4-2 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR the seas in lands largelypeopledby half-civilised races, and requiringto beruled in great part by the soldier rather than the civilian administrator. The annexation of Hawaii, the conquest of the Philippines and the Spanish West Indies meant the sudden acquisition of a colonial empire,thepossibility of a clash of interests with other imperial Powers in Europe and in Asia, and the necessity of keeping on foot a large army and a powerful navy-, and creating new colonial administrations. Thus,though the war had lasted less than four months, it was one of those epoch-making conflicts that change the face of the world. In the eastern and western seas the flag of Spain, the flag of Columbus and of Cortes, had gone' down before the new banner of the great republic of the West, and a new empire had been founded, the United States going forth upon a path of conquest. Who can say whither it will lead?

of President McKinley and his administration. His action before the war had been undecided. He had made a half-hearted struggle for peace, and he showed again during the course of the war a want of personal decision, an inclination to evade difficulties and look out for possible compromises. And, triumphant as the armies and navies of the United States had been, they left the country at the close of the war face to face with a vast unsolved problem,the difficulties of wdTich diminished in the minds of all but the most thoughtlessand irresponsible the feeling of satisfaction arising from a hard-won success.

The Constitution of the United States never contemplated a policy of colonial expansion. Until the war with Spain, any new territoryadded to the AmericanUnion was accepted as destined to be sooner or later a self-governing state ruled by the vote of the majority- of its citizens. This is a system that cannot be applied withoutmodification to new annexations beyond