Back in God's Country Again.
A Grand Constitution that could Govern the World. The American
Flag must Rule the Western Hemisphere and None Save God can
Prevent this. America's Perilous Over-confidence. Our Great Navy
in 1999. England's Friendly Offices in 1898. America and Great
Britain Firm Friends Forevermore.
Having thus briefly reviewed the condition of Europe in 1999; the
changes that had been effected in the map of that continent; the
cordial relations existing between the American Eagle and the British
Lion in that year; the acknowledged supremacy of America and England
over the entire world; the obliteration of Spain in 1930; the fall
of France in 1935; the banishment of moslem rule from Europe and the
grandeur of British rule in Africa and India, let us again return to
God's own country, The United States of the Americas, which chosen
land, in 1999, became the wealthiest, most prosperous and powerful
of all nations upon this inhabitable globe. Having traveled abroad in
the preceding chapter to secure a glimpse of the world's condition in
that year, we gladly set foot again in the new world to examine more
closely and accurately into the status of the great American Colossus.
If there are any who believe that the great and infallible constitution
of the [It Could Govern the World.] United States of America is not
broad and strong enough to include in its scope and government every
country in our Western Hemisphere from Alaska to Patagonia; if there
are any Americans who believe that Central and South American Republics
can never be governed under our American Republic, employing the same
language and the same coinage, all sheltered under the noble flag of
Bunker Hill, to such unbelievers in the future expansion of America
we appeal in vain through these pages. They fail to understand that
America has a great duty to perform and is destined to become the
light of the world.
To any fair minded and candid student of history the conclusion
must come with force that America with [It is the Hand of Destiny.]
her forty-five states in 1899 was a mere local affair compared with
the certainty of all the other republics joining under one government
with ours in 1999.
America in 1899 was yet in the cradle of her infancy, occupying a
modest and narrow strip of territory extending from Maine to Florida;
fringed by Canada on the north and laved by the waters of the Mexican
gulf on the south.
Her position on this continent was that of a Gulliver by whose side
the other southern republics looked like Lilliputians. Providing
that the giant is gifted not only with strength and a stout heart,
but governed, also, by good principles, why should the Lilliputian
Republics of Central and South America fear? Would it not be better
for them to make common cause with their great American neighbor and
live under one flag?
In 1899 the tendency of the period was to consolidate; the "trust
epidemic" then [Uncle Sam's Big Trust.] raged at its height; the aim
of that period, at least in commercial affairs, was to gather together
the small concerns and unite them into a whole. The United States of
the Americas in 1999 was largely built on the trust principle. Uncle
Sam was running the biggest concern in the government line and the
little South American Republics had simply been gathered in by the
big fellow. They all were merged into one great American nation,
governed by the same constitution, and all lifted up their gaze with
patriotic pride to the Stars and Stripes.
At this juncture it might be interesting to learn by what means and in
what manner was this vast American Republic protected by sea and land
in 1999. Conscious of her vast resources and enormous strength, America
from the close of the Civil War in 1865 to the year 1885 remained
practically unarmed, keeping on hand a mere corporal's guard in the
shape of an army. Her navy up to 1882 consisted of an aggregation of
warships of more or less antiquity, mere washtubs with smooth bore
guns, whose ordnance, discharged against a modern battleship, would
have about the same effect as throwing boiled peas at a brick wall.
Twenty years after the close of the Civil War, in 1885, America had
commenced to [Uncle Sam Wakes Up.] rub her eyes and to awaken from her
perilous Rip Van Winkle siesta of two decades and to realize, at last,
that a strong navy had become a national necessity. Over-confidence
is a dangerous foe to national safety. America, a land filled with
liberty-loving patriots and master mechanics, set to work none too
soon to provide herself with a navy; fighting machines that in point
of speed and prowess would compare favorably with the output of the
best foreign shipyards. It became obvious to the veriest child that
if our national dignity at home or abroad were to be maintained, and,
if we did not proposed to be bluffed by small concerns like Chile and
Spain, the best thing to do about a navy would be to build it at once,
forthwith, "and on the word go."
Congress took spirited action in the matter, making liberal
appropriations for the construction of a first grade fleet of
modern warships, armed and equipped with best and most penetrating
rifles. This patriotic and sensible policy had been inaugurated none
too soon.
The month of January, 1898, found America in possession of a small,
but highly [Small but Powerful.] efficient navy and on the brink
of war. What we had in the line of war vessels was of the best, but
America could proudly boast of something immeasurably better than a few
fine ships and heavy guns. We possessed what no Congress or Parliament
could make to order or purchase by appropriation, and that was a keen,
patriotic sentiment throughout both the American army and navy.
"The man behind the gun," anxious to lay down his life by the side
of the powerful [The True American Hero.] breech-loading destroyer
he loved so well to train and groom; "the man behind the gun," who
loved and cared for his mighty weapon as a father would his child;
watching it by night and day, praying for the hour when he might belch
from its throat missiles of destruction into the enemy's ranks,--"the
man behind the gun," God bless him, is America's own true born. In the
hour of peril, at Manila, Santiago and at Puerto Rico, these heroes,
man and gun, did their duty right nobly and well. In 1999 the world
still rang with the valor of their deeds.
But America in 1898 found herself still unprepared. The war issue
was lodged with a power of the third magnitude. Left alone with
the Dons the tale would soon be told. Only one year before our war
with the yellow and red flag, an American gentleman summed up the
situation in a very concise manner: "When we get at the Spaniards,
they'll hold together just long enough to get kicked to pieces."
But Spain had other partners, two powerful nations, who, for selfish
reasons, would have been only too glad to give Uncle Sam a punch in
the ribs. Germany, having been fortified by a bribe from Spain for
her co-operation against America, having been promised by Spain as a
reward for assistance the entire group of the Philippines, was only
too eager to close the bargain. The Teutons were spoiling for a fight
with Uncle Sam, ostensibly in behalf of Spain, but more especially
for a grab at the Philippines. France, on the other hand, distinctly
recollected that she owned and held the bulk of Spanish securities
and if the Dons in their brush with America took "a header," these
Spanish securities would not be worth a last year's bird nest. And
now comes an important question: Was America prepared in 1899 to
clash in naval combat with the combined forces of Spain, France and
Germany? Josh Billings would have made short shift of his reply by
saying: "Well, hardly."
Spain's two unhappy partners, in their dilemma then turned their eyes
and steps [Called at the Captain's Office.] toward a little island
that lies slightly north of their territory. France and Germany heard
the growl of the British Lion and before they joined Spain in a war
against America, John Bull must be consulted. As a result of their
interview this ill-mated pair became well convinced that England
would put up with none of their nonsense and would not remain neutral
should they join Spain in hostilities against America. France and
Germany became converted to other views and very wisely decided to
remain at home, meek as lambs, while Uncle Sam was carving up Spain
to suit the queen's taste.
In 1999 our American patriots did not propose to get caught in
the trap of January, 1898, in which America found herself. In the
year first named America was able to meet in war any combination of
European nations that might hazard themselves in the field against
her. The unfortunate spectacle of a great nation like America, on
the eve of war, rushing around as we certainly did in March, 1898,
buying up odds and ends of war vessels and fairly begging to buy
smokeless powder at any price, will never again be repeated in this
great country. The lesson of 1898 was yet fresh in the minds of all
in 1999. Americans of the twentieth century were too shrewd to get
caught napping again in that manner.
In 1999 the United States of the Americas embraced eighty-five
states. Canada [The New American Navy.] had been divided into two
American States, namely, East and West Canada. The original territory
of the United States in that year consisted of sixty-two sovereign
states; Texas alone had been divided into three separate states. To
these were added the six states of Central America, namely, the newly
created American States of Mexico, Nicaragua, Salvador, Costa Rica,
Guatemala and Honduras. Next came the newly admitted American States of
Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina,
Uruguay, Paraguay and Patagonia, making a grand total of eighty-five
states, which formed in 1999 the United States of the Americas.
By enactment of Congress provision had been made that every State
in the Union must build, equip and maintain at its own cost at
least one battleship of the most modern type and unrivalled power;
one armored cruiser of the highest speed, (35 knots per hour,) and
three submarine destroyers of the most approved pattern and of the
most enterprising character.
As a result of this wise policy the navy of the Americas in 1999
consisted of eighty-five (85) first grade battleships; one hundred and
seventy (170) of the swiftest and most powerful cruisers; two hundred
and [Five hundred and Ten Warships.] fifty-five (255) submarine
destroyers, popularly called in that year, "uplifters." Such was the
numerical strength of the American Navy during the closing period of
the twentieth century, on a peace footing. In the remote possibility
of a war, provision had been made to mobilize the American fleet upon
a far more formidable standard of efficiency. The total number of our
war craft of all classes aggregated in that year, five hundred and ten
(510) vessels.
When one reflects that the coast-line of the great Republic, along the
Atlantic and Pacific shores of the Americas, embraces fully 34,000
miles, every mile of which was entitled to our national defence,
it will be recognized that the American Navy in 1999 was barely in
keeping with the vast proportions of the Republic it had been created
to defend. Indeed, it was regarded as being a modest establishment
of its kind, judged by the standards of that period.
The question very properly offers itself, "If the United States of
the Americas in 1999 represented such a powerful nation, wealthy and
prosperous, potent in enterprise and industry, what use had it for
a navy of five hundred and ten warships?" This question is easily
answered by quoting an old and sterling axiom: "In time of peace we
must prepare for war."
The folly of March 1898, when America, on the eve of war with Spain,
rushed in [Not to be Caught Again.] breathless haste into every
European navy-yard to purchase any thing that could float a gun, and
offered haystacks of gold for smokeless powder, was not to be repeated
in 1999. It was recognized in that year that the best guarantee for
peace was to maintain an efficient army and powerful navy, to exact a
proper respect for a flag that protected 531,000,000 American citizens.
The big American Republic in 1999 did not propose to place itself, with
its vast population and interminable coast-line, in the humiliating
condition of China, a people who, though mighty in population,
remain helpless as infants in matters of national defence. America
did not intend to suffer the fate of China. Although her territory
was vast and her population reckoned by the half-billion, America did
not propose to permit European cormorants to pounce upon her coasts,
and, as in the case of China, steal a whole country under the guise
of civilizing it. In 1999 the Americas maintained a formidable army
and navy in order to impress the fact upon the world that we were
not like lambs, wholly without means of self-defense.
The perilous American policy, inaugurated after the Civil War, of
existing without any army or navy worthy of the name, was exposed
through our war with Spain. Americans cheerfully acknowledged the
fact that England's friendliness tended to bring that war to an early
close. Even Spain in 1898 professed to hold our army in exalted
contempt, regarding Americans as a nation wholly unfit for war,
at best, a nation of wheat raisers and pork-packers. Many Spaniards
honestly imagined that Admiral Cervera could sail his squadron into
New York harbor, land his marines at Coney Island and after bombarding
the clams and battling with lager kegs, march his men over the Brooklyn
Bridge and capture City Hall.
In 1999 Americans did not propose to again get caught napping, as
in the "good old [Eternal Vigilance in 1999.] days" of 1898. They
remained armed and ready for war on drop of the hat. No nation in
the former year would venture unaided to combat the great American
Republic. America in the twentieth century became invincible.