tom of every national action there
is a sound practical idea.

It was a pure and unselfish sentiment, however, that impelled us to
prevent the extermination of the people of Cuba, a country so near to
our own doors, and to demand for them by force of arms, the freedom and
independence which was and is most unquestionably their right.

With Cuba freed, the rule of Spaniards in Porto Rico would be both
absurd and dangerous. It would be a menace to the perpetual peace
between Spain and the United States, which the latter are determined on
for the future.

Moreover, as we have seen, Porto Rico wishes most strongly to become an
integral portion of the Union, and we desire to receive her as such.

The rule of common sense should be applied, and both sentiment and
practicality are united in calling for the conditions which the American
Government has demanded as to the former Spanish possessions in the
Western Hemisphere.

The war against Spain was inevitable, was just and necessary for the
sake of humanity and the progress of the world. Both our army and navy
have shown glorious bravery and heroism, and their marvelous
achievements must not be allowed to bring forth no results.

By the fortunes of war a great responsibility has been placed in the
hands of the United States, and it would be criminal to shirk in any
respect this responsibility. We must not give back to Spain any portion
of the earth in which to continue her abominable misrule. Let the United
States move forward to its manifest destiny.

In a powerful editorial the New York Sun declares that our success will
make for the world's peace. We alone were the nation to free Cuba and
the other Spanish colonies. No one of the European powers could have
come forward to the rescue of the colonies without provoking the enmity
and jealousy of the other powers. If we had neglected to discharge our
duty, then that duty would probably have fallen to a commission of the
European nations. The consequence would have been that Spain would have
been superseded in the Spanish Antilles by a strong European power,
which would have led sooner or later to a partition of Spanish America.
The United States alone could upset Spanish colonial rule without
exciting an uncontrollable outburst of envy and greed in Europe, and
occasion a general scramble for the spoils of the New World.

Neither Cuba nor Porto Rico could have been kept by Spain with any
assurance of the general safety