to make the whole world a more comfortable home for the

human race.

The elaborate index to the entire series is the work of Mr. J. A. Burgan, who has also given to each volume the invaluable aid of his learning and of his technical knowledge of the art of book-making.

FRANCIS NEWTON THORPE.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

THE war of 1898 with Spain brought into American political and economic life a group of problems entirely dissimilar to those which had arisen in our history before that date. Distant and non-contiguous territories, inhabited by uncivilized and subject peoples were thrust at our doors, or in the ardor of the time were seized and annexed for altru

istic or selfish reasons. Later, in the calmer moments of peace, American administrators and legislators were compelled to face and solve the new problems which the insular possessions had brought with them into the American commonwealth. At first unconsciously and under military authority the relations of the nation to its wards were determined; then came conscious constructive work by the military and executive officers; this in turn was followed by remarkably strong organic acts passed by Congress for the government of the islands; and finally came the process, which still continues, of so adapting and amending the organic acts that they may bring happiness and contentment to the insular races.

The aim of the present work, as the chapter headings. show, has been twofold: first, to present a brief history of each of the island possessions down to the time of its annexation to the United States; and secondly, to describe how each came to be annexed to the United States and the manner in which it has been treated since its union with our country. In the chapters dealing with the prior history

of the islands, the attempt has been made to avoid a mere chronological narrative, and instead so to present the salient political, economic, and social facts that they would prepare the reader for a clear comprehension of the difficulties which faced the American administrators. In the second group of chapters also no effort is made to recount in detail all the legislative and administrative measures adopted by the American authorities; but, on the other hand, the aim has been to select those features of American policy which are characteristic of the national purposes and ideals in its new task of colonial government.

In the preparation of the chapters upon the early history of the islands use has been made, wherever possible, of the writings of the original settlers or of their immediate successors. The accounts of the voyages of Columbus, Magellan, Cook, and Vancouver; the narratives of Turner and Ellis; and the more recent works of Fornander and Foreman have been consulted. The author's indebtedness to Blair and Robertson's The Philippine Islands, to Prof. W. F. Blackman's The Making of Hawaii, and to R. A. Van Middeldyk's The History of Puerto Rico, is cheerfully acknowledged. The details of the struggle for annexation in Cuba, in Hawaii and in Samoa have been studied in the annual reports upon foreign relations, and in the convenient collection of material in the compilation of the Reports of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations published at Washington in 1901. The history of American occupation has been drawn largely from the annual or special reports of military and civil governors, of investigating committees and commissions, or the records of congressional debate and action. A most useful aid in this work has been the recent volume by W. F. Willoughby, entitled Territories and Dependencies of the United States. The statements of official reports have been checked by reference to such works as L. S. Rowe's The United States and Porto Rico, A. G. Robinson's Cuba and the Intervention, and H. P. Willis's Our Philippine Problem.

Within the compass of this volume it has been possible to present but a brief sketch of the centuries of history in the islands, and to touch in a cursory manner only upon the problems which the recent acquisitions have brought to us. But it is hoped that even this general treatment of the subject may lead to a deeper interest and closer study of the island possessions and their future relations to the United States.

ALBERT E. MCKINLEY.