United States by the result of the war, the voice of warning against international complications and territorial expansion will be heard.

"It seems not unfitting, nevertheless, to suggest the thought that these questions cannot be safely settled by an unreflecting adherence to precedents and traditions, however venerable. It is possible to hold the creed of the fathers too sacred and to err by making a fetich even of the Farewell Address. Washington was a man of extraordinary sagacity and discernment, but he was not a supernatural being, endowed with the faculty of omniscience. He could not imagine that Europe would be nearer in 1898 than Boston was to New York in his day, and that the ends of the earth in contact for all the purposes of governmental and commercial calculation. We are compelled to take into practical account conditions of which he could not even form a mental image. The United States is fore ordained to wield an enormous, not improbably a predominant, influence in the affairs of the world, whether we rejoice in the destiny or dread it. It is impossible to believe that some hundreds of millions of the most energetic and ingenious stock can live in isolation, restricting the operation of so vast a moral force to their own continent.

"The question which now seems likely within a brief period to demand an answer is whether and how far events have compelled us to modify the conditions under which our influence is to be exerted. The answer must be sought with the most anxious care. . Hitherto, its course has been in great measure, and with remarkable success, directed in accordance with the maxims which Washington enunciated. Whether they are still a safe rule of conduct remains to be determined by those who have a wider vision than his, and, we trust, a not less earnest purpose to discern and follow duty."

The Battle of Manilla Bay gave a new argument to the

forces favoring annexation when, with the fleet in the Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands became indispensable as a base in the voyage from San Francisco to Lanilla.

The importance of

the situation was appreciated by the Administration and resort was had to the method which was used in the case of Texas. A joint resolution was introduced into the House of Representatives on May 17 by lir. Hitt, of Illinois. The resolution provided that

"as the government of Hawaii had consented
in due form to the cession to the United
States of all rights of sovereignty over
the islands, the cession was 'accepted,
ratified and confirmed.' The resolution
covered much ground in the matter of the
future government of the islands, and pro-
vided for commissioners to carry the resolu-
tion into effect." 10.

On the 25th the New York Tribune became enthusiastic in

the support of the resolution and strongly advocated its passage in the following editorial:

"NEED FOR ANEXATION

It

"The question of the annexation of
Hawaii is up once more in Congress.
now takes the form of a joint resolution.
It is understood that the measure will
come up in the House soon, perhaps tomor-
row, and that it is practically certain
to be adopted. In the Senate it is be-
lieved to command a good majority, but it
is hinted that for some unsuitable reason

10. Stanwood, II, p. 22.