of solution. In the case of the United States and its dependencies, this matter of local government is of special significance, as the development of self-government in the dependencies constitutes the central or essential feature which markedly distinguishes the policy of the United States from that of other colonyholding nations. It is in local government, moreover, that the inhabitants of the dependencies must receive their political training, and it is upon the capacity that is shown by them in this field they must rest their demand for a greater autonomy and a wider participation in their own central government. It is for these reasons, therefore-the intrinsic importance of the subject, the fact that the problem of the government of dependent territory in the future will be largely this working out by the dependencies themselves of the various questions of their internal government and administration, and the fact that the subject up to the present time has received no detailed attention that the apportionment of so large an amount of space to this branch of our study has been felt to be amply justified. April, 1905. W. F. W TERRITORIES AND DEPENDENCIES OF THE UNITED STATES THEIR GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Periods of Expansion. Among the prime factors that have determined the character and history of the United States from the beginning of its existence, none has been of greater importance than the possession by it of a vast territory abounding in resources and fertility and suitable in every way for permanent occupation and settlement. As the nation grew, and before the pressure of increasing population scarcely had been felt, this area was constantly added to. At first, taking the form of successive pushings-forward of the boundaries, until there had been included all of the adjacent territory, which either was but partly settled or the ties of which to another country were not of sufficient strength to maintain it in its allegiance, this movement of expansion has at length leapt all barriers of distance and, as the result of rapidly moving events, has brought under the sovereignty of the United States, first, a great territory lying far to the north, then islands lying in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and finally, returning to the mainland, has added a valuable strip of land to the south, |