The San Francisco call., 1898-06-15
BRYAN ON
 THE ISSUES
 OF THE WAR His First Public Declaration $ Made at the Omaha
 Exposition.
Urges That the Conflict Is for Hu- manity, Not for Possession of
 Territory.

OMAHA, June 14. The Nebraska building at the exposition was dedi- cated to-day with appropriate cere- mony amid the plaudits of thousands of the States citizens. Governor Hol- comb and staff took part in the exer- cises, along with many of the States most distinguished residents. The speakers of the day were Hon. c. J. Smith. Hon. w. F. Gurley and Hon. William J. Bryan.
 MT. Bryan's oration was notable for his first public declaration or the war issue. He took high ground on the question, urging that the war is for hu- manity and not for the extension of United States territory. In concluding he said the manifest destiny of this na tion is not to acquire new realms to govern, but to carry out the funda- mental principles of democracy, to the end that equality among citizens may be secured.
 After discussing the resources of Ne braska, MT. Bryan made the following reference to the war and its results:
 War is harsh; 1t is attended by hardship and suffering: it means a vast
  may we'll pray for the coming of the time promised in the holy writ. when the spears shall be beaten into prun- ing hooks and the swords into blow shares, but universal peace cannot come until justice is enthroned through out the world. Jehovah deals with na- tions as he deals with men. and for both decrees that the wages of sin is death. Until the right has .triumphed in every land and love reignS in every heart, governments must. as a last re- sort, appeal to force. As long as the oppressor is deaf to the voice of req son. so long must the citizen accustom his shoulder to the musket and his hand to the Saber.
 Our nation exhausted diplomacy in it's efforts to secure a peaceable solu- ton of the Cuban question, and only took up arms when it was compelled to choose between war and servile ac- | quiescence to cruelties which would have been a disgrace to barbarism. History will vindicate the position ta- ken by the United States In the war with Spain. In saying this l assume that the principles which were in- voked in the inauguration of the war would be served in it's prosecution and l conclusion. If a contest undertaken for the sake of humanity degenerates into a war of conquest we shall find 1t 1 difficult to deny the charge of having added hypocrisy to greed. Is our na- l tional character so weak that we can not withstand the temptation to ap- propriate the first piece of land that comes within our reach?
 "To infiict upon the enemy all poSsi- 1 ble harm is legitimate warfare. but shall we contemplate scheme for the colonization of the Orient merely be- cause our fleet won a remarkable vic | tory in the harbor. of Manila? Our guns destroyed the Spanish fleet, but can they destroy that self-evident truth that governments derive their just | powers, not from superior force, but from the consent of the governed?
 Shall we abandon a just resistance to European encroachment upon the western hemisphere in order to mingle in the controversies of Europe and Asia?
 Nebraska, standing midway be- tween the oceans. will contribute her l full share toward the protection of our coast; her sons will support the flag at home and abroad, wherever the honor and the interests of the nation may re- quire. Nebraska will hold up the hands | of the Government while the battle rages, and when the war clouds roll away her voice will be heard pleading 1 for the maintenance of those ideas which inspired the founders of our Government and gave the nation it's proud eminence among the nations of | the earth.
 'If others turn to thoughts of ag- grandizement and yield allegiance to | those who clothe land-covetousness in l the attractive garb of national des- tiny the people of Nebraska will, if I mistake not their sentiments, plant themselves upon the disclaimer entered by Congress and expect that good faith shall characterize the making of peace, as it did the beginning of war. Gold smith calls upon statesmen:
 To judge how wide the limits stand 1 Betwixt a splendid and a happy land.
 If some dream of the splendors of a heterogeneous empire encircling the globe, we shall be content to aid in bringing enduring happiness to a hom-