AMERICA, A WORLD POWER.

Shannon News, 17 September 1929, Page 4

AMERICA, A WORLD POWER.

INFLUENCE LARGELY ON THE SIDE OF PEACE.

NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS 1 TRACED.

The growth of the American nation was traced by the Rev. W." Beckett, Levin W.E.A. tutor, on Tuesday evening, in the ninth lecture of his series on "International Relations.'.' A summary is given below: — America, or the New World, is the second largest continent on the globe. It has an area of 15 million square miles, and comprises many races and peoples. North America has an extent of 7,700,000 square miles, stretching from Panama to Greenland. The con*, tinental part of the United States has an area of 3,026,789. square miles, and her territories —Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippines, Porto Rico, Guam, the Panama Zone, and the Tutuila Group —bring the total to 3,743,344 square The United States is a federation of commonwealths,- which T,vas first brought under a common constitution in 1781 and adopted the present form of government in 1789. The 13 States entering the compact at that time had been English colonies, entirely independent of each other. New England, at the north, was settled by the Puritans; New York was an original Dutch colony, governed by English laws. The 13 English colonies in America declared, on July 4th, 1776, that they were, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. Their Mother Country, after fighting them for seven years, admitted enough of this claim 'to end the war. Neither she nor the rest of the Old World ext pected much from the American experiment, and outside France only an 1 occasional philosopher wished it well. i The United States has grown in 150 years to be one of the mightiest, if | not the mightiest, of the nations on j earth. Her comn.erce reaches out to ; every land, and she holds the wealth of the world in her hand. GROWTH OF INDEPENDENCE. The American Constitution was '■ drawn up. .md made by men of the British race, whose descendants form a large part of the present population. There is a land frontier of 3000 miles with the Dominion of Canada, the relations between the United

States and that country are such that not a regiment or & single soldier is on guard to protect frontier against aggressions. The average American of the 18th century, as of the 20th, disliked foreign relations, but his conception oi) liberty had S 3 many points of contact Avith the rights and interests of other nations that questions of foreign policy persisted in troubling him. He desired political isolation —the liberty to remain aloof from the "broils of Europe" or to enter them upon his own terms, for his own objects. He believed that he had a natural right to exchange his products on equal terms with those of the outer, world and freely to use the ocean and all navigable rivers. He wished liberty to expand westward, up to the Mississippi at least, and to handle the Redskins without interference from his British and Spanish neighbours. America emerged from the War of Independence entangled by an alliance with Francs—the only treaty of alliance that the United States has ever ratified. Popular sentiment in the States was naturally anti-British „in 1783, but the majority of American .leaders desired a rapprochement with the Mother Country and this attitude was reflected in the American Press, which exhibited a rotoriously ungrateful spirit towards France. The commercial relations "of America with Great Britain have ever been of great importance. As far back as 1788, America was England's best customer, taking ouc-twelfth of her exported manufactures, while ters of America 'i out-ire commerce was with Great Britain. No less than 90 per cent of America's imports came from Britain. THE SLAVE PKOBLEM. In 1860 came the American Civil War. Any explanation of the eause3 of the conflict must take into account the fdrces which had made the American and the Southern environments. Fundamental among those of the latter was the cultivation of the cotton plant and the fype of labour which it permitted. The Southern climate and soil allowed the use of a different kind ' of labour from that which was essential in the North. Had half-civilised Negro labourers been usable in the North, slavery would have flourished there, for labour was in high demand and the' average ethics of the 18th century saw nothing anomalous in a human chattel. But in the Southern climate the low-class. Negro labourer adapted himself readily. The Negro was held as a slave largely because no other "way was known to control barbarian labourers. The slave-owner was not yet troubled about the "rights of man." The south-west States throve on the cotton crop, made ever more important by the invention of the gin, the sewing machine, and the application of steam. The representatives of the South in Congress voted as a unit. The philanthropic notions of the 19th century aroused its fears and antagonisms. It could see no good in social movements that threatened the permanence of its vested rights. In the 20 years after 1830, while the South was exulting in its dominance over Congress, the Northern Statec underwent a unifying process and became "the North.'' Both in population and wealth the North passed the South, aud, being free itself, it came to dislike slavery, and, not sharing in the profits of slavery, it was able to develop a public opinion antagonistic to it. For many years an anti-slavery campaign was carried on. Lundy, Garrison, and Parker preached against slavery. Exasperating to the South and ineffective in the North, the new gospel was the work of individuals and produced no reaction that could check the annexation of Texas, the conquest of New Mexico, or the opening of the territories to slavery.

| A LEADER FOR THE I.ORTIi. ! Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, had endeared himself to his associates, but had made no impression upon the United States in 185*5: He was a country lawyer, brought up on a raw frontier, deprived of formal schooling, and making 1 only a moderate success at his profession, Avhen he left his office to campaign for the Republican party. In November Lincoln was elected, and the South faced the alternatives of accepting him or the making good of, his threats to abolish slavery. On February Ist,/1861, seven States had. announced their withdrawal from the Union. Slavery was their fundamental basis. On April 15th of that year, President Lincoln called upon the States for 75,000 volunteers to enforce the laws and' re-possess the property of the United States. There was a predisposition in England to sympathise with the South regardless of slavery, which Great Britain had outlawed. Jefferson Davis and his colleagues were ":gentlemen," but none had heard of Lincoln as possessing social standing or aspiration. Lincoln believed that if slavery was not wrong, nothing was wrong; but his paramount object was to save the Union. In the eleven States Avhich entered the Confederacy, excluding West Virginia, there were, in 1860, 1,200,000 men who came within the military ages of 17 and 50, before 1865. Nearly all of these volunteered, or were drafted into the army. In the Union armies it is known that over 2,800,000 men enlisted. For four years the bitter struggle went on, with great loss of life. A debt of 2600 million dollars was created during the Civil War.' The return of the victorious armies of the Union to the farm, j the workshop and the office was as i great a triumph as their conquests had j been. Nearly a million men' were mus- | tered out in 1865; as rapidly as General Grant could direct it, the armies were brought back to the great camps around. Washington. The Union , remained intact after the greatest of civil wars. It had been proved that a republic can act efficiently, that a majority can rule, that a peaceful people can turn to war and conduct

it with success. The Constitution, too, remained as it had been before the South tried to test its strength. The nation was on'the eve of an. industrial revolution tliat was to bring' its changes in the course of time; but a scheme of government that had outlived the Civil War was past all fear of destruction.

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR,

Much is heard of the Monroe Doctrine, and rightly so. It has kept the armies of the Old World out of the New World; it had kept America free' from foreign war. The doctrine of, non-interference with the outside ' world has been something of an ideal to aim at,.but not always realised; the baits and attractions outside have been too alluring. In 1897 an insurrection broke out in Cuba.,, Its close proximity to America naturally awakened wide concern. Spain Was unsuccessful in quelling the insurrection, and her methods were revolting. American sympathy was stirred by the plight of insurgents in concentration camps, and \by atrocities enlarged upon by the yellow journals of Hearst and his sensational competitors. More than once Congress pressed the Executive to recognise, at least the belligerency of Cuba, but both Presidents Cleveland and McKinley refused. In October, 189/, the new Spanish Ministry of Sagasta proposed to abandon the concentration policy, recalled , its cruel pro-consul, and promised some measure of home rule. It appeared that the crisis had passed, but on February 15th, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine was blown up in Havana har- . bour. That started a clamour of war, and when a naval court of inquiry re(March 28th) that the cause vvas the external explosion of a submarine mine, "Remember the Maine" ; went from lip to lip. McKinley, sent to Madrid practically an ultimatum, suggesting an immediate armistice, : the break-up of concentration camps, and American mediation 'between Spain and Cuba. Spain's reply was unsatisfactory. Light-heartedly the United States" entered upon a war that brought quick returns m glory, but new. and heavy responsibilities. It was emphatically a popular war, although no one anticipated a quick or easy victory. It was imperialist in result, but not in motive. No important business interests were looking forward to the exploitation of .Cuba and had even heard of the Philippines. American feeling had simply been roused by the Cuban struggle for independence and outraged by the destruction of the Maine. In declaring war, Congress also declared that the United States disclaimed any disposition or intention to iexercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over Cuba, except for the pacification thereof, and asserted its determination, when that was accomplished, to'leave the Government and control of the island to its people. The terms of peace, dictated by President Mckinley on July 30th, 1898, required the immediate evacuation and definite relinquishment of Cuba, the cession of Porto Eieo and Guam, and the occupation of the city, harboipr and bay of Manila, in the Philippines. The obvious thing to do with the Philippines was to turn them over to the FilipinoSj as Cuba to the Cubans, but Admiral Dewey cabled that the '' Republic" represented only' a faction and was unable to keep order within its nominal sphere. To restore the islands to Spain would be cowardly, yet few Americans wished to take up the white man's burden. On the other hand, Germany's evident desire to obtain compensation in that quarter inclined America to stay. Spain was induced to part with the archipelago for 20 million dollars, aiid on December 10th, 1898, the Treaty of Paris was signed. Owing to the many investments of American capital in sugar plantations, Cuba is an economic dependency of the United States, but it enjoys the inter-, national status of a sovereign State and a somewhat tutored and precarious political independence.

lii 1917 the Danish West Indies became the Virgin Islands of the United States. They have since remained a political appanage of the Navy Department;' and Guam, an island of the Ladrones, and Tutuila, the American share of the Samoan Group, have the same status. The annexation of the Hawaiian Islands was consummated On July 7th, 1898, and an organic Act of 1900 conferred American citizenship on all subjects.

INFLUENCES ON THE EUEOPEAN WAR.

The Great War divided American opinion into three antagonistic groups —pro-Ally, pr/o-'Gerrrfan, and neutral. President Wilson sympathised from the first with the Allies' cause, but believed that the interest of the United States and of the world required his country to remain neutral, in order to come forth in due time as peacemaker. His "Peace without Victory" address, on January 22nd, 1917, was his last effort to bring the war to an end by diplomacy. Ten days later the German Government withdrew its pledges and announced unrestricted submarine warfare. On February 3rd the German Ambassador at Washington was given his pasport. On the 26th President Wilson asked Congress for authority to arm merchant vessels, proposing to adopt a system of armed neutrality similar to that of the Federalists against France in 1798. On March 13th, 1917, occurred the Russian Eevolution, removing, in President Wilson's opinion, the last taint of autocracy from the Allied cause. In the small hours of Good Friday morning, April 6th, Congress passed a joint resolution, declaring war on the German Empire. The pressure of America's two million soldiers, at a critical period in the War, turned the tide of despair of March, 1918, into the triumph of Armistice Day, in November, 1918. Foolish people have written and spoken contemp tuously of the American contribution

to the Allied victory, as compared with the sacrifices made in men and money by the French and the British. They ignore the ;determiniiig infJuehce of the smaller effort. The British misconception, natural as it is, has had unfortunate reactions 'on, A!i%la-Ameri-can relations. These effects have been seen in the discussions on inter-Allied indebtedness, which are not yet settled. The Allies owe an unpayable debt to America for her part in the Great War, but chiefly to her Democratic President for the League of Nations Union.

MOVEMENTS TOWARDS WORLD

PEACE.

The United States, while refusing to join the League of Nations, has always expressed sentiments in harmony with the ba ; ais of the League. The Washington Conference of 1921, which did produce limitation in capital ships for ten years, was summoned by the United States. The Geneva NavaJ. Confe.ence of 1927—n0t a Lea-giie conference—was likewise due can initiation, but achieved little. In 1928 the United grates invited Great Britain and the Dominions, France, Germany, Italy and Japan to join in a Pact renouncing war as an instrument of,national policy, which has resulted in the Keliogg Pact.. The United States has also, taken pai;t in the work of the Preparatory Commission on Disarmament. i WEALTH AND GENEROSITY. Arthur Mee sails America f the rich young luler" of the world. Ever since the Civil War, Americans ha,ve been piling up riches, so that to-day they claim to be '' the wealthiest people of all time." It has been conservatively estimated that American tourists spend in Europe 1000 million dollars < a year. The wealth of the States is more than the total assets of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spaing Italy, India, China and Canada. In the period, from 1912 to 1922 Germany lost 5 per cent, of her wealth. lii the , same decade the wealth of England and Italy increased 13 per cent., the wealth ! of France 17 per cent., while the wealth of the United States jumped forward ;72 per cent. The , population. of the United States is about nine per cent, of the total population of the globe, but their wealth is at least 33 1-3 per cent, of the. total wealth of the world. , If Americans know how to make money, they also know how to spend it. They i are among the most generous of benefactors. AIJ (are familiar -with the names of Carnegie (Levin owes its public library to him), Russell Sage, Pierpont Morgan, Eastman and others. Perhaps the outstanding name is that of itoekefeller, whose gifts to universities, colleges, missions, medical research and scientific investigation have placed hundreds of thousands of people in his debt. During 1928 Americans increased their giving to philanthropic causes by more than 100 million dollars over the previous high mark set in 1927. i

PROHIBITION. One of the biggest things that America has ever done was to pass the 18th Amendment. We in NeAy Zealand hear much ,about the so-ealled failure, of the Prohibition law in the States. Dr. J. H. Eushbrooke says: "The 18th Amendment is generally accepted, and its economic results have been extraordinarily good. Moreover, in spite of fairly diligent search, I have still to find the supporter of the Amendment who is in doubt of its final success." INTERVENTION IN TiiE EAST. The real America was manifest in the strife between Eussia and China. The charge of ; selfish. isolation and unconcern, in which" Europe, and Britishers in particular, have freely indulged against the United States, fell flat in the face of the reminder given both to China and Russia by Mr Stimson, Secretary of State, that each had promised never to seek the settlement of an international dispute by resort to war. The action was taken on the initiative of the U.S. Government. The motive which actuated Secretary Stimson and President Hoover was as nearly altruistic and idealistic as any nation's motive could be in a world so closely knit together as, our world is coming to be. How much America's interference has helped in. the peaceful setlement of the dispute, historyalone will record: A POWER FOR THE "FUTURE.

H. G. Wells says that the years of America's growth and training are coming to an end. .The phase of world action has begun. All America is top small a world for the American people. The world of their interest now is the whole round world- If America i s willing, she is able, to reinstate Europe and turn back the decline. She is in so strong a position that she can. make the effectual permanent disarmament of Europe a primary condition of her assistance.