Show L- L r 1 t r i oa d nU i tr from tn American p ports Ot as to men and arms and ammunition ammunition am am- but hut with tho the destination se so- cr cret t. t In each case It is stated that the tho commanders have carried sealed orders which thc they are arc to open at sea I It Jt is generally believed at Washington Washing Washing- ton that they have been ordered to Santo Domingo and that there thero are matters matter of ot importance going forward l at t. t that Island which the public generally gen gon- orally does not know abo about ut If It I were to hazard a guess gUes f said ald saida a a. retired naval na officer who takes a great Interest In national onal affairs and who has haM oPt in touch with official lal maneuvers ers I 1 would sa say that the United States I Is Is' going to adopt an orphan r h and unel that the orphans orphan's name narno Is Santo Domingo Possibly the naval officer Is right It has long Jong been a Cl dream of man many Am Americans President Grant b believed lle d the securing of Santo Domingo would lie he for tol the tho benefit of the United States Slates and did all nil he could coull to achieve that end crul But the time was not then ripe Late events e have hn brought the decision loser closer and anel jho Iw he former antipathy against securing territory away from the I main land of the republic has abated The Spaniards made on Santo Domingo Do Do- mingo their first settlement In the 1 1 n new world For many years cars the re residents rest resi lf l- l f dents a curious S admixture of many 1 races race fought for Independence and anel In iii 1801 Spain abandoned all attempt to toJ toI J I retain ti th the territory In 1821 tho the is island island Is- Is land people proclaimed themselves it II republic but asked the protection of Colombia In South America War waged In In the rl rich h little island for nearly half a c century and amI In 1 Spain again secured control but lost t It In 1866 and the republic was again declared clar lI It has I. I j endured to the present present prest pres pres- t ent but has bus more than once formally announced Us its willingness c to become a ai apart i part of ot the United States Santo Domingo has hns about miles mites of territory bigger than the combined states of Massachusetts f. f n ind Delaware and Its population Is j at ut White hite people predominate In number and unel In the cities English I Is the thc language chiefly spoken Coffee Corfee cacao and tobacco arc re the products though tro trop troi- ll l- l l ia ical a fruits grow In abundance rhe The 1 Inland Is regarded and anel always has been as one ono of or tho the most desirable of ot t thoU the West est Indian group Occupying two-thirds two of tho the territory of the tho Island Islami of or Haiti directly west of Porto Rico which now belongs s to the United States Stales its accession by lIy this countr country seems one ono of or the probable things In the near future It has had trouble with its neighbors and anil with witha a n number o of nations in Europe and the t. good offices of or the United States I have hav been invoked more than once It Is not improbable thal that the entire 1 West cst Indian group ma may ono one da day become lIoI be lIo- I come United States territory It will wIil L not n t be lie Ilone done without the consent of or tI the C people of ot those Islands ve very er L 1 n plainly plain I expressed and ancl not without the lie approval of the people of ot the thu United States But there nrc strategic lc as well seli as ns o other reasons for hoping that the tho thear ar area o. o of the countr country may be extended In that direction direction before before complications arise aris which would make Its po possession possession pos pos- session by lIy another country countr painfully undesirable |