Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 26, 1914

Eight Thousand Islands Under the Stars and Stripes

It will be news to many Americans that the rule of the United States now extends over eight thousand islands of the sea. This is the statement made in the recent report of the National Geographical Society. These islands possess a population of ten million. Epitomizing the report and speaking of the development of these islands under the American government, Zion's Herald for Jan. 21, 1914, says:—

The development of these islands since coming under the Stars and Stripes has been truly remarkable. Their commerce exceeds $300,000,000, and the American capital invested in them approximates $400,000,000. The development of Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Alaskan islands has been especially noteworthy. When Porto Rico came under American rule, there was but one school building, while today there are 1,200, with 175,000 pupils, as against 25,000 in the first year of American administration. Then the foreign commerce was about $20,000,000 a year; now it is nearly $100,000,000. In Hawaii the value of property has increased one half, the sugar crop has more than doubled, and deposits in banks are greatly enlarged. The island has a marvelous irrigation system, and produces more sugar per acre than any

other spot on the globe. The report goes on to say that, while Alaska cost the United States $7,200,000, an expenditure believed by some to be unjustifiable, the annual value of the sealskins alone for many years was approximately large enough to pay its cost, and at the present time the value of the canned salmon sent to the United States is twice the entire cost of the islands.