The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-06-25
A SEDUCTIVE PHRASE.

| One of the best and wittiest speeches
heard In congress since the DAYS CT
Sunset" Cox was that recently ucliy-
cred by Representative Champ Clark of
| Missouri in the Hawaiian dsbate Not
outstanding his trenchant arguments,
so Democratic congressman voted with
! the republicans for annexation He
stlgmatized the plea of manifest des-
| tiny" as the seductive argument of ban
dts and said:
We hear much of manifest destiny"
! That Is a charming phrase 1t tickles
| the ears of men; 1t parlers to human
vanity; it feeds the lurd flames Of our
ambition; 1t whets the sword Of con-
| quest; 1t is an anodyne for the troubled
conscience, but it lurelh to destruction.
AT the last it biteth like A serpent and
stingeth like an adder. 1t is, however,
no new doctrine. 1t is as oit, as the
nils. 'rock-ribbed and ancien. as the
SUM- Years and years ago, stripped
OF all disguises and adornments, it was
formulated by that eminent annexa-
zionist. Rob Roy, in this plain, blunt
language:
The good old rule, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the
power,
And they should keep who can.
Moses placed his veto on this conyen-
lent theory Of manifest destiny" when
with inspired pen on tables of s,ore
he wrote this stern command: Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbours lands"
Even In this presence. | beg leave to
suggest that the decalogue is moral
code, and not for the temporary and
exclusive use of the dlsgruntled children
OF Israel foot-sore and weary with
wandering in the Wilderness bat is ap-
pllcable to all persons In all countries
and at all times. for the principles of
right and wrong are eternal AMI do not
change with latitude and longitude, or
with the lapsing years or with the va
rious tongues of men.
Manifest destiny" has been the ,.pe-
cious plea of every robbcr and freeboot-
er since the world began, and will con-
tinue to be until the elements shall melt
with fcrvent heat.
1t was manifest destiny" which led
Lot to overreach his uncle Abraham in
selecting the rich lands OF the valley.
and you remember the weird story of
SodOm and Gomorrah
The manifest destiny" of Jacob en-
abed him to appropriate the birthrght
OF his luckless brother Esau
Manifest destiny led Philips invin-
ciblo son across tho sea, across The
Grancus. even to farthest Ind, to build
up an immense empire. which crumbled
to pieces at his death.
Manifest destiny" sent the Roman
emperors to the burning sands of Afri.
ca. to the impenetrable forests of I;aul
10 the lnhospitable mountains of Asia,
to the bottomless boys of England, and
at last put up the imperial crown for
sale at auction to the highest bidder,
Manifest destiny caused Bajazet to
desolate the fairest portions of Asa
and he ended by being hauled around
in an iron cage as ravening vii .
beast. which he was.
Manifest destiny" imprlled Mad
Charles of Sweden to put all northern
Europe to the sword until he met his
Nemesis in Peter the Great at Pultowu,
gauzy justification for all the bones
bleaching from Toulon to Mount ST.
Jean He was always pratny about
his star but it disappeared forever in
the sunkcn road Of Ohain and he wan
dered from the stricken field "thc i'm
mense somnambuIist of a shattered
Dream
Manifest destiny" makes England
the great bully of the world, expressing
the weak. toadying 10 the strong LAYING
up wrath against that day of wrath.
that dies irae. which il, as sure to come
for her as that a just God rciyns on
high
on. yes! Manifest destiny" Is a Sc
ductivo thing. 1t is the beautiful, the
irresistible. the wicked Circe beckoninr
us on to our undoing. The entire path
way OF man since the day when Adam
was driven from Eden with flaming
swords is black with the wrecks of
nations who hardened to the siren SONS.
OF manifest destiny and the epitaph
upon whose tombstones is: They were.
but they arc not"
TERRITORIAL EXTENSION.