Jan. 19, 1899] -It is perhaps natural to look for a rampant plea for annexation of new territory from the Public Land Office, for an extension of possessions means so much land at a stated price, with wood and swamp rights. Mr. Binger Hermann, Commissioner of the General Land Office, has issued such a plea, as a public document, and disguised as an historical essay intended to correct an error in the map of the United States. This error lies in the statement of facts connected with the acquisition of the extreme northwest part of the United States. It has been assumed that it was through the Louisiana purchase that this territory was acquired. No, says Mr. Hermann; it became ours by "right of discovery in 1792"; by exploration in 1805; by the Astoria settlement of 1811; and by the Florida treaty of 1819. We cannot trace any mention of former historical labors of Mr. Hermann, and are obliged to judge him by this expansion pamphlet, issued at the public expense. His conclusions are endorsed by the Hon. C. N. Bliss, whose claims as a historian rest on his well-known biography or characterization of the Hon. T. C. Platt. There are sundry maps, and certain portraits used "by courtesy of Magazine," though much better could have been found in the Library of Congress. Though the question turns on a question of boundaries, in which the degrees of latitude play an important part, the one map, used as a frontispiece, is without any degrees of latitude. The whole essay is marked by a dangerous ignorance, expressed in language better suited for a stump speech than for historical exposition. a a A The Nation. |