkali plains with such ease of transfer that we cease to compute them as elevations or spaces, save as in distance measured by time, the freight rates and car fare. If the Isthmus of Darien had been a sandy plain like that of Suez, it would have been cut through by a ship canal long ago, and the thoroughfare undoubtedly the property of England, possibly with France for a partner, but the English would have had the majority interest in navigation, the greater weight of capital, the higher appreciation of commerce, and the deeper and keener sense of possession. The world heard, along with the measurements of the rugged strip of rocks that is the chief obstruction of the circumnavigation of the earth in the tropics, of the peaks of Darien, from which Balboa beheld the broader of the Oceans. The discovery of the Pacific was the opening of the most wonderful waste of waters in the world, and the imagination of adventurers soon peopled this great deep with surpassing visions of splendor, and there have been four centuries of blended history and commerce. D. C. Rodrigues, LL. B., in a work on the Panama Canal — Chas. Scribner & Sons, 1885 — devoted a chapter chiefly to the first centuries of the history of the American isthmus. As Rodrigues wrote, we quote “The Panama Canal,” pages 5-17: “The idea of piercing the isthmus between the two Americas is almost con- temporaneous with the first knowledge of the isthmus itself. The early navigators THE PANAMA CANAL. 415 could not help noticing how near to each other were the two oceans, and how comparatively easy would he (they thought) the cutting of a canal through that narrow strip of land between them. The celebrated Portuguese navigator, Antonio Galvao, as early as 1550, wrote an essay on the subject, wherein he suggested four different lines, one of which was through the lake of Nicaragua, and the other by the Isthmus of Panama. Lopez Gomara, the Spanish historian, mentions in 1551 the four routes of which he very likely learned from the monograph of Galvao. “The idea, however, remained dormant for fully two centuries. One of the earliest exploits of Nelson was the attack on Port San Juan in 1779, with the ulterior purpose, it appears, of controlling the river and lake communications between the two oceans, of which the fort was supposed to be the best debouehe. Fever, however, decimated his crew, and he returned to England. In the mean- time Charles III. of Spain sent out the really first exploring expedition under Manuel Galistro, in 1780; but the subsequent political complications in the Euro- pean politics diverted attention from his project. In the beginning of our century, Humboldt, who studied on the spot the problem of piercing the isthmus, strongly endorsed its feasibility, but all Europe was then, and remained for many years afterwards, in a great and general political reorganization. Most of the Spanish colonies in America threw off the yoke of the mother country between 1820 and 1825, and, although the first survey of any part of the isthmus did not really take place until twenty years later, the well-known configuration of the isthmus strengthened the belief in the possibility of opening a canal, and the question was now and then ventilated. It is to the great credit of the Spanish Central American republics that as soon as they had secured their independence they de- voted themselves to the problem of procuring aid to forward the idea of inter- oceanic communication. In 1823, Lacerda, afterwards Governor of Nicaragua, called the attention of the Legislature of the Republic to the subject. Two years later we find a minister of the Republic in Washington addressing a note to the Secretary of State, Mr. Clay, urging the United States to co-operate for the con- struction of a canal which, he says, should have been built long before. That pro- posal, dated February 8, 1825, really invited the United States to conclude a treaty for a canal so as to “perpetually secure the possession of it to the twn nations.” At that time no sufficient data had been brought to light to warrant Mr. Clay in committing the United States to a policy which otherwise would have been entirely acceptable to President Adams and to the American people. Mr. Clay appointed a new minister to Central America, and instructed him to further investigate 416 THE PANAMA CANAL. the matter. In 1826 the Mexican Government ordered a survey of the Tehuan- tepec to be made by General Orbeguozo, who, however, only made a casual exam- ination. “In 1828, Boliver, President of the Republic of New Granada, gave to John A. Lloyd and to Falemar a commission for a reconnoissance, with the immediate object of a roadway between the two oceans. They found the mean height of the Pacific or Panama to be 3.52 feet above the Atlantic at the Chagres’ mouth, and that at low water both oceans are the same quantities below their respective mean levels: and as to interoceanic communication, they seemed to favor the isthmus at its narrowest region, just where there is a depression in the great range of mountains. “One year after the return of Lloyd, the King of the Netherlands, as patron of a private association, arranged with Central America for cutting a canal ‘to he open on same terms to all nations/ But the political troubles between Belgium and Holland caused the scheme to miscarry. “For five years no effort was made that is deserving of consideration until the United States Government dispatched Chas. Biddle to the isthmus as an agent to investigate what plans, surveys, estimates, etc., had been made, and the report on the expediency of opening negotiations with the Central American Government for the building of a canal. Biddle died soon after arriving at the isthmus, but not before he had obtained for himself from Colombia a concession to build a railway across the Isthmus of Panama, which act President Jackson disapproved of in strong terms. “About a year afterward, the President of Central America, General Morazin, ordered a reconnoissance of the Rio San Juan route by John Bailey, an English- man. “In 1838, New Granada, anxious to take the lead of Nicaragua, listened to the proposition of a French house of Solomon & Co., and granted it a concession to build a canal by a supposedly newly discovered route where no locks would be required. Six years later on, Louis Falippe commissioned Napoleon Garella to verify the surprising reports of Solomon’s agents. Garella’s investigations were, perhaps, the most serious that had been undertaken until that time. They con- stitute, at least, the first semblance of a regular survey. He disproved the reports submitted to him, and came to the conclusion that a canal was possible between Porto Bello and Panama, with thirty-five locks and a tunnel, 5,350 meters in extent, at an elevation of 99 meters and about 135 feet above high water on the Pacific. The scheme, however, came to nothing. THE PANAMA CANAL. 417 “In the same year Nicaragua gave a concession to a Belgian company, the negotiation being carried on by the Nicaraguan minister in Paris, Castellon, but it also came to nothing. On the other hand, Marcoleta, two years later on, left Brussels, where he represented his government, and went to Paris and London in order to arrange for a concession to Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, then a prisoner in Ham. “It is apparent that none of these schemes was ever supported by any powerful agency, or with steadiness enough to be carried through. There was always a doubt about the possibility of the work, or a doubt that it might never be possible to obtain money enough to push it to a conclusion. On the other hand, advan- tageous as it was evident the canal would be to the whole world, the shipping trade that would seek it did not appear to be extensive enough to remunerate the capital that would be required. But at last the world found a powerful incentive to give close attention to the political and commercial importance of the canal. The acquisition of California by the United States, and the discovery of gold in its territory, marks a new era in the history of the attempts to make serious studies of the isthmus with a view to establishing a continuous water communication between the two oceans. The problem, too, now became one of actual, live political importance to the Americans, and the period between 1848 and 1861 was full of interest to them on account of the political discussion with Great Britain as to the preponderating influence in Central America and the occupa- tion of the isthmus by either government. “While that problem was not settled, the Americans, anxious for means of communication, if not by water then by an overland route, obtained from New Granada a concession for a railway; and for that purpose they formed a company in 1849, and instructed the surveys to Colonel Hughes and to J. C. Trautwine. The United States Government soon afterwards sent General Bernard, of the corps of engineers, to survey the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, also with a view to building a railway. Bernard found the route impracticable, while Hughes and Trautwine succeeded much better in Panama and designed a road of the total length of 47.314 miles, of which about half was to be level between 1850 and 1855 by the engineers Totten and Trautwine. “In the meantime the idea of a canal was not to be given up. The United States Minister in Nicaragua, Elijah Hise, concluded at the same time (1849) with that government a treaty for establishing ‘a passage and communication between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, to facilitate the commerce between the two oceans, and to produce other great results.’ Owing to its sev- 418 THE PANAMA CANAL. eral provisions of a political nature the authorities at Washington did not approve that scheme, known henceforth as the ‘Hise-Selva Convention.’ But the country received the arrangement with every mark of approval, and a company was at once organized by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Joseph L. White and others under the style of ‘American Atlantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company,’ which obtained from Nicaragua the right to build the proposed canal, that was, we repeat in 1849, when the English were trying hard to get a firm hold on what was supposed to be the future termini of the canal, while the Americans were protesting against that occupation, and had themselves repudiated the treaty concluded by their minister in Honduras, Squier, for the cession by the latter country to the United States of the Tigre Island, in the Fonseca Bay. It was from these conflicting interests that the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 originated. “However, the ‘American Atlantic and Pacific’ w r as organized by strong men, who proposed to survey the route thoroughly and then appeal for money, both in America and England. On March 9, 1850, Norberto Eamirez, ‘Supreme Director’ of Nicaragua, confirmed the company’s grant, and the company com- missioned Colonel 0. W. Childs to make the necessary studies. He made recon- noissance from several of the proposed routes, and, after a careful work, in which he was aided by J. D. Fay and S. H. Sweet, he came to the conclusion that ‘the line leading from the mouth of the Eio Lajas, at Brito, presented more favorable conditions for the construction of a canal than any other.’ His survey is said to be the first in the isthmus that conformed itself to the requirements of true engineer- ing. Child’s report was submitted to Colonels Turnbull and Abert, of the United States Topographical Engineers, who confirmed its accuracy, and then, at the request of the United States Government, it was revised by two English authorities, Colonel Aldrich, of the Eoyal Engineers, and Mr. James Walker, C. E., who, on July 16, 1852, confirmed its conclusions. “The ‘Atlantic and Pacific’ company, however, did not succeed in raising the money. Walker’s expedition to Nicaragua, fomented mainly by the slave power, but emphatically disowned hy the Washington authorities, caused the Nica- raguan Government to become very suspicious of the United States, and in 1856 the company’s grant was declared null and void. Thanks, however, to the ability of the Secretary of State, Lewis Cass, a convention, known as the ‘Cass-Yrisarri Convention,’ was negotiated in Washington on November 16, 1857, making annual arrangements with respect to a communication from ocean to ocean through Nica- ragua. THE PANAMA CANAL. 419 “Let us now see what was going on in other parts of the isthmus in the fourteen years between 1850 and 1864. “A rich New York merchant, Mr. Frederick M. Kelley, impressed with the belief that Humboldt must have been right as regards the feasibility of a canal through Darien, sent, in 1851, J. C. Trautwine, a prominent civil engineer, who had been associated with Colonel Childs, and until his death was more or less connected with the isthmus explorations, to make a reconnoissance of the head- waters of the Atrato, of the Gulf of Darien, and of the mythical Easpadura Canal, through which the Indians were said to cross from ocean to ocean. Although the result of this expedition was by no means encouraging, Mr. Kelley organized two others in 1853 to go over the same ground, which, however, did not discover anything which had not been brought forward by Trautwine. “Mr. Kelley then tried the headwaters of the Atrato, and thence in the direc- tion of the Truando, sending out two parties, in 1853 and 1854, the latter under Captain Kennish. Later on he came to Europe to submit his plans, surveys, etc., to the English and French savants, and he was everywhere received with the greatest marks of regard. “On his return to America, having been unable to accomplish anything in Europe, President Buchanan, who while minister in England had taken an interest in Mr. Kelley’s enthusiastic labors, procured the passage by Congress of a bill authorizing the President to appoint army and navy officers to verify the survey already made for a ship-canal. Agreeably to the act of the Legislature, the President appointed Lieutenant N. Michler of the army and Lieutenant T. A. Craven, of the navy, to verify the survey of Captain Kennish. Those officers made separate reports. Michler was of the opinion that the construction of a canal presented many difficulties, that the cost was incalculable, and that the effects of a deadly climate on the laborers must be taken into account. But he thought the scheme was possible, especially if Kennish’s route were abandoned and another one, which he now proposed, were taken up instead — viz., that which follows up the course of the Truando, except when this river bends to the north, when the route ought to follow a straight line to the Atrato, twenty-two miles above the village of Sucio. The route would then strike the range of moun- tains, which it would cross by means of a tunnel 12,250 feet in length, following down in the Pacific slope the course of the Paracichichi. Michler estimated the cost of this canal — 75 miles long, including the tunnel, 100 feet high above the water — to be $135,000,000, or £27,000,000, which was txviee as much as had been estimated in America, according to the data of Kennish himself. Mr. K«nnish 420 THE PANAMA CANAL. was not satisfied that it would be safe to persist in that Truando-Atraro route, at least for the moment. “This public-spirited American then turned his attention to the possibility of a sea-level canal, even if a great tunnel became necessary. He first asked General Totten, of the Panama railway, to let him have his views as to that route being available. Totten reported that the Chagres river could not be con- trolled and would break up the canal, and, besides,, ten or twelve locks would have to be made. Mr. Kelley directed his efforts to the San Bias route, in that part of the isthmus which is narrowest, between the Gulf of San Bias, on the Atlantic, to the mouth of the Bayano, on the Pacific. Two expeditions were sent out, composed of Rude, Sweet, McDougal, and others, in 1863 and 1864, and they were nearly successful, but could not finish their labors on account of the interference of the Indians. Altogether Mr. Kelley has spent from his private resources about £25,000 in this laudable purpose. Everywhere in the world where there was a congress of gentlemen to confer about the routes it would seem that Frederick M. Kelley, of New York, should have been listened to, if not with admira- tion and affection, at least with respect. And yet at the Paris ‘International Sci- entific Congress’ of 1879, when an American delegate asked the committee on the selection of a route to give a hearing to the project of Mr. Kelley from San Bias to Panama by the Bayano river, which was seconded by Sir John Stokes, who added that what was known of that route justified a hope that the project might deal advantageously with some of the difficulties, there was a great deal of opposition to the proposal to hear Mr. Kelley. M. Simonon, known for his ex- tremely superficial and not altogether reliable articles on the United States in ‘La France’ and ‘Revue des Deux Mondes,’ exclaimed: ‘We are not here to I register these schemes. Do they propose that we shall set about and examine everything that the Americans have been doing for the last ten years? We should lose our time. We have to discuss only the projects of M. M. Wyse and Reclus, Blanchet and Menocal, and others.’ M. Simonon might as well have eliminated the two latter names. He and his friends did not want to hear but of the Wyse- Reclus project, and in their cynical effrontery they even snubbed a man like Kelley! “Leaving now the Darien aside, let us see what was going on in the isthmus in these same fourteen years, from 1850 to 1864, apart from the work in Nicaragua and the labors of Mr. Kelley. “Dr. Edward Cullen, a Dublin physician, interested himself very much in the project of a ship canal between the Gulf of San Miguel and Caledonia Bay; THE PANAMA CANAL. 421 and in 1852, after calling Lord Palmerston’s attention to his scheme, he interested in it the contractors Fox, Henderson, and Brassey, of London, and obtained for them and himself a concession from Colombia for such a canal. The con- tractors dispatched Lionel Gisborne, C. E., to make an exploration. He reported favorably, but his report is full of errors, due to the superficial character of his examination, the result of which is published in his book, ‘The Isthmus of Darien in 1852/ At any rate, his endorsement of the Caledonian route attracted wide interest in the subject, and in the United States President Pierce in 1833 author- ized the Secretary of the Navy to commission Lieutenant Isaac C. Strain, who was not a new explorer of Central and South America, to go over the proposed route and report upon its feasibility for a ‘ship canal on the grandest scale.’ Also ‘avoiding all infractions of international law.’ Lieutenant Strain reached Cale- donia Bay from the United States in January, 1854, and, with twenty-seven men, started for the interior of Darien. This expedition became one of the most impor- tant in the history of the isthmus. British capital was ready to be invested in the common scheme, but Strain was to give the last word. He soon discovered that Gisborn’s report was altogether unreliable. Strain was confronted by mountains 3,500 feet in height instead of only 150 feet. His party could not help taking different routes, climbing steep hills and meeting roaring rivers. Strain himself was lost sight of, and searching parties were organized, one of them by Gisbom himself. The history of the terrible privations and sufferings undergone by Strain and some of his men, from hunger and thirst, and the enforced abandonment of one of their companions, who, though still alive, was too weak to follow them, and the death of others, is one of the most stirring narratives in the annals of the difficult explorations of the -world. When Strain was found he said that its failure was in itself a great success, for it gave the death blow to the Cullen scheme, thereby preventing great sacrifice of life and money. In 1856, as we have already said, Nicaragua annulled the concession to the ‘Atlantic and Pacific,’ and a year afterwards the United States Government ordered the Michler and Craven surveys in the Darien. Except Mr. Kelley’s expeditions, nothing was undertaken by the United States Government or its citizens from 1857 until 1869. In 1857 the political agitation in the United States was already assuming the most serious character, which revealed itself in the breaking out of the Civil War a few years later on, and even at the conclusion of the internecine strife, the public mind was too much preoccupied with the reorganization of the Union, with 4,500,000 newdy made citizens, to give any attention to the subject of inter- oceanic communication. During the war the necessity for it became apparent, and 422 THE PANAMA CANAL. the Pacific Railway bills were carried, but beyond that nothing was done, and, considering the position assumed towards Congress by Andrew Johnson, who substituted for the murdered President Lincoln, nothing could have been done by the Government in that time. In 1860 Daniel Ammen, then lieutenant in the United States navy, impressed by the result of Strain’s reeonnoissance, addressed a communication to the New York Geographical Society, suggesting to it to send out an expedition, and giving in detail the task that shoiild be intrusted to it. After the war Daniel Ammen, who had been promoted to the rank of captain, had frequent occasions to discuss the matter with prominent officers of the Govern- ment, and he interested General Grant very much respecting the necessity for further surveys. Up to the end of the Civil War the only semblance of a regular survey in the isthmus made by a Frenchman was that of Garella already referred to. In 1861 M. de Poydt examined the Tuyra (Darien) and several of its tributaries, and in 1864 he returned to make a reeonnoissance of the Gulf of Darien by the Tanelo river. His data, however, altogether unreliable. “In 1865 Senor Gogorza discovered some old maps and induced some capitalists in Paris to fit out an expedition under M. Lacharme, to study a passage by the River Panuza, a confluent of the Tuyra. While in the field Lacharme abandoned the proposed route and followed the course of the Paya up to the watershed, and then that of the Cacarica to the Atrato, whence he came back satisfied as to the possibility of a canal fifty miles long, with the summit, near the village of Paya, only 190 feet above the sea level. Beyond that nothing else was ever done in the isthmus by Frenchmen until the Wyse-Recluse expeditions.” The conditions of the Panama climate were treated with great intelligence in “The Isthmus of Panama and What I Saw There,” by Dr. C. D. Griswold, M. D.— Dewitt & Davenport, 1852. We quote as an essential part of the story of the isthmus the extremely valuable observations of Dr. Griswold that touch the science of the sanitary situation — pages 90-100: “The latitude of that part of the isthmus over which the Panama Railroad passes is between 8 and 9 degrees north, and, consequently, is subject twice in the year to the vertical rays of the sun, viz.: about the 21st of April and near the middle of August. The year is divided into two seasons, with little else to distinguish them than that the one is wet and the other dry, and in this they are very strongly marked. The rainy season is their winter and corresponds with our summer, the rains beginning to fall about the 1st of May, usually, and termi- THE PANAMA CANAL. 423 nating in December; and thus, although this is their coolest season, in consequence of the heavy rains and evaporations, yet it is the period when the sun's rays fall most vertically, and, therefore, the two great elements in the production of un- healthy exhalations, viz.: heat and moisture, are operating in their extremest degrees at the same time. But it should be understood that, while the surface is undergoing the change from wet to dry, that miasma is eliminated most rapidly. “During the first two or three months of the wet season it does not rain more than is generally found agreeable to the comfort, and to advance the growth of vegetation; and about the 21st of June it clears up and probably not a drop of rain will fall for a week. This season is called by the natives El Yeranito di San Juan (little summer of St. John). Now, during this period, the earth is alternately saturated and parched, and, consequently, there is always more or less fever prevailing. But it is at the commencement of the dry season, when the rivers that have been swollen by the heavy rains fall to their usual level and the low grounds and marshes that have been inundated become dry, that we look for what may be termed strictly the sickly season. “Dysenteries and diarrheas prevail more commonly during the wet season, and for very obvious reasons. Notwithstanding the elevation of the sun during the day the nights are often quite cool. Now, there is nothing more favorable to the development of these diseases than sudden changes of temperature; and tiere we have them. The laborer at work in the field first swelters under the hot sun and then is siaddenly cooled off by a shower of rain, and most likely sleeps at night exposed to the chilly air, which under all circumstances should be most scrupulously avoided. “With such influences as these acting, it would be very unreasonable to expect out that the country would be more or less unhealthy, which is truly the case, yet tour-fifths of the cases of disease which occur are simple intermittent fever, or ague and fever, which the judicious use of fifteen grains of quinine will entirely ■emove, leaving the patient, after one paroxysm, as well as he was before. “By observing proper precautions a great deal may be done to avoid the niasma, which is the essential cause of the fevers. Miasma is eliminated while he surface is drying, after having been saturated by an overflow of the streams or previous rains, consequently at such times the atmosphere contains more poison han at any other. Another fact which has long been observed is that the evening >r night air is most of all pernicious, not so much because it is cool or damp, out from the unhealthy exhalations which hover near the earth like smoke and 'og during the night more than at any other time. The pleasant evenings after 424 THE PANAMA CANAL. clear days, which are always delightful in that climate, are by far the worst, especially if there has been rain within a short time previous. The night air is so balmy and fresh after a hot day that it is almost impossible to resist the temptation to enjoy it, at least with open windows or in the veranda, yet it is very imprudent to do so. Another precaution, of more consequence still, is to close up from the night air the sleeping room, which for reasons already assigned should never be on the ground floor. While sleeping the system is very much relaxed, and, perhaps, drenched in perspiration, and, consequently, far more im- pressible than at any other time, and, moreover, about 12 o’clock the temperature of the atmosphere usually becomes much lower than at any other part of the twenty- four hours. Now, in order to avoid the miasma on one hand and the sudden change of temperature on the other, it is always desirable to sleep in an upper room, and this should invariably be constructed with a ventilator in the roof. “There is another class of causes far more numerous, and, perhaps, more important, by which I mean everything calculated to excite fever after the system has become predisposed to it. Foreigners residing in this country usually become, after a time, a good deal enervated; they find they cannot perform near as much labor, either physical or mental, as in a northern climate. An extreme degree of lassitude overtakes them at times, and they feel it almost impossible to perform any duties whatever. This is the effect of miasma; the system contains the fuel of fever, which only requires to be ignited. Now, this is the state in which exciting causes are instrumental in producing the disease, and anything may be deemed such which excites or taxes the system to any considerable extent, as excessive fatigue, exposure to the sun long continued, or a shower of rain while perspiring, overindulgence in eating, and, above all, in the use of stimulating drink. During my services of nearly six months, as one of the surgeons to the Panama Kailroad Company, I never saw a single case of fever from which I apprehended a fatal result but in persons of intemperate habits, and the only two patients whose casesl terminated fatally under my charge had been immediately previous on a debauch. “Of all exciting causes of fever I believe this by far the most potent in its results, if not the most common. I am aware that there are exceptions to this — that there are those who bear up under the influence of the use of stimulating drinks — but they must be considered as exceptions, and their number is very small. The effect of stimulants is to derange the functions of the liver, which is also the effect of the climate, and under the influence of both there are few constitutions that can long resist diseases. “Nor is it the use of alcoholic drinks on the isthmus alone that is found THE PANAMA CANAL. 425 injurious, but those who, previous to going there have been intemperate — whose constitutions have become in the slightest degree impaired — are almost sure to break down at once. I have seen this effect in so many instances that I have no hesitation in setting it down as an almost invariable rule, and, therefore, would advise any such unfortunate individual to keep off the isthmus if he values his life as of the least possible conseqrrence. “Everyone has probably heard of the ‘Chagres fever/ which is usually spoken of with an emphasis which strikes terror to the timid, especially if they have ever been exposed to the atmosphere of that place. “Although the name is not, by any means, a classic one, yet it has the advan- tage ol being correct in a general sense, for I do not believe that there is another place in the world where the causes of diseases are developed and fostered to a greater extent than they are in this place of most unenviable notoriety. The consequence is that a bad and fatal form of fever prevails there at times, which is most emphatically the fever of Chagres, and the unmeasured use of intoxicating drinks is one of its principal causes. “Exposure to the rains of that country is another very exciting cause of fever and should be very carefully avoided. This has been one of the great causes of fever and dysentery among the laborers on the Panama Railroad. Often they would scarcely get to their work when a sudden shower would fall upon them, and when perspiring profusely over the spade or pick. If they abandoned work for the day but few would have the prudence to change their clothes for dry ones, and, perhaps, resume the same wet garments the following morning. Now, noth- ing can be more prejudicial to health anywhere than such habits as these, and when we add to this the, perhaps, worse practice of sleeping with the windows and doors of their quarters open, which they would always insist upon doing, it is more a matter of wonder than otherwise that they endure the climate as well as they do. The railroad company makes the most liberal provisions for their com- fort, but it was always impossible to make them understand that there were any reasons for closing a house other than to keep out the cold. The native, on the approach of a shower, strips off his shirt, which is probably the only garment 'ae wears; securing it in a dry place, he lets the rain fall upon his bare back and hen resumes his covering after it is all over. “This is truly a primitive mode of protection from rain, yet from what I rave seen I judge if to be the best. The perspiration may be checked for the time ind the system receive a shock from so plentiful a shower bath; but the function >f the skin is immediately restored by the dry covering, and, on the whole, upon 426 THE PANAMA CANAL. hydropathic principles, I am not sure but the subject has received a tonic after nature’s purest method, and without interfering with his time or business. But when a native gets the fever he repudiates this practice altogether, so much so that it is often exceedingly difficult to get them to take any remedy combined with water; and they most scrupulously avoid the use of water externally, even in quantity suffi- cient to keep themselves clean. The native’s remedy for fever is limes, the juice of which they suck from them, while the fever is on, with slices of the same placed upon the forehead and temples, and with this simple treatment and abstinence from water and food they readily recover. Bathing in the streams is a very commoc practice among them during the dry season, but they seldom indulge in this luxury after 10 o’clock, and rarely at all during the rainy season. “A very widespread impression prevails in the public mind in favor of the southern climate to those who are predisposed to or affected with consumptive dis- eases, and as a general thing such is the case; but the Isthmus is an exception to the general rule; for, whether or not it is the approximation of the two oceans, and almost constant sea breezes, or the extreme dampness of the climate; either or both of these causes; in no place have I seen consumption more rapidly developed; indeed, it is a disease of which the natives very commonly die. The same is true of almost every other taint in the system. “ A very important consideration for those who visit this climate is that of | dress. The experience of the English and American Army and Navy surgeons in tropical climates is well sustained here with regard to the use of flannels. There is nothing which so well protects the cutaneous surface against the effects of sun and rain as this material; it prevents the rapid evaporation from the surface, and consequent sudden check of the perspiration; and a shower of rain or the night air may be borne with far greater safety if the skin is protected by this covering; and light gauze flannel next to the skin will usually be found to add much to the com- fort; but to those who are frequently exposed a good substantial red or blue one is much preferable. “Another preventative which I deem of great importance, and which has hith- erto been entirely neglected, is the use of fires. During the rainy season the atmos- phere is very damp, and pervades everything; even the closest doors will not ex- clude it, and clothes will become mouldy without frequent sunning or the liberal use of camphor gum sprinkled among them. Such an atmosphere, especially in a sleeping room, must, of course, be more or less detrimental to health; but its effects may be entirely overcome by the occasional use of a fire in the afternoon, when the air is frequently so cool as to render it very grateful to the senses. Heat is, more- THE PANAMA CANAL. 427 over, one of the most powerful disinfecting agents we have, but how far it would prove effectual in dissipating the miasma is not certainly known, although there is ao doubt but that it would to a considerable extent.” In the Forum of March, 1893, an article appears, “Panama: The Story of a Colossal Bubble,” by Ernest Lambert. This paper relates the personal appearance )f Count de Lesseps of Suez Canal fame on the Pacific Ocean, and the picturesque vay in which in a fictitious manner he handled a spade on a steamboat, performing ;he ceremony of turning the first sod or soil or sand, as the function might be, in he formal inauguration of an enterprise. Mr. Ernest Lambert writes: “In 1880, on the day set for the initial ceremonies of the Panama Canal work, i little flag-bedecked vessel steamed out of the harbor of Panama with Count Ferdi- land de Lesseps and an illustrious company on board, bound for La Boca, the point m the Pacific shore of the Isthmus at which the canal was to emerge. Through ome miscalculation the steamer was delayed in arriving until after the tide had >egun its rapid fall. The eminent voyagers eyed the shore wistfully and looked t one another in consternation as the captain vainly essayed to land them among he rocks. La Boca flags beaconed encouragingly from the spot where the veteran piercer of continents’ was to turn the first shovelful of earth; but the tide con- inued to fall and the distance to the shore increased. In this dilemma the versatile eader proved his brilliant fertility of resource. Uncovering his silvery locks he ddressed a felicitious harangue to his companions, called for a spade, and turned n the steamer’s deck an imaginary Isthmian clod. Then champagne was opened, verybody cheered, and the little steamer swung about and sailed away gayly with uttering banners. In January, 1893, when his doom had been practically sealed y disclosures hardly paralleled in this or any other century, police agents visited he French mansion of this same man with a legal summons. Aged and infirm, he rose from a sick-bed, called for his cross of the Legion of Honor, clasped it theat- ically to his breast and fell back fainting. “These two incidents accurately typify the real spirit that has governed, from rst to last, the conduct of the most tremendous engineering feat of modern times, ieside which, as its history shows, the cutting of the Mont Cenis Tunnel or the uez Canal was mere child’s play. M. De Lesseps’ indefatigable predecessor with the )arien project, if not its real initiator, it is not perhaps generally known, was an American, Frederick M. Kelley, of New York, w'ho should never be lost sight of i posterity’s ultimate award. Before even the Suez Canal was attempted Kelley had egun to wander up and down, from country to country and capital to capital, like blumbus with a new route to the East in his brain, striving to enlist in his fasci- 428 THE PANAMA CANAL. nating scheme for saving millions of dollars annually to commerce and shortening the ocean journey by many thousands of miles. As early as 1852, when only 28 years old, Kelley, then a Wall street banker, became sole owner of the Columbian concession, subsequently transferred to French hands. Within three years he had accompanied, or dispatched, three expeditions to search for a depression in the Cordillera barrier that should enable him to utilize the Isthmian rivers running southward in an artificial waterway, to be continued thence by a short cut to the Pacific shore. Armed with maps and plans, he secured a respectful hearing from President Pierce and Jefferson Davis, then Secretary of War, who, however, lacked funds to order a Government survey. In Europe Humboldt and Robert Stephenson encouraged him; the British institution of Civil Engineers voted him a gold medal lor a paper ‘Demonstrating the feasibility of connecting the two oceans by a canal without locks,’ and Napoleon III. even offered to make a survey at France’s expense, after Kelley had unfortunately compromised himself with the English. In 1857 President Buchanan did order a Government expedition, which returned in 1858, one officer reporting favorably, another adversely. With the outbreak of the Re- bellion Kelley’s concession expired, and he withdrew, impoverished, from the strug- gle. But in 1863, when the San Bias route was talked of, his old interest blazed up anew; he talked over wealthy friends and was instrumental in the dispatch of two other expeditions. It was not until 1875 that De Lesseps, who had met Kelley years before in London, organized his Isthmian Exploring Society, and inaugurated the movement that culminated in the International Canal Congress of 1879 and the adoption of a route specifically condemned by the most competent experts. “Flushed with the merited success of his great Suez achievement, just then beginning to confound all augury, M. De Lesseps was in a position to engage enthu- siastic public support in any effort to blow the airiest of bubbles. Goethe’s nine- teenth century dream of canals at Suez and Panama, and linking the Rhine and the Danube, he had realized as to the first particular; why should he not do so as to the second? The very croakings against Suez of incredulous statesmen and engi- neers, from Palmerston and Stevenson down, he was ready to cite in defense of a new undertaking. The favorite taunt of his English enemies, that he was ‘no en- gineer, but a mere diplomatist,’ he met with the same refutation. Nothing else in his record, to be sure, sustained him. It was not as an engineer that he began his Tunis apprenticeship; in Algeria, Madrid, Rome and Alexandria impugners of his diplomacy never excused him on technical grounds. Even at Suez, what M. Leon Say has called his genius for ‘unravelling the future of international rela- tions,’ coupled with the adroit distribution of Baehsheesh and the propitiation of VIEW OF LA ESCOLTA STREET, CITY OF MANILA. LUO’V? 4 4b* 3 K/ THE PANAMA CANAL. 431 a willing and unscrupulous potentate, undoubtedly won him success where the very Caesar of engineers might quickly have buried his hopes in the desert sands. Certainly the calling of the Canal Congress, to extricate himself from the disagree- able responsibility of choosing expertly between five routes and eight competing propositions, was not the device of one who had reasoned out to its minutest detail the masterly solution of a great practical problem. Thus, indeed, at the outset a crumbling foundation w r as laid for the ambitious structure that has now so disas- trously collapsed. Exactly what he knew personally of the precise nature of the task before him it is not now difficult to estimate. When the Congress met he was said to regard the elements requisite to a practicable canal as, 1, no locks; 2, good harbors; 3, the avoidance of other than tidal rivers — conditions, in effect, du- plicating those at Suez. In the Congress it was positively decided that no canal with locks could accommodate a traffic sufficiently large to yield an adequate revenue; and when, at the closing session, by a vote of 78 to 8, 12 abstaining, the Congress formally declared in favor of the present route, it was understood that the idherence to the Suez model and the accommodation of future great vessels, rather han immediate commercial profit from existing opportunities, were the governing ■onsiderations. As a third element of weakness, it may be noted that the stipula- ions in the concession to Lieutenant Wyse, approved by President Paera of Colom- >ia in 1878, were not uniformly favorable; nor were its advantages adequately im- iroved. While granting the right of construction for 99 years from the date the anal was opened, it required the international commission to decide the route not ater than 1881. The guarantees were then to form within two years a construction ompany, finishing the canal within another twelve years, or forfeiting all rights, ogether with the work accomplished, and all but the movable plant. The President a Colombia was authorized (not required) to grant a maximum extension of six ears £ if, in an extreme case, beyond the control of the company, and after one- hird part of the canal is complete, they should recognize the impossibility of fin- hing it in twelve years.’ Not a word was said concerning recovery or indemnifi- ition in case of failure before the specified proportion was completed. M. Wyse, o doubt, whose experience has been a little more fortunate than Kelley’s, never aticipated such a contingency or dreamed of the bungling indiscretion that was to nk his name with the most colossal failure of the times. “It would be the most gross injustice for the world to forget that Count Ferdi- md De Lesseps, though failing in his Panama Canal endeavor, must forever be ranted as one of the great men of his generation. He realized one dream. It was ?yond mortal strength that one man, however gifted and brave, should win a 432 THE PANAMA CANAL. double immortality in constructing canals through the sands of Suez and the rocks of Darien. He could not accomplish the impossible. That which is wonderful is the gigantic work that was done before it was established that there was a formid- able margin between the estimates covered by resources and the remainder. The stupendous proportions of the task are now fully before the world, and the sur- prise is, turning from the exaggeration of the failure of De Lesseps, to discover the immensity which has been achieved.” After the failure of the old Panama Canal Company in February, 1889, the property passed into the hands of a receiver, who, seeking to save from ruin the vast number of subscribers of moderate means, referred the technical problems to a “Comite d’Etudes” selected from among the best engineers of France. In May, 1890, this commission made an able report, indicating the numerous points which demanded further investigation before final plans could be judiciously adopted, but suggesting the general features of such a plan, based on a study of all existing data. To make these further investigations a new company was organized in Octo- ber, 1894; and since that date it has quietly prosecuted its labors and has now collected all the information needed to command the confidence of engineers in its definite project. It is to set forth this project, and to indicate its superiority to anything possible in Nicaragua, that the present article is written. It may be proper to add that the writer, as a member of a technical commission of engineers, made last spring a careful examination of the entire route of the Panama Canal, and is thus possessed of definite personal information, in some degree assisted by having formerly traversed Nicaragua. The following are the essential features of this project, endorsed, with some possible future modifications in detail, by a Comite Technique, containing French, English, German, Kussian and American engineers, among them the chief engineers of the Manchester and of the Kiel ship canals. The original plan contemplated placing the canal in the bed of the Chagres, and conducting the river to the sea through artificial channels. This project was long ago definitely abandoned, being replaced by the familiar system of locks and dams which has been so often successfully applied to other rivers. Careful measure- ments and studies of the regimen of this torrential stream have shown the system to be entirely applicable to it, and that none of the constructions demanded will exceed the limits of recognized engineering practice. To these advantages it should be added that two good harbors already exist at the Atlantic and Pacific terminals; that an American railway is in active operation parallel and in close proximity to the line of the canal throughout its entire extent; that about 40 per cent of the whole length has been actually excavated, and that great progress has been made THE PANAMA CANAL. 433 on the intermediate portions; and finally, that extensive preparations have already been made for accommodating the army of laborers which will be required on any Isthmian canal. These reasons certainly demand that the comparative merits of this route should be considered before adopting any other location for the canal now generally believed to be essential to meet the needs of our Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In Nicaragua the general conditions are distinctly inferior. Two ports must be artificially prepared; one at least of great practical difficulty, since nature has already closed the old harbor. About 120 miles of railroad must be built, mostly traversing a wilderness. Almost nothing has been done in the way of construction or of preparation for the work. Of the whole length of 176 miles, 68 miles follow the bed of a crooked river, where the prevailing trade winds and the currents result- ing from the whole outflow of Lake Nicaragua will unite to aggravate the difficul- ties of shipping in transit. The length of the route is about four times that of the Panama Canal, adding proportionately to the time of passage; finally, at least one dam is demanded, quite without precedent in our canal construction, besides several miles of huge embankments in the San Francisco basin, where the founda- tions are extremely bad, and where a rupture at any future time would entail verit- able disasters. But passing from generalities, the details of the Panama project will first be considered. The Canal Proper. — The total length is 75 kilometres (46.5 miles), of which five (3.1 miles) lie in the Bay of Panama, between Isle Naos and La Boca. Of the 70 kilometres (43.4 miles) of inland construction, 24 kilometres (14.88 miles) on the Atlantic side (between Colon and Bohio) and 7 kilometres (4.34 miles) on the Pacific side (between La Boca and Miraflores) will be at the sea level, and of this listance about 25 kilometres (15.5 miles) are now essentially excavated, thus there ■emains only 38 kilometres (23.5 miles) to be traversed by the aid of locks; and rere also so much actual work has been done that no visitor can pass over the line without appreciating that the canal can no longer be regarded as an experiment. Of these 38 kilometres between Bohio and Miraflores, the first 22 (13.64 miles) xtending from Bohio to Obispo will traverse a vast lake 5,500 hectares (13,585 cres) in extent, created in the valley of the Chagres by a dam at Bohio. Its level bove the sea will range between a minimum of 16 metres (52.48 ft.) and a maxi- mum of 20 metres (65.60 ft.), the normal level being 17 metres (55.76 ft.). A reser- oir of 150 million cubic metres (52,950 million cu. ft.) is thus provided to con- 434 THE PANAMA CANAL. trol in part the floods of the river. Access to the lake will be furnished by two double locks at Bohio. There thus will remain to be considered only the 16 kilometres (10 miles) lying between Obispo, where the canal leaves the Chagres Kiver and Miraflores, where sea-level is reached. This section includes the continental divide at the Cule- bra, approached on the side of the Atlantic by the valley of the Obispo, a tributary of the Chagres, and on the Pacific by the valley of the Bio Grande. The great economic problem to solve has been to determine the most advantageous level for the bottom of the canal between these two points, with a view to afford the best balance between the coast and the time of constructing the locks and dams on the one hand and deep cutting on the other. This problem, with its adjuncts of how to best supply the summit level during the dry season, how to regulate the floods of the Chagres during the rainy season, and how to provide hydraulic power for lighting and operating the canal at all seasons, has been most thoroughly studied on the spot by the new company since its organization in 1894. Space is lacking to detail the trial excavations, aggregating 2 million cubic metres, the surveys, the borings, the gaugings of the water courses anc the many other details which have been investigated in the most elaborate manner Suffice it to say that, after comparative estimates of 16 variants, the Comite Tech nique has advised the adoption of a level of 20.75 metres (68 ft.) above mean tide which, should experience in the active prosecution of the work render it expedient will admit of modification, either by adding two more locks, raising the level o the cut to 29.5 metres (97 ft.), or of suppressing one or perhaps two locks, and thuij reducing it to 10 metres (33 ft.). This definitive plan, placing the bottom of the canal at a level of 20.75 metres involves two double locks at Obispo, raising the water surface at the summit leve to a maximum of 31.25 metres (102.5 ft.) and a minimum of 29.75 metres (97.51 ft.); one double lock at Paraiso dropping these levels to 23.25 metres (76.26 ft.) am 22.25 metres (72.98 ft.), two double locks at Pedro-Miguel, dropping them to 6.2; metres (20.5 ft.) and 5.25 metres (18.22 ft.); and a tidal lock at Miraflores, wher the water level varies between 3 metres, or 10 ft. above, and 3 metres below meai tide. (On the Atlantic side the tidal oscillation is only a few inches, and no sue provision is needful.) The length of these levels in every case exceeds 2 kilometre (1.24 miles)^ thus avoiding trouble from oscillations due to lockages. In reference to the deep cutting at Culebra — the bugbear of former days — it is only needful t say that the excavation has already been carried belo.w the level of the soft uppe strata, which gives so much trouble by sliding, and is now and will continue to tj THE PANAMA CANAL. 435 in an indurated clay schist, requiring blasting, and passing to veritable rock. Se- rious trouble need no longer be apprehended here. This problem has been studied most thoroughly by the new company — involving the removal of about 2 million cubic metres of material, the sinking of many pits and borings, and the construction at the worst point of a tunnel 210 metres long (689 ft.) at a level of 41 metres (134.5 ft.). In locating the line of the canal, great care has been taken to avoid abrupt curves. A minimum radius of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft.) is adopted for the central cut, and of 3,000 metres (9,840 ft.) for the rest of the line, except near Bohio, where radii of 2,500 metres and 2,000 metres (6,560 ft.) occur in enlargements having a bottom width of 62 metres (203.4 ft.), and near Obispo, where one radius of 1,700 metres (5,576 ft.) occurs with a bottom width of 80 metres (262.4 ft.). Even with the large standard curves adopted, suitable enlargements will be provided to render the route perfect in this important detail, in respect to which it is more favored by nature than either Kiel or Manchester, as appears from the following figures: Canals Man- Pana- Nicara- Chester. Kiel. ma. gua. Total length, kilos ... 54 98.6 74.5 284 Minimum radius, metres ... 571 1,000 1,700 Normal radius, metres ... ( 2,500* } 3,000f 1,220§ 1.311J Length, straight Curvature: .... 63% 63% 57% 2,500 metres or more . . • 15% 41% Less than 2,500 metres . . . 22% 2% 2,000 metres or more .... 27% 29% 42% Less than 2,000 metres . . . 10% 8% 1% ^Central. fElsewhere. §Eastern divide. {Western divide. The cross-section to be given the canal varies in different localities, as shown in the following table: The depth is uniformly 9 metres (29.52 ft.); and the side slopes usually 3 base to 2 height in earth, and 2 base to 3 height in rocky cuts. In respect to berms and revetments, the latest practice, as recommended by the recent International Congress of Engineers at Brussels, will be followed. Earth- Rocky cuts Bottom Bottom Section, width, Section, width, sq. m. metres. sq. m. metres. Colon to Bohio ................. .... 406.5 30 380.2 34 Lake Bohio (minimum) .... 571.5 50 531.0 53 Summit level .... 379.5 36 379.5 36 Paraiso to Pedro Miguel ....... . . . . 406.5 30 380.2 34 Pedro Miguel to Miraflores .... 406.5 30 380.2 34 Miraflores to La Boca* .... 720.0 30 • • Bay of Panama (low tide) .... 693.0 50 • • *Low tide. 436 THE PANAMA CANAL. Enlargements 600 metres (1,968 ft.) long and 60 metres (196.8 ft.) wide at bottom, to enable vessels to pass each other, will be provided in the canal at intervals of about 8 kilometres (4.96 miles); but immediately above and below the locks these dimensions will be raised to 700 metres (2,296 ft.), and 62 metres (203.4 ft.). The Locks. — The locks, all founded on rock, are to be double, the larger cham- ber having a serviceable length of 225 metres (738 ft.), a width of 25 metres (82 ft.), and a depth of 9.5 metres (31.16 ft.) at the sides, and 10 metres (32.8 ft.) at the middle. The smaller chamber has the same serviceable length, with intermediate gates to reduce it to 130 metres (426.4 ft.) when desired; a width of 18 metres (59.04 ft.); and the same depth as the other. The larger will be constructed first, together with the foundations and head of the smaller, thus permitting the latter to be completed after opening the canal to traffic. The maximum lift has been fixed at 9 metres (29.5 ft.), except at Bohio, where provision for 10 metres (32.8 ft.) will be made, for use during extreme floods of the Chagres, which last only for a few hours. The gates will be pivoted single leaf type, and water will he supplied by pipes buried in the lock floors and delivering on each side and throughout the whole length of the chamber, the flow r being regulated by valves of the low level cylindrical pattern. Entrance to the chambers from either direction will be facilitated by crib piers, 60 metres long, with detached heads to protect the structure against shocks. The Dams. — There will be six dams, five located on the line of the canal at Bohio, at Obispo, at Paraiso, at Pedro-Miguel and at Miraflores, and one at Alha- juela, 16 kilometres (10 miles) above, on the upper Chagres. Of these only the first and last need be considered, as the other four are minor affairs presenting no engineering difficulties (three of them are to be of masonry and one of earth). The dam at Bohio will be of earth, abutting on conglomerate rock at the sides, and founded on a compact bed of clay, believed to be diluvial. The length of the crest will be 392 metres (1.286 ft.); the extreme height above the bed of the river, 23 metres (75.4 ft.), and above the foundation 28.5 metres (93.5 ft.). The width at the crest which rises 3 metres (10 ft.) above the highest level of the lake, will be 15 metres (49.2 ft.); the upstream slope has a height of 1 on a base of 3, with four berms each 3 metres (10 ft.) wide, the whole revetted with stone laid dry; the downstream slope has a height of 2 on a base of 3, with one berm 3 metres wide, and is supported by a mass of loose rock rising to a sufficient height to protect the dam if, in spite of all precautions, it should chance to be overtopped by a suddeD flood during construction. A puddled core, and a concrete wall at the upper toe will cut off any possible leakage. The mass of the dam 'will he of excellent material THE PANAMA CANAL. 437 found in the close vicinity. During construction the river will be diverted through the rock cut for the locks, with ample provisions by reservoirs for combating larger floods. All the details have been carefully studied, and the project has received the unanimous approval of the Comite Technique. The dam at Alhajuela will be of concrete masonry founded on and abutting against compact rock. The length of crest will be 285.5 metres (936.4 ft.); and the height, 41 metres (134.5 ft.) above the bed of the river and 50 metres (164 ft.) above the deepest part of the rock foundation. The cross-section conforms to the conditions of recent engineering practice. To facilitate construction, a tunnel 300 metres (984 ft.) long and 75 square metres (807 sq. ft.) in cross-section will be driven through the ridge to a bend of the river below, and a temporary dam will divert into it the minor flood discharges of the river. To meet the case of larger floods, the dam will be raised alternately on the two sides, thus allowing space for a portion to be overflowed without inter- rupting the work. These details have been carefully studied, and meet the approval of the Comite Technique. Engineers will recognize the immense advantages possessed by the Panama route, in the matter of dam construction, over the conditions found in Nicaragua, where the diversion of the San Juan Eiver is admitted to be impracticable, and where the foundations present extraordinary difficulties and demand an unusual structure quite without precedent for canal purposes. Begulation of the Chagres Eiver. — This subject, comprising the control of the floods and the supply of the summit level, has received the elaborate investiga- tion demanded by its importance. Space is lacking for details, but the general features are the following: At Alhajuela the low water surface of the river is 28 metres (91.84 ft.) above sea level; at Gamboa, 14 metres (46 ft,); and at Bohio, 0 metres. The mean annual discharges at thes'e three points respectively are 63 cubic metres (2,224 cu. ft.), 84 cubic metres (2,965 cu. ft.), and 121 cubic metres (4,261 cu. ft.) per second. During the three low water months (February, March and April) these mean volumes fall to 27 cubic metres (953 cu. ft.), 31 cubic metres (1,094 cu. ft.), and 39 cubic metres (1,376 cu. ft.), the minimum being 9 cubic metres (318 cu. ft.), 10 cubic metres (353 cu. ft.), and 14 cubic metres (459 cu. ft.). The maximum flood volumes closely estimated on the basis of the floods of 1879, the largest within the mem- ory of the inhabitants, is at Gamboa 2,040, cubic metres (57,539 cu. ft.) per second, and at Bohio 3,100 cubic metres (109,410 cu. ft.). The floods of the river, great and small, are of the torrential type, resulting from the heavy and widespread tempests 4-38 THE PANAMA CANAL. of the rainy season. Their duration is extremely short, rarely exceeding in the greatest floods 48 hours at Gamboa and 96 hours at Bohic. The maximum heights ever attained above the low water stage are about 11 metres (36.1 ft.) at Gamboa, and 12 metres (39.36 ft.) at Bolno. These figures, resulting from years of patient and careful observations, have furnished the basis for solving the two great ques- tions of river regulation presented by the problem of the canal. Upon an estimate, known to be safe, of allowing 1,000 cubic metres (35,300 cu. ft.) per second to freely pass Gamboa and 1,200 cubic metres (42,360 cu. ft.) to freely pass Bohio, reservoirs to contain 100 million cubic metres (3,500,000,000 cu. ft.) above Alhajuela, and 150 million cubic metres (5,295,000,000 cu. ft.) above Bohio are needful to restrain the greatest known floods; and these reservoirs are provided by the dams already described. In no other than the flood of 1879 would so large volumes be demanded. The level of these lakes to be regulated by overflow weirs of the Stoney type, which have given perfect satisfaction on the Manchester Canal, and which have the great merit of allowing the sills to be placed below the water surface without serious leakage. The volume of 1,000 cubic metres (35,300 cu. ft.) per second permitted to pass Alhajuela will follow the bed of the Chagres to Lake Bohio. The volume of 1,200 cubic metres (42,360 cu. ft.) allowed to escape from the latter, will pass by two over- flow weirs— one to the left of the canal discharging 500 cubic metres (17,650 cu. ft.) per second through the bed of the Chagres and its derivation; and the other at the sources of Rio Gigante discharging 700 cubic metres (24,710 cu. ft.) by a route also separated from the canal. To supply the summit level during the season of low water, the inflow of 20 cubic metres (706 cu. ft.) per second will be required. To provide 7,000 horse- power for lighting the canal and operating the gates, 15 cubic metres (530 cu. ft.) per second are demanded, falling 32 metres (105 ft.) at Alhajuela, and 16 metres (52.5 ft.) at Bohio, and acting on turbines driving dynamos to transmit the power in the form of electricity. The reservoir capacity, in excess of the low water flow of the Chagres, to supply these two needs, is 130 million cubic metres (4,589 million cu. ft.). The area of the lake above Alhajuela is 2,300 hectares (5,750 acres) at the level of 61 metres (200 ft.) above tide water and 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) at the level of 65 metres (213 ft.), the crest being 69 metres (226 ft.), calling for a layer of water 9 metres (29.5 ft.) deep to contain 100 million cubic metres for flood storage and 130 million for low water supply. Upon this basis the capacity of the lake has been regulated. THE PANAMA CANAL. 439 To transport the needful volume of water (20 cubic metres per second) from Alhajuela to the summit level, a feeder 16 kilometres (10 miles) long will leave the lake at a level of 58 metres (190.3 ft.) above tide, and follow the left bank to a lateral valley, discharging gently into the summit level about a kilometre (0.62 miles) from the locks at Obispo. The fall between the lake and point of delivery will be 17 metres (55.8 ft.), and the cross-section is established to carry from 25 (882) to 40 cubic metres (1,412 cu. ft.) per second, with a view to meeting all pos- sible contingencies of a largely increased traffic. At these heights water will flow into the canal even if the higher summit level should finally be found to be the more advantageous. The feeder traverses a difficult region and will be costly, but all details of construction have been successfully elaborated. At Lake Bohio, as already stated, a capacity of 150 million cubic metres is needed for storage during great floods, and to assist the overflow weirs in regu- lating the level during the sudden influx of smaller floods. This volume calls for a layer of water 3 metres (10 ft.) deep; and another metre has been added, to contain a reserve for supplying evaporation in the lake during the dry season. From the foregoing it will be seen that the hydraulic problems presented by this turbulent river — at one time regarded as so serious — admit of satisfactory solu- tion. This is hardly the case in Nicaragua, where one of the great difficulties of the project is the regulation of a summit level depending on that of an immense lake 2,700 square miles in extent, receiving directly the drainage of 8,700 square miles jf territory, together with that of 2,250 square miles more through the tributaries af the San Juan Biver above the dam at Ochoa; conditions which render the ordi- nary method of storage reservoirs wholly inapplicable. Nevertheless a delicate regulation of this level, and at an artificial height, is essential to avoid on the one hand drowning a cultivated district on the west shore, and on the other hand ex- posing rocks in the navigable bed of the San Juan. These difficulties are aggra- vated by the necessity of placing the overflow weirs near Ochoa, at a distance of uore than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the lake. In this connection it may also be noted that in the matter of rainfall the Pan- ima Canal is the more fortunate. All the difficult excavations and works of con- struction, except those near Bohio, lie in the interior where the annual downfall, is determined by 32 years of observation, is 93 ins., or only about 50 per cent, more han on our Gulf coast; while in Nicaragua, the most difficult constructions, includ- ng the Ochoa dam and the San Francisco embankments, lie in a district where the lownfall, as determined from the data collected by the Nicaragua Canal Company about seven years’ observations), is 256 ins., or nearly three times as much. 440 THE PANAMA CANAL. Estimates. — This subject has received the most careful study, both in deter- mining quantities and unit prices. Much valuable data as to the latter, based on actual experience on the Isthmus, has been available. The cost of each different project, and there have been sixteen different variants, has been estimated in detail, and a selection between them has thus been reached intelligently. The sum needed for the work of construction proper is, in round numbers, $100,000,000. The ele- ment of time is more difficult to determine, but the volume remaining to be exca- vated at the Culebra being a little less than 12 million cubic metres (15,600,000 cu. yds.), it is believed that ten years is a conservative estimate. The Nicaragua Canal. — To the general relative merits of the two canals already considered may be added that the Panama route lies in the interior of Colombia, while that by Nicaragua lies near the Costa Rican boundary, where hostilities are | liable at any time to cause difficulties, as they already have done during the canal examination by the Walker commission last spring. Also that in respect to danger from possible earthquakes, which might easily cause trouble at the great locks, Pan- ama is by far the more safe, because no active volcano is found within a distance of at least 200 miles from it, while three lie in the close vicinity of the route of the Nicaragua Canal, and one within only forty miles of its western locks. Last April an earthquake destroyed substantial masonry buildings at Leon, only 100 miles distant from these lock sites. But while it is thus easy ro compare the two canals in their general features, and to see that the route by Panama is much superior to that by Nicaragua, when | details are considered, we are confronted by the fact that really no definite project can be claimed for the latter. The company’s project, as revised by the Govern- ment Commission, of which General Ludlow was president, is shown on the accom- panying drawing, which may be compared with that given to illustrate the Panama project; but it should be noted that the latter has double the horizontal scale, thus failing to impress the eye, by fifty per cent., with its relative merit in respect to length. The data upon which tin's project was based were so unsatisfactory to the Ludlow Commission that they reported: “for obtaining the necessary data for the formation of a final project, eighteen months’ time, covering two dry seasons, and an expenditure of $350,000, will be required.” A new commission has been ap- pointed, and new surveys inaugurated; and it appears from the views of the indi- vidual members, as given before the select committee of the Senate in June, 1898, that the changes undergoing study are radical in their nature, and that, although some at least of the engineering difficulties which impressed the former Government Commission are recognized as grave, no means of avoiding them have yet been dis- THE PANAMA CANAL. 441 covered. Under these conditions it is apparent that confidence cannot be accorded to such a project; and that really there is only one canal, that of Panama, whose construction could be judiciously undertaken at the present time. It is to be hoped before the Government embarks on so important a work that the relative merits of the two routes will be examined and judged by a commission of expert engineers, for it is certain that only one canal is now needed, and that that one should be the best possible. One of the discussions of the people that has accompanied the thoughtful at- tention of mankind to the various schemes for the practical removal of the barrier between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans unbroken north of the Straits of Magellan — well described as an enormous canal provided by natural causes — is the compara- tive height of the water in the two oceans that are so near and yet so far, at the Isthmus, and this mysterious matter is treated according to the popular taste in “Sport, Travel and Adventure in Newfoundland and the West Indies,” by Capt. W. E. Kennedy, E. N.; William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London, as follows: “This opens the question as to what effect the Panama Canal will have upon the tides and currents of the Caribbean Sea. One would naturally suppose that the water in the canal would flow continually from east to west, or from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, on account of the constant set of the current and the prevail- ing winds being from that direction. The difference in the height of the tide at Colon and Panama is very remarkable. At the former place the rise and fall of the tide is only three feet; whereas at Panama the difference between high and low water mark is, as far as I remember, nearly twenty. The tide is nine hours later at Colon than it is at Panama, so that when it is high or low water at Pan- ama it is half-tide at Colon. “As a matter of fact, I am inclined to think that in the event of what is called a tide-level being cut through the Isthmus — that is, a canal without locks, open to the ocean at either end — there would be no continuous stream of water flowing through the canal in any one direction, but the result would probably be that the tides would flow in from either end, meet in the middle and flow back again, as piay be seen in the Straits of Magellan, which, after all, is but a huge canal of Nature’s own construction. “It is quite possible that the rush of water may be so great as to seriously inter- fere with the passage of ships entering the canal, in which case it will be necessary to form a lock at the Panama end. It may even be necessary, in view of the differ- ence in the depth of the harbors at either end, to slope the bottom of the canal from 442 THE PANAMA CANAL. Colon downwards to Panama. This, according to Max Adler’s laughable story, * would have the effect of causing the water to flow downhill, thereby draining the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean! “But, joking apart, the tendency of the water must be to find its own level, and if it can be shown that the mean level of the tivo oceans is not identical, there must be a constant flow in the direction of the lowest level. “Now, it is not at all certain that the mean level of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is the same; and it is quite possible that, owing to the rotation of the earth on its axis, and the formation of the land in the neighborhood of the isthmus, the water may be piled up on the Atlantic side and drawn away from the Pacific side. A glance at the map will show what I mean. And we all know how a strong breeze will keep a river back, or, if in the same direction as the flow of the river, will drive it out of a lock and thus raise the river; so this theory may not be so absurd after all. I leave it to those learned in such matters. “There is another view of the case which never struck me till now. Geologists are of the opinion that at one time the Isthmus of Panama was submerged, and South America an island. They are led to this conclusion by the totally different class of animals to be found in South and North America. At that time the Gulf stream which now warms our shores must have flowed westward through this chan- nel, and the British Isles were a frozen zone unsuited for human habitation. Cut through the isthmus, and the warm waters of the Gulf stream may to a very limited extent be deflected in the direction of their former course. The effect would he probably no more than drawing off a kettle of water from the river Tweed, and the immediate effect on our climate be imperceptible; but it might to a very trifling extent have some influence — about as much, perhaps, as the endeavor to shampoo an elephant with a single egg! “I was led to this diversion from my recollection of the canal scheme twelve years ago, when I was ordered to report on its feasibility. At that time there were no fewer than five schemes for connecting the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean. I sorted these schemes, and came to the conclusion that the only one likely to be attended with any success was a direct tide-level canal across the Isthmus of Pan- ama. I shall be disappointed if this opinion be found not to be correct.” We avail ourselves of the official publications by the New Panama Canal Com- pany for details of the condition of the work done, supported by photographic views remarkably beautiful and instructive. First, it is desirable to look at the law, — ♦Elbow-Room. By Max Adler. THE PANAMA CANAL. 443 and we give Articles 5 and 6 of the Panama Canal concession of May 18, 1878, under which the canal is being completed: Art. 5. The government of the Republic hereby declares the ports at each end of the canal, and the waters of the latter from sea to sea, to be neutral for all time; and consequently, in case of war among other nations, the transit through the canal shall not be interrupted by such event, and the merchant vessels and indi- viduals of all nations of the world may enter said ports and travel on the canal with- out being molested or detained. In general, any vessel may pass freely without any discrimination, exclusion or preference of nationalities or persons, on payment of the dues and the observance of the rules established by the company for the use of the canal and its dependen- cies. Exception is to be made of foreign troops which shall not have the right to pass without permission from Congress, and of the vessels of nations which, being at war with the United States of Colombia, may not have obtained the right to pass through the canal at all times by public treaties wherein is guaranteed the sovereignty of Colombia over the Isthmus of Panama, and over the territory where- on the canal is to be cut, besides the immunity and neutrality of the said canal, its ports, bays and dependencies and the adjacent seas. ■ Art. 6. The United States of Colombia reserves to themselves the right to pass their vessels, troops, ammunitions of war at all times and without paying any dues whatever. The passage of the canal is strictly closed to war vessels of nations at war with another or other nations, and which may not have acquired, by public treaty with the Colombian Government, the right to pass by the canal at all times. The United States of America is the only nation with which Colombia has ever made a treaty wherein is guaranteed to Colombia the neutrality of the Isthmus of Panama and the sovereignty of Colombia over said territory, as above provided; and, therefore, it is the only nation having the “special or remarkable advantages” provided for by the treaty. Under this treaty Colombia granted concession to the Panama Railroad, which railroad was thereupon constructed and for forty-three years has been in continuous operation. On several noteworthy occasions the United States has protected the railroad property, in compliance with the obligations of this treaty. Also, in contemplation of the provisions of this treaty, Colombia granted in 1878 the concession for the Panama Canal now owned by the new Panama Canal Company; and like protection to the canal, as to the railroad, will, of course, be 444 THE PANAMA CANAL. assured by the United States under this treaty. Over $150,000,000 have been actually invested in the Panama Canal works, two-fifths of the entire canal work have been completed, and the balance is under active construction, in firm reliance upon the protection assured by the United States under said treaty to the “Isthmus of Panama from its southernmost extremity until the boundary of Costa Rica.” The present organization of the new Panama Canal Company is as follows: Executive Officers: J. Bonnardel, President; Maurice Hutin, Director-Gen- eral; Edward Lampre, Secretary. Board of Directors: Mr. Bonnardel, President, director of the Western Rail- road Company of France; Mr. Baillet, ex-judge of the Commercial Court of Or- leans; Mr. Brolemann, director of the Credit Lyonnais, and also president of the Franco-Canadian Credit Foncier; Mr. Chanove, managing director of the Steel and Iron Works of Huta and Bankova, in Russia; Mr. Jonquiere, inspector of Public Lands and Works, and director of the Realty Company of Lyons, France; Mr. Lebegue, director of the Bank Societe Generate and ex-director of the Bank of France (Branch for Nancy); Mr. Meliodon, director of the Comptoir National d’Es- compte of Paris and of the Credit Foncier of France; Mr. Ramet, ex-president of the Commercial Court of Rennes, France; Mr. De St. Quentin, director of the Credit Industrial Commercial; Mr. Souchon, director of the Coal Mining Company of Saint Etienne. Commercial Representative at New York: Xavier Boyard, 45 Wall Street, New York City. General Counsel: Sullivan & Cromwell, United States Trust Co. Building, 45 Wall Street, New York City. The photographic illustrations belong in picturesque America, and are most effective in placing before the eye that which has been done. The illustrations were made from photographs (not merely drawings) of various sections of the work, taken the latter part of the year 1897 and in the year 1898, and are intended to convey to the reader some idea of the present condition and progress of work on the canal. The plate showing a portion of the completed canal, with a boat in the fore- ground, illustrates the condition of the canal for fourteen miles from the Atlantic, inland. This portion of the canal is navigable, as is also about four miles from the Pacific, inland. The various cuts of the Cidebra completely refute the charge that it was im- possible to make a suitable excavation at this point. The other illustrations show the progress of the work and the character of the THE PANAMA CANAL. 445 plant employed in its execution. Most of this machinery and plant is of the most approved American design and manufacture. MAP AND PROFILE. The profile shows the three plans all equally feasible and about equal in cost, but differing in time required for execution. Level 20.75 has been adopted, sub- jected to further reduction of the number of locks if found desirable in comple- tion. It also illustrates the large proportion of work already completed, and clearly indicates, by dotted lines, the original surface line (indicated in black) and the cut- ting down of the same to the present levels (indicated in red). The map shows the route of the canal from ocean to ocean, and the line of the Panama Railroad, which is contiguous. International Technical Commission, composed of engineers of United States, France, Russia, England, Germany and Colombia: Mr. A. Robaglia, General In- spector of Bridges and Roads (France), retired, President; *Mr. Bouvier, General Inspector of Bridges and Roads (France), retired, Secretary; Brig-Gen. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, retired; Mr. E. Castel, General Inspector of Mines (France), retired; Mr. V. Daymard, Chief Engineer of Transatlantique Co. (France); Mr. Fargue, General Inspector of Bridges and Roads (France), re- tired; Mr. A. Fetley, Chief Engineer, Aqueduct Commissioners, New York City, United States America; Mr. Fulscher, “Conseiller in time” at the Department of Public Works of Prussia, formerly Engineering Director at the works of the Kiel Canal (Prussia); Mr. Hersent, Civil Engineer (France); Mr. W. Henry Hunter, Chief Engineer of the Manchester Canal Co. (England); Mr. Koch, Councillor De- partment of Public Works, Director of the Technical Academy of Darmstadt, for- merly Engineering Member of the Imperial Commission for the Kiel Canal (Prussia); Mr. Jules Martin, Inspector General of Ponts et Chaussees, retired (France); Mr. C. Skalkowski, formerly Director of Mines for the Department of Agriculture and Lands (Russia); *Mr. Sosa, Chief Engineer of Colombian States (South America). Brief history of the predecessor company, the old Panama Canal Company (the Universal Interoceanie Canal Company), 1880-1888: PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. The widespread interest in the financial failure of the old Panama Company ♦Recently deceased. 446 THE PANAMA CANAL. can be explained by the universal character of the undertaking, the celebrity of the man who was at its head, and the importance of the interests involved. In France this failure, unfortunately, served at the time certain political pur- poses; therefore public attention was diverted from the undertaking itself. It must, however, be conceded that the construction of the interoceanic canal is a commercial enterprise like any other. For its successful planning and execution every detail must first be carefully studied. The solution to be arrived at should not be based upon preconceived ideas, however attractive these may appear. Such a method is dangerous, especially so in an undertaking, which in its greatness, diffi- culties and complexity, has no precedent. An impartial examination of the financial failure of the company founded by Mr. De Lesseps discloses a number of causes which had more or less grave conse- quences, speaking either from a financial or technical point of view, but all relate to an initial or fundamental cause, that is, from its beginning there was an omission to make careful and thorough surveys to determine the character and cost of the work, as well as the time necessary to complete it. It would be unjust, however, to underestimate the importance of the work ac- complished, and the results obtained, by the old company. They will be fully pre- sented later herein. THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS HELD AT PARIS IN MAY, 1879. Notwithstanding its extreme interest, it is not possible even to summarize the history of the discoveries, explorations and plans of maritime canals on the Amer- ican Isthmus prior to the year 1879, at which time an international congress met in Paris and, after an examination of the several plans which had been presented, adopted the following conclusion: “The Congress is of the opinion that the cutting of an international sea level canal, so desirable in the interests of commerce and of navigation, is possible, and that this maritime canal, in order to provide the indispensable facility for access and use that a passage of this kind should offer, ought to be constructed from the Gulf of Limon (Colon) to the Bay of Panama.” The conclusion of the Technical Commission of this Congress were slightly less formal, and were thus expressed: “It is the opinion of the Technical Commission that the Interoceanic Canal should be constructed from the Gulf of Limon to the Bay of Panama, and this Commission specially recommends the building of a sea level canal along this route.” THEATRE AT SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA, SCHOOL HOUSE IN SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA. itEW ON SAN JUAN RIVER, COSTA RICj PIER AT GREYTOWN, NICARAGUA. THE PANAMA CANAL. 449 Reference to the debates which took place in the Congress of 1879 discloses that although a great majority of its members recognized the superiority of the proposed plan (Colon-Panama) many among them, and not the least eminent and experienced, declare, that if the realization of the plan of a sea level canal was to be urged because it was most conducive to the great growth of traffic, as well as to the safety and rapidity of its passage, it was to be feared that this would present too many difficulties, or too great a cost, and that a canal with locks would fully satisfy the wants of navigation.^ No doubt the personal opinion of Mr. De Lesseps, the originator of the Suez sea level canal, had great weight in the decision of the Congress. Mr. De Lesseps had always asserted that the canal between the Atlantic and Pacific should be con- structed at a constant level. We are compelled to admit that the completed surveys and work accomplished in the Isthmus of Panama undeniably demonstrates that Mr. De Lesseps’ ideal is now practically susceptible of realization; but Mr. De Lesseps was entirely mis- taken concerning the conditions of execution in the first attempt he made. The Congress of 1879 had calculated that the time for the finishing of the sanal would be at least twelve years, and it fixed the probable expense of the under- taking at $214,000,000. Supposing that the interest on capital during construction imounted to $26,000,000, there would be a total expenditure of $240,000,000. Mr. De Lesseps, in the beginning of the year 18S0, went to the Isthmus of Panama with a company of engineers for the purpose of completing the surveys vhich had been submitted the preceding year to the International Congress. The astimate of the construction work proper authorized by this Commission amounted o $166,800,000. At the same time this Commission expressed the opinion that with good and udicious organization the work might be concluded in eight years. Mr. De Les- jeps believed it to be possible to reduce this estimate of expenditures. It was under these conditions that the work was commenced in 1881. After ■mploying two or three years in making more careful and thorough surveys, and n preparatory work, the real difficulties of the undertaking began to be under- tood. It must be remembered that everything had to be created, at an enormous ex- cuse and very slowly, in a country entirely lacking in natural resources, and sit- uated at a great distance from the source of supplies. 450 THE PANAMA CANAL. It must be recalled, also, that there had been great want of foresight, in pro- portion to the importance of the work, and this explains the grave consequences which ensued. Notwithstanding the existence of the Panama Railroad along the line of the canal at nearly every portion of it, the first installation was extremely tedious and costly. Finally it was necessary to construct a large number of build- ings to house about 15,000 employes and workmen; hospitals, stores and workshops had to be erected. All of this plant and the preparation of the equipment had al- ready cost enormous sums, and required a considerable length of time before the actual excavation of the work could be commenced. These special difficulties every- where encountered in the Isthmus were inevitable. It was then impossible to fine proper workmen in the neighborhood of the work. Considerable effort was neces- sary to obtain laborers from other countries and bring them to the Isthmus, and in proportion as the work grew in extent, salaries increased, as well as the cost oi everything. At that time the unhealthfulness of the climate, due, in a large measure, to the excavation and uplifting of the surface of the ground, also interfered with tht progress of the work. To-day, on the Isthmus of Panama, the sanitary conditions have much im proved because of the opening of the canal, and also on account of the deep exca vations below the surface, and no difficulty whatever is now felt from the climate while labor is readily obtained from Jamaica. The construction of an interoceanic canal presented problems extremely diffi cult of solution, since, by the very nature of things, the indispensable elements fo all preliminary investigations were lacking. To definitely solve these problems th results of many years of observation and experience was required. Just this ver; filing occurred at Panama, particularly in the excavation of the large cut at Culebra The first surveys indicated the mountain to be solid rock, while, on the contrary a. layer of clayey soil was very soon encountered (the crumbling away of which ha been greatly exaggerated). At the present time the excavations of the new com pany, which have been carried to a very considerable depth, prove that the entir formation, with the exception of the surface layer, consists of a fairly hard rock o such nature and arrangement that there is no fear of crumbling of the embank ment and consequent filling up of the cut, no matter what its depth may be. I is, of course, impossible to enter here into the details of the work done by the ol company. It is sufficient to know that, when the old company at length decide to build a lock canal, it was financially impossible to do so, because its credit was s greatly impaired that it could not obtain the necessary financial support. In 188 THE PANAMA CANAL. 451 receiver was appointed by the French court and with unlimited powers — partic- darly to transfer or to assign to any new company all or any portion of the com- lany’s assets. The receipts of the old company from the sale of its bonds and stock amounted, a round figures, to $260,000,000. The items, both of receipt and expenditure, are now a matter of record as a part f the receivership and may he found on the files of the court and in the reports f the experts appointed thereon. These figures are most suggestive. They show, in the first place, that the xpenditures actually made upon the Isthmus amounted to $156,400,000, and that, f this, the cost of excavation and embankment proper amounted to $88,600,000. n the second place, the reports show the great importance of expenditures inci- ental to and connected with the w r ork. No doubt such last-mentioned expenses •ere to some extent extravagant, but, nevertheless, it must be admitted that, for he most part, they were necessary and will be utilized in the completion of the ork by the new company. To properly appreciate these expenses the plans and profiles must be carefully )Ilowed. The facts just given are deduced from statements made by a special commis- on appointed by the receiver of the old company. In all its appraisals and valua- ons this commission has evinced extreme discrimination and fairness. After having made these statements this commission desired to determine the fiual value of what had been done by the old company, and upon this point states: “The enormous amount of material at hand ready to be utilized, the great num- ?r of works established, lands received and to be received, labor actually expended, iperience gained, supplies laid in, preliminaries mapped out, including the right : way, are wmrth to the new company at least 450,000,000 francs ($90,000,000).” RGANIZATION OF THE NEW PANAMA CANAL COMPANY OCTO- BER 20, 1894. The receiver asked for and obtained from the Colombian Government two suc- ■ssive extensions of the concession, extending the time for the completion of the .nal to October, 1904. (The Government of Colombia has just granted an addi- onal extension of six years more.) Finally, in 1894, the court and those having legal charge of the interests of l i 452 THE PANAMA CANAL. the old company made an impartial examination of the situation and came to th following conclusions: First — That the work actually accomplished by the old company in the Isth mus was very large, substantial and available. Second — That notwithstanding an interregnum of four years, the work pre viously accomplished was in a satisfactory condition. Third — That the locations occupied, and the plant on the Isthmus, had bee: well cared for by the receiver, and were sufficient for the continuation and accon plishment of the work without extensive and expensive preparation. Fourth — That the climatic dangers, the difficulties of the undertaking, and th cost necessary for its accomplishment had been grossly exaggerated. It was therefore resolved to reorganize the old company, under new maaagi ment and new conditions. On the one hand the work was to be renewed and continued. On the other hand to ascertain, by investigation and the widest experience whether the construction of the canal could be completed under reasonable cond lions of time and money. It was in this spirit that the New Panama Canal was organized in Octobe 1894, under the general laws of France. Its constitution and method of operatic were rigorously restricted. From the financial point of view it was thought advisable that a large numb of financial institutions of France should purchase the stock of the new compan, and should be represented in the administration of its affairs by their officers, so to insure for the new company the hearty support of these great financial interest as well as the high character and large experience of the gentlemen composing ti board. The stock was declared by the charter to be non-negotiable until the fin technical plans were prepared and adopted. The company was organized with cash capital of 65,000,000 francs, or $13,000,000, actually paid in. Thus were assured to the undertaking the sympathies and support of the fina cial world. All speculation in the stock of the company before the adoption final plans was prevented, as the stock, being non-negotiable until said event, cor not be registered and quoted at the Exchange. The Board of Directors is composed of entirely new and independent rnembe 1 , no one of whom had any official relation to the old company. The new company has been officially recognized by the United States of (■ lombia, and its titles and concessions have been fully confirmed by that Gove ' ment. THE PANAMA CANAL. 453 OPERATIONS OP THE NEW COMPANY. The new company, according to its charter, carefully considered all plans that mid attract the attention of serious-minded and practical men, and carefully com- ared the advantages and disadvantages of each. This careful method demanded an exact and complete knowledge of the local mditions and the character of the soil where the work was to be carried on, and [so full knowledge of the ways and means for its execution; in a word, a thorough jnowledge of all the fundamental facts which enter into the undertaking. The new company already had the benefit of the results of the preliminary ivestigations made by the old company and by the receiver. It completed these y carrying on extensive operations upon the work so as to become thoroughly ac- uainted with the country, while also forwarding the completion of the canal itself, 'hese operations, long and laborious as they were, accomplished not only the solu- on of the general problem, but a practical settlement and disposition of numerous ■sser problems. The new company resolved to carry on the excavations in such an extensive tanner that there would remain no hypothetical conditions concerning future work, 'he work thus carried on for this purpose was also a part of the necessary work on le canal, and therefore forms a portion of the cut of the canal itself. The time devoted to these investigations and experiences was more than three isars, to which must be added the investigations and experiences of the past. But me has not been lost, for it is an infallible principle in large undertakings that, ae more detailed and careful the surveys, the surer and quicker the execution of re work. It may also be added that important public works executed too hastily ithout sufficient preliminary surveys to determine what is necessary to be done (ad what is impossible, inevitably lead to grave mistakes and delays, if not to dis- ster. A great number of plans have been considered, but from the beginning it .was solved not to deviate from the following principles: First — That every plan involving any difficulty impossible of execution in the Hotted time, and within the limit of expense, should be rejected. Second — That in the solution of the technical and detailed problems of the ork only those plans should be considered which had the support of experience, ad every new idea which might tend to mislead should be rigidly excluded. Third — That in arriving at the proper solution it was necessary to consider the articular place where the work was to be executed, and also to make due allowance 454 THE PANAMA CANAL. for the influence of the climate of the region. Hence the necessity of undertaking only work not requiring exceptional conditions. The present company, after acquiring in October, 1894, the canal works, plant machinery, concessions, stocks and other assets of every description of the old com- pany, realized at the outset that the most judicious way to employ its capital was tc enter into an entirely new study of the engineering features of the undertaking and also to begin, on a substantial scale, such an amount of work as would set al rest beyond question all doubts as to the quality of materials to be encountered (no) only on the surface but also in the underground strata which it was expected tc reach in all the excavations), while at the same time constructing the canal itself. The new company, accordingly, with the aid of the plant at hand and of sucl new machinery as it was found expedient to purchase, went to work with a fores of several thousand men and’ put in the field a large engineering force. SYNOPSIS OF THE PEE SENT STATUS OF THE CANAL WOEKS ANI THE PLAN OF CONSTEUCTION, AS UNANIMOUSLY AP- PEOYED BY THE INTEENATIONAL TECH- NICAL COMMISSION. Line of Eoute. Two-fifths of entire canal works now actually completed, anc balance under active construction with 4,000 workmen and large force of engi- neers. Although the skill of its own board of engineers is worthy of the highest confi- dence, the new company, out of abundant caution, and in order to place beyonc doubt the final conclusions, caused to be appointed an INTEENATIONAL TECHNICAL COMMISSION, composed of engineers selected from different nationalities, a course which assure! to the company the benefit of the widest experience, the severest judgment and mos independent conclusions. The commission is composed of the most eminent engineers of the Unitec States, France, England, Germany, Eussia and Colombia, all of whom have beei connected with works of magnitude, and each of whom is distinguished for the high est character and experience. As to all traffic, statistical and economic questions the new company also established a Special Commission, presided over by Monsieu Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, the eminent economist and a member of the Institute o France. THE PANAMA CANAL. 455 The members of this commission (whose names appear on a preceding page) ire the most distinguished and able men in their profession, and it is self-evident that no one of them would compromise his reputation and honor, acquired through i long life of eminent service, by formulating conclusions upon unfounded, incom- jplete, superficial or uncertain information, nor such as would fail to stand the se- verest tests. This commission was organized in February, 1896, and besides individual exam- ination, study and correspondence; committee work on special subjects; personal inspection on the Isthmus through a committee of their number; full discussion md frequent exchange of views; study of all preceding plans and the daily develop- ment work upon the Isthmus, this commission has held over one hundred recorded sessions. They have also with great care and large expense made most careful observa- tions — continuing over a period of two years — of the Chagres River for the purpose if ascertaining the various conditions of this river at all times and under all condi- tions, that they might have definite and reliable data upon which to base their con- clusions respecting its treatment. This eminent commission of engineers reached its final and unanimous con- clusion on November 16, 1898, embodied in the elaborate REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COMMISSION, ,vhich has been adopted by the company, and under which the work of construction s proceeding. These conclusions, signed by every member of the commission, establish the entire feasibility, practicability and cost of completing the canal. It s based upon years of continuous study and testing of every element. Different clans, equally practicable, hut varying in probable cost, have been studied. Many nonths have been spent in preparing, revising and studying each of them. This vork has not been done hastily and superficially. These eminent engineers, chosen especially for their eminence in special departments of engineering work, have studied the questions in all their details — technical, climatic, physical, geologic and sconomic. Each member rests his reputation on his signature to the report. The report of the commission is probably the most authoritative document wer presented on an engineering subject, prepared by them, as it has been, with he greatest care, after the most thorough and competent investigation and exami- nation, with most exhaustive surveys before them respecting every foot of the 456 THE PANAMA CANAL. ground to be treated, and by the most experienced and eminent engineers of five different nations. This report was, on December 2, 1898, delivered by the new company to the President of the United States for the use of the Government. The following described plans are based on said report: The Panama Canal extends from Colon, on the Atlantic, to Panama, on the Pacific Ocean. Its total length is 46.2 miles, including 3.35 miles dredged in the Pacific to deep water. The great chain of the Cordilleras, which runs along the Isthmus, presents at the point selected a pass which is not too high to preclude the construction of the canal, while the parts contiguous to both are low. The profile of the canal consequently presents, in the central part, a high sum- mit, from which the ground slopes gradually (although irregularly) towards the low grounds adjacent to the sea. Starting from Colon, on the Atlantic coast, is situate the new city of Chris- topher Columbus, the location of the works and plant of the Canal Company. From the little port of Folk River we follow the canal for about 11.8 miles. This canal is navigable, varying in depth from 16.4 to 29.5 feet. From the 11.7 to the 26.7 mile, excavation is proceeding the entire distance, and the embankments consequently thrown up gradually rise from the level of the sea to about the height of 49.2 feet, with cuts such as the one of Bohio, which is 131.2 feet in depth, and those of San Pablo and Matachin, which are from 82 to 98.5 feet. From the 28tli mile rises the central mass of earth called the Cordillera. A good deal of work has been done between the 28th and 33d mile. Very near here Culebra is reached, where the labor has been much diminished by the character of the upper layers. The cut begun by the old company has been continued by the new company, and now has an average depth of 164 feet. The slope towards the Pacific Ocean is now reached, and here the declivity of the land becomes great. Work is being carried on the entire distance. The height of the embankment varies from 49 or 65 feet to about 196.5 feet, diminish- ing at the 40th mile to from 6.5 to 16.4 feet. From this point to the Pacific the canal has been completed to the depth of from 6.5 to 26.2 feet. From mile 42.8 to the great depths near Naos, at mile 45.9, the canal is completed so as to be navigable to a depth of from 16.5 to 29.5 feet, which was recently excavated by the new company to an average depth of 27.8 feet below the level of the sea. THE PANAMA CANAL. 457 THE WORK ALREADY DONE CONSTITUTES FULLY TWO-FIFTHS OF THE ENTIRE WORKS. The portions of the canal adjacent to the sea have been excavated, and, although the Chagres River has been for years flowing through them, they can be partially utilized. • At the present time the topography of all the grounds involved in the project, and the character of the materials to be encountered, are accurately known and delineated; deep and extensive excavations, % as well as numerous soundings and borings, have made known the subterranean strata underlaying the surface, and by those means no doubt is left as to the soundness of the materials through which the canal is to be dug to great depths and on which the foundations of the locks, dams and other structures are to be established. Sixteen different plans have been worked out in detail, including estimates of cost and of time needed for construction. It is on these complete data furnished by the local engineers and by the observations of its own members on the Isthmus that the International Technical Commission has based its conclusions, embodied in the plans which will be out- lined later herein. The original purpose of the old company was to build a canal without locks, freely open from ocean to ocean, but after several years of work the plan was abandoned, owing to the enormous excavation necessary to cut through the central mass of the mountains (the Culebra) and the difficulty and expense of properly taking care of the occasional torrential flow of the River Chagres. The alternate plan was to reduce materially the depth of the central excava- tion and to establish therein a system of locks, to be fed from the Chagres River. This is the plan adopted by the new company. From what precedes, it may be seen that three principal problems presented themselves — i. e.: First. — The determination of the depth to which the central mass must be excavated and of the number and height of the locks to be built. Second. — The designing of the proper methods for the regulation of the flow of the Chagres River. Third. — The feeding of the canal. I. — Depth of Excavation (altitude of the summit level of the canal bottom). The number of locks determined by the depth of such excavation (altitude of canal bottom). It is obvious that the deeper the excavation the more time will be required 458 THE PANAMA CANAL. for the work and the less locks will be needed; also, that too shallow an excava- tion, while requiring less time, would require more locks. The necessity of feeding the canal from the Chagres Eiver, and of providing proper storage for its freshets, are also an element in the determination of the altitude of its bottom level. This complex problem is obviously capable of several solutions, and before reaching a final decision the International Technical Commission studied a num- ber of alternate plans, which, after proper consideration, were reduced to three, in which the altitudes of the summit level of the canal are fixed at 29.50 meters (96.78 feet), 20.75 meters (68.08 feet), and 10 meters (32.81 feet), respectively, above mean water in the Atlantic. Of these three plans the commission, after mature deliberation and under the present condition of experience furnished by the work already done, has decided that 20.75 meters (68.08 feet) above the sea, with four locks on each slope, as the altitude at which the bottom of the canal should be placed to make the time necessary for excavation of the balance the most probable time required for the construction of the locks and dams— a result obviously desirable for the proper conduct of the undertaking. If, however, it be found during the construction of the work that the excava- tion may require more time, the bottom can be placed at the elevation 96.78 feet (in which case one lock would be added to present plans on each side of the canal); or if, on the contrary, it be found that the work can be done more expeditiously than expected, the bottom can be placed at the elevation 32.81 feet (in which case one lock on each side would be omitted from the present jfiant); and in either case the change could be done without interfering with the general' plan, provided a decision he not too long delayed. The plan herein described is based on the plan adopted by the International Technical Commission with an altitude of 68.08 feet (20.75 meters) above mean sea level. The summit level, 118.11 feet wide at bottom and 318.35 feet long, is in the deep cut of the Culebra; the upper strata are clayey with easy slopes; below this is a rocky formation, which is to he excavated in wide steps. In the canal prism a berme is left under water. The next level, from Obispo to Bohio, with a bottom width of 164 feet, is 13.37 miles long. At Bohio another group of two double locks empties into the Atlantic level, which has a width of 98.4 to 111.5 feet on bottom and a length of 14.84 miles. THE PANAMA CANAL. 459 On the Pacific side, the summit level terminates at Paraiso with one double lock. The adjacent level from Paraiso to Pedro Miguel is 7,963 feet long, and ends at the latter place with two double locks. The next level, from Pedro Miguel to Miraflores, is 7,930 feet long, and terminates there with one double lock. The Pacific level, adjacent to the latter, is 4.69 miles long to La Boca, beyond which a channel 3.36 miles long is excavated to deep water. The depth of water in the locks is to be generally 29.5 feet and is not to exceed 32.8 feet. All the locks are to be double, the working length being for both 738.22 feet. The width of one of the twin locks is to be 82.02 feet, and the width of the other is 59.05 feet (with an intermediate gate), although, in the opinion of several members of the commission, it might be preferable to build both locks of the width of 82.02 feet. It is designed that the slopes of the canal, especially in the deep central trench, are to be protected by stone revetments. The route of the canal is the same as was originally adopted, and is thought to be judicious, the curves not having less than 9,843 feet radius in the normal course of the canal, with the exception of one of 8,200 feet. The curvatures are gentle, not sharp. The smallest radius is 8,200 feet. Of the 46 miles of the canal 26.75 are straight, and 15 have radii equal to or not exceeding 9,850 feet. The aim of the commission has been to resort to simple forms of structures; moreover, it may be seen from its plans that, notwithstanding the magnitude of the work, every part has been kept within the limits of well-established precedents. II. — Absolute control of the Chagres River by the construction of two great dams which capture and store the floods, supply the summit level with water during the dry season, feed the canal, furnish abundant hydraulic power trans- mitted by electricity for operating the locks and lighting the entire length of the canal by night. For a considerable part of its length the location of the canal is in the valley of the Chagres River, a torrential stream which, although inconsiderable in dry times, is subject to sudden and sometimes enormous freshets; hence the necessity of providing such means as would prevent the destruction of the canal, unless diverted or regulated by proper means. 460 THE PANAMA CANAL. Such was the problem which presented itself to the old cfmpany. One of the main causes of the failure of the old company was evidently the lack of proper preliminary studies for the solution of such an important problem of engineering, the almost total neglect of the question of the disposal of the Chagres being especially noticeable. The receiver of the old company, fully realizing the deficiency, appointed a commission of engineers, whose comprehensive report contained useful recom- mendations, several of which are embodied in the plans now adopted by the new company. As it is impossible to admit of the flow of the Chagres River directly into the bed of the canal, it must be either diverted or so disposed of and regulated as to be harmless in times of freshet. Diversion having been rejected from the inception of the project as imprac- ticable, or, at any rate, too expensive, it has been decided to regulate the flow by the creation of large artificial lakes sufficiently extensive to store the largest freshets, with proper overflows for the safe disposal of them, without interfering harmfully with the regime of the water in the canal. The location, and especially the altitude of the aforesaid lakes, obviously depends, to a large extent, upon the height at which the bottom of the canal is established, and will be described later; but that presents no difficulty. In order to properly regulate the flow of the Chagres, two large dams will be erected. (a) One of these dams will be located at Bohio at the last group of locks on the Atlantic side. It is to be built of earth on a sound argillaceous foundation, and the depth of w r ater against it is not to exceed 65.62 feet. The maximum height of its w 7 ater surface is to be 65.62 feet above mean sea level. This dam will transform the Chagres into a vast lake, the boundaries of w r hich have been accurately established. It will extend a distance of 13 miles to Obispo, where the canal will leave the river. The lake formed by the Bohio dam will cover an area of 21.5 square miles. Its lowest level is fixed at 52.5 : feet, its normal level at 55.75 feet, and its highest level at 65.5 feet above mean tide. It will be revetted with stone, with a foundation bed of clay and abutting against rock banks. The extreme length of crest wall be 1,286 feet; the extreme height above the bed of the river will be 75.5 feet, and above the lowest point of the foundation 93.5 feet. All details of construction, including the devices for THE PANAMA CANAL. 461 controlling the river during the progress of the work, have been carefully elabo- rated. The sites for the two overflow weirs are remote from the dam, and an abundance of excellent material is found near at hand. The capacity of the Bohio dam will be from 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 cubic meters. This dam, besides acting as a regulator of the Chagres floods, will obviate strong currents where the canal traverses the bed of the river — an extremely important matter for ocean shipping. (b) The other dam will be located at Alhajuela on the Upper Chagres, about 9 1-3 miles from the canal; will be built entirely of concrete masonry, on a com- pact rock foundation and abutting against rock walls. It will be about 164 feet above the canal. The extreme length of crest will be 936.75 feet; the extreme height above the bed of the river will be 134.5 feet and above the lowest point of the foundation 164 feet. The cross-sections and the practical details of construction are in accord- ance with all the requirements of modern engineering. Good rock and sand are abundant in the immediate vicinity. This dam forms a reservoir covering 10 square miles, with a capacity of from 100,000,000 to 130,000,000 cubic meters. One of the functions of this reservoir (made by the Alhajuela dam) is that of a feeder to the summit level of the canal, supplying the summit level with water in the dry season (January-April). But, in addition, it will assist in effectually controlling the floods of the Chagres and will furnish hydraulic power, transmit- ted by electricity, for operating the locks and lighting at night the entire canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific. (c) Eor these purposes the reservoir will he connected with the summit level of the canal by a channel or feeder of a capacity of 25 cubic meters (6,605 gallons) per second. This feeder will he built from the Alhajuela dam to the canal, a dis- tance of 9 1-3 miles. It starts at 190.25 feet above sea level and will be built partly on the side hills and partly in inverted siphons or tunnels, and has been shown by exact surveys to be entirely feasible. It traverses a rough country and its construction will be relatively costly, but when compared with many irrigating canals west of the Mississippi River it offers no serious difficulties. A short auxiliary railroad will be built along the Chagres River for the con- struction of the Alhajuela dam and of its connecting channel. 462 THE PANAMA CANAL. (d) Both dams can, consequently, accumulate a storage of at least 250,000,000 cubic meters (66,000,000,000 gallons), which, with proper adjustable weirs, are more than sufficient to control the largest freshets known. These figures are the result of a careful study of the observations kept since the beginning of the operations of the old company and of the experience acquired since the building of the Panama Railroad. Should any larger freshet occur (a very rare occurrence), navigation might be interrupted for a day or two, but, owing to the precautions observed in designing the various structures, the canal would suffer no damage. (e) This entirely disposes of the question of the Chagres. It may flow to any extent which Nature may prompt. It is not only rendered harmless by being securely impounded by the great dams at Bohio and Alhajuela, which create the vast lake and reservoir described, but, on the other hand (as is well stated by General Abbot in the November Forum), “It may safely be affirmed that the Chagres River is no longer an element of danger, but is rather a useful friend, whose assistance will be of great value to the canal in its operation.” III.— THE APPREHENSION OF CAVING IN THE DEEP CENTRAL CUT. The solution of this question cannot be more tersely nor accurately stated than it has been (in the November , ’98, Forum) by the member of the Interna- tional Commission, the distinguished Brigadier-General Henry L. Abbot, who made a special study of the subject: “The question of caving in the deep central cut has been studied in the most thorough manner, involving not only many borings and pits, to determine the material to be encountered, but also a uunette excavated throughout the trouble- some region along the axis of the canal, having a projected width at bottom of 32.75 feet, with slopes of about 45 degrees, and a projected elevation above sea level varying from 128 feet to 157.5 feet. This work, together with a tunnel 689 feet long and 9.75 feet wide, pierced, at an elevation of 134.5 feet above sea level, at the spot which had given the most trouble on the whole route, combined with the evidence afforded by the borings and pits at greater depth, leads to the con- viction that, at Culebra, where the deepest cutting is required, the excavation has already passed through the strata subject to caving, and that the remainder traverses an indurated argillaceous schist changing to compact rock, where no | fears of yielding to pressure need be entertained. At Emperador, where the cutting j THE PANAMA CANAL. 463 required for the canal is much less, the indications are similar, except that the material at present reached is less resisting, hut with proper precautions in the way of drainage, which were wholly neglected by the contractors of the old com- pany, little or no difficulty from serious caving need be apprehended. This work of experimental excavation has been continued for more than three years, involv- ing the removal of about 3,924,000 cubic yards. It was projected, partly to deter- mine the proper inclination for the side slopes, and partly to estimate the unit cost. The results are highly satisfactory; and the old bugbear of a sliding mountain divide has been proved to be imaginary.” IV.— HEALTH OF EMPLOYEES. Again we employ the words of General Abbot in the same article: “The health of the personnel formerly caused trouble, coolies and other races not well suited to hard labor under a tropical sun being employed. With negroes from the British Antilles, little difficulty is now experienced. This matter was j carefully investigated during the inspection last spring, American engineers and employees on the canal and the Panama Railroad being questioned, the fine hos- pital near Panama — where the company provides for its sick — being visited, and the views of the medical officers and of the Sisters of Charity, acting as nurses, being obtained. All agreed that the dangers resulting from the climate have been much exaggerated. The surgeon in charge of the hospital, Dr. Lacroisade, who has resided oh the isthmus since 1887, after presenting full statistics covering the sick reports for the past year of a force of about 3,800 agents and laborers under i ' employment, said: “ ‘Among the diseases attributable to the climate the most numerous are simple marsh fevers, which have not occasioned a single death. Two diseases only belonging to the epidemic type have appeared — the beriberi, of which there is no longer any question [it was imported with negro laborers brought from Africa as an experiment, and disappeared when they w^ere sent back], and yellow fever. The latter, after having been absent from the isthmus for at least six years, was imported in 1897, and continued about six months, from March to August, when it again disappeared after very light ravages (only six deaths). Thus it cannot be It considered that this pest is really epidemic on the isthmus. From the other infec- tious epidemics, such as variola, typhoid fever, diphtheria, etc., the isthmus appears to be almost entirely exempt. From the foregoing we may conclude that life on the isthmus scarcely incurs more dangers than elsewhere, even for Europeans who, after the blacks of the British Antilles, appear to resist the climate best. I Residence here would, then, offer nothing alarming, were it not for a constant r ' i 464 THE PANAMA CANAL. feeling of fatigue and uneasiness due to a temperature always high and an atmos- phere saturated with moisture.’ “There appears, therefore, to be no danger of serious mortality in the con- struction of the canal, if due care be taken to benefit by past experience in select- ing the laborers.” V. — HARBORS AT TERMINI— COLON AND PANAMA. These harbors are so well known to the commerce of the world employing the Panama route that no extended remarks need be made. They are natural, not artificial, harbors; good and easy of access. The ships of many European, South and Central American nations, as well as of the United States, have for over fifty years regularly and daily availed of these ports, where the maritime conditions are most satisfactory. Neither of these harbors require protection or further excavation. They are in excellent condition. VI. — There are no active volcanoes within 200 miles of the canal. VII. — There are no troublesome winds or river currents to be encountered, even in times of flow. VIII. — The existence and operation of a railroad (the Panama Railroad), which the line of the canal closely follows, greatly facilitates the work of construc- tion and is of enormous advantage. Commerce has employed the Panama route for over fifty years. The con- ditions of traffic are established and well known. The Panama route constitutes a part of the coast line of the United States, connecting its Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Its terminal cities — Colon, Panama — 1 arc ancient and firmly established. Upon the intermediate line thirty railroad stations, serving the neighboring villages and settlements, give character to the route. It is not a marshy jungle. It is a settled country, and the line has been made readily accessible and habitable by fifty years’ traffic, development and settle- ment. Regular lines of steamers, from Germany, England, France, New York, Bel- gium, Spain and Italy, on the Atlantic side, and San Francisco and all Central and South American and Mexican ports, on the Pacific side, lrave for over fifty years regularly employed this route. The Panama route, therefore, needs no introduction to the commerce of the 1 world, which has continuously employed it for nearly half a century. i THE PANAMA CANAL. 46? IX. — The time of transit for vessels through the canal will be less than a day; merchant and war vessels of the largest size can he accommodated. X. — For four years there have been continuously employed from 3,000 to 4,000 workmen on the canal works, besides a large force of engineers, and at this moment that number is at work on the canal. XI. — As stated, the canal will be only 46 miles long. Of this, 15 miles on the Atlantic side, and 74 miles on the Pacific (about one-half the entire distance), will be at sea level. From 12 to 13 miles on the Atlantic side and from 5 to 6 miles on the Pacific side are already completed, and, indeed, are used by the natives. The intervening higher lands are materially cut. This constitutes fully two-fifths of the entire work, and the remainder, as before stated, is being completed with a body of four thousand men and a large force of engineers. XII. — There is nothing in the physical conditions on the Isthmus to prevent a change from a canal with a system of locks to a sea-level canal, should the latter seem desirable in the future. XIII. — As above stated, the new company is now the absolute owner of the canal, canal works, buildings, machinery, material, concessions, and all other canal property on the Isthmus. The official accounts and reports of experts, on the files of the Court in France, in the receivership proceedings, show that the expenditures actually made by the old company upon the Isthmus amounted to $156,400,000, and that of this sum the cost of excavation and embankment, proper, amounted to $88,600,000. For the purpose of establishing the actual present and reproductive value of this property a Special Commission was constituted, of which the former Director of the National Academy of Eoads and Bridges of France was chairman. This commission established the said value at $90,000,000, which is a very conserva- tive valuation. Since such valuation, the new company has made large expendi- tures for construction, machinery, etc. The present fixed assets of the company exceed $100,000,000. And, in addition, the cash, stocks and personal assets of the company are some millions more, and ample for its needs. The company has no mortgage or bonded indebtedness of any kind. Its prop- 468 THE PANAMA CANAL. erty is free from all encumbrance; it has no floating indebtedness, or other debts than monthly pay-rolls, promptly met. The company, being financially independent and continuing the construc- tion with its present resources, has neither created a bond issue nor solicited funds from the public nor from any government. XIV. — The security-holders of the old company have no vote, voice, title oi ownership in the property of the new company or in the administration of its affairs. By private contract, merely, the new company has agreed that aftei all expenses of operation, maintenance, exploitation, dividends, reserve funds, etc. are provided for, a specified share of the surplus income shall be paid to the Liqui dator of the old company for the benefit of his constituents; but this agreement has no effect upon, or relation to, the absolute ownership and administration of tin canal by the new company. XV. — The estimates of cost of completion have been established from tht experience acquired during the last four years of actual work on the Isthmus, anc is reported by The International Technical Commission, as follows: The total cost of the work proper under plans adopted. .$ 87,000,000 Add for contingencies 15,400,000 Total $102,400,000 If both locks be built with a width of 82.025 feet, the cost would be increased to $125,000,000 THE TRAFFIC OF THE PANAMA CANAL. To determine the probable traffic of the Interoceanic Canal, many interesting works and numerous publications have been written in recent years, with wide! different conclusions. This is not the place to discuss the different opinions o the writers who have considered this important question, and especially becau&i many of them, either from personal, political or financial motives, have reaehei conclusions minimizing or exaggerating the amount of traffic, according to thei respective interests. The new company has carefully analyzed these earlier discussions, and ha not been satisfied with the basis upon which they are founded. The compan has sought a basis more reliable than conjecture, and it has pursued an entire! new and more reliable method for the settlement of this question and one no depending solely upon hypothetical conclusions. This method was found. It i THE PANAMA CANAL. 469 based upon the statement of the tonnage of all the vessels that, actually following maritime routes, would find it to their advantage to use that of an interoceanic canal, if the same were open to navigation. This involved enormous labor, since it was necessary to investigate the traffic of at least 13,000 separate sailing vessels or steamers engaged in ocean navigation or coastwise trade. But the results obtained are most exact. It is sufficient to say that they are very satisfactory and show that the capital invested in the Panama Canal will be amply remunerated. The delicate and complex questions relative to the determination of the probable traffic of the canal were examined and acted upon by a special committee appointed by the new company, the president of which commission is the dis- tinguished and well-known economist, Mr. Paul Leroy-Beaulieu, member of the Institute of France. THE CONCESSION TO THE PANAMA CANAL COMPANY. The concession of the new Panama Canal Company was granted by the Colombian Government by law dated the 28tli of May, 1878, extended by the la!w of the 26th of December, 1890, and the law of the 4th of August, 1893. The time for the completion of the canal is thereby fixed at October, 1904; but in this present month of December, 1898, the Government of Colombia has granted an additional extension of six years — to 1910 — subject to the formality of ratifi- cation by Congress when it reconvenes — an assured act. This concession grants to this company the exclusive privilege of excavation through the Colombian (territory and the opening of a maritime canal between the Atlantic and Pacific aceans — the canal to be constructed without restrictive conditions of any kind. The concession continues for ninety-nine years from the time of the opening of :he canal, either wholly or in part, for public use. The Government gratuitously cedes to the company the land necessary for figging the canal and all its branches. It also cedes for the purposes of the canal a zone of land 656 feet in width an each side throughout its entire length, wherever it may extend. In addition it cedes to the company 1,235,500 acres of public lands, with all nining rights in whatever localities the company may choose. The company has the right to introduce free of duty or any tax whatever tny instruments, machinery, tools, materials, provisions, etc., to be needed for he use and construction of the canal. 470 THE PANAMA CANAL. No national tax nor state tax nor tax of any other kind upon the canal o its dependencies shall be imposed upon the vessels traversing said canal. The tolls of the canal to he charged to all vessels without exception or favo under similar conditions, is not to exceed 10 francs (or two dollars) for each cubi meter based on the actual displacement of the hull. As a compensation for the rights and privileges granted to the company tl 1 Colombian Government is entitled to receive five per cent on the gross revenv of the company for the first twenty-five years after the opening of the can: to the public; from the twenty-sixth year to the fiftieth year it will be entitle to six per cent; from the fiftieth to the seventy-fifth year, seven per cent, an from the seventy-fifth year to the end of the term, eight per cent. This concession was granted, and the work has been and is carried on, und< the protection of the treaty between New Granada (Colombia) and the Unite States, made in 1846, and ratified in 1848. The portion of this treaty wlfic refers to this subject, as well as the particular articles of the concession relath thereto, is of so much interest that they are quoted in full as follows: ARTICLE 35 OF THE TREATY OF 1846-8, BETWEEN NEW GRANAD (NOW REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA) AND THE UNITED STATES. “The United States of America and the Republic of New Granada, desiring make as durable as possible the relations which are to be established between tl two parties by virtue of this treaty, have declared solemnly and do agree to tl following points: “First. — For the better understanding of the preceding articles, it is ai has been stipulated between the high contracting parties that the citizens, vess< : | and merchandise of the United States shall enjoy in the ports of New Granai including those of the part of the Granadian territory denominated Isthmus Panama, from its southernmost extremity until the boundary of Costa Rica, the exemptions, privileges and immunities concerning commerce and navigati which are now or may hereafter be enjoyed by Granadian citizens, their vessels a merchandise, and that this equality of favors shall be made to extend to t passengers, correspondence and merchandise of the United States in their tran. across the said territory from one sea to the other. “The Government of New Granada guarantees to the Government of t United States that the right of way or transit across the Isthmus of Panaii upon any modes of communication that now exist or that may hereafter be cc i THE PANAMA CANAL. 471 tructed, shall be open and free to the Government and citizens of the United tates, and for the transportation of any articles of produce, manufactures, or ierchandise, of lawful commerce, belonging to the citizens of the United States; lat no other tolls or charges shall be levied or collected upon the citizens of the nited States, or their said merchandise, thus passing over any road or canal lat may be made by the Government of New Granada, or by the authority of re same, that is, under like circumstances, levied upon and collected from the ranadian citizens; that any lawful produce, manufactures or merchandise be- mging to the citizens of the United States thus passing from one sea to the :her, in either direction, for the purpose of exportation to any other foreign rantry, shall not be liable to any import duties whatever; or, having paid such aties, they shall be entitled to draw back upon their exportation; nor shall the tizens of the United States be liable to any duties, tolls or charges of any kind ) which native citizens are not subjected for thus passing the said Isthmus. “And, in order to secure to themselves the tranquil and constant enjoyment of lese advantages, and as an especial compensation for the said advantages, and for le favors they have acquired by the fourth, fifth and sixth articles of this treaty, le United States guarantee positively and efficaciously to New Granada, by the resent stipulation, the perfect neutrality of the before-mentioned Isthmus, with le view that the free transit from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted p embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists; and, in consequence, re United States also guarantee, in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty id property which New Granada has and possesses over the said territory. % % ❖ * ❖ * * "“Sixth. — Any special or remarkable advantages that one or the other powers ay enjoy from the foregoing stipulation are and ought to be always understood i virtue and as in compensation of the obligations they have just contracted, and hich had been specified in the first of this article.” CHAPTER II. THE SUEZ CANAL. The Monument of Disraeli and De Lesseps That, Though of Shifting Nature in Shifting Sand, Is More Imperishable than Marble or Brass or Any Towering Structure Reared by Human Hands — What the Great Engineer De Lesseps, Who, Though He Subsequently Made a Failure, Did Enough for Immortality, Had to Say — The Suez Canal the Grandest Work of Public Improvement in the Most Progressive Century — The Dramatic History Without a Parallel as a Scheme of Daring Scientific Fancy or Realization of Golden Dividends. Lord Beaconsfield was the British statesman who saw the full importance of the Suez Canal to the Empire, and, with a stroke of genius and the nerve of one who had counted all the consequences and accepted them, snatched the Egyptian shares in the market, gained command of the canal and suppressed j| an Egyptian revolt, incidentally preparing to take the first occasion to conquer Egypt. Count de Lesseps had with his daring engineering and diplomatic finesse gained a commanding advantage for the French, and crowned his triumph by securing the attendance at the opening of the canal of his relative, the Empress Eugenie, her presence being at once a decoration and celebration. The French, absorbed in their self-consciousness after the fall of Napoleon III., and when the succeeding republic was old enough to offer temptation to intrigue, declined to aid in the subjugation of the revolted Egyptian soldiers and left the British to bombard Alexandria, crush the rebellion and possess the Nile country. Ever since the domination of England in Egypt has been a matter of course, and her commercial supremacy manifest in the business of the canal. This is the justifi- cation of the exercise of power and will continue while the Empire stands, just as legitimate as holding Gibraltar, Malta and Cypress. Egypt is England’s Half- Way House to India, and the prestige of the British Empire depends upon the continuance of the potentiality of the English in Southern and Eastern Asia. Disraeli has passed away, having done a wonderful work for his country, and the Queen he made Empress of India is loyal in her grateful memory for the immense audacity and consummate conduct that increased the dignity of her station and the grandeur of her dominion. The Suez Canal is to England and Europe at large what the Panama or Nicaragua Canal completed and wide open would he for the greater American Republic, and all of the great nations, providing a water- 472 THE SUEZ CANAL. 473 way in the tropics approximating to a direct channel for the circumnavigation of the globe, relieving at once the disadvantages of the Pacific coast of our coun- try, and establishing this nation as one of the powers in Asia. We might well he content if the canal of the Isthmus of Darien was free as that of Suez, for if we ever needed to assert ourselves by force of arms we could at any time summon the physical force to vindicate our rights, and that we would find at all times the equivalent of our capacity. That would be a far stronger -way of asserting ourselves than to be contentious in Congressional debates about con- tracts. We quote “The Suez Canal,” by Ferdinand de Lesseps: Translated by M. Do’ Anvers. Henry S. King & Company, London, 1867. This is the minute dated Maria, November 15, 1854, and addressed to His Highness, Mohammed Said, Viceroy of Egypt and its dependencies: The scheme of uniting the Mediterranean and the Bed Sea, by means of a navigable canal suggested itself to all the great men who have ever ruled over or passed through Egypt, including Sesostris, Alexander, Caesar, the Arab conqueror Arnrou, Napoleon I., and Mohammed Ali. A canal effecting a junction between the two seas, via the Nile, existed for a period of unknown duration under the ancient Egyptian dynasties; during a second period of 445 years from the first successors of Alexander and the Roman conquest to about the fourth century before the Mohammedan era; and, lastly, during a third period of 130 years after the Arab conquest. On his arrival in Egypt Napoleon appointed a commission of engineers to ascertain whether it would be possible to restore and improve the old route. The question was answered in the affirmative; and when M. Lepere presented him with the report of the commission the Emperor observed: “It is a grand work, and, though I cannot execute it now, the day may come when the Turkish Gov- ernment may glory in accomplishing it.” The moment for the fulfillment of Napoleon’s prophecy has arrived. The making of the Suez Canal is beyond doubt destined to contribute more than anything else to the stability of the Ottoman Empire and to give the lie to those who proclaim its decline and approaching ruin by proving that it is possessed of prolific vitality and capable of adding a brilliant page to the history of civilization. Why, I ask, did the western nations and their rulers combine as one man to secure the possession of Constantinople to the Sultan? Why did the power which menaced that possession meet with the armed opposition of Europe? Be-. 474 THE SUEZ CANAL. cause of the importance of the passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean is such that European power commanding it would dominate over every other, and would upset the balance of power, which it is to the interest of each one to maintain. But suppose a similar, though yet more important position, he established on some other point of the Ottoman Empire; suppose Egypt to be converted into the highway of commerce by the opening of the Suez Canal; would not a doubly impregnable situation be created in the East? for, afraid of seeing one of them- selves in possession of the new passage at some future date, would not the Euro- pean powers look upon the maintenance of its neutrality as a vital necessity? Fifty years ago M. Lepere said he should require ten thousand men for four years and thirty or forty million francs for the restoration of the old indirect canal. He thought, moreover, that it would be possible to cut across the isthmus from Suez to Pelusium in a direct line. M. Paulin Talabot, who was associated, as surveying engineer for a mari- time canal society, with the equally celebrated Stephenson and Negrelli, advo- cated the indirect route from Alexandria to Suez, and proposed using the barrage already existing for the passage of the Nile. He estimated the total cost at 130,- 000,000 francs for the canal and 20,000,000 for the port and roadstead of Suez. Linant Bey, the able director for some thirty years of the canal works of Egypt, who has made the Suez Canal question the study of his life in the country itself, and whose opinion is therefore worthy of serious respect, proposed cutting through the isthmus, at its narrowest part, in an almost direct line, establishing a large internal port in the basin of Lake Timsah, and rendering the harbors of Suez and Pelusium accessible to the largest vessels. Gallice Bey, general of engineers and founder and director of the fortifica- tions of Alexandria, presented Mohammed Ali with a canal scheme coinciding entirely with that proposed by Linant Bey. Mougel Bey, director of works at the barrage of the Nile, and chief engineer des ponts et Chaussees, also had some conversation with Mohammed Ali on the possibility and desirability of making a maritime canal, and in 1840, at the request of Count Walewski, then on a mission in Egypt, he was commissioned to take some preliminary measures in Europe, which were, however, prevented by political events from leading to any definite results. A careful survey would decide which would be the best route, and, the scheme having once been recognized as possible, nothing remains to be done but to choose the readiest means for carrying it out. THE SUEZ CANAL. 475 None of the necessary operations, difficult though they may be, are really formidable to modern science. There can be no fear nowadays of their failure. The whole affair is, in fact, reduced to a mere question of pounds, shillings and pence, a question which will, without doubt, be readily solved by the modern spirit of enterprise and association. That is to say, if the advantages to result from its solution are at all appropriate to the cost. Now, it is quite easy to prove that the cost of the Suez Canal, even on the largest estimate, will not be out of proportion with its value, shortening, as it must do, by more than half, the distance between India and the principal coun- tries of Europe and America. To illustrate this fact I add the following table, drawn up by M. Cordier, Professor of Geology: Names of the chief ports of Europe and America. -Leagues- Malta Trieste Marseilles Cadiz Lisbon Bordeaux 3 Havre | ° London Liverpool Amsterdam ... St. Petersburg New York New Orleans 3,724 Via the Via the Canal. Atlantic. Difference. .. 1,800 6,100 4,300 .. 2,062 5,800 3,778 .. 2,340 5,980 3,620 .. 2,374 5,650 3,276 .. 2,224 5,200 2,976 .. 2,500 2,350 2,830 .. 2,800 6,650 2,850 .. 2,824 5,800 2,976 . . 3,100 5,950 2,850 .. 3,050 5,900 2,850 .. 3,100 5,950 2,850 .. 3,700 6,550 2,850 . .. 3,761 6,200 2,439 .. 3,724 6,450 2,726 With such figures before us comment is useless, for they demonstrate that Europe and the United States are alike interested in the opening of the Suez Canal and in the maintenance of its strict inviolable neutrality. Mohammed Said is already convinced that no scheme can compare either in grandeur or in practical utility with that in question. What luster it would reflect upon his reign! what an inexhaustible source of wealth it would be to Egypt! Whilst the names of the sovereigns who built up the pyramids, those nonuments of human vanity, are unknown or forgotten, that of the prince who ;hould inaugurate the great maritime canal would go down from age to age, and )e blessed by the most remote generations! The pilgrimage to Mecca, hence- ? orth rendered not only possible but easy for all Musselmen, an immense impulse ;jven to steam navigation and traveling generally, the countries on the Red Sea, : } ersian Gulf, the east coast of Africa, Spain, Cochin China, Japan, the Empire >f China, the Philippine Islands, Australia, and the vast archipelago now attract- 476 THE SUEZ CANAL. ing emigration from the old world brought three thousand leagues nearer alike to the Mediterranean, the north of Europe, and to America, such would be the immediate results of the opening of the Suez Canal. It has been estimated that six million tons of European and American ship- ping annually pass round the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn, and if only one-half went through the canal there would be an annual saving to commerce of 150,000,000 francs. There can he no doubt that the Suez Canal will lead to a considerable increase of tonnage, counting it at 3,000,000 tons only, an annual produce of 30,000,000 francs will be obtained by levying a toll of ten francs per ton, which might be reduced in proportion to the increase of traffic. Before closing this note I must remind Your Highness that preparations arc actually being made in America for making new routes between the Atlantic and Pacific, and at the same time call your attention to the inevitable results to commerce generally, and that of Turkey in particular should the isthmus separating the Red Sea from the Mediterranean remain closed for any length of time after the opening of the proposed American lines. The chief difference between the Isthmus of Panama and that of Suez would appear to be that the mountainous nature of the former presents insuperable difficulties to the construction of a continuous ship canal, whereas on the latter | such a canal would be the best solution of the difficulty. For America a kind of compromise has been made, the route consisting partly of a canal and partly of a railway. Now if, with a view to effecting only a partial success, the nations chiefly interested have come forward at once in a case where the advantages to be obtained are fewer and the expenses far greater than they would be in the Suez Canal scheme, and if the conventions for insuring the neutrality of the American route were accepted without difficulty, are we not forced to conclude that the moment has come for considering the question of the Isthmus of Suez? that the scheme for a canal which is of far more importance to the whole world than the Panama line, is perfectly secure from any real opposition, and that, in our efforts to carry it out, we shall be supported by universal sympathy and by the active and energetic co-operation of enlightened men of every nationality? i (Signed) FERDINAND DE LESSEPS. “All the Year Round,” conducted by Charles Dickens, told the story of the Suez Canal in this pleasing chapter, in which there is a fine example of the truth stranger than fiction: THE SUEZ CANAL. 477 The most picturesque form of struggle, and the one which commands the most sympathy and admiration from the world, is that of the adventurer, in the honest sense of the term, who enters on some forlorn project, which has all the magnificence of a dream, and lives to be successful and triumphant. Success is declared, and the end gained, there is invariably seen the humiliat- ing spectacle of a complacent reception of what may not be rejected, and a smiling adoption of a portion, at least, of the honors. The rebuffs and the scoffs are set to the account of the adventurer’s own indiscretion; and the world, it would seem, is too great a personage to be compelled to own to mistakes or cry peccavi. Though it welcomes the discovery — the result of so painful a struggle — and greed- ily turns it to profit, it is ill at ease, as it were, like some great man who has prophesied that some one or something would turn out badly, and whom the event has proved to be signally wrong. One morning in the month of August, 1854, a French gentleman was engaged in superintending some masons who were at work adding a story to his house at La Chenaie — a house that had once been occupied by the famous Agnes Sorel. On that morning, then, of August, 1854, when engaged with the masons, and standing on the roof of Agnes Sorel’s house, the post arrived, and the letters were handed up from workman to workman until they reached the proprietor. In one of the newspapers he read the news of the death of Abbas Pasha, and of the accession of Mohammed Said, a patron and friend of the old Egypt days. They had been joined on affectionate and confidential terms. Instantly the scheme was born again in his busy soul, and his teeming brain saw the most momentous result from the change of authority. In a moment he had hurried down the ladder and was writing congratulations and a proposal to hurry to Egypt and renew their acquaintance. In a few weeks came the answer, and the ardent projector had written joyfully to his old friend, the Dutch Consul, that he would be on his way in November. Expressing the delight he wordd have in meeting him again, “in our old land in Egypt,” but “there was not to be so much as a whisper to anyone of the scheme for piercing the isthmus.” On the 7th of November he landed at Alexandria, and was received with the greatest welcome by the new ruler. The Viceroy was on the point of starting on a sort of military promenade to Cairo. It was when they had halted on their march, on a fine evening, the 15th, that he at last saw the opportunity. lie felt, as he confessed, that all depended on the way the matter was put before the prince, and that he must succeed in inspiring him with some of his own enthusiasm. He accordingly proceeded to unfold his plan, which he did in a broad fashion, without insisting 478 THE SUEZ CANAL. too much on petty details. The easterner listened calmly to the end, made some difficulties, heard the answers, and then addressed his eager listener in these words: “I am satisfied, and I accept your scheme. We will settle all the details during our journey. But understand that it is settled, and you may count rrpon me.” This was virtually the “concession” of the great canal. But already the fair prospect was to be clouded, and at starting, opposition to so daring a scheme came from England, and from Turkey, moved by England. Those wonderful French savants who went with the expedition to Egypt had announced that there was a difference of level amounting to thirty feet between the two seas, so that the communication would only lead to an inundation or a sort of permanent waterfall. Captain Ches- ney, passing by in 1830, declared that this was not so, but the delusion was accepted popularly up to 1847, when a commission of three engineers — English, French and German — made precise levelings, and ascertained that it was a scientific mistake. Robert Stevenson, the English member of the party, pronounced the whole scheme impracticable. And a more amusing half-hour’s entertainment could not be desired than the Edinburgh Review article for January, 1856, in which it is proved triumphantly that the canal must fill up, and that no harbor or pier could be made. The article argued it all out with a formal array of facts. Lord Palmerston’s opposition is well known, but the shower of articles in the leading journals which ridiculed, prophesied and confuted, are now well nigh forgotten. It was first proposed to follow a round-about route, making two sides of a triangle, with the existing line for the third. One portion of the waterway, from Damietta to Cairo, was supplied by the Nile itself. So there only remained a distance of twenty miles to be dealt with. But the Nile was itself a difficulty — j the irrigation and other works would be interfered with, and there were enormous problems as to levels, etc. The direct course was therefore adopted. A curious scientific party, known as the Mixed Commission, formed of engineers from all of the leading nations, proceeded, at the close of 1855, to make a thorough exam- ination of the question on the spot, and nothing is more creditable to science than the masterly style in which every point was investigated. The result was satisfactory, and it was determined to commence the work. The route chosen was favored by many advantages: the distance, though ninety miles in length, was already canalized by various lakes, great and small, to the extent of about thirty miles or more. Roughly, the course was as follows: Starting from the Mediterranean, the entrance is found in a strip of sand from four to five hundred feet wide and which forms the rim, as it were, of the bowl which holds Lake Menzaleh. Here is Port Said, the gate, or doorway of the THE SUEZ CANAL. 479 Canal; then for about thirty miles is found the great lake just named, where there rises a slight hill, about twenty-five feet high; then a small lake, then for about thirty miles a series of gradually rising hills, culminating in a rather stiff plateau. Beyond the plateau is Lake Timseh, about five miles long, where there is the half-way port, Ismailia. Then succeeds another plateau, large basin, known as the Bitter Lakes, extending about twenty miles, while the rest is land up to the Bed Sea. These lakes were in some places dry. There were no sluices or locks, though these lakes would be greatly enlarged by the admission of the waters. The canal might have been about fifteen miles shorter had it been lower down in the Gulf of Pelusium, but the cost and time would have been greater, as there were no lakes in that line. It is narrow, not allowing more than one vessel to proceed at a time; but there are numerous “lie-by” places where vessels can pass each other. This is necessary, as sometimes so many as thirty vessels are in the canal at a time. It will take vessels drawing so much as five and twenty feet. That England, with her Asiatic possessions, dreaded the Suez Canal under French control was manifest from the first efforts of De Lesseps, who not only surmounted the physical difficulties of cutting through the Suez, but was con- stantly opposed by English diplomacy. “The Nineteenth Century,” December, 1882, page 840: “While the Canal is in the hands of a French company, supported by France, it lies in the hands of a Power more formidable than Arabi to close it tem- porarily to England and open it to her foes — a Power, be it remembered, which, though friendly now, might be hostile to-morrow and has geographically a week’s start of us on the road to India, while by blocking the canal she would have three week’s start at least of a fleet stopped at its mouth. No one will doubt the expediency, at all events, of depriving the possibly hostile Power of this dangerous advantage, though some persons may question our moral right to do so. * * * * * * * “While the influence of England was paramount at Constantinople the oppo- sition of Lord Palmerston prevailed with the Sultan, who refused to ratify the Ivhedive’s concession to France. When the Crimean and Franco-Austrian wars had enormously exalted the prestige of France (rather at the expense of England) the concession was granted to M. De Lesseps (virtually to France), though not in its original shape, which would have been an intolerable menace and danger to 480 THE SUEZ CANAL. England. The original concession was not in fact merely the right to construct the canal, but to possess a slice of Egypt (of indefinite extent), commanding the whole course of the canal, and which would very soon have become virtually a French territory. “To refer to the immense preponderance of English shipping benefited by the Canal traffic only shows that in peace time we gain by the facilities created. Lord Palmerston, who was neither a fool nor a bigot, never denied that in peace time a short route for commerce, if obtained, would be beneficial to England. What he recognized as a great danger was that if France made the Canal she would arrogate entire control over it, plant her flag on the banks, and appoint every official and pilot. The facts have more than justified the prediction, and but for the events of 1870-71, which prevented France from backing the arrogant pretense of the Canal officials, we should have been involved in very serious difficulties, or actual war on two recent occasions. “But although the influence of France overpowered the opposition of Lord Palmerston, enabled her to obtain the concession from the Khedive in its most objectionable form. Lord Palmerston did not give up the struggle. Rightly judging the danger of the encroachment and the object of obtaining the territory bordering the new waterway to India, he protested against a French imperium in imperio in Egypt. Perhaps the Emperor (Napoleon III.) was more moderate in his views than the projectors of the Canal; but in any case the territory of the canal company was bought back by Egypt (at a Shylock price) much, we may suppose, to M. de Les- seps’ disgust. “On no theory, except the audacious Napoleonic idea of a France supreme and Europe submissive, could M. Thiers have taken the part he did. France insisted that all Europe should succumb to her. The firmness of Lord Palmerston pre- vailed. A British fleet bombarded St. Jean d’Acre, and landing a force which threatened Ibraham’s communications, forcing him to retire into Egypt, M. de Les- seps thought that France had acquired some mysterious rights from the first Napo- leon’s abortive enterprise in 1798. “M. de Lesseps keenly felt the defeat of French intrigue by England in 1840, and if, as is probable, it was at that time he conceived the idea of his canal, c the spear to pierce the armor of England,’ it must have been some consolation for the reverse. “The diplomatic career of M. de Lesseps had trained him in that antagony to England which he was formerly at no pains to conceal. THE SUEZ CANAL. 481 “A canal from Suez to the Nile (all that was wanted in those days to do the work of the Suez Canal) probably existed three thousand years ago. The French expedition of 1798 revived the idea with the object of injuring England. And it is probable that M. de Lesseps, benefited by the researches then made and renewed in 1803 by his father, a Napoleonic soldier, by using up some thousand wretched Fel- lahas, who perished miserably at the work, hacked by the whole influence of France and all the Khedive’s resources — was able to have the work done by others and take the credit himself. As a promoter M. de Lesseps has been very successful, and though that profession is not highly esteemed in England, he has obtained celeb- rity as what he does not happen to he — an engineer!” That a British canal can he made to suit our needs in the present, and our greater needs in the future, and to make a large return on the capital expended, is proved by the existing canal, upon which much money was wasted. The only serious objection will arise from the fact that the British Government holds £4,000,- 000 of the stock of the present canal, the value of which would be depreciated by the competition. This is a consideration of some importance, but it cannot out- weigh the immense advantages of having our Indian communications in our own hands instead of a jealous rival’s, who may some day be an enemy. There would, moreover, probably be traffic enough for both canals. The Fortnightly Review. September, 1893. England’s right to the Suez Shares. Casper W. Whitney. Pages 105-424. In his speech on public revenue and expenditure, April 21, 1887, Mr. Goshen said that there was one national asset which had never yet been brought into ac- count at its real value. He referred to the 176,000 shares in the Suez Canal. Mr. Goshen said: “The shares, wdiich are £20 shares, and which when they were bought were worth about £27, yielded a dividend of 5 per cent on their par value, are now (1887) worth £84 each, and yield about 15 per cent on their par value. We shall come into a large revenue per annum on these shares from 1894, unless there shall be any fall in the revenue of the Canal, a contingency which we do not anticipate. The actuarial value of the shares at the present moment is £10,500,000.” It was Mr. Goshen’s proposal to use the interest of the Suez shares for the purpose of national defence in fortifying naval stations, etc. “The irony of fate was never more strikingly exhibited. French enterprise, and capital obtained from Egypt and France, were thus to be utilized to facilitate British control over Indif and the lands over against Tonquin, to obtain a dominant influence in Egypt, anf \ 482 THE STTEZ CANAL. finally to pay tlie cost of defensive military works which can never be seriously threatened except by a French fleet. ‘‘There are few persons even now who understand the exact nature of the trans- action by which England obtained possession of these shares with their potentiality of wealth and power. This is what Mr. Milner says: “ ‘Sixteen years ago we bought for four million pounds Egypt’s interest in the Suez Canal, which, had she only clung to it, would soon have become so fertile a source of income to her. What we bought for four million pounds will in another year be worth something near twenty million pounds.’ “In addition to the shares, England required Egypt to contract a wholly new obligation. A terminable annuity of two hundred thousand pounds a year to be paid by Egypt to England was created in 1876 to expire in 1894. The shares belonged to Egypt, not to Ismain. They were an asset of the Government, and would never have passed to Tewfik as his private property or that of his brothers had Ismael been succeeded by Prince Halim. The ruler of the day contributed from first to last more than all the sums borrowed or subscribed by share-holders in Europe. These advances were made by the Egyptian treasury, and there can be no doubt that the shares belonged to the Egyptian Government and not to any ruler of Egypt. The shares will be worth in 1894, at present prices, £18,543,210. The transaction of 1876 belongs to a class against which a court of equity has never failed to afford relief. “On the one side is the British treasury, claiming to have made £18,500,000 without the expenditure of a farthing. On the other side are all those who are in- terested in Egypt, including British tax-payers who have purchased Egyptian se- curities. If it is even possible that the opinion might be expressed by the judicial and financial advisers to His Highness the Khedive, or by the international trib- unals, that Great Britain never acquired the ownership of the Suez Canal shares in fee simple absolute, because they were the property of the inhabitants of Egypt, created by their labor, subject to the lien of the creditors of Egypt and those of the Ottoman Empire; that they were pledged and not sold by a Khedive dismissed for malversation in office at the instance of England itself; that they had been re- deemed by the annual payment of £200,000,000 a year, raised sometimes out of taxes cruelly burdensome, sometimes by new imposts and fresh loans, would it not be more discreet to begin as speedily as possible to show a disposition to treat this fund as a source out of which mutual benefits might be obtained?” Appleton’s Journal. London. April number, 1880. Page 303-310. The Suez Canal: A History. By Judge P. H. Morgan. NATIVE HOUSE, SHOWING KITCHEN, IN MASAYA, NICARAGUA. THE SUEZ CANAL. 485 When Ismail Pasha ascended the Viceregal throne of Egypt he inherited from his predecessor, Said Pasha, a legacy which proved to be the cause of his trouble, his misfortunes and his end. Said Pasha had granted to a French company the right to cut a ship canal from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It was a grand idea, no doubt, but, if we are to believe the records of the past, it was not a new one. Twice before the waters of the Mediterranean had been connected with the waters of the Red Sea, and it is generally credited that even the Canal which now exists was projected long before the present company undertook to dig it. It was a gigantic undertaking, although not a very difficult one to accomplish. It does not require any great engineering skill to excavate in sand; and, as soon as it was ascertained that the sand would not return to the place from which it was taken, the problem was solved. As for the danger arising from the sides falling in, every- one knows that wet sand is always hard, and that it has no tendency to “cave.” Anyone who walks upon a beach may observe it for himself. Still, it was a great undertaking. It has proved to all the world — Egypt alone excepted — a great advan- tage. For Egypt, however, it has turned out to be a great commercial as well as a great political mistake. It has been the principal cause of her financial ruin, and led to the dethronement of her late Viceroy. It has proved a great commercial mistake in this: that it has permitted all the travel and all the merchandise going to and coming from India to Europe to pass her by; whereas, before the Canal was dug, everything and every person going to and coming from that direction stopped at her ports, used her roads, and paid toll continually, thus profiting every one, from hotel-keeper to donkey-boy. It was a political mistake, because it has placed Egypt on the highway to India, thus making her an object of zealous solicitude, and of great importance from a strategical point of view to those nations whose power is supposed to be mainly lerived from that country or whose ambition lies in that direction; while the ruinous influence it has exercised over the finances of Egypt may be seen by a passing glance at the facts. The first proposition which was made to the Khedive (Said Pasha) by the projectors of the enterprise was a very plain and simple one. If the Pasha would remit them to excavate a canal through his dominions, which would join the Medi- ;erranean with the Red Sea, they would do all the work at their own cost. When he canal should be completed they would pay him 15 per cent of the profits which he canal might earn. As there was no water in the country through which it was :o be cut except such as would come into it from the sea, and as a great number of vorkmen would be employed upon it, and as the principal part of the grain of the 486 THE SUEZ CANAL. country is grown in Upper Egypt, beyond Cairo, which then came to Alexandria for shipment, and which, it was hoped, would find its way to the sea through the canal, it was agreed that, should a sweet-water canal be deemed necessary, the com- pany were to be permitted to dig one, always at their own cost, from the Nile, starting from a point near to and above Cairo, to the ship canal. They were to be the owners for ninety-nine years of all the Government lands, then unoccupied, which lay along the banks of the canal, and which might be irrigated from it free of taxes for ten years. At the expiration of ninety-nine years the entire works were to revert to the Government upon the company being paid the value of their im- provements. In case the charter should be renewed at the expiration of its term, the Government was to receive an increased share of the profits. Nothing could be more business-like than this. The results which the enterprise promised were so great that its projectors could afford to do the entire work, at their own cost, and give to the granter of the privilege 15 per cent of their profits. This percentage of the profits would compensate for the loss of traffic which the country then en- joyed from travelers and from merchandise in transit. But the grant was coupled with the express stipulation that the Khedive was not to be bound to anything re- garding it, unless the Sultan should approve of the scheme, and give to it his assent. In point of fact, therefore, it was the Sultan who was to grant the necessary con- cessions. For this consent, however, the company did not wait, and they went to work. Matters do not appear to have progressed very rapidly. The company had un- dertaken a great work, and, to perfect it, required a great deal of money. The money was not forthcoming. Subscriptions to the stock were slow. Capitalists were not eager to invest in such an undertaking. As usual, there were many croakers abroad. Every scheme of the sort finds many enemies. In England, particularly, it was looked upon with great disfavor, just as canals in that country were pro- nounced impracticable when they were first projected; in the United States, just as railroads were, before they were built. Many people believed that the level of the Bed Sea was so far below the level of the Mediterranean that, the canal being dug, all the water of the latter would pour through it, leaving its bed dry. On the other hand, there were others who thought the level of the Mediterranean so far below the level of the Bed Sea that all the waters of the Indian Ocean would pour into it and flood a great portion of the continent of Europe. Capitalists were not eager to invest in an undertaking which threatened so great a disaster. Besides, the money, when it came, was to come from Europe, and those who had it did not THE SUEZ CANAL. 487 fancy sending it so far away from home, under so many conditions of doubt and peril. To place themselves upon a better footing, the company obtained further con- cessions from the Viceroy (always subject, however, to the approval of the Sultan). Among other things, they were to be permitted to dig a fresh-water canal, starting from the point where the first one was to touch the marine canal, extending to the south as far as Suez and to the north as far as Port Said. All the unoccupied land lying along the route of this projected canal, and belonging to the Government, which might be irrigated from it (amounting to many thousands of acres, and which only needs the Nile wrnter to make it productive) was to belong to the com- pany for ninety-nine years, and was to be free of taxes for ten years. They were to be allowed to demand pay for the water which the canal might furnish the pro- prietors of land in its neighborhood. They were to be allowed to charge ten francs per ton on vessels which might use the ship-canal, and ten francs toll on each pas- senger who might pass through it. One stipulation only was made in the interest of the people of the country. As it was evident that the construction of these vast works would require the em- ployment of a great number of laborers, it was agreed by the company that four- fifths, at least, of the workmen employed upon them should be Egyptians. These the Khedive agreed to furnish. They were to be paid as follows: Those who were under twelve years of age were to receive two and a half piasters (about twelve and a half cents) per diem; those over twelve years of age were to receive three piasters (about fifteen cents) per diem; they were also to receive rations to the value of one piaster (about five cents) per diem, without regard to age. Lodging svas to be provided for them, also hospitals, and transportation was to be furnished them to the point to which they were to work. The Khedive little dreamed when hie made this stipulation, which was clearly intended should benefit his people, that he was consigning upward of twenty thousand human beings to their graves, and that he would, in the end, be called upon and forced to pay an immense sum of noney for it. Even with these vast grants in their favor the company stood in the presence many difficulties. Although the first concession was made in November, 1854, and the second in January, 1856, the subscription-books were not opened until Movember, 1858. To secure 200,000,000 francs (the estimated cost of the work) :o be invested in an enterprise in a distant quarter of the globe was found to be an mpossibility. And in 1860 they were at the end of their resources. But the project was not to be abandoned. The company had already borrowed from the $ 488 THE SUEZ CANAL. Khedive 2,394,914 francs. This money was all gone. Then they set to work upon him in earnest, and they persuaded him to subscribe .for 177,662 shares of stock in the company. Now, the entire number of shares was only 400,000, so that, one may say, the canal which was to have been dug through Egyptian territory, not only at no cost to Egypt, but from which she was to receive 15 per cent of the profits derived therefrom, and four-fifths of the cost of which were to he paid oui to Egyptians, was now to he largely built with Egypt’s money. The Pasha did not have the money in hand with which to pay up his sub- scription. But this did not matter; the affair could easily be arranged, for at that time Egypt had no debt to speak of, and her credit was good. So it was agreed that he was to be charged on the company’s hooks, to date from January 1, 1859, with the proportionate amount due to his stock, viz., 17,764,200 francs, from which! was to be deducted the amount already advanced by him, 2,391,914 francs, with interest thereon (1,211,242 francs), so that his actual indebtedness on his called-in subscription w r as 15,248,042.88 francs; and as he had no money, he was to, and did, give Treasury obligations, payable — 2,305,175 francs on December 8, 1863, and the balance in three equal annual installments of 4,314,255.96 francs, all bearing interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from January 1, 1860. Therefore on the first amount he paid in all 24,705,734.60 francs, for which he was to receive bonds amounting to 15,248,042 francs. In other words, he was* to pay 24,705,734.60, and was to receive, in bonds, 15,248,042 francs — a difference between what he paid and the sum he was to receive of nearly 10,000,000 francs. The rest of his subscription w r as to be paid at other intervals. The success of this negotiation gave to the company a new life, and they pressed forward the work, not only on the main canal, but also upon the sweet- water canal, which was to start from the Nile. Said Pasha died in January, 1863; Ismail Pasha succeeded him. The com- pany now needed more money, and they pounced upon him at once. They repre- sented to him that the supply of water in the canal from Cairo to Zagazig (on the way to the maritime canal) would not be sufficient to supply the canal which was to be dug from the point where that canal was to touch the maritime canal at Suez with water. They persuaded him that the construction of this canal, particularly in respect of the appropriation of lands belonging to individuals, would give rise to questions of interior administration, which might prove difficult and serious, and which it was important to the Government to have under its exclusive control. To prevent such an unhappy possibility the company agreed to renounce their right to construct their canal from the Nile to the maritime carnal; to make the canal THE SUEZ CANAL. 489 from the point where it touched the maritime canal to Suez of sufficient dimensions not only to serve the purpose of irrigation, but also answer the purpose of naviga- tion. At the same time they retroceded to the Government the lands which had been given them. The plain English of which was that they could not comply with their engagements, and that, notwithstanding all the assistance they had received, they were unable to complete the work which they had agreed and had commenced to do. The ground upon which they placed their request to be freed from that part of their contract, which is now under consideration, was a mere pretext. The Canal was to be completed by the first of March, 1864 ; when completed it was to be kept in repair by the company, but at the cost of the Government; it was to be properly supplied with water at all seasons; was to be subject to all the services which had been established upon it in their favor by the original con- tract, and its water was to belong to them: that is, the Government was to build the canal, give it to the company, keep it in thorough repair, and always well sup- plied with water! Instead of nothing, the Government had contributed £8,000,000 :o the enterprise (exclusively to the interest heretofore alluded to); had agreed to 3onstruct important works and keep them in repair, the company to derive the sole benefit therefrom. From being the beneficiary, the Government became the bene- factor. It was to do the work; the work, when completed, was to belong to the company! In the meanwhile England had seen with great and natural concern that a short route was being opened to the Indies, over which she was not to have the lontrolling influence. She could not but feel apprehensive lest large French pos- essions in Egypt, situate as were the lands wdiich had been ceded to the company, night result to her disadvantage. The work as it progressed was talked about the vorld over. The moral sense of the British people took offense at the character rf the labor which was employed upon it and the manner by which it was con- rolled. Accounts, not exaggerated, reached them of the “corvees” which were [riven to the banks of the canal (for the Khedive, when he stipulated that Egyp- ians should be employed, also agreed to see that they should be forthcoming). The ?ork was distasteful to them, not remunerative, and unhealthy. They were driven o it by force; they were perishing by thousands. Does the reader know how their tasks were performed? Those who carried he earth away from where it was dug were not furnished anything in which to arry it. They were required to stoop, to place their arms behind their backs, the eft wrist clasped in the right hand, and then as much earth was placed in the od thus made as it would hold. They were forced to walk away with it up a steep 490 THE SUEZ CANAL. acclivity, and, when they reached the dumping-spot, they let go their hold, straight ened up, and, shaking themselves like a spaniel who has just come out of the water relieved themselves of their burden. A large portion of them were under twelvi years of age. Englishmen almost fancied they could hear the thud of the “cour bash” as it fell upon the more than half-naked bodies of these wretched and de fenseless people, as it forced them to and kept them at these dreary tasks. Tin Sultan was urged to withhold his consent, and it was a long time before it was finally obtained. “Backsheesh” at length prevailed, and his consent was given but it was coupled with the express provision that work by the “corvees” shoulc cease. It was time; for, as has already been said, thousands of these creatures hac died miserably, and had been buried in the sand. But, unhappily for the Khedive, when the decision of the Sultan was mack known, the company’s chronic state of greed had increased, and out of this simpk modification made in their concession they invented a scheme which produced mar velous results. They had suffered a grievance! The Khedive had agreed to sec that they were furnished with laborers. As the Sultan had prohibited him fron carrying out his agreement in this regard, when without his consent nothing wai binding, the Khedive must pay! And immediately they cried “Havoc” and le loose the war-dogs upon him. The Khedive protested against these demands. His protests availed him noth ing. Finally an arbitration was proposed, and to this proposition he, in an unlucb moment, consented. The arbitration called upon Louis Napoleon. In his hands the Khedive con sidered himself safe — from oppression at least. Louis Napoleon was his beau-idea of a man; he was his exemplar as a sovereign; he imitated him, as far as he could in all things. His Imperial Majesty decided that the stipulation contained in tb second concession, to the effect that four-fifths, at least, of the labor upon the eana were to be done by Egyptians, was a contract between the company and the Khedive by which the latter bound himself to furnish the labor; the violation of which 01 the part of the Khedive made him liable in damages, notwithstanding that every thing relating to the concession was subject to the approval of the Porte; am notwithstanding that the form of labor had been changed by the Porte — all o which the Emperor admitted. Upon this item, however, he mulcted him in damages 33,000,000 francs fo labor on the canal, and 5,000,000 francs for labor that should have been furnishei for the completion of buildings which would be necessary to enable the compan; to carry on their works. •t . a THE SUEZ CANAL. 491 In point of fact tlie dredging machines had already been constructed, and were at work when the decision was made known. The hand-labor would neces- sarily have been abandoned. How could it have been otherwise? Egyptians are not beavers; they can't work with twenty-six feet of water over their heads. The water was pouring into the places from which the earth was being dug as fast as the earth was removed, and in such quantities that it was impossible to keep the places free. If the digging of the Canal had depended upon manual labor, it would never have been accomplished. The Egyptians employed upon it would have been drowned again, and in about the same spot that they were when they went in pur- suit of Moses. In diminution of any demand against him upon this point, the Khedive claimed 4,500,000 francs that had been curtailed, to use a mild phrase, by the company from ihe laborers he had furnished. This, with great show of fairness, the arbiter al- lowed. That is, he found that from the already miserable pay which these wretched people were promised, a large proportion of whom were children under tw T elve years of age, 4,500,000 francs had been filched! The Turkish affront consisted in the Khedive having given to a French com- pany everything it asked; the French justice consisted in making him pay 84,000,- 000 for having done so! He sued for peace, and begged for mercy, and finally agreed to pay 30,000,000, if the company would go away and never come to him for more. To this the company finally agreed, hut they rounded him off by mak- ing him pay them 10,000,000 francs for a piece of property they had purchased not a very great while before for 1,180,000 francs! To pay this last amount, being without money, the Khedive gave the coupons which were attached to his canal bonds, running down to the year 1895, the face value of which runs up to 125,000,- 000 francs! These bonds his necessities subsequently compelled him to sell to England. He was obliged to assume the payment of the coupons which he had taken from them, which amounts to nearly £200,000 per annum. Add these dif- ferent sums together and it will be seen that (inclusive of the subscription to stock) the Suez Canal will have cost Egypt some 500,000,000 francs, or largely over what it was estimated the entire work would cost, and which it did cost! Strange the places Fate chooses from which to fly her arrows! It was the {country whose people had conceived and carried out this gigantic fraud (the foun- dation of Egypt’s financial ruin) which pushed the late Viceroy from his stool and drove him, an exile, out of his country. But the Canal was completed at last. The pageant which inaugurated the opening of the great route to the use of the world is known to us all. How 492 THE SUEZ CANAL. strangers flocked to see the triumph, as it was considered, of engineering skill; how the Empress came from France to grace the ceremony with her presence; how she was attended by princes and their trains; how, on the occasion of her going to Cairo, a road was made to the Pyramids to enable her to ride out to them without fatigue; how a kiosk was erected near their base in which she was to repose after tier journey, from the windows of which she might view those splendid monuments without being subjected to the sun’s powerful rays; how fetes were given; how presents were distributed, open handed and on all sides, and all at the Viceroy’s expense — how like, indeed, it was to a fairy pantomime in Eastern lands, is known as well to those who kept themselves informed upon the current events of the day as to those who participated in the splendid pageants. In one sense, at least, the Khedive had cause for self-congratulation. Both as regards ancient and modern times, his country possessed the grandest monuments which have ever been erected by the hand of man or spared by the hand of Time; and in respect to the first he had largely contributed, and his name would be asso- ciated with it forever. M. de Lesseps started out with the proposition that he could join the two seas at an expense of 200,000,000 francs. The Canal cost the subscribers to its stock that amount. In addition it received from the Khedive 457,457,306 francs. CHAPTER III. THE NICARAGUA CANAL. Senator Morgan’s Strong Plea for an American Canal — The Claim that the Nica- ragua Route, Though Longer than the Panama, Is More Practicable — Estimates of Enormous Special Advantages to America, Both Military and Commercial — Some Interesting Statements of the Costs and Profits of the Suez Canal and Their Bearing Upon the Nicaragua Canal — The Shares That the British Bought in the Suez Canal for £4,000,000 Are Worth £20,000,000 — The Opposition to the Nicaragua Line in Congress Is Rather Against the Maritime Company than Opposed to the Enterprise Itself — The Views of Senators Pettigrew, Caffery and Teller. Senator Morgan in his report from the Committee on Foreign Relations in 1896, referred to the transit between the eastern coast of America and the eastern coast of Asia as the shortest and most open route of navigation, and said more ton- nage would pass through the Nicaragua than the Suez Canal. He added: “The trade between these countries will be more direct than it is now, with London as the common point of distribution, and will therefore be cheaper than the present system. The Nicaraguan Canal will thus be given the preference over the Suez Canal by merchants and navigators. When we add to this the traffic that will pass in ships between the eastern and western coasts of the American hemi- sphere, the amount of tonnage that will pass through the Nicaraguan Canal must he largely in excess of that which will find its way through the Suez Canal.” “The ship’s journey around the Horn’’ is a distress to commerce that the civilization of the age requires to be removed, and the route through Nicaragua is the only possible remedy for this universal evil. “It is not too much to say that this condition, so easy to be remedied, will be a reproach to the men of this age if some active and decided movement is not made to relieve against it. To point out the dangers, hardships, loss of time, and the destruction of life and property incident to this only waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which must he navigated in the roughest seas and the most inhospitable climate in all the world, is only to repeat the experience of sea- faring men for ages past, and to evoke a prayer for them that the United States will do its obvious duty, toward them.” The Senator referred to the posts of the British on the North Pacific and in the Bermudas and at Halifax, and said: “From these the most powerful ships of rvar can assail our harbors, and retire 493 494 THE NICARAGUA CANAL. to cover in case of necessity, while the United States must double Cape Horn in sending assistance from our eastern to our western coast. “With the canal at our command we need not have two fleets to protect our coasts, as we are now compelled to do, at a cost already excessive and greatly to be increased. Without the canal we are, relatively, in a situation of deplorable weak- ness.” The most interesting part of the able and venerable Senator’s report is his comparison of the Nicaragua and Suez canals. We quote him on this subject: “When private enterprise in Southern Europe first addressed itself to the task of opening a sea level canal through the Isthmus of Suez, there was no lesson of experience to guide the movement or to assure its success. After a time the Ivhe- dive of Egypt, without the firman of his suzerian, the Sultan of Turkey, supported the undertaking, and put heavy burdens on his people. “This wise and heroic decree of the ruler of a government nearly relapsed into barbarism secured the Suez Canal and should have secured the inviolable independ- ence of his country. But the value of the canal to commercial and political aspira- tions for dominion attracted the cupidity of Great Britain and has drawn that great and costly work and the independence of Egypt into the grasp of that Empire. “If it shall result, from our indifference or dread of expansion in the direction of national duty and of self-preservation, that Great Britain or any other European power shall get the control of the concession that we have, so far, refused, the result is even now plainly manifest, that the Central American States will repeat the experience of Egypt. “Then we shall have our country broken in its coast line of trade and defences, by a European power, not in violation of the Monroe Doctrine, but this v/ill be done in the name of these republics on and near the line of the canal.” “The Suez Canal is eighty-seven miles long, sixty-six of which are actual canal, the other twenty-one miles being lake navigation. The canal and its appurtenances were completed on or about the first of January, 1870, and cost about $91,000,000. Since that time there have been expended for betterments and improvements, in- cluding the deepening of the canal, about $24,000,000 more; bringing the total cost of the canal up to about $115,000,000. The canal was originally twenty-six feet deep. Its present depth is twenty-eight feet. The canal to-day is capitalized at about $90,500,000 in stock and obligations. The difference between the cost and its present capitalization in stock and bonds was made up by receipts from various sources applied to construction and improvement. It is commonly reported that the actual cost of construction did not exceed $50,000,000.” THE NICARAGUA CANAL. 495 In 1891 the gross receipts of the Suez Canal were $83,421,504, and the actual net revenues of the company for a series of years past has been upwards of $12,- 000,000 annually. The net profits in 1892 were 41,728,543 francs, or about $8,345,- 000, and the dividends declared for said year were 19.8 per cent, including the taxes retained for the sinking fund. The shares of the company, originally issued at 500 francs each, are quoted on the Paris Bourse at 2,692.50 francs. The shares of the Suez Canal held by the English Government and purchased for £4,000,000 are worth to-day over £19,000,- 000 in the open market. The business of 1892 and 1893 suffered from the general commercial depres- sion throughout the world, and was lighter than that done in 1891. In the said last mentioned year the net profits were 49,910,892 francs, or about $9,800,000, and the dividends declared on the stock that year amounted to 22.4 per cent. The effect of the Suez Canal upon the commerce of the world is apparent from the fact that whereas in 1870, the first full year of its operation, there passed through the canal 486 vessels, registering 436,600 tons, the number of vessels pass- ing in 1891 was 4,207, registering 8,700,000 tons. The most significant fact in this enormous increase is that the average size of the vessels using the canal in 1870 was hut little over 1,300 register, while in 1891 it had increased to over 2,090 tons, and in 1892 to 2,200 tons. “The outside limit of the cost of the Nicaraguan Canal is $100,000,000, hut the committee assume, in correspondence with the estimates that have been so care- fully made and revised, that the cost will not exceed $70,000,000, and that, if it should, there will be a fund in the treasury of the company from the sales of stock remaining undisposed of equal to $16,000,000, in all $86,000,000. This stock will go to par as soon as the construction of the canal is resumed, if not as soon as Con- gress has provided for the guarantee of the bonds of the company.” The objections to the project that have been so strenuously urged upon Con- gress are strongly stated by Senator Pettigrew, and we quote him: “One hundred and fifteen million dollars will not build this canal. In my opinion $215,000,000 will not build it. “But when it is built, if constructed by the United States alone, we must either make it a neutral canal, unfortified, to be used by all the nations of the world, or else we must fortify it at an expense of hundreds of millions more, and we must guard this 176 miles of canal in order to prevent its destruction, for its great embankments can be destroyed by a single person in a few hours of time with modern explosives. If it is not guarded, or if it is not fortified, our fleet, having 496 THE NICARAGUA CANAL. reached Lake Nicaragua, could be imprisoned by the efforts of one man at each end of the canal along these enormous embankments seventy feet in height. There- fore I believe it is wise that we should delay the disposition of this matter until this whole question can be investigated. “Further than that, I believe it would be wiser for the United States to join with the other nations of the world and complete the canal at Panama. The canal at Panama is two-fifths completed already. The distance across the Isthmus at that point is forty-six miles, as against one hundred and seventy-six miles at Nicaragua. It takes fourteen hours to go from ocean to ocean at Panama, and it takes forty-four hours at Nicaragua. “Therefore, in view of the fact that the Panama Canal is sure to he built — for no great enterprise was ever abandoned where so much money has been expended as has been expended at Panama — the Nicaragua Canal, our private canal, will never be used by the ships of the world. There is no occasion for using it. No vessel will cross at this point. A vessel will have to spend forty-four hours in crossing, when it can cross in fourteen hours at another place; and the commercial value of the canal will be absolutely destroyed if the other canal is completed. “Four thousand men are at work to-day on the Panama Canal, and only twenty- three miles more of that canal remain to he built. The excavation for the rest of it is nearly done. Immense excavations have already been made along the twenty-three miles yet to be excavated. The money they are expending there is being expended with the most modern means of excavation and with great economy and great skill. Every single engineering problem has been settled. 'It has been determined beyond question that it is entirely practicable to build an excellent canal at Panama. “The problems with regard to the Nicaragua Canal have not been settled. There is no report before this body or before the American people to show that this is a practical route, or that a canal can be built upon it. Our own engineers, who were sent there at an expense of $350,000, have not yet made their report to this body. “Now, what is the proposition? To expend a vast sum of money to purchase an old concession which is valueless; to undertake to build a canal which we say shall be our canal. “The Suez Canal is owned by the nations of Europe. Its neutrality is guaran- teed by all the nations of Europe, and if the vessels of two nations at war with each other choose to pass through it, they can do so under the terms of that guaranty, only the vessel which first enters must first leave, and has twenty-four hours for departure before the vessel of the other nation at war with her can leave the canal, thus guaranteeing it against danger of conflict or destruction; and the canal across THE NICABAGUA CANAL. 497 the Isthmus of Panama must and will be guided, governed, controlled and guaran- teed in the same way. “It is all nonsense to talk about our building, fortifying and owning a canal of our own so long as it is a commercial canal, but if we wish one simply through which to pass our war ships, through which none of the commerce of the world will go, if the canal is to be our canal, and you are to spend $400,000,000 or $500,000,000 upon it, you are undertaking to start a project without that intelligent consideration which it should receive/’ Senator Caffery said of the scheme before the Senate in the session of 1898-99, that it came down to this: “A man buys a tract of ground in the face of a cloud upon the title, in the face of claims upon the part of the original grantor, claims of record that the title is void. Does the Senator from Arkansas hold that the way to get the land, and to get possession of it, is to buy a void title? You are buying nothing but a lawsuit. Your concession is about to lapse. The concessionary party says so, and it says so with authority and with reason. It is about to lapse, not only from the lapse of time, but from the various violations of the concession that have been set out. “How is the construction of the canal facilitated by holding under such a title? It is either void or it is voidable. You are met with difficulties at every step. You are met with contentions all along the line. If that is the way to expedite the build- ing of the canal I should like to know it. “My contention is that these concessions held by the United States as a foreign power justify the statement made by the minister of Nicaragua that they are for- feited; not voidable, but void. When the United States constructs the canal, if it ever should, under these concessions — and I do not think it ever will — what hap- pens then? All the police jurisdiction over the canal, all authority to try any contention or litigation growing out of contracts made with reference to the canal, every species of jurisdiction, is reserved by Nicaragua. The United States then can be summoned before the courts of Nicaragua upon matters of ordinary contract, for when I speak of the United States in this matter I do so because the concessions are virtually transferred to them. “The position that the United States would place itself in by this proceeding is utterly inconsistent with the dignity of a fourth-class power. You buy nothing but lawsuits, and when you have the canal it is subject to the annoyance of all such jurisdiction as Nicaragua claims and which she will exercise. “It will not do to try to obscure these matters. When we crawl beneath the wings of the Maritime Canal Company we take all the burdens of that company so 498 THE NICARAGUA CANAL. far as the title goes. The United States is inhibited from exercising such plenary jurisdiction and power and having such rights in the premises as the United States ought to have. “This canal ought to he built. It is the one great national necessity of the present time, joining the waters of the two oceans together by a great national high- way. It will double the commercial power of the United States. It will cut by half the distances from our trade centers to the distant lands that we hope to supply with our manufactures and our products. It will reduce the land transportation rates of the entire United States by a considerable per cent. It will double the power of the American navy. It will greatly assist in the coast defense on both oceans. For every consideration I think this canal ought to be built. I think we should get about it just as speedily as possible, and that no vote should be cast in the Senate which would postpone to another session of Congress all possibility of commencing action. “Therefore, I shall vote for the bill, and, as I say, in the hope that out of the joint wisdom of the two Houses will come a measure that will be better, more practicable, than the one which is now pending here. I hope the measure when it becomes a lav/ will provide for the construction of the canal by the Government of the United States as a Government measure.” Senator Teller said of the Nicaragua Canal that it was the merits of the com- pany and not of the canal that were always discussed. There were between three thousand and four thousand men now employed on the Panama Canal, the length of which was forty-six miles, and that of the shortest Nicaragua route, one hundred and seventy-five miles. He thought the whole question should be left with the President of “the United States, putting it in the hands of competent men, could determine whether or not it was better to build the Panama Canal, which we can now build without any difficulty, because that concern is anxious that we should take it off their hands and built that canal. *1 know nothing about the Panama Canal except what I have seen in the public press, but it does seem to me before we determine that we will build the Nicaragua Canal we ought to determine whether it may not be to our interest, and whether it may not be money in our pockets to build the Panama Canal. Everybody can see that a canal which is only forty-six miles long must be in many respects very much more valuable than a canal which is one hundred and seventy-five miles long. “When this canal is built, if we put in $125,000,000 — for I repeat that, in my judgment, it will cost $200,000,000 or more — we ought to have the power to pro- THE NICARAGUA CANAL. 499 tect it. There is no provision in the hill that the Government of the United States can protect the Nicaragua Canal. What right will we as a Government have to fortify the coast? What right will we have to put our forts or our army or oui supervisors to watch the canal off of the little narrow strip which this concession gives to the Maritime Canal Company? “In the San Francisco dam there are practically six miles of bank, which in some places reaches seventy feet high. It is in a country where it will be most difficvdt to maintain a dam of any character. I venture to say that a shrewd, dis- honest man by an expenditure of $100 could break that embankment in such a way that the canal could not be repaired in the six months in which it is provided that it may be repaired, or that it shall be forfeited to the Government of Nicaragua. Wherever you build a canal on any of these proposed routes, whether it be on the old Maritime Canal Company’s line, or whether it be on the line that I understand is likely to be proposed by this new commission, these dams will necessarily be a feature of it. Therefore, I repeat, the Government of the United States ought to be authorized, before going to this great expenditure of money, to put some kind of guards over this canal, some supervision of it which you are not authorized to do and you cannot do under the concessions made to the Maritime Canal Company.” ,s craxiN.n jthx i / .> Y , V Jr, k Cs /> 6 ° W pf5 S3 © H m O ® S5 r "0 2' :z m t/> o ^ 3^ Qo op \D \0 OP 00 BOOK VI THE PROBLEM OF EXPANSION. BY THE EST ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS. WHICH IS ADDED THE HISTORY OF EXPANSION. GREAT* TO INTRODUCTION The greatest novelty in our national experience grew out of the Spanish war, : the conquest of the capital city of the Philippines, and the hopelessness of e Spanish position in that archipelago. We were constrained to occupy and i ssess for military and international reasons the ancient Spanish seat of power, ith its venerable walls and broad and once shady boulevards, its old forts with rillery of another age, and the latest style batteries equipped with modern guns j >m the foundries of Germany and Spain — the famous botanical garden and astro- imical observatory, its stately churches, the palaces provided for officials, the insy habitations of the natives and the immigrants from Asia, and the solid isiness establishments, chiefly English and Chinese. The destruction of the Danish fleet by Americans on May-day was thorough work so far as Manila Bay vs concerned, but there were at least ten gunboats unaccounted for — doubtless Irking among the islands — and if these had not been awed by the presence of bwey’s ships they would have been free to have assailed our commerce with Asia, i Acting heavy loss and encouraging Spanish animosity. So particular have been h people of the United States not to pick up any of the choice islands of the sis, that, though we have three great States and one huge Territory fronting the Pacific Ocean and must, in our geographical situation continue to have 1 ge and growing commercial interests on the opposite or Asiatic shore, the '•anish war found us without any naval station — without a dock or a coal-yard nrer Asia than Honolulu — a good illustration of the incompetency of the non- eoansion policy. The American Admiral had to make choice between leaving 1 2 scene of his triumph and the evident sphere of his duty, and holding his own i the bay that he possessed by force of arms. He did not hesitate, but asked t; Government for aid to confirm his conquest. Until recent expressions in Ingress and by some citizens of unusual eminence elsewhere, we should have sd that the entertainment for a moment in an American mind of anything so foillanimous as running away from the waters of Manila after strewing them with t ; wrecks of the Spanish Armada, was absolutely inconceivable. The President othe United States, of course, never dreamed of ordering the victorious fleet that s id a sea of glory upon the country, to flee from the conquest out of a sentimental r ard for the susceptibilities of the Spaniards or the Filipinos or of any other crea- 505 506 INTRODUCTION. tures. There was soon experience of the insolence of Aguinaldo, who has warrant to speak for the people of his alleged country, and whose actual insigni cance made plain would startle any one who has accepted the theory of his gre; ness. Admiral George Dewey early reported the threatening attitude of this pu personage. The American Consuls who had given him aid and comfort a believed his little stories of gratitude to Americans were speedily embarrass by him, and reported to the State Department his “half devil and half chi! fantasies. He wanted to treat the American Army as a part of his forces, a was supercilious and studiously malicious toward those to whom he was indebt for his return to the land from which he had departed, leaving his beloved peo] to their fate — a certified check for Mexican dollars from a hank in Manila to bank in Hongkong the inducement for his patriotic emigration. It has been ht to be an evidence of his integrity and to make him out a marvelously proper man a patriotic statesman of heroic mold — that he did not divide this cash contributi for which he left the country he adores, with the crowd of thirty-two Philippi patriots, and keep the lion’s share for himself. He actually held on to the mon except a small bribe for one friend to discontinue a lawsuit, and finally turned over to Agoncillo, the great foreign ambassador who is traveling in Europe procure assistance for the expulsion of the tyrannical Americans from his nafc land. Aguinaldo once had been a prominent insurgent and the pigmies in t wilderness had confidence in him because it was their faith that he had “a chan 1 so potent that neither lead nor poison could deprive him of life. But he had ma peace for $400,000 in hand — Mexican dollars — and $400,000 more promised by t Spaniards; and about the time he got the first installment — and that is all ever got — there was a change of Spanish Captain-Generals and the treaty tl Aguinaldo had made with the one who returned to Madrid was a subject of hilar' there. Nobody paid other attention to it. That is one of the ways, and b favored one, the Spaniards had of putting down a rebellion. They bribe patriot leaders to go away on conditions that everything shall be done for h dear people. It is easy to promise, as there is nothing to do. Nothing is do . of course. Nobody expects it. The transaction is closed when the first inst; ment of money is paid as a benevolent “concession” to the retiring patriot. Agn • aldo is not a man of great gifts, but he did know something of the Spanish cb acter, and he must have known why and for what he went away. He hadn’t 4 back when Dewey smashed the Spanish fleet, but there were insurgents carry on the usual war of the Spanish colonists against the mother country, and Agn aldo had ceased to be a factor. He was a “has been.” But our Consuls had he| INTRODUCTION. 507 0 him, and they thought he might do something and showered Dewey with formation about him, and finally the Consul at Singapore got a dispatch from f then Commodore that was an invitation to Aguinaldo to assist in the war with S fin. His reappearance was under American auspices, and he smoothed the way flh many promises and protestations that he was substantially a good American. first the Filipinos did not seem to catch on to his mission, but the splendor o the American victory cast a light upon them and they associated him with the hmination. Then he began to be a great man, and immediately wanted to Date to the Filipinos and the Americanos. Then came native swarms out of the w )ds upon development of his transferred prestige, and it does not seem unlikely tly attributed the annihilation of the Spanish fleet to Aguinaldo, who is as great : aval as military man, and therefore they resented the unnecessary appearance, wording to the light the Tagalos had, of American troops, who touched the ttderness of the insurgents by trampling on their sacred soil. The little yellow tatorial creature, inflamed with personal grandeur, thought himself entitled to de or refuse permission to Americans to place their feet upon his holy land, ill he held it was necessary before permitting this desecration to have official nrmation as to what the armed Americans proposed to do when they got ashore. Tis is the sum and substance of Aguinaldo’s voluminous correspondence with xieral Thomas Anderson — a mass of Filipino literature (the Dictator’s part of that will forever pass as the premium performance of impertinence. In that card it is almost superhuman. But the Dictator, whose professions of fondness x liberty have so fascinated an order of statesmanship in this country — the Dicta- c who parted from his loved country and fond people comforted with a certified lek — this distinguished patriot who took thirty-two “compatriots” and person- ih conducted them to Hongkong for the sake of peace with Spain — the Spaniards c bed a bank to get the money— he had the fortune, after making a safe landing rler the American flag, and setting up a sovereignty of his own at the cost of t ericans, of accumulating a considerable force of bushwhackers. They got a r>d many cartridges from Cavite, surrounded the city and did shooting enough annoy the Spaniards a good deal, as they were so cowed by Dewey that they t :k close to their breastworks. The Filipino siege was a case of very bad shoot- d at long range — the Spaniards behind bags of mud, the Filipinos in the jungles. 1 ieral Merritt arrived and landed without asking Aguinaldo whether he might, i was not long in disturbing the exercises of the extensive shooting match, kch did not amount to much on either side. The Filipinos are rather fond of >eig in the mud, and firing at distant objects. The Spaniards sheltered them- 508 INTRODUCTION. selves from the rain, and, as long as the rice and tobacco held out, were satisi that they were doing very well. There were about 13,000 Spaniards and 14, ( Filipinos. When the American force numbered about one-half the Filipino swa General Merritt concluded to do business. The sovereign natives were right the way and had scratched the ground here and there in their character of siegers. They had to he removed for military purposes, and didn’t mind see Americans go to the front. So the town was taken. The Spaniards surrende on conditions. In the articles of capitulation the faith and honor of the Ar of the United States were made responsible for the suppression within the lin of the city of barbarism. In three days came the news of the Peace Protoi The arms and ammunition of the Spaniards — 22,000 rifles and 10,000,000 c tridges — were in the hands of the Americans, and, according to the conventi if the Americans retired the Spanish troops were to receive their arms — that: to say, he equipped to defend themselves. That would have been the first th : in order if our troops had retired. The Aguinaldo army had grand passion to 1 1 Manila, incidentally murdering the Europeans, and also the Chinese who 1: possessions. Refused this festival of liberty, the native patriots became the enen t of xkmericans. The discipline of the Aguinaldo forces is a case of “the cohesl power” of the prospect of plunder, with a chance for a massacre associated, : : under this inspiration the champions of freedom and independence were swelter : in their venom until they assaiilted our lines. Their occupation has been, up: the latest advices, a series of treacherous and devilish plots. These “people” ( likened by some of our statesmen to our Revolutionary ancestors, and show tl similitude to the fathers desperately attempting repeatedly to wipe out the <) in a conflagration and accompany the spread of the flames by the assassination all in their way of manifesting the inherent capacity of self-government. Am cans have never had a chance to get away and the accumulating evidence is alre; ample, that the more casualties there are among the bands of liberty-lovers in < jungles, the better it will be for the Philippine people at large. The discuss t of the merits of the war that has arisen from the bloody ashes of the Span I power in the Asian islands, has been of extraordinary range and interest throu out the world, and is to the people of the United States of overshadowing imp ' Expressions of Public Opinion in this association have been invited by those \ 1 have in our country the executive responsibility. We have assembled the ut ’ ances of the disputants most prominently known, and whose words appear the most notable force and pertinence. We have been impartial in the select! and adjustment of the views of gentlemen on both sides of the question of An' INTRODUCTION. 509 ican Expansion. Intelligent attention will demonstrate the fairness of the reports herewith presented of a discussion that there is every reason to believe will be as influential as it is unmistakably testified the result will be of moment. The President of the United States has invited by his policy of candor and of deference to the ultimate judgment of his countrymen, the most thorough consideration of the practical questions before the people, and unequivocally submitted for the public determination. There is in this book a full and fair collection of the opposing contentions in the high debate of citizens, unofficial as well as official. It is the most comprehensive that has been made and is commended as worthy the time and the theme. CHAPTER I. PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. The Weighty Unexpected Problems Before the Country — Not Our Fault that They Impose High Obligation — He Opposed War — No Nation Insisting Upon War Can Foretell the Story of It — The President Cannot Fix the Boundaries of Events — We Could Not Give Up Our Conquests to Spain — The Philip- pines Had to Go to Spain or Be Held by Us — We Did Not Need the Consent of the Filipinos to a Work of Humanity — The Future of the Philip- pines Is in the Hands of the American People — No Imperial Designs Lurk in the American Mind — The Free Can Conquer But to Save — The Bloody Trenches Bring Anguish to His Heart — The Filipinos Will Be Grateful for American Civilization. President McKinley says we have been successful in a war with a foreign power adding great glory to our arms — a new chapter in American history. He did not know why in this war this republic has unexpectedly had placed before it mighty problems which it must face and meet. They have come and are here and they could not be kept away. Many who were impatient for the conflict a year ago, ap- parently heedless of its larger results, were the first to cry out against the far-reach- ing consequences of their own act. Those of us who dreaded war most and when every effort was directed to prevent it, had fears of new and grave problems which might follow its inauguration. “The evolution of events which no man could control has brought these prob- lems upon us. Certain it is that they have not come through any fault on our own part, but as a high obligation, and we meet them with clear conscience and unselfish purpose and -with good heart resolve to undertake their solution. “War was declared in April, 1898, with practical unanimity by the Congress and, once upon us, was sustained by like unanimity among the people. There had been many who tried to avert it, as, on the other hand, there were many who would have precipitated it at an earlier date. In its prosecution and conclusion the great majority of our countrymen of every section believed they were fighting in a just cause, and at home or on sea or in the field they had part in the glorious triumphs. It was the war of the undivided nation. “Every great act in its progress from Manila to Santiago, from Guam to Porto Rico, met universal and hearty commendation. The protocol commanded the prac- tically unanimous approval of the American people. It was welcomed by every lover of peace beneath the flag. 510 PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. 511 “The Philippines, like Cuba and Porto Rico, were entrusted to our hands by the war, and to that great trust, under the providence of God and in the name of human progress and civilization, we are committed. It is a trust we have not sought; it is a trust from which we will not flinch. The American people will hold up the hands of their servants at home, to whom they commit its execution, while Dewey and Otis and the brave men whom they command will have the support of the country in upholding our flag where it now floats, the symbol and assurance of liberty and justice. “What nation was ever able to write an accurate programme of the war upon which it was entering, much less decree in advance the scope of its results? Con- gress can declare war, but a higher power decrees its bounds and fixes its relations md responsibilities. “The President can direct the movements of soldiers on the field and fleets lpon the sea, but he cannot foresee the close of such movements or prescribe their imits. He cannot anticipate or avoid the consequences, but he must meet them. STo accurate map of nations engaged in war can be traced until the war is over, nor :an the measure of responsibility be fixed till the last gun is fired and the verdict mbodied in the stipulations of peace. “We hear no complaint of the relations created by the war between this Gov- irnment and the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. There are some, however, who ■egard the Philippines as in a different relation, hut, whatever variety of views there nay be on this phase of the question, there is universal agreement that the Philip- nnes shall not be turned back to Spain. No true American can consent to that. Even if unwilling to accept them ourselves, it would have been a weak evasion of nanly duty to require Spain to transfer them to some other power or powers and hus shirk our own responsibility. Even if we had had, as we did not have, the lower to compel such a transfer, it could not have been made without the most erious international complications. “Such a course could not be thought of. And yet, had we refused to accept he cession of them, we should have had no power over them, even for their own ;ood. We could not discharge the responsibilities upon us until these islands be- ame ours either by conquest or treaty. “There was but one alternative, and that was either Spain or the United States a the Philippines. The other suggestions — first, that they should be tossed into lie arena for the strife of nations, or, second, be lost in the anarchy and chaos of no irotectorate at all — were too shameful to he considered. The treaty gave them to he United States. Could we have required less and done our duty? Could we, 512 PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. after freeing the Filipinos from the domination of Spain, have left them without government and without power to protect life and property or to perform the inter- national obligations essential to an independent state? Could we have left them in a state of anarchy and justified ourselves in our own consciences or before the tribunal of mankind? Could we have done that in the sight of God and man? “Our concern was not for territory or trade or empire, but for the people whose interests and destiny, without our willing it, had been put in our hands. It was with this feeling that from the first day to the last not one word or line went from the Executive in Washington to our military and naval commanders at Manila or to our peace commissioners at Paris that did not put as the sole purpose to be kept in mind first after the success of our arms and the maintenance of our own honor the welfare and happiness and the rights of the inhabitants of the Philippine Is- lands. Did we need their consent to perform a great act for humanity? We had it in every aspiration of their minds, in every hope of their hearts. “Was it necessary to ask their consent to capture Manila, the capital of their islands? Did we ask their consent to liberate them from Spanish sovereignty or to enter Manila hay and destroy the Spanish sea power there? We did not ask these; we were obeying a higher moral obligation which rested on us and did not require anybody’s consent. We were doing our duty by them with the consent of our own consciences and with the approval of civilization. Every present obliga- tion has been met and fulfilled in the expulsion of Spanish sovereignty from their islands, and while the war that destroyed it was in progress we could not ask their views. Nor can we now ask their consent. “Indeed, can anyone tell me in what form it could be marshaled and ascer- tained until peace and order, so necessary to reign of reason, shall be secured and established? A reign of terror is not the kind of rule under which right action and deliberate judgment are possible. It is not a good time for the liberator to sub- mit important questions concerning liberty and government to the liberated while they are engaged in shooting down their rescuers * “We have now r ended the war with Spain. The treaty has been ratified by more than two-thirds of the Senate of the United States and by the judgment of nine-tenths of its people. No nation was ever more fortunate in war or more hon- orable in negotiations in peace. “Spain is now eliminated from the problem. It remains to ask what we shall do now. I do not intrude upon the duties of Congress or seek to anticipate or forestall its action. I only say that the treaty of peace, honorably secured, having been ratified by the United States and, as we confidently expect, shortly ratified in ) PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. 513 Spain, Congress will have the power and I am sure the purpose to do what in good morals is right and just and humane for these people in distant seas. “It is sometimes hard to determine what is best to do and the best thing to do is oftentimes the hardest. The prophet of evil would do nothing, because he flinches at sacrifice and effort, and to do nothing is easiest and involves the least cost. On those who have things to do there rests a responsibility which is not on those who have no obligations as doers. “If the doubters were in a majority there would, it is true, be no labor, no sacri- fice, no anxiety and no burden raised or carried; no contribution from our ease and jrarse and comfort to the welfare of others, or even to the extension of our resources to the welfare of ourselves. There would be ease, but, alas! there would he nothing done. “But grave problems come in the life of a nation, however much men may seek to avoid them. They come without our seeking, why, we do not know, and it is not always given us to know, but the generation on which they are forced cannot avoid the responsibility of honestly striving for their solution. We may not know precisely how to solve them, but we can make an honest effort to that end and, if made in conscience, justice and honor, it will not be in vain. ‘The future of the Philippine Islands is now in the hands of the American people. Until the treaty was ratified or rejected the executive department of this Government could only preserve the peace and protect life and property. That treaty now commits the free and enfranchised Filipinos to the guiding hand and the liberalizing influences, the generous sympathies, the uplifting education, not of their American masters, but of their American emancipators. No one can tell to-day what is best for them or for us. I know no one at this hour who is wise enough or sufficiently informed to determine what form of government will best subserve their interests and our interests, their and our well being. “If we knew everything by intuition — and I sometimes think there are those who believe that if we do not they do — w r e should not need information, but, un- fortunately, most of us are not in that happy state. The whole subject is now with Congress, and Congress is the voice, the conscience and the judgment of the Amer- ican people. Upon their judgment and conscience can we not rely? I believe in them, I trust them. I know of no better or safer human tribunal than the people. “Until Congress shall direct otherwise, it will be the duty of the Executive to possess and hold the Philippines, giving to the people thereof peace and beneficent government, affording them every opportunity to prosecute their lawful pursuits, encouraging them in thrift and industry, making them feel and know we are their 514 PRESIDENT M’KINLEY FOR EXPANSION. friends, not their enemies; that their good is our aim; that their welfare is our welfare, but that neither their aspirations nor ours can be realized until our au- thority is acknowledged and unquestioned. “That the inhabitants of the Philippines will be benefited by this Republic is my unshaken belief; that they will have a kindlier government under our guidance and that they will be aided in every possible way to be self-respecting and self-gov- erning people is as true as that the American people love liberty and have an abiding faith in their own government and their own institutions. “No imperial designs lurk in the American mind. They are alien to American sentiment, thought and purpose. Our priceless principles undergo no change under a tropical sun. They go with the fiat: “ ‘Why read ye not the changeless truth. The free can conquer but to save?’ “If we can benefit these remote peoples, who will object? If in the years of the future they are established in government under law and liberty, who will regret our perils and sacrifices, who will not rejoice in our heroism and humanity? Always perils and always after them safety; always darkness and clouds, but always shining through them the light and the sunshine; always cost and sacrifice, but always after them the fruition of liberty, education and civilization. “I have no light or knowledge not common to my countrymen. I do not prophesy. The present is all-absorbing to me, but I cannot bound my vision by the blood-stained trenches around Manila, where every red drop, whether from the veins of an American soldier or a misguided Filipino, is anguish to my heart, but by the broad range of future years, when that group of islands, under the impulse of the year just past, shall have become the gems and glories of those tropical seas, a land of plenty and of increasing possibilities, a people redeemed from savage indolence and habits, devoted to the arts of peace, in touch with the commerce and trade of all nations, enjoying the blessings of freedom, of civil and religious liberty, of educa- tion and of homes, and whose children and children’s children shall for ages hence bless the American republic because it emancipated and redeemed their fatherland and set them in the pathway of the world’s best civilization.” CHAPTER II. ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. Mr. Carnegie Assails the President and the Secretary of the Treasury for Changing Their Opinions as to Expansion — Doubts the President’s Convictions and Says Gage Is Not a Manufacturer — Carnegie Desires Commercial Expansion — He Wants the President to Listen to the London Times — The Open Door Will Antagonize American Labor — Predicts Death-Blow to “Imperialism” — Says No Citizen Can Be Deprived of the Right to Send His Products to Any Territory Under Our Flag Free of All Tariffs Within the Republic’s Domain — Trade of Philippines Cannot Be American — Spain Gets $20,- 000,000 for a Great Relief — Tribute to the Personal Virtues of the President — A Reply to Mr. Murat Halstead’s Address at Homestead. Andrew Carnegie opened a crusade against the antagonism of the Philippines by the statement “Half the danger would be over” if the people knew the Presi- dent had convictions on the subject “to which he would stand.” He added Sec- retary Gage was a “convert to imperialism,” and had “fortunately given us the reason.” And Mr. Carnegie added: “Secretary Gage has not only told us that he has changed his views and is a convert to imperialism, but he has fortunately given us the reason. All that is nec- essary is that our public men should give reasons for the Republic abandoning the policy which has made her great. He accepts the dangers and cost of imperialism against his own wishes for the sake of commercial expansion. “Now, Secretary Gage has never manufactured anything nor exported anything — he is neither in manufacturing nor in commerce. I am in both. Our concern is to-day the largest manufacturer in the world in its line, and I believe it is also to-day the largest exporter of manufactures in the United States. “We have within two years begun to send our steel to all parts of the world. Our sales reach into the millions of dollars. We have our London house now as we have in New York. The foreign business is growing by leaps and bounds. Now, one of the reasons why I oppose imperialism— the acquisition of the Philippines, for instance — is commercial expansion. “The reason that Secretary Gage gives for acquiring the Philippines is the reason why I would not. He believes it would be favorable to commercial expan- sion; I know that it would be detrimental. “The Secretary gave no reason for thinking that the acquisition of distant pos- 515 51C ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. sessions would increase our foreign trade. Permit me to state reasons why it would not increase but decrease it. \ “Foreign trade rests upon peace and security; the waters must be calm, dis- turbing influences absent, to foster trade in foreign parts. “Two weeks ago British consols fell 2§; there was a rumor of war with France; money needed by manufacturers and exporters rose to double what it had been. Our financial operations in London covering our foreign trade were immediately transferred to New York, which for the time became the financial center of the world. Money exchange was furnished us cheaper here than London could give. The quiver that went through the commercial world in Britain arrested commerce at many points. New York was secure beyond the zone of disturbance; there was no war rumor which affected the Republic. Great Britain was within the zone and her business was disturbed. “Should we undertake to hold the Philippines we immediately place the whole Republic within the zone of wars and rumors of wars, and the rumor of war, it must be remembered, is in itself destructive to commerce. It was only rumors of war that threw us from London back to New York. “If Secretary' Gage is not satisfied with the commercial expansion which this country is enjoying what will satisfy this man? I have seen nothing like it in my lifetime, nor have I read of anything comparable to it. “Without distant possessions, the Republic, solid, compact, safe from the zone of war disturbance, has captured the world’s markets for many products, and only needs a continuance of peaceful conditions to have the industrial world at its feet. Our exports now exceed the exports of Great Britain. W T hat does Secretary Gage mean by talking of commercial expansion to come, when the question to-day is, how shall we meet the commercial expansion crowding upon us? “If the Secretary of the Treasury has time to spare let me suggest that he can use it to better advantage studying how to give to our exporters suitable steamship lines to carry away the traffic that is offered. This is the one great want of the United States in the way of commercial expansion, not the management of bar- barous regions involving race troubles far exceeding those we have at home. “There is another point that Secretary Gage fortunately has to consider. I should like to ask the Administration one question which the President and Cabinet must soon think of. “Are the Philippines to be considered part of the American Republic, as Porto Rico is, and are we to keep them for ourselves as we have Porto Rico, excluding the world from equal trade rights with them? ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 51 ? “Suppose President McKinley says 'Yes, I have always stood for American labor; I am its great champion; I am a protectionist to the cored “I begin to grow doubtful about the President having convictions upon any subject; but if he has a conviction it is this, that it is the duty of an American President to take care of American labor. Well, he will have done so when he an- nounces that he is going to obey the Constitution of the United States, although in these days the Constitution seems to be, as Tim Campbell once said to President Cleveland, ‘a small thing to stand between friends.’ “But suppose the President is true to the Constitution and his oath to support it, then there is free trade between all parts of the United States and the Philip- pines as there is to Porto Rico — he has stood true there — but there is a high tariff between the trade of all other nations and the Philippines. “I believe the President will be driven to hold this position. What ensues? War! Britain is our best friend to-day, but only upon condition that we keep 'open door’ for her in the Philippines and in all other of our distant possessions. “The London Times has already given a strong hint upon this subject in re- ferring to the President’s bottling up Porto Rico. “Let the President listen to this from the London Times editorial: 'English- men have seen with ungrudging satisfaction the entrance of America on the path of imperial expansion which they have themselves trodden with such conspicuous success. But it must be confessed that a considerable strain is put upon our sym- pathy by such blunders as the order regulating the trade of Porto Rico, which our correspondent cites and which reads as if it were borrowed from our own navigation acts which the Americans themselves found so oppressive.’ “The most sensitive chord of Britain is its foreign trade; upon that it depends. Let the President of the United States once show that the American system is to be extended to the Philippines, and that Secretary Gage had some foundation for his idea of 'commercial expansion’ for the advantage of American labor, and it will not be necessary for Britain openly to intervene. “France, Germany and Russia, as is well known, are opposed to America enter- ing upon possessions in the far East. Those nations combined drove J apan out of Corea; they will drive the United States out of the Philippines, always provided Britain agrees to do what she did with Japan — occupy a neutral position. “But I go further than this. She will require the United States to agree to keep the 'open door,’ as she required Germany to do. Of course, Germany has agreed to keep the open door in her Eastern possessions. She wouldn’t have any 518 ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. if she had not. Neither will the United States, for let it be noted that 70 per cent of the total trade of the Philippines is to-day British. “I have spoken of European nations, but there is a nation quite near the Phil- ippines with which the United States would find it most difficult to deal at so great a distance, for, remember it is a question of naval strength. Here is what the min- ister of Japan said the other day: “ ‘Every year its trade with the Philippines has increased until now it has be- come of very respectable proportions. Naturally my Government is interested in seeing that this trade shall continue, and as it firmly believes the ports of the is- lands will be freely opened to Japan if the United States governs the islands, it would rather see America gain control than any other nation.’ “I was consulted last week in regard to taking an offer of 60,000 tons of steel plates for delivery in Western Australia. My feeling was that we should wait re- sults. Let us see whether we do not get into trouble in regard to the ‘open door’ or the ‘closed door’ in the Philippines. If we do, of course there is no delivery in Western Australia possible to the extent of 60,000 tons of steel to be made by Amer- ican labor. Mr. Gage’s commercial expansion is hindered. This steel may not be made in the United States. So much for imperialism and its foreign complica- tions. “Suppose, however, President McKinley, in order to hold the Philippines at all, has to grant the ‘open door,’ where will Secretary Gage and his commercial expan- sion stand then? What will labor in the Uni’ted States say to the recreant Presi- dent? What compensation is it to have? “What justification can be pleaded for paying twenty or forty millions for the Philippines, and for sacrificing the blood of our soldiers and the lives of our civil servants involved in this acquisition, if no advantage accrues? What answer will he make to the people upon whom he imposes additional taxation? “I think I know what the laboring masses of the United States will say to him and to any government that throws upon the country such sacrifices of life and such burdens, only to open its costly acquisitions to the nations of the world. “If it be fair competition with other nations that we require for commercial expansion, we are certain of that already, because Britain will never permit the open door in the far East to be closed. “President Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, is on the right track. He denounces the policy of bringing the Republic into the zone of Euro- pean strife in the far East. He will win, and it only needs a few large employers jTFAMERS WAiTlNO AT KANTARA VIEW OF LANDING AT PORT 5AtD -v% LNTRAfL TO SUEZ (ANAL famm VIEW Of PORT SAID HARBOR VIEWS ALONG- THE SUEZ CANAL. ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 521 of labor to speak to their people to carry the entire laboring people of the Union against the President’s supposed treachery to the cause of American labor. “Let the President take either horn of the dilemma and his policy of what he himself has called ‘criminal aggression’ fails. Let him open the door to the world and he antagonizes American labor. Let him consider the Philippines part of the United States, and therefore entitled under the Constitution to free trade with, as part of, the United States, and its door closed except through the high tariff to all other nations, and he antagonizes the whole of Europe and has war upon his hands to a certainty — this time no weak Spain to deal with, but the overwhelming naval power of Europe. “Be of good cheer! The American people have always decided rightly in great crises. The imperialistic policy has not been properly discussed, because the posi- tion of the President and the Government is not yet known, but the President has to come forward and decide the question I have indicated. “This will be the death blow of imperialism either way he decides. “The Republic will escape the threatened danger and hold fast to the policy of ‘the Fathers,’ w'hich has made it the most prosperous nation the world ever saw and brought the industrial supremacy of the world within its grasp under the aegis if peace and security — the one industrial nation free from the unceasing danger of vars and rumors of wars which keep every shipyard, every armor plant, every gun factory in the world busy night and day, Saturdays and Sundays, preparing engines l:or the coming struggle between the nations of Europe.” Mr. Carnegie had predicted that the President would be forced to meet the juestion of “the open door” or “the closed door,” and he commented: “From the President’s record as the champion of American products of the soil tnd the mine and of American labor, I supposed that he would not yield to the lictation of our foreign rivals without hesitation. One was justified in thinking hat an American President would not sacrifice American interests without hesi- lating, but it seems the President never hesitated a moment. “From one point of view he cannot be blamed. There was no use in his at- empting to oppose the giving of the ‘open door’ to the foreigner, because refusal aeant that he had to meet the combined fleets of Japan, Russia, Germany, France, nd last, but not least, Great Britain, and this the wildest expansionist, unless ■'holly bereft of reason, would not for a moment consider. He had to concede to ther nations the markets of his new ill-starred possession. To such national hu- miliations imperialism inevitably leads. “In this morning’s papers we are correctly told by the Secretary of the State r,9.2 ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. that the ‘open door’ does not mean free trade, that the Philippines will have then tariff, and that all products entering the ports will be required to pay the same du- ties, whether these be products of American soil or labor, or of the low-priced labor of Europe, India, Australia, or the Argentine; hut the Secretary of State is also reported to have said that this places all nations upon an equality. Here he has made a pardonable mistake, since he has no experience of commerce. “The manufacturer of Germany, France or Britain, the farmer of Australia and of the Baltic provinces of Russia and of the Argentine, reach the Philippines at about one-half the freight cost that the American farmer has to pay upon his products or the American manufacturer upon manufactured articles. The distance to Manila from the Atlantic seaboard is, say, 14,000 miles (via Cape); from Europe only, say, 9,000; 12,000 from New York (via Europe, which is the shortest way); from Australasia only about one-half the distance of that from San Francisco, say 3,500 miles, against 7,000; from India only 4,000, from Argentina not much further than from San Francisco. “Therefore, when President McKinley agreed that the products of Europe and the agricultural products of Australia and Argentina and India should reach the Philippines and pay only the - same tariff as products of the soil and the mine of his own country, he closed the door effectually upon American commercial expansion in the Philippines. “American products stood upon an equality with those of foreign nations un- der Spanish authority, except that Spain was favored against all, and here are the import figures for the last year of Philippine trade (1896) for which figures are available: “From Great Britain and British Colonies, 15 per cent. . . .£1,420,800 From Spain, 13 per cent 284,310 From all other nations, 22 per cent 480,890 Total imports £2,186,000 or, say, $10,500,000. The United States sent only $146,000 worth, a sum too small for the Statesman’s Year Book to specify separately. “Under the President’s concession of the ‘open door’ such will be about the United States’ proportion in future. Conditions are not changed, except as to Spain’s paltry 13 per cent. “The trade of the Philippines cannot be American, but let no one blame the President, because if his imperialism was not to suffer shipwreck he had to throw away the markets of his new possessions. ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 523 “It is interesting to consider whether the President or Secretary of State or any member of his Cabinet knew that landing American products either of the farm or of the mine in Manila upon equal terms with the agricultural products of Australia, India, Argentina, or of the manufactures of Europe, simply meant that American grain, flour, provisions, American cotton and woolen goods, American iron and steel, were at so serious a disadvantage, owing to the greater distance, that they were practically excluded from the new possessions for which the American people are to pay. “My answer is that I do not believe that one of them ever thought of this fatal fact of distance. The men in Washington to-day are so immersed in problems which have nothing whatever to do with the prosperity of their own country that they have no time to consider subjects hearing upon it. They have eaten of the insane root of territorial expansion in distant continents; they are dreaming dreams, chasing 'phantoms, and in one stroke of the pen the President of the United States has innocently given over the trade of the Philippines to foreign nations. I do not be- lieve that he ever thought of distance. “America stands in regard to the trade of the Philippines exactly as she stood when they were under the dominion of Spain, except that the 13 per cent of Spain was favored. She was then on an equality with other foreign nations, hut what has the Republic now to shoulder by this hasty act of the President which she had not before? “First — She pays $20,000,000 for the privilege of getting what she had better have paid a thousand millions to be without. “Second — The President is to ask Congress for an addition to the army one and one-half times bigger than the entire army that was necessary before he left the path of the fathers and plunged the ship of state into this sea of troubles. “Third — The President is to ask Congress for a tremendous addition to our navy, which will cost more than $20,000,000 every year. The increased army will cost probably as much. “The President will get his ships of war, but he wall not get his regular soldiers. The work which he wishes them to do is not that which the regidar soldier of the United States has hitherto agreed to do. The regular soldier will now have to leave his country to suppress the aspirations of people for independence. “Perhaps the President of the United States will order the American soldier to shoot down men whose only crime is that they fight for the independence of their country, which the American has been brought up to believe a prize worthy of all sacrifice. Recruits cannot be had for the regular army to-day. The pay of 524 ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. the army must be raised. It is safe to say that the additional burdens which the President must finally place upon the American people will not amount to less than $100,000,000 per annum, all of this required because the country will have to main- tain a great army and a navy equal to those of European powers, in order to defend worthless foreign possessions from which no benefit can now be reaped, American products having been effectually excluded. “Now as to how this hundred millions is to be raised. Fortunately we are not left in doubt. The President’s spokesman and manager, Senator Hanna, has de- clared that the tea and coffee of the workingman, now free, are to be taxed. There is not a dinner pail that is not to be laid under contribution; labor is to bear the burden. There is scarcely a farmer, nor a farm-hand employed by the farmer, nor a wage-earner of any kind, who does not use tea or coffee, these necessaries of life, and there is not one upon whose hard-won earnings the President of the United States, through Senator Hanna, does not propose to levy a tax to support his wild un-American schemes. “The question now is, what is to be the response of the farmers and the farm laborers and the workingmen, the men of the dinner pails, to this extraordinary pro- gramme? If the President or any of his supporters can show that he is going to promote their interests in any way by his bargain for the Philippines, let him speak. “I have shown that as far as the Philippines are concerned he has placed the United States at a fatal disadvantage compared with our foreign rivals. Can any one gainsay this? Is it not so? Here is the broad point for the President or any of his supporters to grapple with: “Can American products of the farm or of the mine reach the Philippines at anything approaching the cost of transportation of the agricultural products of Australia, Argentina or Russia, or the manufactures of Great Britain, Germany or France, having thousands of miles further to go? “If yes, then the American is not disadvantaged, but he has even then no ad- vantage for all his taxes. He had the open door before, except in competition with Spain. “If not, then the President has handicapped the agricultural and manufac- turing interests of his country, and given to the foreigner the trade of the Philip- pines. “Thus the claims of the imperialists that foreign acquisitions extend our com- merce with the Philippines is groundless. Let us hear no more of it. They must confine themselves to ‘Humanity,’ with a big H, for business reasons there are none. YNDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 525 “The President is confronted with another grave problem in his new and thorny path. One of the ablest men of the United States is Secretary Wilson, of the Department of Agriculture, a member of his Cabinet. No one who has followed his writings and kept advised of his successes as I have can fail to be deeply inter- ested in his work and in his man. He has told the nation that it can grow all the sugar it requires; he encourages us to believe that we shall be able to grow all the flax for our linen. He is deeply interested in the growth of tobacco within our own domain. “Now, to admit the sugar of Hawaii, as the President has decided we must continue to do (Hawaii having become United States territory), and to go forward with the same policy and admit sugar and tobacco from Porto Rico, which is United States territory, like Hawaii, and to annex Cuba and admit its sugar and tobacco, and to admit the hemp of Manila, would destroy the patriotic labors of Secretary Wilson. “I have no warrant for saying so, but I believe he would resign his office in the Cabinet the moment the President of the United States attempted to admit one pound of sugar or tobacco free from Porto Rico or hemp from the Philippines. The opposition of Secretary Wilson to this fatal course would be sufficient; he would never have to resign from the Cabinet on that issue, simply because the farming States, which make the President, would revolt. They will not be trifled with on this point, neither would the people of the United States, as a whole, approve of the beet-sugar industry being stricken down at this moment. “We are soon to see the President of the United States proclaim, as he can — as long as he is military dictator — that not a pound of hemp from Manila, not a pound of sugar or tobacco from Porto Rico, will ever enter the United States with- out paying the same duties as sugar or tobacco or hemp from foreign countries. He is going to attempt to keep the American tariffs against the products of Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines, notwithstanding his desire for their ‘civilization,’ for their benefit,’ notwithstanding ‘Humanity.’ “What a spectacle for Americans! But the interests of the poor Filipinos, of ;he poor Porto Ricans, are of little moment when the votes of the farmers of the United States are in jeopardy. Such are the fruits of the new policy. “We are getting into a maze of knotty problems. Products of Hawaii and of ■ill other portions of the United States are exchanged free of duties under the con- stitutional provision which establishes free trade with our dominions, but the uoduets of Porto Rico, which the President has recognized as American territory rad held their trade for American ships as coast trade, are to be denied what 52G ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION Hawaii has — as far as its exports to the United States are concerned. But Amer- ican products to Porto Rico are to he under the Constitution and free. The Phil- ippines, on the other hand, are to have neither their exports nor imports to or from the United States under the Constitution. “This is a staggering state of affairs, but then let us remember the President as War Lord is quite within his constitutional rights to ‘make ducks and drakes’ with the Constitution in war time. No one can question his authority; there is no usurpation of power, but one cannot hut marvel at the ‘admired disorder’ of his regulations. Ah, Mr. President, little did you know what leaving the teaching of the fathers meant when you rashly abandoned it and entered upon your new and thorny path. “What would you not give to get back again to the true American ideas? It is not yet too late if you only knew your power over the masses of the people, but you have to speak out in language to be ‘understood of the common people’ in your next message to Congress, or the imperialistic craze may sweep you to your political ruin. “I must pause as I write to pay tribute to the many virtues of the President. Some mutual friends have suggested that I went too far when I said that I began to doubt whether he had convictions upon any subject. Let me say to these that I was not speaking of the private character of Mr. McKinley. I had his official acts as President in view, and who will pretend that as President he has stood to his official convictions. “These very friends urge that he was opposed to the war with Spain, for instance, until a noisy gang dragged him into it. This is what all his supporters are saying, and it is no doubt true and creditable to him as a good, gentle man, but when it becomes our duty to call a public officer to account for his acts and view him as history will place him — instead of this being a public virtue it was a national crime. “Assuming, as his friends claim, that he -was not satisfied that w T ar was required, his duty as President was to exhaust the powers which were vested in him by the Constitution and which he could not rightfully evade. He should have stood ! out like a man and exercised his po"wer of veto as other Presidents have done, as General Grant did in a memorable case. Then, if Congress had passed the act; over his veto he would have been clear in his great office — his soul uncharged with the blood spent and the thousands of lives sacrificed in unhealthy camps. “It was this official act and another which could be named which I had in ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 527 view when I spoke of "convictions/ not the private acts of the individual Mr. McKinley, which do not concern us. "‘Representatives and Senators, on the other hand, who thought in their consciences that war was necessary, are not responsible for results. These acted as officials should act always — in obedience to what is right as they see it. ""But if any words of mine bear the interpretation that I was speaking of anything except the acts of the President in his official capacity, I express unfeigned regret and publicly apologize for them, ""I never approached a President of the United States without being awecl, nor did I do so this week, when I was honored by being accorded an interview with President McKinley. ‘I speak against his policy as President in the strongest terms, and denounce it, but well do I know the man as one of the best intentioned and purest living men — a model of every virtue — "" "The kindest man; The best conditioned and unwearied spirit In doing courtesies/ ""I have known Mr. McKinley most of my political life. I have always been his friend, but never so much his friend as I am to-day, when I tell him the truth as I see it. Would that he had more such friends, for many of those about him only whisper their dissent from his policy behind his back. Every man of position who feels his country endangered should write to the President. “This much the President knows: he has one friend who speaks boldly to him face to face, one who has no favor to ask and fears nothing save his own self-reproach. ""When called upon to consider the public safety let it never be forgotten, however, that some of the direst evils that ever fell upon nations have come from the best of men in all the domestic virtues, but men irresolute of purpose. Had President Buchanan been a President Jackson we should have been saved the Civil War. The President is too modest, and fails, as I think, to rate either his high office or himself at true value. ""So much for the President as a man and as a public official, the one sacred from criticism, the other not, for public officials’ acts or policies are the property of the people. We fail in our duty if we do not arraign him when we believe his acts or his policy are against our country’s good. I do not intend to fail in the performance of this duty. ""I did not fail In this duty to President Grant, with whose friendship I was 528 ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. honored, or to the country, when he proposed the annexation of San Domingo, which was not ‘criminal aggression’ upon his part, for its people desired annexation. “I have done with President McKinley just as I did with President Grant — opposed and denounced his policy. General Grant remained my friend notwith- standing to the end, and I his friend. “President McKinley may also, or may not, hut I shall remain his well-wisher and friend as a man, and a stanch one, although I see in his policy as President nothing but disaster for our country, and have told him so, and intend to keep on telling him so until the issue is settled beyond the reach of discussion. “To resume the discussion, it is not for the President of the United States to decide, when he becomes once again a constitutional ruler, whether he can or cannot deprive any citizen of the United States of the right which the Con- stitution gives him to send his products to any territory over which the flag holds sway, free of all tariffs within the broad domain of the Republic. This is a con- stitutional right which even Congress cannot impair. “This question is to be decided by the highest and most august tribunal of the world, the Supreme Court of the United States, composed of nine able, pure men, who hold office for life, independent of President, of Congress or of a popular vote, a court which has just struck down the greatest combination of capital that the world ever saw, a combination of the railway interests of this country — a court which will not hesitate to apply the fundamental principles which underlie our Government, and uphold the constitutional rights of the citizen from the attack of either President or Congress. Therein lies the safety of the Republic. “Whether the dictum of the President of the United States is to debar me from sending steel made by the highest-priced labor in the world to all American territory and prevent me from bringing back from the Philippines in the same ship the hemp of Manila, free of all tariffs, as I can do to Hawaii, is to be decided by the Supreme Court, and only by it. “If it is so decreed I shall bow without a murmur, as every loyal citizen of the United States should bow to that tribunal, but we bow not to the President except when he is war lord, commander-in-chief, whose request to me to sail for the Philippines to-morrow, or to any place in the world, to perform services to the Republic, I consider myself bound to obey, as a soldier would obey his superior, but whose commands in the days of peace I will question and take to a higher court if I think he attempts to rob me of a constitutional right. This is the birthright of every American citizen. “I have laid a matter for serious consideration before the farmers and their ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 529 workingmen, and before the wage-earners of the country. Their products cannot reach the Philippines under the President’s action. Two thousand to five thousand additional miles of transportation rule them out in competition with the agri- cultural products of the Argentine Republic, of India, of Russia, and with the manufacturers of Britain, France and Germany. “The open door to the foreigner means the ‘closed door’ to the United States. “Strange day’s work this for an American President, who against the commerce destroyers of his country should “ ‘Have barred the door, not borne the knife himself.’ “Mr. Murat Halstead, speaking at Homestead, Pa., said the Philippines will be to the United States what India is to England.’ This is what I believe they will be, but does Mr. Halstead know what India is to England? “Perhaps he has never been to India — I have. I have met the Indians who speak English — who have spoken to me freely, because I was an American. What does education make of Indians? Incipient rebels! They have taken to heart Washington and our struggle for independence; they speak most of Cromwell, and of Bolivar, Wallace and Tell. “England in India stands to-day upon a volcano. She has to keep 60,000 British troops there to hold the people in subjection. She does not trust one gun in the hands of native troops. They can have muskets, but the artillery is all held by the British regiments. England has been in India for nearly 200 years — this is the condition she is still in to-day. Of all the perils of England, that of India is the greatest. “There is scarcely a statesman of Britain who does not wish privately, ‘Would that we were safely out cf India!’ More than one of them has said so to me. What does India do for England? Ask the desolate homes that I have known in Britain. The late war against the Afridis plunged many thousands of homes of England in mourning. The greatest weakness that England possesses to-day is India. "Were it not for India she would not fear Russia. “India is the curse of Britain and the Philippines will be the curse of the United States. If you teach suppressed people at all you make them rebels. Education is fatal to the government of a superior race. The slaveholders under- stood this — in order to maintain slavery the slave could not be taught to read. The Declaration of Independence will make every ambitious Filipino a dissatisfied, subject. “I thank Mr. Halstead for teaching me that phrase. I could not ask for ANDREW CARNEGIE OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. anything better. The Philippines are to be to the United States what India is to Britain. Agreed. “I hope the President of the United States has heard what Mr. Halstead has said, and that it will induce him to look into the question of India and England. Upon this text I stake the whole issue — only let the Americans learn what India is to Britain and the President’s policy is doomed. Thanks again. Friend Hal- stead. CHAPTER III. SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. The Distinguished Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Member of the Peace Commission Declares His Position — The American People Have Made an Immeasurable Advance Within a Year — The Presi- dent’s Good Work — The Story of the Making of the Treaty of Peace — No Warning that Americans Claimed Too Much — Filipinos Not Ready for Sovereignty Over Civilized People — Historical Antecedents of Expansion — The Question What We Shall Do with the Philippine Archipelago Not Yet Upon Us — It Will Be Fair and Honorable. Senator Cushman K. Davis ripon the question of American policy towards the Philippines, speaking with the weight of authority of the chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and that of Peace Commissioner in preparation at Paris of the treaty with Spain, said: “The American people and humanity within the last twelve months have advanced an immeasurable distance, never to recede. Nations, like individuals, do not shape their own destinies. The personal experience of every individual man teaches him that events in the earlier part of his life which seemed incon- siderable to him have deflected the entire intended course of his destiny, as marked by him, and sometimes moved him to higher altitudes of performance than he had ever dreamed possible. And it is so of nations. Although we may plan wisely by constitutional requirements, by statutory enactments, by party policy, there come — whether by Providence or the evolutionary processes — interventions in the affairs of nations, by that divinity that shapes the ends thereof, hew them how we will. “As I said, we have passed an eventful twelve months, and you will pardon me if I say here — not in the spirit of partisanship, but in just tribute to a conspicu- ous public character who has largely guided these momentous events — that I regard President McKinley, from the complete equilibrium of his character, from his attentive observation of the dictates of that majestic public opinion by which the results of all American issues are finally determined, by his firmness when a course of action has been resolved upon, by his observance of the restrictions of the Constitution and the laws, as a character altogether unique among American Presidents. I do not believe that in all the long and illustrious rule of the men who have filled that exalted chair there has been any man who has gone through 531 532 SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. processes and situations of more difficulty, testing alike the judgment and the conscience, with more success and greater acceptability to the people of the United States than President McKinley. “The results of the war were sudden and spectacular. No war was ever so shortly ended; no war was ever marked with such total annihilation of one of the opposing forces. And, finally, the time came when Spain was obliged to sue for peace, and the result was that the President of the United States empowered and appointed five citizens to proceed to Paris to endeavor to negotiate a final treaty with that monarchy. All of the members of that commission, excepting one, were men of no diplomatic experience whatever. They had nothing to guide them but what they esteemed to he a plain and clear conception of the interests of this country, and of the duties of this victorious Nation toward the general cause of humanity. The one exception — and I deem it entirely proper to mention it here — the one exception of the man who possessed diplomatic experience was Mr. White- law Reid, who had had great and considerable experience in that way, and whose counsels in that respect and whose ability in all other respects were of the greatest assistance to us. “The members of the Spanish Commission were men of great experience, men who had occupied high diplomatic and judicial and military positions in their own country, and, in short, the best ability of Spain had been sent to confront the American Commissioners. “Of course, the terms of the treaty up to a certain point were plainly laid down by the protocol, which had been entered into between Spain and the United States in August last. They were the relinquishment of the sovereignty of Cuba; the cession of Porto Rico from the other West India islands, and the occupation of the city, bay, and harbor of Manila until the control and disposition and government of the Philippine Islands should have been disposed of by a treaty of peace. “The first point of conflict that we encountered was the insistence of the Spanish commissioners that with the relinquishment of the sovereignty of Cuba to be made to the United States, which amounted to a cession, should go an assump- tion by the United States, and from her to Cuba, whenever she should be estab- lished as a government, of the entire so-called colonial debt of Cuba. “That debt amounted to $700,000,000. Of course we rejected the proposition and we would have rejected it if that debt had been 700 cents. I had the honor myself of making an answer to a very able argument of Senor Montero Rios that, as a matter of international law of course there should be an apportionment of the debt, a prorating of the matter by some scale, which was easy to adopt. He SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. 533 cited many instances where such an adjustment of the colonial debt had been made, and from that he endeavored to exhaust the matters of special convention into a matter of general international law. To that we made one answer, that it was not a principle in international law, that the true principle was that whenever the in- tegrity of the original empire remained as in the case of Spain, where any nation or people had risen in the assertion of their liberties and had achieved them either independently or by the aid of another power, that the mother country took entire burden of the debt, especially when a large part of it was created in an effort to subjugate and subdue that colony which had attempted to gain its independence. “We adopted articles for the relinquishment of the sovereignty of Spain and of the cession of Porto Rico, and then proceeded to the consideration of other minor matters. Finally w r e submitted our proposition for the cession pure and simple of the Philippine archipelago, and then after a solid five weeks the Spanish commis- sioners wheeled around and reoccupied the position as to the assumption of the colonial debt, which we had supposed they had abandoned, and said to us in a not entirely diplomatic manner, that it might as well he understood, and they did not want to repeat it again, that any proposition for peace which did not involve the assumption of the proper proportion of the colonial debt would thwart the negotia- tions. “Thereupon, after some consultation, the American commissioners, tired of this wheeling and whirling from one point to another, laid down to the Spanish commissioners an ultimatum for the relinquishment of Cuba without the debt, for he cession of Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands and gave them a period of fight days to answer with a prospect of the suspension of negotiations, if a favor- ible auswer was not forthcoming at the end of that time. At the end of eight days he Spanish commissioners acquiesced. “The proceedings after that were matter of incident and mere form, and the esult was that on December 10, 1898, a treaty was concluded and signed at Paris, bout 7 o’clock in the evening, which, although perhaps it does not become me to ay, yet I will say it, was the most complete diplomatic triumph ever received in he annals of international negotiation. “For all the time that we had been in Paris no word whatever of admonition ame from sea or shore that the American negotiators were claiming too much for heir country, that one single thing that they had asked was in excess of the just equirements of the situation, and I will say, for one, that I was greatly surprised to ;nd after we returned here that there was a class of people in this country — phe- 534 SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. nomena in the museum of humanity — who were emaciated with surplus, who grew lean upon enough and grew fat upon a deficit. “It was at first thought that it would be sufficient to take the island of Luzon, but the best military and naval authorities, Admiral Dewey, General Merritt, Com- mander Bradbury, laid the situation before us from a military, naval and strategic point of view, which made it perfectly obvious that we must either take the entire archipelago or abandon it entirely; that the relations of those islands to each other were such that the acquisition of one, with a hostile power or a foreign power of whatever character holding the others, would only reproduce the conditions of Cuba as against the United States and create a perpetual sore in the waters of the East. We were bound, in view of the astounding development which the Chinese sover- eignty has been subject to, to have a sufficient naval station in those waters. Who in this audience would have expected that we would have left the Philippines or any portion of those islands to the ineffable and indescribable atrocities of Spain? When Dewey set the stars of that flag amongst the antipodal glories of the East, he imposed upon the American people a responsibility which we cannot avoid, and so, considering conditions to which I will advert more fully in a few moments, it was decided that we should demand, and we did demand and receive, the cession of the entire archipelago of the Philippines. “It is not a question of what we shall do in the future. We are already com- mitted to the situation. We cannot put it aside or avoid it if we would. We cannot escape the responsibility which events, evolution, or Providence has imposed upon us. Will any American citizen, under present conditions, advocate that Dewey shall sail away from the harbor of Manila? That our troops shall vacate that is- land? That we, with an armed force of insurrection arrayed against the boys in blue and the American flag, who went there as their friends, shall in the face of the civilized world, like cowards in the night, evacuate those waters, and remit the Philippines to internal anarchy or foreign dismemberment? What would be the result? The Filipinos are not in a present condition to govern themselves and es- tablish that independent republic of which fond theorists dream. I think no man in this audience who has read the current journals will for a moment question that they are not. We cannot endure, in view of our past and coming interests in the Orient, that the Philippines shall be dismembered by foreign powers, as they will be the minute the United States removes itself from that situation, and, above all things, my fellow citizens, although they appear perhaps dimly before us now, yet I believe there is a profound conviction in the minds of the American people that part of all this force which has pushed us there and established us there is an im- SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. 535 petus which tells for civilization, for a better Christianity, and that the United States as the great evangelist of the world is bound to play a leading part in those waters and in those islands. “I would treat the Filipinos in this way, considering their present condition and their inconsiderate actions, stimulated, I believe, by inconsiderate advice from the United States, I would treat them with the hand of paternal affection, whenever possible, and by the hand of paternal chastisement whenever necessary. And when the time should come by the handling and development of the people, little by little, they could be admitted to local autonomy, which I would grant to the fullest ex- tent wherever possible. I would adopt toward them the same course that Great Britain has adopted toward her civilized colonies, and I would rejoice that in the process of time an island republic could he established there in the Philippines against the island empire of Japan. But, until that time shall come, the interest, the honor, the security of the American people demand that we shall hold the Phil- ippine Islands, not only under our protection but under our rule. “To me the acquisition of the Philippine archipelago is not a mere gratification of lust or pride of conquest. Let us all endeavor to look a little beyond day after to-morrow as to these things. Let us mark certain great tendencies proceeding with all the force and regularity, and sometimes with the slowness of a great geo- logical process, and see what is meant by that which is transpiring on the surface of human affairs within the last fifty years, and, fellow citizens, the tendency — shall 1 call it of humanity, or shall I call it by the forces which move the human race toward the Chinese Orient — the Pacific East. Everything has been subdivisioned. France has acquired Madagascar. The great centers of activity are upon the east coast of Asia. Russia is constructing across Siberia that great trans-continental railroad which was foretold 200 years ago. By the treaty of 1896 Russia has ob- tained practical control of Chinese Manchuria, an area as large as Texas, and con- taining twenty million people. She has obtained Port Arthur, always open, for a terminus of a railroad instead of Vladivostock, frozen four months in the year. France has seized Siam, Annam, Cambodia, and Cochin China. Germany has made a compensatory seizure. I am not in favor of the dismemberment of that great empire, an empire which was old when Alexander watered his steed in the River Incus, an empire which has within itself the greatest experiences of the human race. I am in favor of retaining the integrity of that empire, and let it be acces- sible to the civilized world of commerce. Accordingly, I say and think that it would ' safeguard the business of the world in those waters for fifty years, if Great Britain 536 SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. and Japan and the United States should declare with their united power that there should be no dismemberment of that immemorial empire. “There are other reasons. The American peace commissioners were taught all too painfully while we were in Paris that we had not a friend on the continent of Europe — not a friend. That treaty was made under the most adverse conditions of public sentiment so far as continental Europe was concerned. Our diplomatic relations with Germany and France, and all of the other nations, while now en- tirely satisfactory — and exaggerated in the public press, especially in regard to our relations with Germany — yet considering their aggressions upon the coast of China, their intentions regarding the dismemberment of the vast empire, the enormous military force, and those millions of fatalists — of men who fight without regard to death, under the dominion of a foreign power, within thirty years could be made immensely dangerous to the United States. “I don’t want to see my country beceme the China of the West. In these days, when space has been annihilated by steam, I don’t view with complacency and with- out apprehension the destiny of the great empire or empires of dismembered China, ready to descend upon the Western coast of the United States. It was to obviate that that I advocated so earnestly the acquisition of Hawaii. It is to forestall that that I am willing and anxious to see some of our lands well fortified and made a base of defense and naval operations. Perhaps these things may be speculative, but they are well enough to think on. “But above all things, for present considerations I am immensely interested that this country shall have its share of the trade of that great empire. We ex- ported over $1,200,000,000 last year. Our competitors for the markets of the world are eager, anxious, unscrupulous sometimes. The empire of China, with its 400,- 000,000 of people, one-third of the human race, if opened to the instrumentalities of modern civilization, is an event, in my opinion, quite, if not more, pretentious and important than the discovery of America by Columbus, and it is my desire and hope and expectation, and it is that to which my humble labors have been and will be directed to secure for this Government and its people, for its manufacturers of 1 Chicago, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, St. Paul and Minneapolis their share in that trade. “California, Washington and Oregon have not 2,000,000 of people to-day. I want to see the commercial progress of that country go on until there are 20,000,000 people there, the anchor of our security as a result of commerce in those waters, and I do honestly and sincerely believe from all I have studied and read and thought on that subject that the retention of the Philippine Islands, their adjustment to SENATOR CUSHMAN K. DAVIS FOR EXPANSION. 539 iur relations, is a necessary and indispensable step in the advancement of the great deas to which I have so imperfectly alluded. “And now, in the matter of our foreign relations, and as to what affects our xterior interests, we are all one — one in interest. We may not be one in opinion, iut we certainly ought to be one in a sincere and honest conclusion. Surely in the eart of no man there can enter in the various diversities of opinion which involve uch a subject any desire, hope, or thought that does not conduce to the interest f his country. We all differ; we have different shades of opinion upon all ques- ions, contingent and future. The question of what we shall do with the Philippine rchipelago is not yet upon us. We are actually now in the possession of all those lands. We own them, or shall own them when Spain ratifies the treaty of ces- ion, and the question is, shall we decide at once? Must we say now and at once rat the territory for which we have paid $20,000,000, for which American blood as been shed, and may be being shed to-night or to-day, for it is regardless of party ;rife, stand with united front, confronting every opposition? And it is well that ; is so, and so, my friends — partisan as I am — if anything that I shall say to-night rail bear the least tinge of partisan complexion, I beg you to believe that it is not n that account, but that because in the broad scope of American citizenship and .merican faith I believe that what I shall say is coincident with all considerations f national dignity and honor.” CHAPTER IV. COL. W. J. BRYAN. Astonished that Any American Citizen Would Uphold the Doctrine of Gainii Land by Conquest — He Could Have Told McKinley to Take Care Not Confide in Public Opinion Formed at the Rear of a Car — Imperialis Wanted to Exercise Sovereignty Over an Alien Race — Self-Governmei Was Gained in the School of Government — No Excuse for a Colonial Polit — Mr. Gage the Key-Hole of the Administration — The Colonial Polit Rested on Vicarious Enjoyment — A Call for the Ancient Law-Giver c Sinai — Against a Larger Army — Imperialists Confuse Their Beatitudes- Not Profitable to Buy a Lawsuit — Muffle the Liberty Bell — Give Me Liberi or Give Me Death. Col. W. J. Bryan, whose candidacy for the Presidency in 1896 was an episoi in our political history of vast, various and memorable conspicuity, says: “It is astonishing that any man living in this age of the world, living in tl United States, should uphold the doctrine of securing land by conquest. “J efferson was against it long years ago. Blaine was against it in 1890. Ai a year ago last December the President of the United States sent a message to Coi gress, and in that message he said: “ ‘I speak not of forcible annexation, because that is not to be thought of; ui der our code of morality that would be criminal aggression.’ That was only a ye: ago; I stand to-day where McKinley stood a year ago, and where he must go ba( if the American people support him. My friends, there is a great moral questic involved, declared so by your President; a code of morality is in question, and a cording to that code, forcible annexation is criminal aggression. “President McKinley said he learned the sentiment of the people on this que tion during his trip through the West last fall. You cannot find out the sentimei of the people on a great question by just going through the country and gatherii it up. If he had asked me I could have told him how careful he ought to be aboi estimating the sentiment of the people from the rear of a car. If he will put h ear to the ground he will find that the people are declaring that the long establish* principles of our Government are still good, and that we do not have to borrow 01 foreign policies or our financial policies from alien countries.” The Colonel remains true to his Chicago platform, saying it “was good wht it was adopted; it grows better with age. It was strong in 1896; it is strong 540 COL. W. J. BRYAN. 541 now. The Democratic party could not ignore the issues raised by the war. It must speak out against militarism now or forever hold its peace. A large standing army is not only an expense to the people, hut it is a menace to the nation, and the Democratic party will he a unit in opposing it. “A word in regard to imperialism. Those who advocate the annexation of the Philippines call themselves expansionists, hut they are really imperialists. The word expansion would describe the acquisition of territory to be populated by homo- geneous people and to he carved into states like those now in existence. An empire suggests variety in race and diversity in government. The imperialists do not de- sire to clothe the Filipinos with all the rights and privileges of American citizen- ship; they want to exercise sovereignty over an alien race, and they expect to rule the new subjects upon a theory entirely at variance with constitutional government. Victoria is Queen of Great Britain and Empress of India; shall we change the title of our Executive and call him the President of the United States and Emperor of the Philippines? “The Democratic party stood for the money of the Constitution in 1896; it stands for the government of the Constitution now. It opposed an English -finan- cial policy in 1896; it opposes an English colonial policy now. Those who in 1896 were in favor of turning the American people over to the greed of foreign financiers and domestic trusts may now be willing to turn the Filipinos over to the tender mercies of military governors and carpetbag officials: “Those who in 1896 thought the people of the United States too weak to attend to their own business may now think them strong enough to attend to the business of remote and alien races, but those who in 1896 fought for independence for the American people will not now withhold independence from those who desire it else- where. “We are told that the Filipinos are no: capable of self-government; that has a familiar ring. Only two years ago I heard the no argument made against a very respectable minority of the people of this country. The money-lenders, who coerced their employes, did it upon that theory; the employers who coerced their employes did it for the same reason. Self-government increases with participation in government. The Filipinos are not far enough advanced to share in the govern- ment of the people of the United States, hut they are competent to govern them- selves. It is not fair to compare them with our own citizens, because the American people have been educating themselves in the science of government for nearly three centuries, and, while we have much to learn, we have already made great im- provement. The Filipinos will not establish a perfect government, but they will 542 COL. W. J. BRYAN. establish a government as nearly perfect as they are competent to enjoy, and the United States can protect them from molestation from without. “Give the Filipinos time and opportunity and, while they never will catch up with us, unless we cease to improve, yet they may some day stand where we stand now. “What excuse can be given for the adoption of a colonial policy? Secretary Gage disclosed the secret in Iris Savannah speech. I think we might be justified in calling Mr. Gage the keyhole of the administration, because we look through him I to learn what is going on within the executive council chamber. He suggested that ‘philanthropy and 5 per cent’ would go hand in hand in the new venture. These are the two arguments which are always^ used in favor of conquest. Philanthropy | and 5 per cent. The one chloroforms the conscience of the conquerer and the other picks the pocket of the conquered. “Some say that philanthropy demands that we govern the Filipinos for their own good, while others assert that we must hold the islands because of the pecuniary profit to be derived from them. I deny the soundness of both arguments. Forcible annexation will not only be criminal aggression (to borrow Mr. McKinley’s language of a year ago), but it will cost more than it is worth and the whole people will pay the cost while a few will reap all the benefits. “Still weaker is the argument based upon religious duty. The Christian reli- gion rests upon the doctrine of vicarious suffering and atonement; the colonial pol- icy rests upon the doctrine of vicarious enjoyment. “When the desire to steal becomes uncontrollable in an individual he is de- clared to be a kleptomaniac and is sent to an asylum; when the desire to grab land becomes uncontrollable in a nation we are told that the ‘currents of destiny are' flowing through the hearts of men’ and that the American people are entering upon their manifest mission. j “Shame upon a logic which locks up the petty offender and enthrones grand larceny! Have the people returned to the worship of the golden calf? Have they, made unto themselves a new commandment consistent with the spirit of conquest and the lust for empire? Is ‘Thou shalt not steal upon a small scale’ to be substi- tuted for the law of Moses? | “Awake, oh, ancient lawgiver, awake! Break forth from thine unmarked sep- ulcher and speed thee back to the cloud-crowned summit of Mount Sinai, commune once more with the God of our fathers and proclaim again the words engraven upon the tables of stone — the law that was, the law that is to-day — the law that neither individual nor nation can violate with impunity.” COL. W. J. BRYAN. 543 He called attention to the President’s recommendation of a larger army and in- sisted that the army should be divided into two branches — the army for domestic use in the United States, which he said did not need to be increased, and the army of occupation, which is temporarily necessary for use outside of the United States. He said that the army of occupation should be recruited at once, in order to relieve the volunteers, but that the term of service should be short, because the nation’s policy is not yet settled. He suggested that the demand for an increase in the army might be considered as the first fruit of that victory to which the Republicans pointed with so much pride last November. Turning to the question of annexation, he insisted that the nation has not yet lecided what to do with the Philippine Islands. He spoke in part as follows: “The sentiment of the people upon any great question must be measured dur- ng the days of deliberation and not during the hours of excitement. A good man vill sometimes be engaged in a fight, but it is not reasonable to expect a judicial tpinion from him until he has had time to wash the blood off his face. I have seen l herd of mild-eyed, gentle kine transformed into infuriated beasts by the sight md scent of blood, and I have seen the same animals quiet and peaceful again in a ew hours. We have much of the animal in us still, in spite of our civilizing pro- :esses. It is not unnatural that our people should be more sanguinary immediately fter a battle than they were before, but it is only a question of time when reflec- ion will restore the conditions which existed before this nation became engaged a the war with Spain. When men are excited they talk about what they can do; /hen they are calm they talk about what they ought to do. “If the President rightly interpreted the feelings of the people when they /ere intoxicated by a military triumph, we shall appeal from ‘Philip drunk to Philip ober.’ The forcible annexation of the Philippine Islands would violate a principle f the great public law so deeply imbedded in the American mind that until a ear ago no public man would have suggested it. It is difficult to overestimate the xfluence which such a change in our national policy would produce on the c-harac- sr of our people. Our opponents ask, is our nation not great enough to do what Ingland, Germany and Holland are doing? They inquire, Can we not govern colo- ies as well as they? “Whether we can govern colonies as well as other countries can is not material; jie real question is whether we can, in one hemisphere, develop the theory that gov- rnments derive their just pow r er from the consent of the governed, and at the same me inaugurate, support and defend in the other hemisphere a government which erives its authority entirely from superior force. And, if these two ideas of govern- 544 COL. W. J. BRYAN. ment cannot live together, which one shall we choose? To defend forcible annexa- tion on the ground that we are carrying out a religious duty is worse than absurd. “The Bible teaches us that it is more blessed to give than receive, while the colonial policy is based upon the doctrine that it is more blessed to take than to leave. I am afraid that the imperialists have confused their beatitudes. I once heard of a man who mixed up the parable of the good Samaritan with the parable of the sower, and in attempting to repeat the former said: ‘A man went from Jerusalem to Jericho, and as he went he fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked him.’ “We entered the Spanish war as peacemakers. Imperialists have an indistinct recollection that a blessing has been promised to the peacemakers, and also to the meek, but their desire for more territory has perverted their memories so that as they recall the former it reads: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the earth.’ Annexation cannot be defended upon the ground that we shall find a pecuniary profit in the policy. The advantage which may come to a few individ- uals who hold the offices or who secure valuable franchises cannot properly be weighed against the money expended in governing the Philippines, because the money expended will be paid by those who pay the taxes. We are not yet in position to determine whether the people of the United States as a whole will bring back from the Philippines as much as they send there. “There is an old saying that it is not profitable to buy a lawsuit. Our nation may learn by experience that it is not wise to purchase the right to conquer a people. Spain, under compulsion, gives us a quit claim to the Philippines in return for $20,000,000, but she does not agree to warrant and defend our title as against the Filipinos. To buy land is one thing; to buy people is another. Land is inanimate and makes no resistance to a transfer of title; the people are animate, and some- times desire a voice in their own affairs. But whether, measured by dollars and cents, the conquest of the Philippines would prove profitable or expensive, it will certainly prove embarrassing to those who still hold to the doctrine which under- lies a republic. “Military rule is antagonistic to our theory of government. The arguments which are used to defend it in the Philippines may be used to excuse it in the United States. Under military rule much must be left to the discretion of the mil- itary governor, and this can only be justified upon the theory that the governor knows more than the people whom he governs, is better acquainted with their needs than they are themselves, is entirely in sympathy with them and is thoroughly honest and unselfish in his desire to do them good. Such a combination of wisdom, COL. W. J. BRYAN. 545 tegrity and love is difficult to find, and the Republican party will enter upon a ird task when it starts out to select suitable military governors for our remote >ssessions. Even if the party has absolute confidence in its great political man- ner, Senator Hanna, it must remember that the people of Ohio have compelled him serve in the United States Senate and that inferior men must be entrusted with e distribution of justice and benevolence among the nation’s dark-skinned subjects the Pacific. “If we enter upon a colonial policy we must expect to hear the command ‘Si- nce!’ issuing with increasing emphasis from the imperialists. When the discussion fundamental principles is attempted in the United States, if a member of Con- I ess attempts to criticise any injustice perpetrated by a government official against : helpless people he will be warned to keep silent unless his criticism encourages instance to American authority in the Orient. If an orator of the Fourth of July ire to speak of inalienable rights or refers with commendation to the manner in uich our forefathers resisted taxation without representation, he will he warned i keep silent lest his utterances excite rebellion among distant subjects. If we ;opt a colonial policy and pursue the course which excited the revolution of 177G i, must muffle the tones of the old Liberty Bell and commune in whispers when we ] aise the patriotism of our forefathers. “We cannot afford to destroy the Declaration of Independence; we cannot af- ird to erase from our constitutions, state and national, the bill of rights; we have it time to examine the libraries of the nation and purge them of the essays, the seeches and the hooks that defend the doctrine that law is the crystallization of ] blic opinion, rather than an emanation from physical power. “But even if we could destroy every vestige of the laws which are the outgrowth the immortal law penned by Jefferson; if we could obliterate every written word tit has been inspired by the idea that this is ‘a government of the people, by the ]ople and for the people,’ we could not tear from the heart of the human race the ipe which the American Republic has planted there. The impassioned appeal, : ive me liberty or give me death,’ still echoes around the world. In the future, sin the past, the desire to be free will be stronger than the desire to enjoy a mere lysical existence. The conflict between right and might will continue here and eirywhere until a day is reached when the love of money will no longer sear the itional conscience and hypocrisy no longer hide the hideous features of avarice 1 rind the mask of philanthropy.” CHAPTER V. HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. The Drift of the Country — The United American People — Always the Sam Though Divided — The Labels on the Bottles — An Anti-Expansion Part Would Be a Foredoomed Failure — Wm. McKinley and Joseph Wheeler- Tropical Vegetation in the White House — Eighty Million of People Cannc Be Passive — How Stands the Debate Between the Friends and Foes c Expansion? Mr. Watterson sends out, when he discusses a broad question, discursive flashe and pours poetry around his arguments. He early and eloquently plead with h partisan friends to become Expansionists and drop traditions that had not led 1 triumph. He tabes occasion to say ‘That of all men of the century that is so swift passing from us, Prince Bismarck seemed most to have had his way; yet it w: Prince Bismarck — who, whatever else he was, or was not, showed himself alwa; the frankest of mortals — big enough to disdain subterfuge — to scorn secrets — it wi Bismarck who many times has told us how small, how helpless the strongest ma becomes upon the stormy ocean of great affairs; what a stave to chance; what creature of circumstance. “Among the leaders of the nineteenth century — after Napoleon, who belongs to the eighteenth — there were but three who can be fairly described as nation-mal ers. Cavour, Lincoln and Bismarck. They were each possessed of the essenti stuff of which nation-makers are made; infinite resources, backed by imaginatio courage and tact. Each, as it were, wore his nationality next his bones. Eac suited his action to the moment, his word to the action. Each, in his public ente prises was the child of good fortune. When we reflect upon the obstacles that eac encountered and overcame it seems that from the first God meant Italia Rident and shaped the German empire, and ordained that the Southern Confederacy shoui die and that the American Union should live. “It has required nearly thirty-four years, and a foreign war, to bring the who people of the United States to a full realization of the simple truth that we ar and always have been, the same people. The South fought a good fight. But could not by any possibility succeed. The resistless trend of modern thought w; set against slavery, and the South — -whatever else it stood for — stood for slaver The Southern Confederacy was wiped out in blood and flame. But that was a 546 HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. 547 that was wiped out. Even the Republican President of the United States — a Union soldier — presumably in times past a sectionalist — certainly a most adroit politician — has had the sagacity — to say nothing of the generosity, of which he has given no one reason to account him lacking — to concede the South its graves; and thanks I be to God for that, as thanks to him, for there was a time when it seemed that even these would be denied us. “Now that we have come to be one people in the fancy that we have always been in the fact— that Mother Hoar and Uncle Vest have clasped hands over the Treaty of Peace, and Cousin Ben Tillman and Cousin Bill Chandler have quit look- ing cross-eyed across the Senate chamber — we have reached another parting of the ways; for some of us are for expansion, and some of us are against expansion, and which' is right and which is wrong? “Clark Howell tells us that this is a very serious question, and Clark Howell is right. Tt kinder splits things up,’ as Whitcomb Riley would say. It divides par- ties. The poor empty bottles, some with and some without stoppers, stand round in sore perplexity. They do not know just what to do. They are disembodied spir- I its lost in the dark. They can not read their own labels. What is that big bottle, labeled ‘Democracy,’ and filled by Grover Cleveland — what is that big bottle to do when it stumbles against a long, slim bottle, labeled ‘Democracy,’ but filled with the same fluid, by William Jennings Bryan? And what are these two bottles to do when they stumble against a third bottle labeled ‘Democracy,’ and filled by J ohn P. Alt- geld, but filled with quite another kind of fluid? “Since the National Democratic Convention of 1856, which nominated James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge, for President and Vice President, and placed them upon a platform of progressive free trade and national expansion — and won the election— the Democratic party has been largely an aggregation in opposition. It was so in 1864, when it put a war candidate on a peace platform; in 1868, when it put a hard-money candidate on a soft-money platform; and thence onward in ’72 and ’80; and it is so at this moment, with an equal number of opposing factions and rival leaders, agreed upon nothing except the label ‘Democracy,’ and a weak, time-serving, irresolute and insincere opposition to what somebody tells it is the policy of the Republican administration. Sometimes a smart pretension may serve a party through a campaign or two; but the Democratic party, as it is at present organized, is not even a smart pretension; because it pretends one thing in the East and another thing in the West, and is neither thing in the South. In states, like Kentucky, where it is supposed to have a safe majority, the machine does as it pleases, and tells the voters, all too willing and subservient, to help themselves; 548 HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. but in Illinois and Indiana — only just across the river and next door— it feels the need of prudence and — wanting all the votes it can get — it is not so ill-mannered and cock-sure. In Iowa it has resolved to drop silver altogether. How long can a party last locally that is so out of line generally? “The leaders who made the revolution of 1896 were able to poll six and a half million of votes for their Presidential ticket. That was certainly an encouraging manifest. But it was the showing of the entire opposition elements in the United States, organized under the style and title of an old, historic party; at a time of great popular discontent; led by a clean, attractive young Democrat, improvised by a set of worn-out and played-out political hacks. Ten years hence we may be coin- ing silver dollars by the cart-load to circulate in Cuba, Porto Rico and Manila. Ex- pansion, indeed, is the one hope, the only hope, of free silver. Yet here is Mr. Bryan — an upright, patriotic man — setting his face against the single contingency that can make any realization of his financial theories feasible. “What are thoughtful men — wherefrom the preponderating influence upon the nation is in the long run derived — to think of all this? What can be more grotesque than Grover Cleveland and Andrew Carnegie joining hands with William Jennings Bryan across the wide gulf of the impossible — when it is too late — merely making the re-election of William McKinley doubly sure? How on earth can any reasonable man expect to elect Bryan and to beat McKinley on an anti-expansion, 16 to 1, hard times platform, with expansion already accomplished and with boom- ing times — the incident of expansion — already at hand? It can not be done. “Look at the personnel of the Democratic organization. There is the chair- man of the National Democratic Committee, Senator Jones, of Arkansas. He is as good and as true a man as lives; honorable, virtuous, brave and poor. There is Senator Daniel, of Virginia; a gentleman and a scholar — a man of genius — with the fatal gift of eloquence — who, in these dreadful and venal affairs, is as helpless as a child. There is Senator Vest; a might-have-been, albeit a veteran Senator, abounding in talents of many kinds; as was recently said in these columns, ‘a poet, like Lamar, without the sagacity of Lamar/' Vest, Daniel and Jones are Democratic leaders in the Senate; types of the old order, each representing a constituency apart from the moving centers of life and light. We are being constantly told that, as Democrats, we can follow them anywhere. But shall Democrats follow them to de- struction? That is where they will be leading their followers if they expect in 1900 to duplicate the campaign of 1896. “What are the rank and file of Democrats to do about a set of conditions which are equally disagreeable and obvious? Are they going to make the campaign of HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. 549 1900 a last-ditch affair, like the effort of the Whigs to elect Fillmore in 1856, or of the Federals to beat Jefferson in 1800? Or, are they going to drop, these follies, and — as there is no real issue to divide parties except the offices — are they going to try to elect a President? Expansion is a fact; shall Democrats accept it and, formulating a policy based upon it, drop all else? “Even now the Republican leaders, who rarely fail to take time by the fore- lock and who never let go their grip upon the shore-line, are planning to make their campaign of 1900 on the broad principle of National Unification and Expan- sion. They are not going to handicap themselves with any ancient platform rub- bish. High tariff is no longer wanted by the manufacturers for whom it was in- vented. The bloody shirt, having served its turn, has gone to the old clothes bas- ket. The President knows his business. At the opportune moment we shall see William McKinley and J oseph Wheeler march down to the footlights, hand in hand, the flag above them— beneath them emblazoned on a strip of red, white and blue, ‘The land we love from eend to eend,’ or words to that effect, and then what? What are the Democrats going to do about it? How are they going to meet it? “Their only hope is for a new shuffle, cut and deal of the political pasteboards. Every card in the greasy pack they have been playing with has been thumbed, crimped and dog-eared to death. Every card is a marked card. They might as well play with hands spread upon the table, face up, as to hope to win with such cards. But, if they can send the fools to the rear, and get their level-headed men together, it is not too late for them to lay the foundations for a campaign having at least some tangible chance of success before it. “There are yet nearly two years of uncertain ground for the McKinley admin- istration to get over, including a short and a long session of Congress, and, if the Democrats be wise, they may greatly profit thereby. But not in the way of factious criticism. Nor in the way of blind, undiscriminating opposition. To deal in such child’s play is simply to throw themselves out of court. They must in good faith accept the inevitable; they must stand by the army and the navy; the honor of the nation and the sanctity of the flag, holding the powers that be rigidly respon- sible for a wise and just disposition of the vast trust which has newly come to us. There must be no quibbling about constitutional technicalities where the right of the Government to acquire territory is involved; but construing it as a Heaven-sent responsibility, they must take the ground that this territory shall be governed only upon Democratic principles, looking to one of two ultimate conclusions; either annexation as States of the Union, or independent Republics, under American pro- tection. 550 HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. “If there be saving grace enough left in Democratic councils, these general lines will embrace the future policy of the party. If not, the party will die the death of the unrighteous. If not, we shall see it frazzle out in 1900 as the Federals frazzled out in 1800, leaving William McKinley and those of the Ohio dynasty who come after him, like their Virginia predecessors, to have it all to themselves, with not enough of opposition to make a division of parties, or to disturb the otium cum dignitate of the Executive office, or wither the tropic vegetation of the White House. “The world moves, and it is moving toward the Orient. Europe finds a vent in Africa; America cannot afford to be indifferent to Asia. The sea-front of hu- man activity may within the coming century be transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We must prepare to take our place in the procession of the nations. The lion has not yet lain down with the lamb; and, until he does so, mutton is good to eat. The millennium has not yet made its advent; and until it does that arbitration only stands which is effected by the sword. “The danger of militarism and the martial spirit need not be gainsaid. It is a danger we must risk. But let us hope that mankind has made progress in arts as well as in arms; that America in the dawn of the twentieth of the centuries is not as Rome in the zenith of the first; and that, forewarned against imperialism, we shall be able to attend to Cassar when we get to him. “In a word, eighty millions of people cannot be passive; they cannot escape the world’s movement; and, sufficiently admonished by the isolation of China and its consequences, the people of the United States prefer to follow the lead and ex- ample of England. The die was cast when Dewey raised the Stars and Stripes on the other side of a world never too large and all too narrowing, and, for weal or woe, — rallying under the banners alike of Christianity and Republicanism, — Amer- ica is embarked upon the shoreless ocean of modern civilization, carrying in her own ships her own ideas and wares, marked, quoted and signed to the furthermost ends of the earth. “Thus stands the debate between the friends and the foes of national expan- sion. Which will vindicate the wisdom of its forecast it is for time to discover. The right and the wrong of the argument belong to the hereafter, but that the vic- tory of circumstance lies 'with the advocates of the new departure in national policy, and that as composite parts of the great Republic, Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philip- pines are already assured, must be quite obvious to the careful student of historic parallels and prevailing tendencies. “I know that the simple American, who loves his country and is loyal to its HENRY WATTERSON FOR EXPANSION. 551 best traditions, can only look npon these changes with dismay. To him they seem but chaos come again. But such is the life of man. It is the destiny of nations. “To those of little faith I would say, be of good hope still! Sursum corda! Thus far the public has survived every danger which has in times past assailed the governments of the world; the struggle for existence; the foreign invasion; the disputed succession; geographic friction; civil strife; and it is now stronger than ever it was, its faith renewed, its credit intact, and its primacy known of all men. Let us believe that the untoward, events of the war with Spain were brought about for some allwise purpose by the Supreme Ruler of Lien, and that that hand which has led American manhood through every emergency to the one goal of the Amer- ican Union has in store for that Union even greater uses and glory than irradiated the dreams and blessed the prayers of the God-fearing men who gave it life.” CHAPTER VI. CARL SCHURZ OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. Is It Our Policy that the Filipinos Shall Be Subjects or Citizens? — The Specifica- tions of the New Departure We Are Taking — We Are Cultivating a Passion for Conquest — The Friendship of England Is Good to Have, Not to Need — The New Policy Demands a Great Standing Army — If We Have Rescued the Unhappy Daughters of Spain from Tyranny We Need Not Marry the Girls. Mr. Schurz wanted to know before the treaty with Spain was ratified by the American Senate whether the Filipinos were to he subjects or citizens. The Span- ish war was declared and after a few vigorous blows the feeble enemy was helpless at our feet. “The whole scene seemed to have suddenly changed. According to the solemn proclamation of our Government, the war had been undertaken solely for the liber- ation of Cuba, as a war of humanity and not of conquest. But our easy victories had put conquest within our reach, and when our arms occupied foreign territory, a loud demand arose that, pledge or no pledge to the contrary, the conquests should be kept, even the Philippines on the other side of the globe, and that as to Cuba herself, independence would be only a provisional formality. Why not? was the cry. Has not the career of the republic almost from its very beginning been one of terri- torial expansion? Has it not acquired Louisiana, Florida, Texas, the vast countries that came to us through the Mexican war, and Alaska, and has it not digested them well? Were not those acquisitions much larger than those now in contemplation? If the Republic could digest the old, why not the new? What is the difference? “Only look with an unclouded eye, and you will soon discover differences enough warning you to beware. There are five of decisive importance: “1. All the former acquisitions were on this continent, and, excepting Alaska, contiguous to our borders. “2. They were situated, not in the tropical, but in the temperate zone, where Democratic institutions thrive, and where our people could migrate in mass. “3. They were but very thinly peopled — in fact, without any population that would have been in the way of new settlements. “4. They could be organized as territories in the usual manner, with the ex- pectation that they would presently come into the Union as self-governing states with populations substantially homogeneous to our own. “5. They did not require a material increase of our army and navy, either 552 CARL SCHT7RZ OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 553 for their subjection to our rule or for their defense against any probable foreign at- tack by their being in our possession. “Even of our far-away Alaska it can be said that, although at present a pos- session of doubtful value, it is at least mainly on this continent, and may at some future time, when the inhabitants of the British possessions happily wish to unite with us, be within our uninterrupted boundaries. “Compare now with our old acquisitions as to all these important points those at present in view. “They are not continental, not contiguous to our present domain, but beyond seas, the Philippines many thousand miles distant from our coast. They are all situated in the tropics, where people of the northern races, such as Anglo-Saxons, or, generally speaking, people of Germanic blood, have never migrated in mass to stay, and they are more or less densely populated, parts of them as densely as Massa- chusetts — their populations consisting almost exclusively of races to whom the trop- ical climate is congenial — Spanish Creoles mixed with negroes in the West Indies and Malays, Tagals, Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Nigritos and various more or less barbarous tribes in the Philippines. “When the question is asked whether we may hope to adapt those countries and populations to our system of government, the advocates of annexation answer cheerily that when they belong to us we shall soon ‘Americanize’ them. This may mean that Americans in sufficiently large numbers will migrate there to determine the character of those populations so as to assimilate them to our own. “If we take these new regions, we shall be well entangled in that contest for territorial aggrandizement which distracts other nations and drives them far beyond their original design. So it will be inevitably with us. We shall want new con- quests to protect that which we already possess. The greed of speculators working upon our government will push us from one point to another, and we shall have new conflicts upon our hands, almost without knowing how we got into them. It has always been so under such circumstances and always will be. This means more and more soldiers, ships and guns. “A singular delusion has taken hold of the minds of otherwise clear-headed men. It is that our new friendship with England will serve firmly to secure the world’s peace. Nobody can hail that friendly feeling between the two nations more warmly than I do, and I fervently hope it will last. But I am profoundly convinced that if this friendship results in the two countries setting out to grasp ‘for the Anglo-Saxon,’ as the phrase is, whatever of the earth may be attainable — if they hunt in couple, they will surely fall out about the game, and the first serious quar- 554 CARL SCHURZ OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. rel, or at least one of the first, we shall have, will be with Great Britain. And as family feuds are the bitterest, that feud will be apt to become one of the most de- plorable in its consequences. “No nation is, or ought to be, unselfish. England, in her friendly feeling to- ward us, is not inspired by mere sentimental benevolence. The anxious wish of many Englishmen that we should take the Philippines is not free from the consid- eration that if we do so we shall for a long time depend on British friendship to maintain our position on that field of rivalry and that Britain will derive ample profit from our dependence on her. “This is plain. If Englishmen think so we have no fault to find with them. But it would be extremely foolish on our part to close our eyes to the fact. British friendship is a good thing to have, but perhaps not so good a thing to need. If we are wise we shall not put ourselves in a situation in which we shall need it. Brit- ish statesmanship has sometimes shown great skill in making other nations fight its battles. This is very admirable from its point of view, but it is not so pleasant for the nations so used. “We are already told that we shall need a regular army of at least 100,000 men, three-fourths of whom are to serve in our new 'possessions.’ The question is wheth- er this necessity is to be only temporary or permanent. Look at the cost. Last year the support of the army proper required about $23,000,000. It is computed that taking the increased costliness of the service in the tropics into account, the army under the new dispensation will require about $150,000,000, that is, $127,000,000 a year more. It is aiso officially admitted that the possession of the Philippines would render indispensable a much larger increase of the navy than would other- wise be necessary, costing untold millions for the building and equipment of ships, and untold millions every year for their maintenance and for the increased number of officers and men. What we shall have to spend for fortifications and the like can- not now be computed. But there is a burden upon us which in like weight no other nation has to bear. To-day, thirty-three years after the Civil War, we have a pension roll of very nearly 1,000,000 names. And still they come. We paid to pensioners over $145,000,000 last year, a sum larger than the annual cost of the whole military peace establishment of the German empire, including its pension roll. Our recent Spanish war will, according to a moderate estimate, add at least $20,- 000,000 to our annual pension payments. But if we send troops to the tropics and keep them there we must look for a steady stream of pensioners from that quarter, for in the tropics soldiers are 'used up’ very fast, even if they have no campaigning to do. OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF DE LESSEPS AT COLON, COLOMBIA. COFFEE-CORING ESTABLISHMENT AT SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA. CARL SCHURZ OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 557 ask in all candor, taking President McKinley at his word, will the forcible annexation of the Philippines by our code of morals not be criminal aggression — a self-confessed crime? I ask further, if the Cubans, as Congress declared, are and of right ought to be free and independent, can anybody tell me why the Porto Ricans and the Filipinos ought not of right to be free and independent? Can you sincerely recognize the right to freedom and independence of one and refuse the same right to another in the same situation, and then take his land? Would not that be double dealing of the most shameful sort? “Here are our official reports before us, telling us that of late years our export trade has grown enormously, not only of farm products, but of the products of our manufacturing industries; in fact, that ‘our sales of manufactured goods have con- tinued to extend with a facility and promptitude of results which have excited the serious concern of countries that for generations had not only controlled their home markets, but had practically monopolized certain hues of trade in other lands.’ “That our victories have devolved upon us certain duties as to the people of the conquered islands I readily admit. But are they the only duties we have to per- form, or have they suddenly become paramount to all other duties? I deny it. I deny that the duties we owe to the Cubans and the Porto Ricans and the Filipinos and the Tagals of the Asiatic islands absolve us from our duties to the 75,000,000 of our own people and to their posterity. I deny that they oblige us to destroy the moral credit of our own republic by turning this loudly heralded war of liberation and humanity into a land-grabbing game and an act of criminal aggression. I deny that they compel us to aggravate our race troubles, to bring upon us the constant danger of war and to subject our people to the galling burden of increasing arma- ments. If we have rescued those unfortunate daughters of Spain, the colonies, from the tyranny of their cruel father, I deny that we are therefore in honor bound to marry any of the girls or to take them all into our household, where they may dis- turb and demoralize our whole family. I deny that the liberation of those Spanish dependencies morally constrains us to do anything that would put our highest mis- sion to solve the great problem of democratic government in jeopardy or that would otherwise endanger the vital interests of the Republic. Whatever our duties to them may be, our duties to our own country and people stand first, and from this stand- point we have, as sane men and patriotic citizens, to regard our obligation to take care of the future of those islands and their people.” CHAPTER VII. MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. Expansion Is the Doctrine of the Fathers — There Was Not a Tenth of the Territory We Now Possess in the Thirteen Colonies When Jefferson Wrote the Decla- ration of Independence — Andrew Jackson Was an Expansionist — So Was Wm. II. Seward — Admiral Dewey Is the Author of Our Philippine Policy — Andrew Carnegie and British India — Should England Give Up Gibraltar, Egypt and India? — If So, Why Not Ireland, Scotland and Wales? — Aguin- aldo’s Exile with a Certified Check — Senator Hoar’s Forgetfulness of the Essential Facts in the Philippine Situation — The American Army Have Fought in Self-Defense, and in the Vindication of the Faith and Honor Pledged in the Final Article of the Capitulation of the Spaniards in Manila. The footsteps of the fathers of the Republic from the time the French floated the Mississippi and St. Lawrence rivers pointed West and South — expanding the area of the English settlements — and this early manifestation of destiny continued to the Southern and Western lands of the continent, when the British in their turn sailed with the gulf stream to Halifax and beyond. When a boy George Washington visited the Bermudas with his elder brother, who served with Admiral Vernon in the West Indies, and, returning to Virginia, began to explore the Ohio country before he was 21 years of age upon a mission to oust the French, and was expanding his landed possessions in that direction as long as he lived. Thus is linked in the life of the Father of his Country the West Indies and the lands beyond the Alleghenies, to which in his crowded and busy life he found time to pay six visits. John Adams sturdily refused a proposition to give up the Ohio, Wabash and Illinois country to the English, as Canada was given, rather than go on with the sorrowful hardships of warfare — though even Benjamin Franklin favored yielding to the pretensions of England in the Northwest for the sake of peace — but Franklin was old and weary, and this episode has been forgiven in forgetfulness. Fortunately, George Rogers Clark, born in the same country with Jefferson, had a friend in Gov- ernor Patrick Henry and was authorized by him to raise men, and given a lot of paper money to undertake a secret expedition which was to dispossess the English at Vincennes and Kaskaskia, and he did it with surprisingly stinted means, and Clark, “the Hannibal of the West,” in spite of failures, mistakes and sorrows, is a name written on the roll of the immortals. Thomas Jefferson, the father, as the records show, of both the Republican and _558 MUKAT HALSTEAD FOE EXPANSION. 559 Democratic parties, surpassed in glorious achievement the authorship of the Dec- laration of Independence, in purchasing twice the amount of land we got from England by the concessions of the treaty with her when she surrendered her thir- teen colonies to self-government. We began in 1783 with 827,844 square miles. Without counting our recent acquisitions of islands our area is 3,603,884 square miles. Jefferson’s purchase was 1,171,931 square miles. Thus the greater glory of Jefferson came from a conscious violation of his own interpretation of the Consti- tution in buying land from Napoleon Bonaparte, who had no title to it, save that he had taken it red-handed and high-handed from Spain, whose abuse of her colo- nies made it a public virtue to capture them, and England was getting ready to spoil the spoiler. Notwithstanding the violation of the Constitution and the deficiency of the land title, the bargain stuck and was one of the greatest events in the making of our nation. Andrew Jackson confirmed the purchase with a quit-claim deed — the battle of New Orleans, fought after the treaty had been signed — a precedent to be cited in the case of the Philippines, along with Kaskaskia and Vincennes, if any of the monarchs want to see our papers for real estate holdings. We shall adhere, certainly, to our precedents and principles. It is strange that in the second third of the first century of the Eepublic the greater political leaders of that era should have lost the lesson of the Jeffersonian expansion. Webster and Clay faltered on the high road when America moved on, and we gained Texas by annexation; and New Mexico, Colorado (in part), Arizona and California by the sword. It was Andrew Jackson’s influence in his last days that overwhelmingly carried the acceptance of imperial Texas, and James Iv. Polk and Andrew Johnson (I have just named the three Tennessee Presidents) gave us our Pacific front, with the aid of an Oregon missionary — including Golden-gated and golden-walled California and Alaska, crowded with riches in reserve, and the Aleutian Islands. In the latter third of our first century there was an evidence of a broadening of statesmanship in recognizing the destiny of the country, that — instead of crumb- ling through Civil War and consenting to weakness because the brethren of the several states shed each other’s blood — grew strong in warfare and became a majestic nation. William H. Seward and Charles Sumner joined hands with Andrew John- son in securing the magnificent bargain with Russia that gave us footing on the shores of the Bering Sea and to our flag in the summer days — from sunrise in Maine to sunset on our archipelago in the shadow of Siberia — six additional hours of sunshine. 5G0 MUEAT HALSTEAD FOE EXPANSION. The paths by which the fathers marked out this country for greatness pre- vented the continent from dismemberment in European and Spanish-American fashion. The footsteps of the nation builders are there. Benignant Providence, sound statesmanship, history, tradition, the instructed judgment of Americanism, are not failing to guide our footsteps aright. The name of William H. Seward be- longs in the roll of honor of the promoters of American expansion, because in his maturity he outgrew the leaders he followed in his youth and closed with Eussia, when her good-will offering of Alaska came, and, going further, sought to pur- chase the Danish Islands in the West Indies and to include Iceland and Greenland. With this object, he had compiled in 1868 a report of the resources of Iceland and Greenland, but public opinion then regarded his ideas as romantic. Shall we permit to go unchallenged the feebleness of the folly that especially opposes the acquisition of islands because they are surrounded by water, and say that we never did such a thing as cross salt water to get to land until in the annexation of Hawaii? Why, we must put to sea to find a free road to Alaska; and it is worth remembering that the art of navigation is so far perfected that the seas are the cheapest roads on the globe and are open to endless competition. Salt water does not damage land, and with all our experience in the policy of expansion we have never added an acre to our national domain that was not good for us. It is not likely that we shall do so. We keep the Philippines because we must. We have destroyed the Spanish Government there and are responsible to civilization for the result. How can an American think seriously of yielding to any power the fruits of Dewey’s victory? When he destroyed the Spanish fleet, according to orders issued on the first day of the war with Spain, he did not abandon the scene of his conquest, but, animated by the spirit of the fathers, he followed their footsteps and held on to the great prize he had won. It should be understood that the policy of Admiral Dewey in remaining at Manila has been determined by the necessities of his situation. He has been con- strained to hold the fruits of his victory, to ask for re-enforcements to serve on land and sea. Of course, they have been sent to him. The American Admiral who won the glorious popularity that commands the unanimous vote of Congress in his honor, in spite of all the grumbling about the McKinley administration, wants, and must have, if we are true to ourselves and decent in treatment to those who serve us beyond the seas, the superior physical force in the waters of the Philippines! We have there an army of 20,000 men. Shall we allow the basis of operations upon which they rest — from which they must receive their supplies of ammunition, and, MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. 561 largely, their rations — to fall into unfriendly hands? The Admiral had no home in the Oriental ocean but the one he had conquered and there was no place to go if he left it. He was like the man in Colonel Robert Ingersoll’s story who couldn’t go anywhere else because “every other place was shut up.” If the Admiral left Manila bay he must have proceeded to a coal station, and thence to another coal station, and so on, getting only enough coal at a time to take him where he could do the same thing before moving on. Those who are against the policy of the administra- tion condemn and would betray our famous Admiral and degrade, so far as their influence could do it, the American army at Manila, which is fighting, not against liberty, for imputation to that effect, no matter where or from whom it comes, is false and a shame. The army is fighting for the higher — that is, American — civili- zation, religious liberty and our national rights under international law. Those who are fighting the American army are doing it under the false pretenses of a dema- gogue, who is neither soldier, leader, nor statesman, and never appealed to any frac- tion of the inhabitants of the Philippines larger than one-half of 1 per cent of the people. These desperadoes and their mob would not wait for the ratification of the treaty with Spain. They are now legally Spaniards, as they are firebugs, ingrates, assassins, and, politically, aiding a preposterous intrigue. So far as this is not a fanaticism of superstition, it is craziness. In this country the Tegalo party, whether composed of capitalists gone mad or political adventurers on a false scent, seeking a new departure, or taking ground against our national advancement and glory (and are examples of a disease of opposition), will get their reward in the public contempt. If we could imagine their success to be possible, it could only be accomplished by the defeat of the American army of Philippine occupation. It does not follow that if we conquer islands, drive out Spaniards or other op- pressors, and spread the flag that is our popular and national symbol over people who are strangers, that we shall of necessity go on multiplying States. We must safeguard Americanism, and the effective way to do it is to stand firm on the bed- rock principle that we want more territory for the great hereafter of our country, but not more States, now or soon. Certainly we can hold territory as territory for- ever. Contact with us and our institutions will Americanize our possessions. We have a graver question at home than we can find abroad. It is most diffi- cult, because imbedded in the structure of the States. We made the radical mistake of adding the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution when the effect is to obscure the fourteenth, which was the firm ground to stand upon, and both are practically destroyed. There will not be, and should not be, manhood suffrage in the sense of indis- 562 MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. eriminate male suffrage in Porto Rico, Cuba, Hawaii or the Philippines, until some time has passed and there are many changes. Immediate manhood suffrage in our new possessions is as impracticable, as impossible, as the re-establishment of Amer- ican slavery in the States. The alleged insurgent governments in Cuba and Luzon must be brushed aside, for they are not of the people. We do not want a govern- ment of Cuban bondholders or any exclusive prerogatives in the hands of the Tagalo tribe of Malays. Americans will work wonders in the tropical islands, as on the North American continent. We shall overcome insurgents in the Indias, West and East, by the irre- sistible attraction of gravitation of the overshadowing power of the mighty Republic that is too great to be longer overlooked by others and would shirk duties by over- looking herself. I have read with care what Mr. Carnegie says. He would belittle the British Empire as he would restrict the American Republic. Perhaps he can afford it, but he is not in touch with the people of either country. He would eliminate India, and the logic of that would be the abandonment of the colonial system that makes England matchless. If England gives up India, Egypt goes, of course, and Malta and Gibraltar, all the British possessions in Africa and in the West Indies. With them would go Hongkong and all the vast interests in the commerce of China. With these Canada would go and Bermuda. Then the Jersey Islands, Ireland, Wales and Scotland would go, also New Zealand, and the Australian continent depart in peace. Now, England is a great European, African, American, Asiatic, Australian power. Mr. Carnegie’s policy would strip her of her dominions and give her the rank of Holland and Denmark. If the policy he would impose upon the United States had been the policy of the fathers of the Republic, it would have made a small, snug, neat republic on the Atlantic slope, leaving the cotton States, the Ohio country, the whole continent from the Alleghenies to the Pacific, to the British, French and Spaniards. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, Charles Sumner and William H. Seward were American expan- sionists. They were good enough Americans for me. William McKinley and his cabinet are the same sort of Americans. They are walking in the paths blazed and trodden by the forefathers. They are providing the generations to come with land. There is nothing better for the people than good land. Mr. Carnegie does not seem to have heard of the States of California, Washington and Oregon. He does not contemplate our front on the Pacific Ocean. He is taking a narrow MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. 563 view — one that is neither American nor English; one that is unworthy of regard by the English-speaking people. He seems to think the dragon of free trade will enter upon ns through that open door and devour us. The last time I studied an utterance by Mr. Carnegie on an economic question he had ceased to he a pro- tectionist, and was willing to chance it with free trade so far as his product of steel was concerned. I do not ask him to he consistent, but he will upset his cart if he makes a turn in the road on an acute angle. When Dewey got his orders to destroy the Spanish fleet, Aguinaldo was in exile, having retired with a certified check for 440,000 Mexican dollars, taken by requisition from a Manila bank that never has seen and never will see a dollar of the money. That certified check for the proceeds of the bank robbery wafted away to Hongkong Aguinaldo and thirty- two of his “compatriots.” The Filipino war against Spain was started in his absence, and he was dug up by the American consuls at Singapore, Manila, and Hongkong and was in Hongkong when the Spanish fleet was destroyed, making his appearance soon afterward at Cavite. He has lived in comfortable quarters, far from scenes of strife, ever since, and no one except those belonging to his military gang has ever voted for him for anything. Our men in public life who have taken upon themselves to recognize the Filipino assassins in the thickets firing upon our soldiers — and Senator Hoar, with his great ability and always admirable command of phrases, is especially con- spicuous — have omitted to provide themselves with the essential information in the case. Let us run over the facts that utterly overthrow all the gilded structures of Senator Hoar’s vivid eloquence. Admiral Dewey was ordered to destroy the Spanish Philippine fleet, and did it, and then he had to stay at Manila or abandon the Asiatic coast and our commerce to the gunboats of the Spaniards that were not within the range of our destroyers. Aguinaldo returned from exile and got the prestige of American victory. He was not at any time besieging Manila, but skirmishing in the high grass, and never could have taken the city. He wanted to make conditions about allowing American troops to land — demanded to know their object. He never consulted the people of the Philippines. He raised a swarm of semi-savages, whose passion was for plunder and revenge. They had to be put out of their alleged trenches before General Greene could get at the Spaniards. The American army, when the American fleet had broken the Spanish defense by the sea, that was the key to Manila, took the town, and the Spanish army capitulated, “the faith and honor of the American army” being pledged to preserve the lives and property of citizens, to protect them from the heedless 564 MURAT HALSTEAD FOR EXPANSION. barbaric occupancy of the Aguinaldo horde. In case the Americans abandoned the conquest the terms of the Spanish surrender were that their arms should be returned — their rifles and cartridges. Ten thousand Spaniards were not to be turned over for Malay butchery. We would have been dishonored if that had been done. The Spaniards, if they had held Manila, and they could have done it as against the natives, would have re-enforced the troops in Manila. Admiral Dewey was disposed to make the best of Aguinaldo and his “compatriots,” but they soon displayed themselves as threatening pretenders, malignant so far as we were concerned. The reason Aguinaldo assigned for returning with the permis- sion of Admiral Dewey to the Isle of Luzon was to prevent the Filipinos from making common cause with Spain to repel the invaders — that is, the deliverers of the Filipinos — and he tried to prevent our men from being supplied with wholesome food and water. The conduct of those who usurp the authority of the Philippine people and have dared to menace Americans trying in vain to preserve the peace, was most irritating, aggressive and vicious long before they frantically rushed upon our lines, believing they could destroy the army of occupation and the city too. This was the full exhibition of the character of these “people.” It was a disclosure, not of intelligent purposes, but of the murderous instincts of ambi- tious barbarians. The venerable Senator from Massachusetts has bestowed upon rhem, to assail the policy of his country thus far of necessity in the severest and most searching sense of the word, virtues they do not possess or comprehend. CHAPTER Yin. MR. DOLLIYER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. Room for All Sorts of Speeches, but Only One Course of Action — The President Did Not Take Initial Responsibility of Disturbing the Peace — Dr. Park- hurst’s Boomerang Criticism — Cheap Newspapers Full of Malice — Americans on Blanco’s Platform — Our Experience with Acquired Territory — Andrew Jackson’s Territorial Policy — Two Mourners in a Palace Over the Collapse of the Republic — Bryan’s Pitched Battle with American History — Not Canned Freedom, but* Liberty on the Half Shell — A Tribute to General Wheeler — In “The Fear of God and Nothing Else,” as Bismarck Said, Take Up Duty. Mr. Dolliver of Iowa referred to the “proposed retreat of the nation of America” and to the “desultory firing on the Government from behind the barricades of banquet tables,” and said: “While there is room for everybody’s speeches, there is room only for a single course of action. They alone who must put their judgment to the final test of per- formance have need to he definite and coherent in their opinions, and it begins to look as if the speechmakers had taken advantage of the fact that, while everything can be said, only one thing can at last be done. “In this respect the position of the President differs from that of the states- men at large. They are at liberty to exhort, to rave and scold and jest. He must act. “As for those who deliberately inflamed the passions of the hour, teaching the American people to despise the resources of diplomacy and to visit our State Department with contempt; for those especially who boast that ‘they took the Republican party,’ if I may recall the glowing language of my amiable friend from Missouri, ffiy the scruff of the neck’ and dragged it into the declaration of war; for these men now to multiply the national difficulties by the devices of a reckless partisan agitation indicates at least that we still have a level of politics in the United States which has a good deal to learn about the ethics, if not about the etiquette, of statesmanship and patriotism. “No one who has followed with even a casual attention the history of the past year can doubt that the troubles which now lie in our path come in a straight line from the original act by which the nation accepted the alternative of war. The blood that has been shed, the treasure that has been expended, the victories 565 566 ME. DOLLIVER OF IOWA FOE EXPANSION. that have been won, the scattered territories that have fallen from the feeble possession of the Spanish Crown — all these are only a part of the context of the original resolution of April 29, 1898. “It is historically certain that the initial responsibility for disturbing the peace of the country does not lie with the President, but with the Congress, and beyond the Congress, with the people of the United States. Our intervention against Spain was a national act in the most perfect sense. The President is accused of slavishly following public opinion without regard to duty, not to speak of the lighter offense of finding out what the people of the United States think before he acts. Dr. Parkhurst, a famous clergyman of New York, derided the President because ‘he had put his ear to the ground in order to catch the reverberations that roll in from the wild West.’ If the gentleman from Indiana, by what he said here to-day, meant to insult the Chief Magistrate, as Dr. Park- hurst aimed to wound the sensibilities of a portion of our common country, he unintentionally paid to William McKinley while he lives a tribute which his- torians have lovingly laid upon the grave of Abraham Lincoln — that in times of peril, of doubt, and of uncertainty he was great enough to stand by the side of the humble millions of his countrymen and to go forward in their strength in the discharge of his official duties. The President cannot be accused, without a profligate distortion of the truth, of any delinquency or hesitation in executing the express will and purpose of the nation. No voice of any respectability has yet been raised in such an accusation against him. It is true that as victory came in sight an organized conspiracy of scandal and detraction was set on foot, with partisan motives, to cover an administrative department of the Government with disgrace. “Cheap newspapers have filled the world with the inventions of malice, and cheap politicians have pushed their way in among the mourners at every soldier’s grave to poison broken hearts with suspicion and hatred against the Government in order to reproach an administration which under unusual trials has led the American people, with losses comparatively insignificant, into a victory rich and splendid in the fruits of liberty. “General Blanco, leaving Havana, in his farewell proclamation, the last of a series of grotesque state papers more harmless than Spanish artillery, uttered a complaint, not the platform of the Anti-Imperialistic League, that the United States was a fraud because under cover of liberating Cuba we bombarded Porto Eico and invaded the Isle of Luzon. Who is willing to blot from our history the immortal story of that morning at Cavite when, under frowning batteries MR. DOLLIVER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. 567 and in the midst of the unknown perils of the strange waters, American sailors, with the easy confidence of skill and bearing won for our arms a victory without precedent in the legends and traditions of the sea? Are we going to expunge the record of the thanks of Congress to the officers and seamen of the Asiatic fleet? We have presented its Admiral with a sword. Are we going to hand it to him with an expression of regret, couched in the language of the gentleman from Indiana, that we did not have sense enough to order him to depart headlong from the Philippine coasts? “Some men talk seriously of hauling the flag down and others in jest about hauling down the President. But what are you going to do with Admiral George Dewey? He has not attended any banquets; he has sent in no complaints about his bill of fare; he has not disposed of his celebrity to the magazine editors for cash. For nearly a year, under a tropical sun, he has held the forts, asking only that we send a first-class statesman to help him gather up the fruits of his achieve- ment. It may be that all our first-class statesmen are too busy with their consti- tutional quibbles, their legal technicalities, and their morbid affectation of superior virtues, and that our statesmen of the second class are too much engrossed with the question of embalmed beef to be of much help to the Admiral as he stands alone on the bridge of his flagship waiting for the civil authority to come to his support. But may we not at least say to him that the Government of the United States, which issued the command under which he acted on the 1st of May, accepts the whole responsibility for his execution of orders? Can we applaud him for doing his duty while we sit shivering and whimpering before ours? What is there in the national spirit of America that invites or even tolerates this nerve- less and debilitated attitude in the presence of responsibilities like these? “Do we not rather dwarf and belittle the things which he has done unless we make them part of the future of the Republic? For he has earned, if ever man can earn from his fellow-man, the exultant salutation of the human race, Well done, thou good and faithful servant of mankind. “I have heard it said that the treaty involves the violation of our Constitution in acquiring these possessions, and of our Declaration of Independence in governing them. But we have the words of Chief Justice Marshall for it that the power to make war and to frame treaties necessarily involves the power to acquire terri- tory, and that the power to acquire territory implies the power to govern and control it. Nor are we as a nation entirely without experience in the government of acquired territory. 5fi8 MR. DOLLIVER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. “When our Constitution was adopted we had on hand a vast territory belong- ing to the public domain, and we managed to govern it for a long period of time with scant reference to the views of its population, under a despotism in which the constitutional theory of government had no place whatever. “In 1803 we acquired the Territory of Louisiana by a treaty. It was inhabited by many nationalities and native tribes, both numerous and warlike. We gov- erned it by a military despotism in which the inhabitants took no part. It was divided along the thirty-third parallel of latitude into two parts. That south of the line was called Orleans, and all the rest described by the general name of Louisiana. In neither division were the people in any respect consulted as to the method of their government. The French and the Spaniards were left without voice in the matter because they knew too much, and the Indians were left out because they did not know enough. “The history of these territorial governments is most instructive, especially to one who is anxious to avoid visionary interpretations of the political creed of our ancestors. Not less instructive is the record of our territorial government of Florida, the Mexican cessions, California, and Alaska. The Territory of Florida has a history specially interesting, because after it was acquired by the treaty of 1819 from Spain, President Monroe sent General Jackson there to govern it, with powers limited by only two conditions, one that he should impose no new taxes and the other that he should not make or confirm any land grants. In all other respects his powers were unlimited, and whatever he did, singularly enough, was authenticated in these words: “ ‘By Major-General Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Provinces of the Floridas, exercising the powers of the Captain-General and' Intendent of the Island of Cuba over the said provinces and of the Governors of said provinces respect- ively.’ “It is little wonder that Thomas H. Benton, in his early years, should have been impressed ‘with such illustrations of Congressional power over territories,’ and that in his old age, reviewing his long political association with General Jackson, should have written down the following comment on our form of Gov- ernment as our fathers understood it: “ ‘In the United States, where people are accustomed to the regular admin- istration of justice, the summary proceedings of General Jackson appeared to bo harsh and even lawless; but they were all justified by the Administration and sanctioned by the negative action of Congress. And in Florida, where they took MR. DOLLIYER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. 569 place, and where it was seen that no wealth or power could screen the oppressor, and that governors, judges, and rich merchants were laid by the heels like common offenders, and the protecting shield of law and justice thrown over the humble and helpless — in this province, so long a prey to oppression and corruption, the conduct of General Jackson appeared like an emanation of divine justice, greatly exalting the American character. * * * He constantly repulsed the idea of the presence of the Constitution in the territory committed to his charge, and in that repulsion he was sustained by the Federal Executive Government at Washington and by each House of Congress, each of these authorities refusing to entertain — as breaches of the Constitution — the complaints forwarded against him by those who had been militarily dealt with under his government.’ “Not long ago, in a palace in the city of New York, two men sat down to weep over the downfall of the Republic — one a colonel of volunteers, who had just escaped from the army, with a yell of oratorial triumph, leaving behind him a trail of interviews from Tampa to Washington like the borealis race that flit ere you can point their place. His tears flowed, if anything, a little more freely than his companion’s, for this was not the first time he had been called upon to note the collapse of free institutions, and his case was all the worse on account of his natural repugnance to taking the oath of office amid the falling columns and broken altars of the temple of liberty. The other was an iron- monger who a few years ago, seeing the advantages of the steel pool, had advocated the consolidation of England and America into a trust to regulate the world’s political business, each to receive for its common stock equivalent shares of the syndicate, but just now enlisted under the banner of the Anti-Imperialist League, anxious to bring the United States out of the war with Spain, with nothing to show for the national sacrifices except a few well-defined cases of anarchy in the West Indies and the borders of Asia. “The two talked together earnestly and long, with no differences of opinion and only such occasional hitches in the conversation as inevitably arise when two persons, each knowing it all, try to tell one another something. At last they separate, one of them to spread the alarm by word of mouth, the other by stroke of pen; both of them to learn in time how vain and impotent is the babble of men against the increasing purpose that runs through the ages. “Colonel Bryan pitched his first battle against American history at Chicago, before a club that for some inscrutable reason was engaged in celebrating the victory of New Orleans. Speaking on the anniversary of that battle — a battle fought on soil which Jefferson purchased from Napoleon by the military governor 570 MR. DOLLIVER OP IOWA FOR EXPANSION. who subsequently obtained the consent of the resident Spaniards and Indian natives to our first government of the provinces of the Floridas — he lamented any further growth of the United States, demanded instant and unconditional independence for the Philippine tribes, and wound up by calling on Moses, who died on an expedition to exterminate the nations of Canaan, to come back from his unknown grave and unite with the Democratic party in its present campaign against the progress of civilization. “Now, all this would be very thrilling and very satisfactory if these sudden apostles of lesser America would only learn to speak the same language. But the very night the Colonel of Volunteers was in Chicago former Vice-President Steven- son was in Omaha, at the same kind of a dinner, telling the Jackson Club that this mythical Philippine commonwealth which we hear talked about, with its president and cabinet and congress, is in fact a scattered and helpless population unfit for self-government in any sense of the word. The same thread of con- tradiction seems to run through the magazines. Open the North American Review. On the first page is Mr. Andrew Carnegie exalting the Philippine tribes to the opportunities and privileges of a new republic, exactly as my friend from Indiana has done this day, in words which have hardly fallen below the rhapsody with which the venerable ex-Secretary of State has welcomed the guileless Aguinaldo into the company of George Washington; while a few pages over we find Senator Vest, who has studied this question about as hard as my friend from Indiana has, even if he has not written down his views quite so fully, describing the people to whom my friend asks us to furnish, not canned freedom, but liberty on the half- shell — a license to do business on their own account — as a piratical and half- civilized mass of muck-running barbarians. “I have never yet heard an American, big or little, say that we ought to have given these islands back to Spain, that we ought to have committed them to the bloody hand of the despotism from which we have delivered them; but I do not hesitate to say, measuring my words, that such a disposition of them would be merciful and benevolent compared to the policy of recognizing the petty tribal chieftains who are now preparing lawlessness and confusion for the islands of the archipelago; for it is written in the common law that tyranny is to be preferred rather than anarchy, on the ground that any government in the world is better than no government at all. “I have never heard anyone say that we ought to divide these islands among the nations of the world, though if the nations of the world would take them, the time will certainly come when we can do that, if we desire. I deny that we entered ME. DOLLIYEE OF IOWA FOE EXPANSION. m upon the war under leave of any foreign nation. I rejoice in the fact that the President of the United States, when the world was full of rumors about the intervention of the powers, told the ambassadors assembled that the American Government was about to handle the question for itself; and if the Government of Great Britain stood by ready to temper the hostile motives of other powers, it is only a new bond of sympathy between us and the kindred people from whom we have derived our language, our literature, our laws, and our institutions. “Not only do I deny that we went into the war by permission of foreign nations, but I deny that we came out of it by the consent of foreign nations. On the contrary, I assert before the House to-day that the achievements of the past year have put foreign nations on their guard and induced them, standing at a respectful distance, to recognize that the United States is able to take care of itself. We stand in the arena of the world’s affairs dependent upon the counte- nance of no foreign power, hut appreciative of the good will of all, with a prestige among the nations which we have never enjoyed before in our whole history since the foundations of civil liberty were laid on this continent by our fathers.” Dolliver referred to General Wheeler, saying: “At the time of the attack upon Santiago he was sick and unable to leave his tent, but when he heard the firing he got into an ambulance and started for the front. When he met details of men carrying the wounded to the rear he told the boys to let the wounded ride and asked them to get him out of the ambu- lance and put him upon his horse; and all day long in the firing line at Santiago he kept the field, directing the movement of his troops. “I do not know how it seems to others, but it seems to me that that old Confederate General riding up and down the line at Santiago has become the type of a larger and better Americanism which has turned its back upon all the bitterness of the past and opened its eyes to the sublime destiny of a reunited country. I have not read the history of the world without perceiving that there is in it a Providence higher and wiser than our poor human guidance. I accept the philosophy which finds a Power in this universe which makes for righteous- ness; an Eye over all that neither slumbers nor sleeps, an Arm made bare to lift up the helpless and despairing children of men. Let us not doubt that amid the vicissitudes of the national life, even when we walk in the thick darkness, when the judgment of the wise is confounded and the foresight of the prudent made afraid, we execute at last, in a poor, blind w r ay, not the clumsy designs of men, but the inviolable will of God. To my mind it does not seem incredible that the Power which is over all the governments of men is about to take the great 572 MR. DOLLIVER OF IOWA FOR EXPANSION. Republic, united and made strong in the devotion and loyalty of all its people, and use it as an instrument in His hand to enlarge the boundaries of civilization, to extend the frontiers of freedom in far-off lands, and to garrison new outposts of social progress in the ends of the earth. And if that is our destiny and that our duty, I for one am in favor of looking the future in the face and taking up that duty ‘in the fear of God/ as old Bismarck used to say, ‘and of nothing else.’ ” SENA.TQE-HENRV-C.. LODOK CHAPTER IX. HON. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. Porto Rico Is a Conquest; Are We to Give It Up on Moral Grounds? — There Were Croakers About Our Having Any Pacific Coast — It Was Six Months Away — “The Ashy Lips of Cowards and Traitors” — There Would Be Objec- tions to Annexing Paradise — Do the Black Men Consent to Be Governed in All the States? — Why Say “Turkey” to the Yellow Heathen and “Buzzard” to the Black Christian? — When Did We Get the Consent of the Indians to Govern Them? — The Pilgrim Fathers Exterminated the Natives of Massachusetts — God Commanded the Killing of the Canaanites. Hon. Henry Gibson of Tennessee says: “Porto Rico is a beautiful, healthful, and fertile island, within the sphere of our influence and on the great waterway between the United States and South America. The inhabitants are anxious for annexation, and everywhere welcomed the arrival of our soldiers with shouts of joyous salutation. “It is said that we did not go to war for conquest, and we did not. But because we did not go to war shall we for that reason abandon Porto Rico? When we engaged in the war with Mexico in 1846 we did not go into it for conquest; our purpose was to defend and protect Texas. “But when that war ended we were in possession not only of Texas, hut of Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Now, what did we do? Did we say then that, as we did not go to w r ar with Mexico for conquest we would abandon Utah, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico? No, we were not the imbeciles then some men want us to be now. We held on to what we con- quered from Mexico, and we are holding on to it to-day, although there were men then, as there are men now, who thought it was wicked and dangerous to acquire this territory, and some predicted that God’s curse would fall upon us as a nation if we took this territory away from Mexico. “But we took it, and we took it by force of arms, and we hold it to-day, and God’s curse has not yet fallen upon us. On the contrary, He seems to have blessed us. Oui nation took a new start when California became ours, and never in the history of the world has there been such progress in territorial development as there has been since we annexed California. What was then a wilderness between Missouri and the Pacific Ocean, inhabited by Indians, buffaloes, coyotes, and 575 HON. HENEY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. iH6 prairie dogs is now occupied by thirteen States and three Territories of oiir Union, containing 8,000,000 inhabitants. “Man proposes, but God disposes. We did not go to war with Mexico to acquire any territory, but we did acquire some, and the territory thus acquired has rounded out our domain, and been not only a great blessing to us, but a blessing to all mankind. “So we did not go to war with Spain to acquire any territory. But again man proposes while God disposes, and as a result of this war the beautiful Island of Porto Rico is in our hands. And the question now is. What shall we do with it? Shall we surrender it to Spain, that brutal and bloody tyrant whose rule has been the curse of so many lands? To haul Porto Rico back to Spain would be like I browing a rescued and bleeding lamb back into the jaws of the wolf whose fangs had torn its flesh, and I for one will never vote that way. “They declared our Constitution a rope of sand. They said our Presidents would become kings, and thought they saw a crown growing on Washington’s head. When Louisiana was annexed, in 1S03, they said that it was so unconsti- tutional as to annihilate the Constitution and destroy the Union. When the first national bank was chartered in 1816 they declared that liberty was as good as dead, and that the money power Avould soon own the country. When, in 1845, Texas was annexed, they saw slavery triumphant and the Union as good as dis- solved. When, in 1846, we made war on Mexico in defense of Texas, men in this House declared that the vengeance of heaven was sure to fall upon us, and “bloody graves” would be the fate of those gallant Americans who with transcend- ent valor upheld our flag at Buena Vista, and who carried it in triumph from Vera Cruz to Mexico and floated it from the topmost turrets of the mansions of the Montezumas. “When, in 1848, we annexed California and New Mexico, these same prophets of evil saw the most gigantic dangers looming up on the Pacific coast, 3,000 miles away, and a six months’ journey by sea or land, and the result would be the nation would break in two by its own weight, the Rocky Mountains being the line of division, unless England or some other foreign nation took California and Oregon away from us by force of arms. Blood-curdling and hair-raising pictures of na- tional calamity were thrust before our horrified vision by the old women and false prophets of those days as the sure result of the annexation of California. It was declared to be a wicked robbery from a sister Republic, a robbery wholly unnecessary, as we already had more territory on the Pacific than we had any use for; that its acquisition would necessitate a large increase of our army and HOST. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPAN ,xON. 577 navy, and a consequent increase of taxation, all of which would fall on the poor man; that the $15,000,000 we paid Mexico for California was a reckless and uncon- stitutional expenditure for what, at best, was a mere unexplored waste of sand and sagebrush; and that the sole object of the annexation was the unholy extension of African slavery and the wicked suppression of American liberty. “If the gentlemen who are wrinkling their brows and torturing their brains in unsatisfactory efforts to manufacture insect thunder against the acquisition of Porto Rico and the Philippines will only go back to the Congressional debates on the acquisition of Louisiana in 1803, and the acquisition of Texas and California in 1845 to 1848, they will find not only all the little arguments their imagination has brewed out of a sour digestion, but will find many others of larger proportions and more ponderous material. But they will find all of these arguments, little and big, fully answered, all of their predictions falsified by subsequent history, and that, instead of adversity to curse us, we got prosperity to bless us; instead of slavery being extended it was destroyed; instead of California being six months off it is now only six days off, and the 1,000-mile-wide desert between California and Missouri is blossoming like the rose, the seat of religion, learning, and wealth, and filled with many populous and prosperous States. “I suppose there is a providence in allowing and stimulating; these prophets of evil, the human ravens whose croaks are heard from the glittering spires of pros- perity and whose sable wings flit through all banquet halls, like fallen spirits, whose only satisfaction is to prophesy calamity and terrify the timid. “The fathers of our Republic, as they wrought on in their grand endeavor to lay deep, wide, and strong the foundations of a nation that should be to all others as the sun is to the stars, heard day after day the carpings of the critics, the sneers of the scorners, the censures of the wiseacres, and the prophecies of failure from the ashy lips of cowards and traitors. “If Bryan were President annexation and expansion and even ‘imperialism’ would be all right, and in the next campaign we would have a new and enlarged edition of that ancient and oft-repeated Democratic claim that all of the valuable additions to our national domain had been made under Democratic administra- tions, and we should again have heard how the Democratic party had ‘enlarged the area of freedom’ and made another ‘way for liberty.’ “The majority does not mean the majority in any one State or section of the country, but the majority of all the people of all the States and all the sections. Here is where the Federal Government got its right to suppress the whisky rebel- lion while Washington was President, here is where Jackson got his right to sup- i 578 HON. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. press nullification in South Carolina, and here is where Lincoln got his authority for suppressing the Southern Confederacy. Washington, Jackson, and Lincoln were simply executing the mandate of the majority of all the people of all the States and of all the sections. And if Porto Rico and the Philippines are annexed to the United States and become a part of the territory of the United States, they, too, will be governed by the majority, and if they are the majority they will govern us, but if we are the majority we will govern them. And on this commandment hang all the law and politics of the case. “Now, Mr. Chairman, are these men who deny the rights of yellow skins in America really anxious to defend the rights of yellow skins in Asia? Do the men who despise the negro in America truly love the Filipino in Asia? If the Filipinos were as numerous in the South as are the negroes, would these gentlemen who now champion their right to self-government be as loud-mouthed in their behalf as they are to-day? Do we not know, Mr. Chairman, that if the negroes were in the Philippines and the Filipinos were here these same advocates of self-government would be caressing the negroes and oppressing the Filipinos? “If Filipinos attack our army, if they attack our navy, we must teach them, as we teach all other people under God’s skies, that that flag will never be assailed without defenders. Having smote down the lion of Spain we will not submit to insolence or ingratitude on the part of its cubs. “My solution of the Philippine problem is this: If those fifty or sixty thousand people out there who are claiming to represent 7,000,000 people get a little too fresh, I would squelch them; I would turn enough grapeshot and canister into their ranks to teach them that the American army and the American flag are not things to be trifled with, and that they who interfere with us do so at their peril. “But having suppressed these insurgents or having succeeded in causing them to subside, we will proceed to inaugurate a government there, a government as free and as much their government as they are capable of having. If they are capable of a perfectly free government, all the better; I will rejoice at it and will join my hurrahs with theirs. But until that day comes, until a stable government of their own can be maintained in the Philippine Islands — until that day dawns we owe it to mankind, we owe it to civilization, we owe it to Christianity, that the Stars and Stripes, the emblem at once of liberty and security, shall float there and float supreme. “Some one asks, ‘What will you do with the Philippines? Will you admit them as States into the Union?’ I answer quickly, Never, as States, in our day. HON. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. 579 We will hold them as Territories. We will do all we can to civilize and Chris- tianize them. We will establish schools and churches, construct roads, erect fac- tories, open mines, build telegraphs, all, of course, at their own expense, and give them just as much participation in their own government as they are capable of. And when, in the process of evolution, they become capable of self-govern- ment, we will give them national independence, with our blessing and good wishes. But, Mr. Chairman, let us do our duty in our day and leave the future to be taken care of by the men of the future. All wisdom and patriotism will not be buried in our graves. The great and good God, who has cared for our country in the past will raise up men in the future well able to deal with the Philippines in a manner suitable to our honor and welfare and compatible with the course of humanity. “Some men say, ‘Of what benefit will these island be to us?’ That question was asked when we annexed Louisiana; it was asked when we annexed Florida; it was asked when we annexed Texas; it was asked when we annexed California; it was asked when we annexed Alaska, and it will continue to be asked by the old fogies as long as human progress and national development continue. If Paradise could be annexed, there would be men who would object unless they could get a home- stead in it with the tree of life in the center. “Mr. Chairman, that we are a nation and that we have a nation’s powers and a nation’s rights, and intend to discharge a nation’s responsibilities and a nation’s duties; and let the other nations of the world take notice that we demand a nation’s respect. “The Indians to-day have no voice in the Government; and in the negro States their ‘consent’ is not only not obtained, but is actually denied. And what is most strange, the men who pretend to be so indignant about governing the Filipinos without their ‘consent’ are the very men who are most anxious to govern the negroes without their ‘consent!’ Is an Asiatic Filipino who lives 10,000 miles from here entitled to any more rights than an American negro who lives next door to us? Why is it, Mr. Chairman, that some of these men who rave so for fear the Filipinos will be governed without their consent rave just as furiously when the negroes insist on not being governed without their consent? “Why do these professed champions of liberty insist on saying ‘turkey’ to the Filipinos and ‘buzzard’ to the negroes? What is sauce for the Philippine goose ought to be sauce for the African gander. I can not quite understand the hearts of those men who so dearly love the yellow Filipino, whom they have never seen, and yet do not love the yellow negro, whom they have seen. If the Filipinos 580 HON. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. are entitled to self-government, then the negroes are; and yet some of these men who are pretending to be so indignant because the savage, half-naked, heathen Filipino is to be governed without his consent are just as indignant when a civilized Christian negro asks not to be governed without his consent. Surely the charity of these lovers of the Filipinos does not begin at home. “As a matter of fact, Mr. Chairman, even in our own country government is not always based on the ‘consent of the governed.’ What father asks the ‘consent’ of his children to the government he establishes over them? When and in what is the ‘consent’ of the women of the country obtained, even where they are taxed? The ‘consent’ of the Indians has seldom been deemed necessary, and when necessary has often been obtained by fraud or force. “At every session of Congress laws are passed that some one or more States object to. At every session of the various State Legislatures laws are passed that some counties do not consent to. The consent of the majority rules, and they are the governors, while the consent of the governed minority is not only not asked, but when known is denied, and sometimes denied with contemptuous tyranny and undeserved opprobrium. “In the days of nullification South Carolina was kept in the Union and forced to obey laws against her consent. Andrew Jackson threatened to hang some of the South Carolina nullifiers because they would not ‘consent.’ “From 1861 to 1865 we waged a terrible war against the Confederate States because they would not ‘consent’ to remain any longer in the old Union. And after the war we disfranchised them, so they would be unable to express their dissent. “We have had several Presidents who failed to get the ‘consent’ of a majority of the voters. There are several States in the Union to-day permanently governed by a minority of their people, and even in those States where majority rule prevails the minority are not only governed with their ‘consent,’ but are often governed in spite of their dissent. Even here in the city of Washington, right around and in sight of this Capitol, there are 300,000 intelligent, cultured, liberty-loving, patriotic people governed without their consent, without any voice, vote, or repre- sentation whatever, and taxed besides. “When America was settled, was the ‘consent’ of the Indians asked by our forefathers? Did the Pilgrim Fathers obtain the consent of the Massachusetts Indians? No, sir; they exterminated them! “Where would the United States of America be to-day if the first white men who landed on our coast had sailed away because the Indians objected to their coming? This fair and gracious land, the wonder of the world, with its 70,000,000 IIOIsT. HENRY GIBSON FOR EXPANSION. 581 of people, its hundreds of beautiful towns and cities, its millions of fertile fields, its hundreds of thousands of schools and churches; its railroads, telegraphs, and mail routes; its electrical inventions and manufacturing establishments; its mil- lions of happy, Christian homes; its government — the best on earth for man's welfare — where would all these have been had the ‘consent’ of the Indians been necessary to the occupation of the country? Instead of this magnificent Capitol there would be the wigwam of some Powhatan; and instead of these champions of the ‘consent of the governed,’ who from day to day make these walls weary of reverberation, we would have a few Indian bucks in war paint, with feathers on their heads and down their backs, and scalps in their belts! And thus the doctrine of the ‘consent of the governed' would have been vindicated, even though a con- tinent was thereby made the home of heathen savages! “‘Consent of the governed,’ indeed! The -world has moved onward to civiliza- tion and Christianity against the ‘consent of the governed.’ War is the great civilizer. God commanded Moses and Joshua to exterminate the Canaanites. “We have had our Jeremiahs all along the line, lamenting that the ruin of our country was just at our doors unless their counsel was observed, but wc are not ruined yet. Instead of being ruined we have prospered, prospered more than any other nation that ever existed, and, what is strange, the more the prophecies of evil the greater our prosperity. And we are still moving on and moving up, conquering and to conquer. The stars in their courses have been fight- ing on our side, and Destiny has pronounced an irrevocable decree in our favor. “ ‘There are great truths that pitch their shining tents Outside our walls, and though but dimly seen In the gray dawn they will be manifest When the light widens into perfect day.’ ” CHAPTER X. SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. This Is the Greatest Question Ever Discussed by the United States Senate— Almost the Greatest Since the Beginning of Mankind — Putting the Flag Up and Down — Wanted Messages Sent to the Philippines — What Are We to Do with 10,000,000 Souls? — Poor People Who Took Their Bows and Arrows — Aguinaldo’s Masterpieces — Dr. Johnson on Taxation — Trampling on Foreign People — Filipinos in Arms for Liberty. Senator Hoar said that no man can justly charge him with a lack of faith in his countrymen or a lack of faith in the principles on which the republic was founded. He had in the fullest measure that which stands as the central figure in the mighty group which the apostle said is forever to abide — hope. He thanked God that as his eyes grow dim they look out on a fairer country, a better people, a brighter future. It was not his purpose, of course, to discuss the general considerations which affect any acquisition of sovereignty by the American people over the Philippine Islands which has been or may be proposed. He hoped not to weary by reiteration, but this was the greatest question, ✓ this question of power and authority of our Constitution in this matter, he had almost said, that had been discussed among mankind from the beginning of time. Certainly it is the greatest question ever discussed in the Senate from the beginning of the government. Mr. Hoar believed this country to be a nation — a sovereign nation. He be- lieved Congress possessed all the powers necessary to accomplish the great objects the framers of the Constitution intended should be accomplished; denied that it possessed the “astonishing” and “extravagant” powers under the Constitution which Senators attributed to it. , ' “We have heard of limited monarchies, constitutional monarchies, despotisms tempered by assassination, but the logic of the Senator from Connecticut makes a pure, unlimited, untempered despotism without any relief from assassins. “In general the friends of what is called imperialism or expansion content themselves with declaring that the flag which is taken down every night and put up again every morning over the roof of this Senate chamber, where it is in its Tightful place, must never be taken down where it has once floated, whether that 582 SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. 583 be its rightful place or not — a doctrine which is not only without justification in international law, but if it were implanted there would make every war between civilized and powerful nations a war of extermination or a war of dishonor to one party or the other.” Mr. Hoar dwelt upon the large increase in national expenditure which the policy of expansion advocated would entail, placing the amount at $150,000,000 annually. He argued that the adoption of expansion doctrine would reduce wages, increase taxation, place an armed soldier on the back of the workingman, and by the act of the government every American’s dignity would be dishonored and his manhood discrowned. “The Monroe doctrine is gone,” he said. “Every European nation, every European alliance, has the right to acquire dominion in this hemisphere when we acquire it in the Orient. “I heard a good deal before the treaty was enacted, spoken with great earnest- ness and great vehemence, about embarrassing the administration in the war. It was said we cannot declare the old doctrine of the Farewell Address, or the old doctrine of the Declaration of Independence, or any limitations on our con- stitutional power, or any expression of our intent, because there are hostilities going on between the United States and the people of the Philippine Islands. Those hostilities are going on now, and what has become of the scruples of the majority in this chamber? They are prepared not only to send to the people of the Philippine Islands what two highly esteemed members of the Senate, in speeches which, I think, gave me more pain than any other speeches I ever listened to in the Senate, said they would not do — they would not send any message to the persons who had arms in their hands taken up against the United States. But here is a message, while those hostilities are still going on, calculated to pro- voke freemen, lovers of liberty, men who think as our ancestors thought, men who think as we have thought till within six months, to resistance and to hostility to the death. “They are simply resolutions, when properly analyzed, declaring in effect that these 10,000,000 people have in our judgment no constitutional rights, no rights to liberty, no rights even to be heard in the determination of their own self-govern- ment, and that they are not to have in the future any right of citizenship, any of the rights debated and somewhat misty, but still valuable and precious, which men have when they become residents on territory of the United States. They are not to be citizens here. They are not to be an integral part of our territory ever. Then it goes on to say, in substance, that they are to have nothing to do 584 SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. about their own government hereafter. It is the intention of the United States to make a government for them ‘suitable to the wants and conditions of the inhabitants of said islands.’ Of that we are to judge, not they. That government is not to fit them to govern themselves ever in the great things which pertain to a national life. “The message which my honorable friend from Delaware will not send to the people with arms in their hands is a message of peace, of good will, of liberty. But he will send them this message from the Senate: Never shall you be made citizens; never shall your territory be United States territory; never shall you have the rights which dwellers on our territory enjoy; never shall you establish your government for yourself. We will try to fit you in small matters and in local matters for self-government; we will try to fit you to govern yourselves so far as the people of the District of Columbia used to govern themselves, perhaps, and so far as a Territory may govern itself, perhaps, but you shall never have a part or a share, not one of the ten millions of you, in your national self-government. “And then what is the United States going to do with 10,000,000 human souls? Make such disposition of them as will best promote not even their interests alone, but ours, ‘as will best promote the interests of the citizens of the United States,’ which they are not, and as a caudal appendage, the interests of the inhab- itants of the islands. “Now, was there ever on the face of the earth more infamy, if what the people of the United States have said and lived and declared in the face of all mankind be true, than is to be contained in that declaration? It is a declaration stripped of everything else simply that the Louisiana sugar planter shall not be afraid of their competition in the future, and that to prevent that fear there shall never be a human, a constitutional, or a legal right recognized in those 10,000,000 people; and that is the w T hole of it. “You cannot send a message ofjieace, you cannot send a message of hope, you cannot send a message of pity, to those poor people who have taken their bows and arrows in their hands and thrown themselves against the power of the people of the United States, dashing out their lives in a brave battle for liberty. To send them even a message of pity the man who proposes it is denounced as a traitor and as unfaithful to the interests of his own country; but for a message of tyranny, a message of hate, a message of oppression, a message of slaughter, these gentlemen are ready enough. “I want to say a single word about these people and their chieftain. I agree that we have not full information about Aguinaldo. It may turn out in his case, SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. 585 as it has turned out in the case of so many others, that he is an unprincipled adventurer. We know nothing about that. All we know about him is that he was accepted as an ally, and that after everything that has been said to his dis- paragement happened, after his retreat, after his acceptance of the money of Spain, he was recalled in honor and in power by the Admiral and the General of the United States. We know that he had invested the Spaniards in the city of Manila; we know that of those 2,000 islands he had won the independence of every one, save only the city of Manila, and, perhaps, one or two other slight stations held by Spain. We know that there came from him a provisional government and constitution for a people engaged in a revolution for their own independence the like of which for ability and fitness for the situation for a people about to enter upon self-government as soon as the military necessity had gone by there are not ten men on the face of this planet who could have improved upon. It is a masterpiece of constitutional construction. “We know that he has addressed to this Senate a powerful, temperate, and respectful communication, stating with admirable clearness and compactness a desire and a hope for liberty and an appeal to the great people of the United States. I do not see how any American heart not of stone can fail to see that the source of that appeal is entitled to respect and to honor. He has also made an application — rejected, I am told, though the details of that we do not know — simply for a hearing. “Suppose it were true that these 10,000,000 people seeking liberty, knowing nothing of a foreign power but what they have learned from Spain, 10,000 miles off from the United States, unacquainted with our history, their eyes never having gazed upon the beauty and the glory of our flag, suppose they did in their ignor- ance and in their weakness make this brave and passionate attack upon the forces of the United States, they were, at least, men willing to give their lives for some- thing. Whatever else they did, they did not flinch or run. We have mowed them down by the thousands; we have inflicted upon them that dread and terrible penalty; and I do not agree with my honorable friends who say that it is unworthy of the dignity of the people of the United States to send those people even a message of kindness and hope and sympathy. “I think the lives of American soldiers were sacrificed by the men, whoever did it, who demanded of these men their unconditional submission and would not send them a message such as America has been wont to send and such as the American flag has been wont to bear to the down-trodden and suffering and oppressed peoples of the earth. 586 SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. “Others doubtless will do as they please. I have in regard to myself, in regard to what I have said and done and what I shall say and do in this business, neither doubt, hesitation, nor misgiving. I am satisfied to stand with the fathers and the statesmen of the past generations, with the men who framed our liberty and who founded our Constitution. “I happened accidentally this morning, looking entirely for another subject, to find a passage from Dr. Johnson, in the great argument in which he assailed our revolutionary fathers, entitled ‘Taxation no Tyranny.’ If I were to have it read at the desk as a part of the speech of the gentlemen who have been defending this business here, everybody would say, ‘Why, of course, that was exactly what they were saying; it sounds like last week and the week before last’ — this doc- trine that there can be no limitation of sovereignty, that a sovereign can do any- thing he pleases, that you are inferior, that a constitutional republic or a limited monarchy is inferior to a despotism or a tyranny. I read a paragraph as follows: “ ‘All government is ultimately and essentially absolute, but subordinate socie- ties may have more immunities, or individuals greater liberty, as the operations of government are differently conducted. An English individual may by the supreme authority be deprived of liberty for reasons of which that authority is the only judge. In sovereignty there are no gradations. There may be limited royalty, there may be limited consulships, but there, can be no limited govern- ment. There must in every society be some power or other from which there is no appeal, which admits no restrictions, which pervades the whole mass of the com- munity, regulates and adjusts all subordination, enacts laws or repeals them, erects or annuls judicatures, extends or contracts privileges, exempt itself from question or control, and bounded only by physical necessity.’ “That is the doctrine on which this present policy of ours stands. But John Adams and George Washington and Patrick Henry had something to say to the contrary. That pamphlet was published by Dr. Johnson in 1775 as ‘An Answer to the Resolution and Address of the American Congress,’ and the American Congress joined issue and they answered to the great moralist and philosopher, the tool and defender of absolute power, that governments get their powers from the consent of the governed, and that the only powers they get are just powers, and we claim for our newly constituted governments the right to do only those acts and things which free and independent States may of right do. “Trampling on foreign peoples or disposing of them for our interests was not one of those things. They declare that it is the right of any people to institute a new government, and to not only ‘organize its powers in such form,’ but ‘to lay SENATOR HOAR AGAINST EXPANSION. 587 its foundation in such principles as to them’ — not to anybody else — 'shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.’ And they declare that these things lie at the foundation of all governments, and are of higher and prior authority than government itself. They put that not only into their own declara- tion, but into the cotemporary Constitution of every American State; and the people of Virginia added to it that these rights are 'the basis and foundation of government,’ and 'that no free government or the blessings of liberty can he preserved to any people but by frequent recurrence to these fundamental prin- ciples.’ "I wonder what sort of recurrence we are going to make to these principles this year? Can any man read them in the Senate without being denounced as a traitor? Can any Senator read George Washington’s farewell address on his birthday with- out dropping his voice, or without a little laugh around the chamber when he repeats the counsel which for a hundred years we have followed? Will it not be a remarkable celebration of the Fourth of July if we have these 10,000,000 people all trampled under foot, and some of our friends cannot hear these great sentiments of the moral law as applied to the conduct of the States read again without saying, 'Oh, that is a traitorous message you are sending to men who are in arms for their liberty in a distant land’?” CHAPTER XI. SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. “We Are Attacking People Without Arms” — “How Is the War to Be Concluded Without the Extermination of Those Poor People?” — “We Refuse to Permit the Rebel Party Men to Speak to Us” — “By What Authority Was Iloilo Fired Upon?” — “I Say We Made the Cause for War” — “We Shoot Them Down and Burn Their Buildings a la Weyler” — “How Long Shall Our Flag Remain Above an Unwilling People?” — The Whelp of a Lion and Caesar’s Ghost — England Never Guilty of More Cruelty — All Tyrants Charge Cutting Off Heads to the Lord — The Whole Archipelago Not Worth One American Boy — We Have Tasted Blood. The Senator thought the Juggernaut car of the American forces would not go much further before the American people would be heard from. The Senator objected to our capture of Iloilo, and he said: “If we were conducting a war against Spain, Great Britain, Germany, or a*y of the powers of the earth, I think 1 know my patriotic duty as well as do those gentlemen who have scolded me in the press and elsewhere. It would he the hour of the survival of the fittest, and I would stand by my country, right or wrong, ready to vote arms, munitions, or furnish whatever I had to give in defense of the preservation of my country. But here is a case where we are attacking people without arms, where we are making war against people who cannot defend them- selves, and who thirty days ago were our allies — a war that is utterly unwarranted by any act of Congress. No declaration of war has been made by the war-making power, the Congress of the United States, against the people of the Philippine Islands. I ask any lawyer who claims to know international law whether, until the completion of the treaty of peace, we secure even the naked title of sovereignty which Spain had? “It was claimed that upon the completion of the treaty of peace we should receive the title of sovereignty. I denied it. But now, for the purposes of the argument, suppose you have received the title of sovereignty which Spain had, you do not receive it until the completion of the treaty; and until the completion of the treaty of peace we have, under the protocol, only the right to keep Manila and its harbor. “How is this war to be closed except by the extermination of those poor people? Admit, if you like, that Aguinaldo is dishonest; admit, if you like, that 588 SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 589 he sold his country for thirty pieces of silver — which I deny and which the record does not prove; admit all you please, yet within three days Aguinaldo asked for an opportunity to quit, and what is his answer? Take the official report, which was published about February 8, and which stands uncontradicted, and it shows that Aguinaldo, ready to quit, asked for a conference, and General Otis declined to recognize or answer the rebel chief. When is this war to stop, when we refuse even to permit the rebel party to speak to us? ‘"The gentlemen who favored the treaty and urged it so strongly without any vote on the resolutions said in their speeches that when Spain ceded to us the Philippine Islands she ceded the sovereignty; that is, the right to govern. “Now, I am an American. I do not believe you can sell the right to govern anybody. I do not believe you can do in international law that which is abso- lutely repugnant to and in conflict with the theory of the Government, but that we had a right, and for the purposes of the argument I said let that pass. It is only one of many questions, and for the purposes of the discussion which I am having mow I say I will admit that you bought the sovereignty of Spain, I say that I am willing to admit that it carries the right to govern, but I say that until the treaty is complete you have no right by the armies and navies of your country to take possession of land which has not been ceded to you. “I understand that now, to-day, the men who were rebels yesterday against the United States are rebels against Spain, and for legal necessity we must transfer their rebellion as against the sovereignty of Spain, in order that we may shoot them to death and still be within the line of constitutional and international law. Yesterday they were rebels against us, according to the statements, and to-day, in order to justify the burning of their villages, we have transferred the legal status, and they are now rebels against Spain and we are killing them because they are rebels against Spain and have broken the treaty. Such are the intricacies of inter- national law, if you will permit the expression. “Distinguished Senators who, upon this floor within one week, have declared them to be traitors and rebels against us are announcing a new doctrine this morn- ing — that the Filipinos are rebels against Spain or that they are legally the subjects of Spain, and as subjects of Spain have broken the treaty of peace. To such extremities are gentlemen driven. Men fighting for liberty never have put such a construction upon statutes. It is only that frame of mind which sets out upon a beaten path, having announced its intention of drifting away from the lines laid down by the fathers, drifting away from the lines laid down by the Republican party in its last convention. With their heads set, they say, Tf we do not kill 590 SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. them, they will have anarchy there. If we do not burn their towns, they cannot govern themselves/ By what authority was Iloilo fired upon by our guns? Have we declared war in this war-making body? Oh, no. “Mr. President, we are in war. We have shifted the scene of action from war against Spain to war against the insurgents, who never did us any harm. We are fighting to-day men with bows and arrows in their hands who six months ago were our allies. There is no lawyer upon this floor, from the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, but who has admitted that they became our allies. Now, let us see whether some one has made a mistake; and if it is a mistake, it is a mistake of this Senate and of this country, and we are all equally to blame. It is our country. The Dred Scott decision was just as much the decision of Illinois as it was of South Carolina. Whatever wrong a nation does rests upon us equally and alike. “At the close of this most holy war, when we gave notice to the world that we unlimbered our guns in the cause of humanity, before the treaty of peace was finally made, money considerations came in and indemnity was talked of, as though we had played the part of a good Samaritan at a price, at a per diem; and the moment money came into the peace treaty, that moment we descended from the high plane of liberty; that moment the trouble began. The moment the jingle of gold and silver was heard at your peace-treaty meeting in Paris, that moment the American people began to wonder and to revolt. “Let us see where we are, Mr. President. At the close of this war we had two great islands in our hands that I am to speak of, the islands known as the Philippines and the Island of Cuba. One of the great questions that disturbed the American people was: What treatment shall the Philippine Islanders have? One class of people said: ‘Let us pursue the course of the fathers; let us give to them the same thing we gave to Cuba/ Another class of gentlemen said: ‘Oh, no; they are ours. We have bought them; we have bought them from the King/ Do you know that you never can buy a better title than the grantor has? The title of a king, the right of a king to govern, sovereignty to be sold like chattels. “In one island, where we pursued the way of the fathers, there is peace; in the other island, where we have pursued the other way, there is war. Gentlemen say the Filipinos declared war. I say as a lawyer that the declaration and the casus belli came from us. I say that we made the cause for war; that they had some rights; that they presented their petition at our door; that they had a right to be heard; that they were our allies; and when they presented the petition here we kicked them out of the door. They crossed the water and at Paris they said SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 591 to the people there, ‘You are parting our raiment; and, for God’s sake, let us be heard for our people.’ They were turned away there; and yesterday, when the rebel chief, as you call him, asked for the poor privilege of a conference, with- out knowing what request he had to make, you refused even to hear his voice, to hear his prayer, and you continue to burn his villages; and yet in this chamber we condemn the action of Weyler along the same lines! You do not have to shoot the first gun to declare war. You do not have to strike me to make me strike you. “Mr. President, some one has made a mistake. We promised to Cuba ulti- mate independence. Is not that the promise? Is it not so nominated in the bond? On the Island of Cuba to-day the people are a little restless, a little weary, yet they are getting ready every day, and every hour, and they say, ‘God bless the Ameri- cano!’ while in the same zone, as the Senator from South Carolina says, the same class of people, having the same language, practically the same religion, prac- tically the same sports, and of the same character, we have so conducted our busi- ness that their bows and arrows are aimed at us. “But I heard the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin, when he gave a lec- ture the other day to the Senators who disagreed with him, declaim in loud voice against the Filipinos. You would have thought from his voice, his gesture, and from his language that the British lion had struck us a deadly blow. A few days ago gentlemen belittled the Filipinos and said they are mere children — they have not the mental or moral capacity to govern themselves; they are half man and half devil, half child and half brute — and yet those very distinguished gentlemen who so belittled them and put them on a lower plane are the gentlemen who boast the loudest of our bravery when we shoot them like dogs and burn their buildings a la Weyler! “It has been charged by many, and believed by many, that we were to discard the liberty cap; that we were to go into the business of buying sovereignty, and we became so heroic here in the Senate after Dewey’s splendid victory that we were going to lay aside the American eagle as our mark of nationality and become the whelp of the lion. I have had transmitted to me through some newspaper a sug- gestion as to whether we are to be the whelp of a lion. It is signed ‘Caesar’s Ghost.’ “ ‘The purring mother, stretched at ease within her island lair, Throws high her tawny head and sniffs the blood smell on the air. Slow lifting to her feet she roars across the angry sea, I know thee now, my lion whelp, it can be none but thee! 592 SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. “ T feel no more thy milk teeth haggling at my stingy breast; I joy to know thou ’st tasted meat, young lion of the West! Who said I bore an eagle that the jungle dark would shun, And soar to heaven with eyes that look unflinching at the sun? “ ‘ A lie! I know my growling cub, I know chat glorious roar; I’ve roared it oft on Indian fields, from Afric’s golden shore. He smacks his lusty lips, his eyes with blood-red fire are light; His drooling jaws are sign of hunger and of prey in sight. “ ‘Beneath his paw I see a red man struggling to be free — That is our playful way, to tease with hope of liberty — What majesty! What lion likeness in that shaggy crest! E’en I could not so tear that black man’s heart from out his breast. “ ‘We will hunt together, cub — ’ “Here is the alliance that you are coming to, gentlemen — “ ‘We’ll hunt together, cub, on every land, by every sea, And when we find a man not shirk responsibility. 0 lion’s whelp! I hear thy roar across the roaring main — Thou art my cub, thou art the true (improved) imperial strain.’ — Caesar’s Ghost. “Mr. President, differing somewhat with the poet who signs his name as Caesar’s Ghost, I deny that we are to become the lion’s whelp. I confess that we are acting a little bit like it; I confess that when these islands were within our hands we had not patience enough, statesmanship enough, generosity enough, to tender those peo- ple something that would bring peace. The roar did sound more like that of the whelp of a lion than the screech of the eagle that stands for true Americanism. “We have imitated England in all of her past cruelty to her colonists. England never was guilty of more cruelty. We are not defending our land now. Our dec- larations of war came when we sent our men there within the last few weeks, against the protest of the natives and without giving them a hearing. You are not waiting in Manila. You are extending your lines and burning towns. The villages you burned yesterday were not mentioned in the protocol, and the treaty is not signed. The treaty is not complete. We are taking revenge upon these poor weak children of the forest. England in her palmy days was never more cruel. Let us imitate Gladstone for one minute upon the subject of retrocession; let us imitate England, SENATOR MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. 593 as attention was called to her conduct by the distinguished Senator from South Carolina. The English flag was put over the Boers when they did not want it. I had hoped that the time would never come when the colors of our beloved country would go above an unwilling people. I had hoped that no living person would ever look into the sky and curse my flag; but you have put it to-day where 9,000,000 people are cursing your flag, your institutions, and they do not know the difference between Spain and America, either by your protestations or by your conduct. “My country, right or wrong, but let us right her. The power to right her is here. In the last days of Gladstone’s life he spoke of ‘false shame.’ The English flag was over the Boer, and was taken down by the civilization and the Christian thought of England. Let the dudes imitate the English dudes, if they will. Let them imitate England as long as they will; but if you have to have a little English in your conduct, take the example of William E. Gladstone. Read his last Speech where he said the question is not who shall haul down the flag, but what is just. That is what we are looking for. I am not afraid of ‘false shame.’ I have seen a real gentleman apologize to a bootblack for a thoughtless word, and I have seen a bully kick a bootblack half across the street. Let us get a little of the Gladstone idea — not who shall pull down the flag, but how long shall our flag remain above an unwilling people. “ ‘Oh, but,’ they say, ‘we put it over your people down South, and it was an unwilling flag.’ Not so. The flag was there by contract. We simply fought to keep our flag where you had agreed it should be kept; and that difference is settled. We went into an agreement whereby the South was to stand by the North, the alliance being like a wedding that could not be divorced. We did not put the flag above an unwilling people. We kept it there after you had put it there yourselves. This is the first time in all the history of this beloved country of ours — this country which has attracted the admiration of the world — that the flag has ever floated over an alien who has cursed it. You love your flag and so do I. It is not an idle sentimen- tality. It means protection to my home; and the home of the Filipino is as sacred to him as yours is to you. The laws of nations, which I propose to discuss (and I shall read from the lecture of the distinguished Senator from Minnesota), is based upon justice, upon humanity, upon right. I have been pleading for their homes. I shall continue to do so until this session adjourns. I have learned something of the Republican-Democratic idea of home. “I remember to have talked with a man within a few weeks who said to a man who lived away up in the Northland, where they have night for six months, ‘If you had $500, what would you do?’ ‘Oh, I would go back to my old home and build a 594 SENATOB MASON OPPOSED TO EXPANSION. house there.’ There is six months darkness; it is cold and barren; but it is nis home. Some of you people on both sides of this chamber remember when at Vicks- burg our boys got so close to the Confederates that they talked back and forth. Every man kept his head below the breastworks. Our band played Yankee Doodle and theirs played Dixie. We played the Star-Spangled Banner and they played the Bonnie Blue Flag. I believe one Irishman put his finger up, and got a shot in his wrist. He said to his captain that he was seeking a furlough, but got a discharge. Every man, when Dixie and the Bonnie Blue Flag and the Star-Spangled Banner were being played, kept out of danger, until one of the bands finally struck up Home, Sweet Home. Then the guns went into the trenches. Then the men stood upon the breastworks. ‘Hurrah, Johnnie!’ ‘Hurrah for home, Yank!’ There w r aa no danger with the music of home in the air. “Mr. President, I have learned that every home made by human hands is a sacred thing. My country has proceeded, choosing the lines which best fitted and suited, along the line of empire, to take land without the consent of the inhabi- tants. No one denies that. They say we have a legal right. Oh, yes. But we knew, when we took the legal title, of the claim of those poor people. You are send- ing our boys over there, and the ships will be coming back loaded with their corpses. How many Senators have sons there now? How many Senatorial appointees have retired from the Commissary Department? Are we any less thoughtful of an Amer- ican boy because he is not ours? I am told that we will subdue the Filipinos, and that it will not cost us over three or four thousand lives. I tell you that the whole group, the whole archipelago, is not worth the life of one American boy, trade and barter and dicker as you will. “But distinguished and pious gentlemen say, ‘God put them in our hands; it is destiny.’ The Lord! There was never a tyrant who cut off heads who did not charge it to the Lord. All crimes are laid at that door. We profess to be a Chris- tian nation and we have conducted our affairs with a weak, childish people in such a way that we are killing them hands down, and we say we must do it for their good. If you were honest about it, gentlemen, and could show me where you could steal something for your country, I could excuse it on the ground of high (?) states- manship, but there is not a dollar in it for your country or for your States. It is murder. Then you pull the cloak around you and go into high places and say, ‘Thank God, we are not as other men. We are Anglo-Saxons. We have worshiped at the throne of the Nazarene ever since we were born.’ But, as Caesar’s ghost says, ‘We have tasted blood.’ ” ^ - ^ CHAPTER XII. EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. Mr. Cleveland Thinks the Best Statesmanship Should Adhere to Conscience in Storm as Well as Sunshine — He Suggests We Should Not Kill People Who Would Lose Their Souls — Hon. Bourke Cochran Offers Objections to Expansion — Senator Money Takes a Favorable View of Aguinaldo — Mr. Bland Thinks Expansion Means to Enslave Americans to Plutocracy — Senator Caffery Says There Is No Opportunity for an Industrious White Man in the Philippines — Senator Tillman Quotes Kipling — Is Aguinaldo a Usurper Without Consulting Anybody? — Senator Turner on Grave State Reasons for Overriding the Opinion of Senator Foraker. Ex-President Cleveland gave expression to his views on Expansion in an un- common vein. He said: “ I do not care to repeat my views concerning the prevailing epidemic of im- perialism and territorial expansion. Assuming, however, that my ideas on the sub- ject are antiquated and unsuited to these progressive days, it is a matter of surprise to me that the refusal of certain natives of our new possessions to acquiesce in the beneficence of subjecting themselves to our control and management should not in the least disturb our expansionists. This phase of the situation ought not to have been unanticipated, nor the interests naturally growing out of it overlooked. The remedy is obvious and simple — the misguided inhabitants of our annexed territory who prefer something different from the plan for their control which we propose, or who oppose our high designs in their behalf, should be slaughtered. The killing of natives has been the feature of expansion since the inception of the policy, and our imperialistic enthusiasm should not be checked by the prospective necessity of destroying a few thousand or a few hundred thousand Filipinos. This should only be regarded as one stage in the transcendentally great movement, a mere incident in its progress. Of course some unprepared souls would then be lost before we had the opportunity of Christianizing them, but surely those of our countrymen who have done so much to encourage expansion could manage that difficulty. I saw it stated that ten million of cartridges are being manufactured in Birmingham, Eng- land, and that special metal is being used to prevent the shells from jamming in the gun barrels.” Mr. Cleveland wrote a letter of regret that he could not attend the celebration of the seventieth birthday of Carl Schurz that is held to be expressive of special 595 596 CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. approval of the position of Mr. Schurz in opposition to expansion, and that seems to be the reading between the lines, as follows: “Princeton, N. J., Feb. 18. — I regret exceedingly that I cannot promise my- self the pleasure of participating in the celebration of Mr. Schurz’ seventieth birth- day. I find that an engagement which I had hoped might be postponed will pre- vent my attendance. “My disappointment is measured by the extreme gratification it would afford me to contribute my testimony to the volume that will be presented on the occasion you have arranged in grateful support of Mr. Schurz’ usefulness and patriotic citi- zenship. His life and career teach lessons that cannot be too often and too im- pressively emphasized. They illustrate the grandeur of disinterested public service and the nobility of fearless advocacy of the things that are right and just and safe. “It will be a sad day for our country when, in the light of such an example, our people refuse to see the best statesmanship in steadfast adherence to conscience in storm as well as in sunshine. “I believe that the most confident hope of the permanency and continued beneficence of our free institutions rests upon the cultivation by those intrusted with public duty and among the ranks of our countrymen of the traits which have dis- tinguished the man whom you propose to honor. THE HON. BOURKE COCHRAN NOT FOR EXPANSION. The Hon. Bourke Cochran said on the subject of expansion and imperialism that the event of a policy might be measured by its effect on the rate of wages paid to labor, for there was but one infallible test of prosperity in any country, and that is the condition of its producers. Therefore, when the effect of expansion on wages is discussed it is a discussion of its effect upon the general prosperity of the country. The speaker declared that in order to guard against confusion of terms it was neces- sary to distinguish between expansion, a word frequently occurring in the political literature of the country, and imperialism, a new expression. He defined expansion as the extension of our institutions through the enlargement of our frontiers. He CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. 597 declared that imperialism is not the diffusion of American constitutionalism over new lands, but the establishment in conquered territory by this Government of another government, radically irreconcilable to the spirit of our own Constitution and essentially hostile to it. Expansion is the peaceful development of our political system by widening the area of its authority. Imperialism is the forceful exercise abroad by our Government of powers denied to it at home. Mr. Cochran cited the absorption of Louisiana, Florida, Texas and California as instances of expansion, in the American sense, that is the extension of our polit - ical system. He said that to seize the Philippine Islands by violence and govern them through military forces would he an act of imperialism inconsistent with the principles upon which this Republic is founded, and therefore dangerous, if not fatal, to its security. Then Mr. Cochran took up the broad question of expansion, saying that to extend the beneficent authority of this Republic over the whole North American Continent would be a marvelous benefit to the people of this continent, to the people of Great Britain and to the whole human race. He dwelt at length upon this proposition, showing how it would settle irritating questions like boun- daries and stimulate production by increasing the free trade area. The orator pointed out that while these benefits would flow from expansion, they would not and could not flow from conquest, for the forcible annexation of Canada would be an act of imperialism as unpr "table as it would be unjustifiable and as calamitous as it would be criminal. He added that if it could be accomplished by a single file of soldiers it would be none the less a policy of wickedness and folly. Forcible annexation would mean a subject p.pulation, discontented and therefore disloyal. Mr. Cochran said, and our authority could be maintained only by force — that is, by a standing army and a military rule, tiie republic that draws the sword against freedom in other lands will live to find the sword plunged into her own liberty. Then the evil with the standing army, which he said always had been and always will be fatal to free institutions, was taken up. He maintained that the question of the twentieth century would be one not of boundaries but of economics, and that every dollar expended for munitions of war is a sterile dollar. The soldier in barracks or field must be supported, because he is withdrawn from the field of industry. The laborer, therefore, must produce not merely the wages that support himself, but also the pay and sustenance of the soldier. Thus, argued Mr. Coch- ran, a standing army diminished the compensation which a laborer can earn, while it imposes upon him the burden of supporting another man besides himself. The degradation which the laborer suffers from a standing army was said to be far worse than the spoliation. Mr. Cochran showed how the Republic had changed the con- 598 CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. dition of the laborer. He said we have grown to be the most powerful nation of earth through the valor of citizen soldiers. The Government has rested secure upon its foundations in the consent of the governed. No force has been provoked except to vindicate justice. Then the claims of the imperialists were taken up, Mr. Cochran showing that trade does not follow the flag, instancing this country’s relation with England. He said that England is right, despite her colonies, not through them, and if the prop- osition were true Spain would be the richest country on earth. But her posses- sions have demoralized her government, and brought her to the abasement in which she lies to-day. Any system which entails a standing army cannot cheapen goods, but must advance prices, because it restricts the volume of production by with- drawing the' best laborers from the field of industry. During the last ten years English trade has languished. Yet it has been a period of extraordinary territorial aggrandizement. Mr. Cochran challenged the imperialists to show an instance in which trade has been promoted by conquest. The imperialist abandons the con- tention and says that while foreign possessions may be unprofitable, it is, neverthe- less, a duty imposed upon us to take up territory inhabited by weaker races, to civ- ilize and subject them to the authority of our office-holders. And if it is necessary to shoot them as Kitchner shot the Dervishes in order to impose government upon them, he is willing to civilize them in that effective method. SENATOR MONEY NOT FOR EXPANSION. The Senator said in the Senate: “After Dewey’s glorious victory in Manila Bay our Consul, corresponding with him, asked if Aguinaldo could be of any service. Aguinaldo, as you recollect, is a man who in some quarters has been described as a sort of blackguard insurgent and a traitor against the United States. He never yet owed allegiance to us, and we have not had possession of Iris country. He has been proclaimed from time to time an adventurer, a traitor, and a bandit, and insulted by other opprobrious epithets. Mr. President, the records submitted to us for our guidance and information in this matter, from which I presume our able and efficient commissioners derived their information, show that this man has had a most honorable career, that he is a brave, {honest, sincere, and able man, and that with all his opportunities he is poor.” Mr. Mason: “And that he never did sell his cause for money?” CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. 599 Mr. Money: “He never sold anything for money. There had been a long and bloody struggle between Spain and her revolted subjects in the islands, both parties had suffered and were weary of the struggle, and to secure peace a treaty ‘or agree- ment’ was entered into. Spain agreed to correct abuses in the civil administration and introduce many reforms, and to pay a large sum of money for the widows and orphans of the insurgents who had fallen in battle. On their side the Tagals were to cease hostilities, and as a guarantee of tranquillity Aguinaldo and about fifty of his principal followers were to expatriate themselves. Four hundred thousand dol- lars was paid in cash to Aguinaldo, who, with his fellow exiles, went to Hongkong. No part of the balance of the stipulated sum was ever paid. One of Aguinaldo’s officers sued for a division of the money. The dispute was settled by a payment out of court of $5,000 to the claimant. Aguinaldo was living modestly at Hongkong, declaring that the money was a trust fund and could not be put to a private use, and as the Spanish had failed to keep their promise of reform, it should be de- voted to the purposes of another rebellion, and it was expended in the purchase of the munitions of war. “It has been denied here that there was an insurrection there previous to the arrival of Dewey; yet this book, first submitted confidentially for our use and then made public by order of the Senate, shows that there was all the time no pacification there whatever, but insurrection unceasing; that in the months of January, Febru- ary, March and April the insurgents were in arms, and that they were within five miles of Manila; that there were daily battles; that the hospitals were continually filled with wounded; that the dead were brought in every day, and news came of one battle after another all over the island of Luzon, and that the Spanish garri- sons were besieged or had surrendered in many provinces. That is the testimony of our Consul at Manila, who was a witness of the things he spoke of and who is cor- roborated by many circumstances. “These people were under arms to do what? To acquire their liberty, to con- quer their liberty — these people, who had groaned for a hundred years under ex- actions and tyranny in comparison with which those which drove our forefathers into rebellion in 1776 were trivial — these people, not discouraged by repeated fail- ures nor by bloody punishment, were making another effort, as they had been doing again and again for a hundred years. Then Aguinaldo was sent for, not to excite insurrection against Spain, but to control these forces already organized in rebellion in the interests of the American attack upon the Spanish forces in Manila and the islands of the Philippines. This is evidenced by the proclamation of the junta at Hongkong, by the proclamation of the junta at Singapore, by the correspondence 600 CLEVELAND AND OTHEBS NOT FOE EXPANSION. of our Consul, Mr. Pratt, at Singapore, of Mr. Wildman, at Hongkong, and of Mr. Williams, in the city of Manila. “AguinaldOj on his part, promised that he woirld conduct the war with human- ity; that he would control the forces that were operating against the Spanish at that time around Manila, and he was only put on board ship at Singapore when Commodore Dewey telegraphed, ‘Send Aguinaldo at once.’ He went to Hongkong and there he put himself into the hands of another American consul, Mr. Wildman, who, in the secrecy of night, to prevent any interference, himself put Aguinaldo and seventeen of his officers on board the U. S. S. McCulloch and sent them to Manila. There he was put ashore and taken to the arsenal at Cavite and was fur- nished by the Americans with the arms which he required. “The chiefs who were carrying on this revolution throughout the different provinces rallied around him and made him their leader. They came promptly in and gave their adhesion to him. Then the correspondence continued between Gen- eral Anderson, commanding the American forces, and General Aguinaldo, command- ing the insurrectionary forces of the Philippines. He was asked to give passes to our officers to go through his lines and was requested to furnish us with the material of war. He did give us carts, bullocks, horses, firewood, and everything else we demanded of him. In these communications he is called our ally; in others he is called our auxiliary; but in every instance, unaware of the instruction of our State Department, he trusted to the open declarations of our civil and military officers that he was our ally and auxiliary. It makes no difference what our mental reser- vations were, Aguinaldo acted in good faith, and we are compelled to make those people understand that we are not to repudiate the understanding which we gave of our relation to them. “ ‘True hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood.’ ” ME. BLAND OF MISSOUEI NOT FOE EXPANSION. “We have been informed of a pressure on the part of Great Britain to induce this Government to maintain its authority over the Philippine Islands for the pur- pose of prosecuting further conquest in Chinese waters and over the Chinese Em- pire. That is the secret reason of this hill; and yet, Mr. Chairman, the people of CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. 601 the country are not so informed, either by the President or the majority of this House. ‘‘The diplomacy of England has always been marvelous. Isolated as Great Britain is among the nations of Europe, with great colonial possessions in her charge, and yet greedily seeking to force her way into China in competition with all Europe, she finds that allies and friends are necessary to accomplish this object. She has sought by every means that diplomacy could devise to commit us to a policy that would bring about the necessity of co-operating with her in order to carry out her designs. If England can succeed in inducing the American Government to hold the Philippine Islands at the point of bayonets (and we can hold them in no other way), it is quite apparent that the friendship of England and her aid will be neces- sary to our success. “This is precisely what England wants. England wishes to place the United States in a position of dependency on her. We will then no longer be independent; will no longer have the position of absolute segregation from the broils of the Old World. Dependent upon England to hold Asiatic territory, we must of necessity aid her in her wars of conquest. It may be well to have the friendship of England; in fact, the friendship of all European countries; but it is far better not to need the friendship of any. The idea of a standing army of 100,000 men strikes the American people with horror. It forebodes plutocratic control by the use of the bayonet; it looks to a strong centralized power with an army at its back to subdue the people into silence and to plutocratic methods. “A conservative estimate places the cost of each soldier in our army at $1,000 per year in time of peace. At the lowest estimate that can be made with safety an army of 100,000 men will tax the people of this country $100,000,000 annually. If this army must be utilized in the subjugation of the Philippine Islands, or to hold Porto Rico, the cost of transportation and ammunition and disease and death, resulting in pensions, will, in all probability, tax the people of this country $150,- 000,000 annually. We now pay out about $150,000,000 annually for pensions, which is charged to the military establishment, and to add to it another $150,000,- 000 would make a sum total of $300,000,000 a year spent as the result of war and the prosecution of war, as contemplated in this bill. The overtaxed and inhumanly burdened people would cry against it. This army, however, will be used to repress the efforts of the people to throw off their burdens and bring about reforms. “I can not but regard it as a deep-laid scheme to enslave the American people under the present domination of plutocracy. English influence has been thus far successfully exerted in fixing upon our people the English gold standard. The 602 CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. power of the Bank of England, the wealth of that country, over the banks and mon- eyed institutions of this country has brought to bear the combined power of the capitalists of England and America to control our financial system. The next move is to put our army and navy at the service of England in the prosecution of Asiatic conquest, the end of which no man can see. We have no use whatever for the Phil- ippine Islands. To annex them is to practically abandon the Monroe Doctrine.” SENATOR CAFFERY NOT FOR EXPANSION. “We ought to know whether or not the sugar, the rice, the hemp, and other products coming from the islands can come in with a duty or without a duty. That is a very material consideration for the people of my State. Some of them down there seem to he under the impression that the products of the islands can be taxed by the Congress of the United States as if they did not belong to the domain of the United States. I believe that is a wrong impression. I believe that taxation must be uniform I know there are judicial precedents holding that view, and I believe that the precedents are in exact conformity with the Constitution of the United States. “The Senator from Nevada says that there is no danger of competition from these islands; that the labor of the Tropics does not come to the temperate zone, and vice versa. That may be true, but if there is a condition of free trade existing between the United States and the Philippine Islands, what is to prevent American capital from exploiting the resources of that country through Malay labor and bringing the product here to compete with American labor? “Given the conditions of free trade, given the conditions of a stable govern- ment, given the conditions of American capital and American ability to organize, why not make the Tropics flourish? Why not develop the resources of the Tropics in the Philippines to their highest extent? They already export 250,000 tons of sugar. They export a vast quantity of manila hemp, the best in the world. Under the conditions that American enterprise and capital and skill could create in those islands, all these products and many more to be developed would come in competi- tion with the products of American labor right heTe at home. “There is no opportunity there, as the Senator well remarks, for any hard- working, industrious white man to go to the Philippines. He can not stand the climate. If that were an uninhabited country in the temperate zone, notwithstand- CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. 603 ing it is 7,000 miles away from our coast, if it could afford a place where the Amer- ican workman, the American yeoman could settle and better his fortunes, it would not be a great evil; but as it is 7,000 miles from our coast, inhabited by a people who perhaps will, at least to a small extent, come here while certain it is that our people can not go there except as capitalists and exploiters/’ SENATOR TILLMAN AGAINST EXPANSION. The Senator said: “There appeared in one of our magazines a poem by Rudyard Kipling, the greatest poet of England at this time. This poem, unique, and in some places too deep for me, is a prophecy. I do not imagine that in the history of human events any poet has ever felt inspired so clearly to portray our danger and our duty. It is called ‘The White Man’s Burden.’ With the permission of Senators I will read a stanza, and I beg Senators to listen to it, for it is well worth their attention. This man has lived in the Indies. In fact, he is a citizen of the world, and has been all over it, and knows whereof he speaks: “ ‘Take up the White Man’s burden — Send forth the best ye breed — Go, bind your sons to exile, To serve your captives’ need; To wait, in heavy harness. On fluttered folk and wild — Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half devil and half child.’ “I will pause here. I intend to read more, but I wish to call attention to a fact which may have escaped the attention of Senators thus far, that with five exceptions every man in this chamber who has had to do with the colored race in this country voted against the ratification of the treaty. It was not because we are Democrats, but because we understand and realize what it is to have two races side by side that can not mix or mingle without deterioration and injury to both and the ultimate destruction of the civilization of the higher. We of the South have borne this white man’s burden of a colored race in our midst since their emancipation and before. 604 CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. “It was a burden upon our manhood and our ideas of liberty before they were emancipated. It is still a burden, although they have been granted the franchise. It clings to us like the shirt of Nessus, and we are not responsible, because we inher- ited it, and your fathers, as well as ours, are responsible for the presence amongst us of that people. Why do we as a people want to incorporate into our citizenship ten millions more of different or of differing races, three or four of them? “But we have not incorporated them yet, and let us see what this English poet has to say about it, and what he thinks: “ ‘Take up the White Man’s burden — No iron rule of kings, But toil of serf and sweeper — The tale of common things. The ports ye shall not enter. The roads ye shall not tread. Go, make them with your living And mark them with your dead.’ ” SENATOR TURNER AGAINST EXPANSION. The Senator said Senator Foraker, while asserting the power of the Govern- ment, in the broadest terms, to acquire dominion over other peoples in any manner known to the law of nations, and for any purpose, and to govern them without re- spect to the Constitution, says that the resolutions presented by the senior Senator from Missouri present a moot question and are unimportant, because no person in the administration, from the President down, has the remotest idea of denying to the Filipinos the utmost liberty and independence in forming their government. It was noted extensively in the press of the country, while our commissioners were in Paris, that they were in daily touch with the President, and were acting wholly and entirely under his guidance and direction. I find in the treaty, nego- tiated by our commissioners under this direction of the President, evidence of such a character that it must override the opinion of the distinguished Senator from Ohio. I find in that solemn instrument not only a cession to us by Spain of sovereignty over the Philippines, but an acceptance by us of that sovereignty, the language with respect to the Philippines differing so radically from that employed with refer- ence to Cuba as to preclude the idea that it was intended to treat both countries alike. CLEVELAND AND OTHERS NOT FOR EXPANSION. 605 It is true that the Senator asserts that there were grave state reasons for the difference in phraseology employed with respect to the two countries, which can be stated with propriety only behind closed doors. But to the plain, average Amer- ican citizen it is difficult to see why we may not protect the Filipinos in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness while forming their government, and afterwards, for the matter of that, as well as we may protect the people of Cuba. CHAPTER XIII. PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. Ex-President Harrison’s Policy of Territorial Permanency and Message on the Annexation of Hawaii— Senator Lodge Says We Succeeded to the Sov- ereignty of Spain in Manila, and Philippine Patriots Have Never Been Oppressed by Any American Act — Senator Stewart Says Filipinos Can Never Come Here to Interfere with Labor — Senator Platt of Connecticut Says the Doctrine of Senator Hoar Would Have Prevented Our Possession of the Pacific Coast States — General Grosvenor Vindicates General Otis — Senator Platt of New York Says We Are Not Forcing Our Government Upon an Unwilling People — Senator Foraker Says Opposition Senators Talk About Theory — Mr. Brosius of Pennsylvania Quotes a Pearl of Poetry — Governor Oglesby Expands — Two of Kipling’s Poems Much Quoted in Congress. EX-PRESIDENT HARRISON PROMOTES EXPANSION. In his exceedingly instructive book, “This Country of Ours,” p. 277, Ex- President Harrison makes way in principle for territorial expansion. Speaking of the admission of territories into the Union, he says: “Out of this habit of dealing with the public domain has come the common thought that all territory that we acquire must, when sufficiently populous, be erected into States. But why may we not take account of the quality of the people as Avell as of their numbers, if future acquisitions should make it proper to do so? A territorial form of government is not so inadequate that it might not serve for an indefinite time.” In his message to the Senate on the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands President Harrison said: “To the Senate: “I transmit herewith, with a view to its ratification, a treaty of annexation concluded on the 14th day of February, 1893, between John W. Foster, Secretary of State, who was duly empowered to act in that behalf on the part of the United States, and Lorrin A. Thurston, W. R. Castle, W. C. Wilder, C. L. Carter, and Joseph Marsden, the commissioners on the part of the Government of the Hawaiian Islands. The provisional treaty, it will be observed, does not attempt to deal in detail with the questions that grow out of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States. The commissioners representing the Hawaiian Government 606 PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. 607 have consented to leave to the future and to the just and benevolent purposes of the United States the adjustment of all such questions. “I do not deem it necessary to discuss at any length the conditions which have resulted in this decisive action. It has been the policy of the adminis- tration not only to respect, but to encourage the continuance of an independent government in the Hawaiian Islands so long as it afforded suitable guaranties for the protection of life and property, and maintained a stability and strength that gave adequate security against the domination of any other power. The moral support of this Government has continually manifested itself in the most friendly diplomatic relations and in many acts of courtesy to the Hawaiian rulers. “The overthrow of the monarchy was not in any way promoted by this Gov- ernment, but had its origin in what seems to have been a reactionary and revo- lutionary policy on the part of Queen Liliuokalani which put in serious peril not only the large and preponderating interests of the United States in the islands, but all foreign interests, and indeed the decent administration of civil affairs and the peace of the islands. It is quite evident that the monarchy had become effete and the Queen’s government so weak and inadequate as to be the prey of designing and unscrupulous persons. The restoration of Queen Liliuokalani to her throne is undesirable, if not impossible, and unless actively supported by the United States would be accompanied by serious disaster and the disorganization of all business interests. The influence and interest of the United States in the islands must be increased and not diminished. “Only two courses are now open — one the establishment of a protectorate by the United States, and the other annexation full and complete. I think the latter course, which has been adopted in the treaty, will be highly promotive of the best interests of the Hawaiian people, and is the only one that will adequately secure the interests of the United States. These interests are not wholly selfish. It is essential that none of the other great powers shall secure these islands. Such a possession would not consist with our safety and with the peace of the world. This view of the situation is so apparent and conclusive that no protest has been heard from any government against proceedings looking to annexation. Every foreign representative at Honolulu promptly acknowledged the Provisional Gov- ernment, and I think there is a general concurrence in the opinion that the deposed Queen ought not to be restored. ‘Trompt action upon this treaty is very desirable. If it meets the approval of the Senate, peace and good order will be secured in the islands under existing laws until such time as Congress can provide by legislation a permanent form of 608 PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OP EXPANSION. government for the islands. This legislation should be, and I do not doubt will be, not only just to the natives and all other residents and citizens of the islands, but should be characterized by great liberality and a high regard to the rights of all people and of all foreigners domiciled there. The correspondence which accompanies the treaty will put the Senate in possession of all the facts known to the Executive. “Executive Mansion, “Washington, February 15, 1893V SENATOR LODGE FOR EXPANSION. The junior Senator from Massachusetts says: “There was an insurrection in the Philippines under the lead of Aguinaldo. The insurrection was dealt with ruthlessly by the Spaniards and was substantially put down. They made an agreement with Aguinaldo and the other chiefs by which on the payment of a certain sum of money and the establishment of certain reforms the chiefs were to withdraw and the insurrection come to an end. In a perfectly characteristic manner, in fact just as they behaved in Cuba in 1878, after the chiefs had yielded a and the insurrection was substantially over, the Spaniards failed to make the reforms and paid only half the money. With that money Aguinaldo and his chiefs retired to Hongkong, and, although there was guerrilla warfare here and there in the outlying districts, the insurgent Filipinos were absolutely at the mercy of the Spaniards and the Spanish authority was complete as it always had been over those islands. There was no other sovereignty there. There was no belligerent there. “Aguinaldo was brought to the islands on the 19th of May in the steamer Nan- shaw, under American auspices. There was at that time no organized Filipino force. At first the results of his appeal were so discouraging that he was disinclined to con- tinue. But he did remain, on representations of support made by our commanders, Then the Filipinos began to come in. They found a very great difference between the situation when they had last faced it and the situation after Admiral Dewey's destruction of the Spanish fleet. So long as there were Spanish ships of war in PEOMOTION AND ADVOCACY OE EXPANSION. 609 Manila Bay it was absolutely hopeless for the insurgents to think for one moment of besieging the city or of making any effective attack upon the capital which was the center of the whole Philippine system. But with the Spanish fleet destroyed, with the hay in the hands of the American fleet, they were enabled to draw their forces gradually about the city, and they did so. When Aguinaldo first came into connection with our consuls he said to them that his desire was for annexation to the United States and for freedom from the Spanish rule. After he had got over again to Luzon and found how much the situation had changed, he gradually began to increase his ideas of his own importance. He had never adjusted his own rela tions to the universe, and they remain unadjusted, I think, at the present time. “But the essential point I desire to make is simply this: The insurgent force, as an effective force, and the insurgent rebellion, as an effective rebellion, existed solely because of the victory of Admiral Dewey, and the Admiral, as you may see by reading his dispatches, said to our Government, T have been extremely careful in all my dealings with these people. I have never made them the allies of the United States. I have never recognized them. I have simply aided them because they were fighting the common foe.’ Admiral Dewey can be trusted, I think, to manage a matter of that sort without committing the United States to any position to which it should not be committed. “Now, to-day we are there in the city of Manila rightfully by all the laws of war and by all international law. We hold it, as we have a right to hold it, under the agreement with Spain. There was no sovereignty there whatever except the sovereignty of Spain, and we succeeded to that sovereignty in the city of Manila and its suburbs. There has never been an act of oppression against the Filipinos by any American soldier or by the American forces of any kind in the Philippine Is- lands. Those patriots have never been oppressed by any American in the active ser- vice of the country, or by any American act. Their oppression exists solely in speeches in the United States Senate. They have been treated with the utmost consideration and the utmost kindness, and, after the fashion of Orientals, they have mistaken kindness for timidity.” 610 PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. SENATOR PLATT OF CONNECTICUT FOR EXPANSION. Mr. Platt said of Senator Hoar: “He holds me up here as opposed to applying to the people of this acquired territory the principles of legislation in accordance with the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution. The United States never have legislated in opposition to the Declaration of Independence and to the Constitution, and it never will. I want to say that an application of the doctrines of the Senator from Massachusetts would have prevented our expansion westward across this continent to the Pacific coast. We found here this continent in the hands of the Indians, who did not want us here, nor did they want to he placed under our government. Notwithstanding that condition, we established our government here, and now, at * last, we have brought many Indians to a state of civilization and citizenship. “We propose to proclaim liberty and justice and human rights in the Philip- pines or wherever else the flag of this country shall be planted. Who will haul those principles down?” SENATOR STEWART FOR EXPANSION. Senator Stewart of Nevada says of the labor question in our new possessions: “I have heard it suggested here that the Filipinos would interfere with our labor system. It seems to me that impression is founded in profound ignorance or want of investigation. There never has been in the history of the world emigration of laborers from the tropical to the temperate zone. I have heard the Chinese alluded to as if they had done it. That is not true. The Chinese who have come to this country come from a climate entirely similar to ours. You never see any of the Formosans, or southern Chinese, who live in a tropical climate, coming here. “Such a thing never happened, and it never will. They do not go from India to England, nor from the tropical portions of Africa to England, although they are under the English Government. A case can not be cited where the inhabitants of the Tropics have gone to a temperate zone to labor, and they are not coming here to labor. The difficulty is they do not labor enough at home. It has frequently happened that men have gone from temperate to tropical zones to labor, but not with great success; they do not stay there long. So the labor question is eliminated by nature. “Then, again, if we have these islands with their tropical productions, which PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. 611 are our main imports, we shall have the balance of trade in our favor. Heretofore it has been against us, owing to the importations of tropical products, such as sugar, coffee and tobacco. The balance of trade against us of two or three hundred million dollars a year, perhaps, has come from these tropical productions. I do not propose at this time to go into details. These products come from that source where we can be supplied, and if we are supplied by a part of our own country, we should not have to pay the money out to foreigners. “Besides that so far from being against American labor, it would be greatly in favor of American labor, for we would manufacture everything that those people require. Manufacturing is always done in the temperate zone, always has been, and always will be, and it will not be done elsewhere. We would have the exclusive trade, and we should have an enormous trade in supplying them with our produc- tions and our manufactures. The American people, in view of these facts, may come to the conclusion that we want to keep all the islands when that question is open to consideration. It seems premature to preclude ourselves as to the question by any resolution when no action is required. Let us wait until action is required, and then act in view of the condition of things that may then be developed and understood/’ GENERAL GROSVENOR FOR EXPANSION. General Grosvenor quotes the proclamation by authority of the President of the United States, at Manila, January 4th, by General E. S. Otis, Military Governor, saying that his instructions direct him to publish and proclaim to the inhabitants of these islands that in the war against Spain the United States forces came here to destroy the power of that nation and to give the blessings of peace and individual freedom to the Philippine people; that we are here as friends of the Filipinos, to protect them in their homes, their employments, their individual and religious lib- erty; and that all persons who, either by active aid or honest endeavor, co-operate with the Government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes will receive the reward of its support and protection. The President concluded his instructions in this language: “It should be the earnest and paramount aim of the administration to win the confidence, respect and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines by insur- ing to them, in every possible way, the full measure of individual rights and liberty which is the heritage of a free people, and by proving to them that the mission of PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. G12 the United States is one of beneficent assimilation, which will substitute the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule. In the fulfillment of this high mission, while upholding the temporary administration of affairs for the greatest good of the governed, there will be sedulously maintained the strong arm of authority to re- press disturbance, and to overcome all obstacles to the bestowal of the blessings of good and stable government upon the people of the Philippine Islands.” General Otis added: “It is also my belief that it is the intention of the United States Government to draw from the Philippine people so much of the military force of the islands as is possible and consistent with a free and well-constituted government of the coun- try, and it is my desire to inaugurate a policy of that character. “I am also convinced that it is the intention of the United States Government to seek the establishment of a most liberal government for the islands, in which the people themselves shall have as full representation as the maintenance of order and law will permit, and which shall be susceptible of development on lines of increased representation and the bestowal of increased powers into a government as free and independent as is enjoyed by the most favored provinces of the world. “It will be my constant endeavor to co-operate with the Philippine people, seeking the good of the country, and I invite their full confidence and aid.” It was this that wounded the feelings of the sensitive Aguinaldo and caused him to make war. General Grosvenor also quoted the President’s letter to the Secretary of State, to commissioners sent to Manial, Schusman, Dewey, Otis, Worcester and Derby, saying: “The commissioners were enjoined to announce their presence and the mission entrusted to them and to consider what amelioration in the condition of the inhab- itants was practicable. The President’s instructions, the orders of General Otis, all official language on the part of the United States, was most pacific, and Aguinaldo’s agony of wrath rose because the Americans did not submit to his dictatorship, which was impossible under the articles of capitulation of the Spanish army, held as pris- oners of war.” SENATOR PLATT OF NEW YORK FOR EXPANSION. The Senator says the talk about forcing our government upon an unwilling people, all the eloquent invocation of the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, is far and away from any real point that concerns the Senate in this discussion. PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. 613 There are reasons why the natives of those islands, after their experience with Span- ish misrule, should misunderstand the presence at Manila of an American army, but there is no reason why an American Senator should misunderstand it and no justification of his course in misrepresenting it. He knows that there is no Amer- ican in all this broad land who wishes any other fate to any single native of the Philippine Islands than his free enjoyment of a prosperous life. He knows that close in the wake of American rule there would come to the Filipinos a liberty that they have never known and a far greater liberty than they could ever have under the arrogant rule of a native dictator. He knows, moreover, that it would be self-rule, the rule of the islanders to the full extent of their capacity in that, direction, and that each successive American President ivould welcome the time when he could recommend new leases of self-government to an advancing and im- proving people. The Filipinos may not know these things yet, but every American Senator knows them and puts himself and his country in a false position when, by attrib- uting the spirit of conquest and aggression to those whose policy has rescued the Fil- ipinos from Spain and would now rescue them from native tyrants, he encourages them to doubt the generous sentiment of our people. SENATOR FORAIvER FOR EXPANSION. The Senator declared the right of the Government to establish a colonial sys- tem had never been before called in question. He asserted that at the time of the Louisiana purchase grave doubts were entertained by the distinguished statesmen of that era as to the constitutional power of Congress to confer statehood upon the new possessions. It was generally conceded, he said, that they could be held as dependencies and governed at the pleasure of Congress. He further declared that in every instance where the United States acquired territory the Constitution of the United States was extended over it and that all legislation provided by Congress for such acquired territory must and always is dis- tinctly in accordance with the Constitution. The Senator maintained that the Government of the United States had ample power to acquire territory by treaty, and he demanded to know of Mr. Hoar if he did not think territory so acquired was acquired constitutionally. “The trouble,” continued the Senator, “is that Senators are talking about a theory instead of a practical condition. What have the Senators who have dis- i PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. (114 cussed these theories proposed? Nothing. You all know the precedents of the condition we face. We had made war and its fortunes had carried us to the Philip- pines. When the end came those islands were in our possession. What was to be done? Four possibilities existed. We might return the islands to Spain, allow some other country to seize or gobble them up, the people of the islands might be left to themselves and the anarchy that existed there or we ourselves might take possession of them. The unanimous voice of the country was opposed to the return of the islands to the tyrannical government of Spain. “The return of the islands to Spain was, therefore, not to be considered. Were they then to be left to themselves? About the time this question was con- fronting us I saw repeated newspaper statements from Aguinaldo and his asso- ciates among the insurgents to the effect that all the countries of Europe would be on their backs before breakfast if the United States deserted them at that juncture. We could not leave the islands at the mercy of other countries. Such a course would have been cruel. We could not desert the people of the islands, and subject them to the risks of disorder, anarchy, misrule and mob rule while they might be still unfit for self-government. But occupation was not to be permanent. “I do not understand that anyone desires anything but the ultimate independ- ence of the people of the Philippines,” said he emphatically, “neither the President nor any one in this chamber.” “But what about our right if we chose to hold them permanently, with no thought of their ultimate independence?” inquired Mr. Hoar. “We have an unquestioned right to do so,” was the reply. “It had been asserted here in debate, as I understood, that it was the purpose of the administration and the purpose of those supporting the administration to take those islands and hold and govern them as a colony by force of arms forever in violation of the declaration of that resolution. That is what I was speaking to, and the language I employed should be interpreted in the light of the resolution which I was discussing. “I did not say anything about anybody’s present purpose except only as that might be inferred from the statement I made that I knew nobody had the partic- ular purpose in mind which had been ascribed to the administration by those who had spoken in favor of the resolution. “What I said was in reply to interruptions and questions, repeated questions, and there is, therefore, a good deal of repetition in my remarks, but the spirit in which I spoke will appear from the following. In answer to the Senator from Mas- sachusetts (Mr. Hoar), I said: PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. 615 “ ‘I do not understand anybody to be proposing to take tbe Philippine Islands with the idea and view of permanently holding them and denying to the people there the right to have a government of their own if they are capable of it and want to establish it. I do not understand that anybody wants to do that. I have not heard of anybody who wants to do that. The President of the United States does not, I know, and no Senator in this chamber has made any such statement.’ “When I spoke of what I knew of the mind of the President of the United States in that particular, I was speaking simply of his public declarations and of his official acts as well, all of which were in contradiction of the idea that by sword and bayonet and shot and shell he meant to hold those islands without regard to the conditions that might exist there and without regard to whether or not the people of those islands consented or objected. “Speaking again, I said that ‘only tw'o things were left’ for us to do with respect to the Philippines. I was speaking on that point. This is my language: “ ‘Only two things were left — to leave them to themselves at once and retire immediately, taking no responsibility whatever for the condition there obtaining, or else take charge of them by cession from Spain, asking the world to have confi- dence in this great Government, which has ever sought to do right, that we will deal with them as they should be dealt with.’ “In answer to another question from the Senator from Massachusetts, I said: “ ‘What I have said in answer to the Senator is in the Record, and will show that I do not know of anybody who wants to take possession of the Philippine Is- lands and govern the people of those islands indefinitely against their will by force of arms.’ ” HON. MARRIAT BROSIUS OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR EXPANSION. Mr. Brosius expressed himself pleased with a gentleman from Indiana because he did not revise, revamp, and reiterate the argument heard so often, that it would be very wicked and wrong and unpatriotic for this Republic to compel by force, against the will of the people, the annexation of the Philippine Islands to the United States. Since no one has ever proposed such a policy, I sweep from the floor of debate all that kind of argument in the simple language of Abraham Lincoln, in replying to his distinguished rival. Senator Douglas, when he said: “Does the gentleman expect to stand in majestic dignity and pass through his apotheosis and become a god by his antagonism to a proposition which neither man nor mouse in all God’s creation has ever advocated?” 616 PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. As to tradition, it was the wise reflection of the philosophic Buckle “that of all the ways in which truth has been distorted, there is none that has worked so much harm as an exaggerated respect for the past.” Jefferson, the original American expansionist, suggested that this country would not tolerate the Gothic idea of looking backward instead of forward for our improvements in government or religion, or consulting the annals of our ancestors for the duties we owe the present. History abounds in illustrations of the fatality of submissive acquiescence in the traditions of the fathers. After the obstacles the geographic traditions of the patriotic fathers had thrown in the way of maritime adventure and discovery were overcome, says Dr. Draper, their ethnological traditions led to one of the monumental tragedies of his- tory. It was believed by the Spaniards, for the fathers had so declared it, that the people of Asia, Africa, and Europe, descending through the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, comprised all the people on the earth of Adamic descent. When they found the New World inhabited, a question arose: What was the lineage of these new people? The voice of the fathers was altogether against their Adamic descent. St. Au- gustine had denied the globular form of the earth; and there could be no human beings outside of Asia, Africa, and Europe, since none are mentioned in the Scrip- tures. So the Spaniards, following the traditions of the fathers, proceeded to treat the natives of South America as outside the pale of the Adamic race and enslaved and murdered them by the millions. The fathers themselves knew that each century must do its own thinking. They would have agreed with Dr. Abbott, that if one generation has no Washington or Jefferson or Hamilton it must create them or die. They were wise enough to judge opinions as they judged coins — considering much less whose inscriptions they have than what metal they were made of; that soundness of opinion was more to be val- ued than their antiquity. Their minds were free from the shackles of the past. They knew that new occasions teach new duties. To-day, and not a hundred years ago, is the judgment day for the question of American expansion. But it remains to be said that this policy is not in violation of the traditions of the fathers of the Republic, as strenuously contended in some quarters. Our policy for a hundred years has been one of expansion. We have expanded from the Alle- ghenies to the Golden Gate and far out into the Pacific Sea. The eagle’s wings have grown until they are 8,000 miles from tip to tip. i i PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. 61? Jefferson not only desired Cuba, but Canada as well, and saw no insuperable difficulties in the Constitution to the attainment of so desirable an acquisition. Not only the fathers, but the sons of the fathers had the same hunger and thirst for the righteousness of empire. In 1854 President Pierce directed Buchanan, Mason, and Soule, our ministers at London, Paris, and Madrid, to meet in some European city to confer in regard to the best means of getting possession of Cuba. Jefferson had some scruples at first about the constitutional warrant for the purchase, but he soon disposed of them, and in his message to the special session of Congress convened to act on the treaty no allusion was made to the subject. He entertained no doubt of the wisdom of the purchase, and was not alarmed at the growth of our domain. Alluding to the apprehension some were under of danger to the Union, from the enlargement of our territory, he said: “But who can limit the extent to which the federative principle can operate effectively? The larger the association the less will it be shaken by local passions.” I have faith to believe that we will be equal to our opportunities and worthy the grand and noble destiny that awaits us. We have but to remember what it is the primal duty of Americans never to forget, “That man is more than nations, that wisdom is more than glory, that virtue is more than dominion of the sea, and that justice is the supreme good.” “Lord, God of hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget, lest we forget.” In closing I give my countrymen this sentiment: “And so I give you all the ship of state. Freedom’s last venture is her priceless freight, God speed her, keep her, bless her, while she steers Amid the breakers of unsounded years. Lead her through danger’s paths with even keel And guide the honest hand that holds her wheel.” In the lap of the Orient, mother of nations, I fling this pearl of poesy: “Mother Asia, we stand at your threshold. In far immemorial yore We left you, great Mother of Nations, And now we return to your door. We have circled the seas and their islands. We have found us new worlds in the main, We have found us young brides o’er the alien tides — Now we come to our mother again. 618 PROMOTION AND ADVOCACY OF EXPANSION. “We wandered through ages unnumbered, We were mad with the fever to roam, But the new flag that waves at Manila Proclaims that your sons have come home. There are weeds in the Gardens of Morning, There are mildew and dearth and decay, And your blind days are drear and your heart has grown sere. The years that your sons were away. “But turn your old eyes to the seaward Where the flag of the West is discerned. Be glad, gray old Mother of Nations, The youth of the world has returned. They come with the wealth of their wanderings, They come with the strength of their pride; Now, old mother, arise and lift up your dim eyes — Behold your strong sons at your side. “They will toil in your Gardens of Morning, They will cleanse you of mire and fen; You shall hear the glad laughter of children. You shall see the strong arms of young men. New hope shall come back to your borders, Despair from your threshold is spurned, A new day shall rise in your Orient skies — The youth of the world has returned.” GOVERNOR OGLESBY EXPANDS. The venerable ex-Governor and Senator made these expansive remarks: