cession of Florida, Texas and the other Mexican territories, and finally a startling leap was made across noncontiguous territory to Alaska. Each of these phases of expansion met in its turn with bitter opposition on the part of sincere and patriotic men who conceived that each expansion was in direct opposition to the policy of the founders of the Republic, so solemnly and explicitly voiced in the farewell address of President Washington. Nor, in addition, have these gains been made without loss to others. The tremendous tide of immigration that swept across the valley of the Mississippi and occupied the vast region Thomas Jefferson obtained from France, also swept away the natives who had wandered over it from one hunting ground to another. Yet it is the law that those who neglect or abuse the gifts of the soil must lose them, and so the Indian had either to conform or be extinguished. He selected the latter, and today he is mythology. A portion of the territory gained from Mexico was little short of a spoliation, yet in this case, too, the end has been a justification of the means.

With the exception, however, of Alaska, the territory gained has been contiguous, and the absorption of it as an organic part of the State has been easy.

The Treaty of Paris, however, meant a definite break with a policy that in theory, at least, had been conceived to be in the Constitution itself. This was to the effect that the spirit of the document was opposed to the holding of colonies or

195

other non-contiguous territory not capable, eventually, of being merged into the nation itself.

It is true that the taking of the Philippines was more or less an accident of war, yet the very presence of Dewey's fleet in Asiatic waters proves that it was a foreseen accident, and that it was in the mind of the administration to wrest the islands from Spain should war be declared. The events justified that foresight and the islands by conquest and by treaty became the possession of the United States. Their cost has been tremendous both in money and blood.*

Thus the United States expanded in spite of itself. Yet in the main it was a normal and wholesome growth, recognized by the most far-seeing statesmen as necessary, if not inevitable. This thought is clearly developed in a letter written in 1844 by John C. Calhoun to Rufus King, minister to France: "It is our policy to increase by growing and spreading out into unoccupied regions, assimil

The United States paid Spain $20,100,000 for the islands; $20,000,000 according to the Treaty, and $100,000 in addition for two islands that had been overlooked in the original agreement. This brought the cost of the war up to $300,000,000. To this should be added the millions spent during the long struggle with the Filipinos, those paid to the Friars for their lands, and those for war claims and pensions. The cost of the Philippines and Porto Rico has been little short of a half billion dollars. In the lives of American soldiers the cost has been equally great. In the campaigns against Aguinaldo, from February 4, 1899, to April 30, 1902, there were 2,561 battles; and to July 16, 1902, 130,000 Americans had been sent to the islands. Of these 7,000 died of wounds and disease; and many thousands came back to the States handicapped for life by wounds or hardships.

ating all we incorporate. In a word we increase by accretion, and not through conquest by the addition of masses held together by the cohesion of force." Indeed, all the territory gained before the Treaty of Paris, with the exception of Alaska, has become an integral portion of the nation; and Alaska may hardly be taken into consideration as a disapproval of the rule, for prior to the discovery of gold, it was looked upon as a sort of no man's land. It has been seen that every effort made to annex non-contiguous territory has been doomed to failure. Men of tremendous force like Webster and Marcy nourished dreams of extending the territory of the United States over-seas, but they were never realized, and the chagrin of President Grant over the failure of his effort to force the annexation of San Domingo upon Congress is a matter of record. These facts all go to show the deep-rooted disinclination on the part of the American people to encourage movements tending

towards the establishment of a colonial system, and had it not been for the necessities arising from the SpanishAmerican war, that spirit would be no less active today.

As was the case with Hawaii,* the annexation of Porto Rico was rendered easier than otherwise by the fact that the better class of citizens welcomed the change. Again, Porto Rico, unlike the Philippines, had a large population of whites, in the

*For a full account of the events leading up to the annexation of Hawaii, see pp. 79-86.

proportion of 600,000 to 360,000 "' mestizos" and negroes. It was soon seen that the military régimé inaugurated at the close of the war was needless, SO President McKinley recommended, in the message on the convening of the Fifty-sixth Congress (December 3, 1899), that legislation should be enacted establishing a civil government in Porto Rico. The status of the island, and the tremendous issues involved by its inclusion into the Union, precipitated a long and acrimonious debate, which closed by the passage of the so-called Foraker Act on April 11, 1900. This bill not only defined the relation of the island to the United States, by placing it on a status outside of the Constitution, but also outlined a scheme for the government of dependencies that obligated the nation to a wholly new and untried policy. As might have been anticipated, it was not long before the anomalous situation of Porto

Rico was brought to the Supreme Court for adjudication. Was it in the Union or not? was the question that became acute. As a mere theory the constitutional status of Porto Rico might have remained indefinitely as an interesting and subtle problem for distinguished publicists to discuss, but as a practical issue involving the payment of money, it was necessary to determine the validity of the law, particularly with regard to the status of the citizens of the island, and the constitutionality of an intra-national revenue tax. The result was a series of cases, known as the Insular cases,

which concerned themselves with the question of the right to demand duty for articles of commerce imported into the United States from Porto Rico. On appeal to the Supreme Court it was determined that the insular possessions were obtained under the clause regulating the making of treaties, and "that the power to acquire territory by treaty implies not only the power to govern such territory, but to prescribe upon what terms the United States will receive its inhabitants, and what their status shall be."*

The law, thus sustained by the Supreme Court, was bitterly assailed, both in the United States and in Porto Rico, and accusations were made that the Sugar Trust and other interests dealing in tropical products had a hand in its formulation. This of course was only gossip and surmise, but that the outcome was a disappointment to President McKinley there is no question. Nevertheless, he set to work, under the provision of the law, to organize the new "possession." Accordingly on May 1, the following officers were installed at San Juan, the designated capital:

Governor, Charles H. Allen, salary, $8,000; Secretary, W. H. Hunt, $4,000; Attorney-General, J. A. Russell, $4,000; Treasurer, J. H. Hollander, $5,000; Auditor, J. R. Garrison, $4,000; Commissioner of Interior, W. E. Elliott, $4,000; Commissioner of Education, M. G. Brumbaugh, $3,000; Executive Council or Upper House," J. C. Barbosa, R. M. Cintron, J. G. Benitez. J. G. Brioso, and A. Crosas.

66

The House of Delegates, or "Lower House"

Justice Brown: Downes vs. Bidwell; Dooley vs. United States.

197

consisted of 35 members, who were elected by the people at the election in 1900.

The Judiciary for the island was as follows: Supreme Court of Porto Rico, Chief Justice, J. S. Quinones, salary, $5,000; Associate Justices, L. Sulzbecher, J. C. Hernandez, J. M. Figuerar, R. M. Abcille, salaries, $4,500; Marshal, S. C. Bothwell, salary, $3,000.

United States District Court Justice, W. H. Holt, salary, $5,000; United States District Attorney, N. B. K. Pettingill, salary, $4,000; United States District Marshal, E. S. Wilson, salary, $3,500.

On the other hand the Cuban situation was complicated by the Teller amendment to the resolution for intervention, which guaranteed Cuban independence when the island was sufficiently

prepared for it.

prepared for it. In this, as in many other facts growing out of the war, public opinion seemed strangely at variance. It was even proposed that the nation should ignore its promise and annex the island without more ado. The reports brought from Cuba by the soldiers tended to encourage this feeling, for the Cubans were portrayed by them in no very complimentary light. Just why the raggedness and lack of energy on the part of the soldiers of Garcia should be an argument in favor of breaking a solemn promise is not clear, yet it was nevertheless advanced with all seri

ousness.

President McKinley, however, had no intention of yielding to a temptation for national aggrandizement at the sacrifice of national honor, hence he proposed to establish a Cuban sovereignty as soon as certain reforms had been accomplished. The most important of these from the standpoint

of the United States was the urgent necessity for a transformation of Cuban sanitary conditions. The island had long been recognized as a distributing centre of yellow fever, which appeared with disastrous disastrous results from time to time in the Southern States. This work was begun under General Brooke, who was appointed military governor at the end of hostilities, but was most energetically promoted under his successor, General Wood,* who was splendidly equipped for such work. Associated with him was Colonel Waring, whose labors in a similar cause in the city of New York were so successful, and as the result of their campaign of cleanliness, Cuba became transformed. This fact, joined with the recent knowledge of the causation of yellow fever and malaria, leads us to believe that the last visitation of the yellow scourge in the South has occurred.

The other reforms considered particularly desirable related to local and municipal government and to education. These were carried out as adequately as conditions would permit,

*

Appointed December 21, 1899. His advisory cabinet consisted of Diego Tamayo, Secretary of State; Luis Esterez, Secretary of Education; Juan B. Hernandez, Secretary of Finance; Enrique Verona, Secretary of Public Works; Jose R. Villaton, Secretary of Agriculture.

Transmission by bites of mosquitoes. To prove this Surgeon Walter Reed, U. S. A., made some investigations at Havana of great value to mankind. In the course of these one of his assistants, Dr. Lazear, lost his life, and another, Dr. Carroll, narrowly escaped meeting the same fate martyrs to the cause of science.

and in furthering the last named, many young Cuban men and women were sent to the United States, where they were given the advantages of the schools and universities. It was conceived that by this means they would gain an insight into American educational methods which might be applied later to their own schools.

These reforms being well under way, President McKinley, in his message of December 3, 1900, directed that a call be issued for the election in Cuba of delegates to a constitutional convention. This was proclaimed to the citizens of Cuba by Governor Wood, the date of the election being September 15, the convention to be held November 5, in Ha

vana.

Cuba is divided into six provinces, and the representation according to population at the time of the election was as follows: Havana, 8; Matanzas, 4; Pinas del Rio, 3; Puerto Principe, 2; Santa Clara, 7; Santiago de Cuba, 7. Three political parties were represented in the election of delegates, the Nationalists, Republicans, and Democrats, whose representation was 17, 12 and 2 respectively. The constitutional convention met according to their mandate in Havana, November 5, and on January 22, 1901, the draft of the proposed constitution was submitted. This was modeled primarily upon the constitution of the United States, and was adopted without serious modification.

On February 27, 1901, the convention adopted a series of five declara

199

tions defining the relations of Cuba with the United States. These were as follows:

First.- The Government of Cuba will not make a treaty or agreement with any foreign power which may compromise or limit the independence of Cuba, or which may permit or authorize any power to obtain by means of colonization or for military or naval purpose, or in any other manner, any foothold or authority or right over any portion of Cuba.

Second. The Government will not permit its territory to be used as a base of operations for war against the United States or against any foreign nation.

Third. The Government of Cuba accepts in its entirety the Treaty of Paris, in which are affirmed the rights of Cuba to the extent of the obligations which are explicitly indicated, and especially those which the international law imposes for the protection of life and property, substituting itself for the United States in the pledge, which they assume in that sense according to Articles 12 and 193 of the Treaty of Paris.

Fourth. Cuba recognizes as legally valid all acts of the Military Government during the period of occupation, also the rights arising out of them in conformity with the joint resolution and the Foraker amendment and the existing laws of the country.

Fifth.- The Governments of the United States and Cuba ought to regulate their commercial relations by means of a treaty based on reciprocity, and with tendencies toward free trade in natural and manufactured products, mutually assuming ample special advantages in their respective markets.

This declaration, however, was not acceptable to Congress, and as a result on March 8 an amendment to the army appropriation bill was adopted,* providing for the independence of the island on the following terms:

First. That the Government of Cuba shall not enter into any treaty or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of Cuba, nor in any manner authorize or permit any power or

* Proposed by Senator Platt of Connecticut.

powers to obtain by colonization or for military or naval purposes or otherwise lodgment in or control over any portion of said island.

Second. That the Government shall not assume or contract any public debt, to pay the interest upon which and to make reasonable sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current expenses of government, shall be inadequate.

Third. That the Government of Cuba contends that the United States may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to Cuba imposed by the Treaty of Paris, on the United States, now to be assumed and undertaken by the Government of Cuba.

Fourth. That all acts of the United States in Cuba during its military occupation thereof are ratified and validated, and all lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected.

Fifth. That the Government of Cuba will execute, and, so far as necessary, extend the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island, to the end that a recurrence of epidemic and infectious diseases may be prevented, thereby assuming protection to the people and commerce of Cuba, as well as to the commerce of the southern parts of the United States and the people residing therein.

Sixth. That the Isle of Pines shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boundaries of Cuba, the title thereto left to future adjustment and treaty.

Seventh. That to enable the United States to maintain the independence of Cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defence, the Government of Cuba will sell or lease to the United States lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the President of the United States.

Eighth. That by way of further assurance, the Government of Cuba will embody the foregoing provision in a permanent treaty with the United States.

The Cubans considered these very stringent terms, but a modified form was adopted on May 28, which was rejected by the administration on the