The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-17
HUMANITY. NOT GLORY.
Mistake Made by Ex-Secretary Wilson
in Considering Cuba.
Buffalo Courier.

Buffalo Courier.
There are some unreasoning jingoeS who
want war for wars sake, but there are also
few people who denounce the very idea
of going to war with Spain, because they
have given the subject only superficial
thought and do not recognize the animating
motive of the masses of the people. Such
a man seems to be William l.. Wilson, for
many years one of the ablest and most
Democratic leaders in Congress. Mr.. Will
son is now president of the Washington
ana Lee University. and in an address to
his students last week deplored the diScre-
tionary power given to the President by
Congress when it passed the military APP
preparation Of 100000, and pronounced it
to be a dangerous authority for Congress
to place in the hands of one man. This is
the view of a political economist, rather
than of a man of affairs. In times of ma
tional emergency, the President must be
trusted by the people without regard to
party and the unanimity with which Con-
gress has upheld Mr.. Mckinley in his prep
arationS for war is an encouraging sign
that patriotism still takes precedence over
craftsmanship.
But President Wilson made worse mis-
take, and one that seems almost ineXcuS-
able, when he told the students that there
would be little glory for this country in a
victory over a weak nation like Spain
lions. Can it be possible that he has so
narrow a view of the threatened conflict
as to think that glory is what the people
of this country propose to fight for? Does
he not realize that a SpaniSh-American
war is almost an inevitable result of one
of those rebellions that he mentioned? Out
side of the army and navy and a few bel
Hgerent correspondents for metropolitan
dailes, one is thinking of glory. But the
American people have thought long and
hard about the sufferingS of the Cubans
smarting under the lash of the oppressor.
They are the bondmen of the new world, a
continent that ought to be consecrated to
liberty, so great have been the sacrifices
made in it's name on a thousand battle
fields, by Washington and by Bolivar, by
dol crn and nv NV lint
POuverture, and by the splendid armies of
freedom led by Grant, Sherman and Sheri-
dan.
The mans soul must be shrunken who
can only see in a war for Cuban indie
pendence q mere reaching out for glory,
like that of the pugilist who seeks money
and fame by the use of his fists. 1t Is no
such enterprise that engages the attention
of the United States at the present time.
It is a knightly combat that invites u.s. a
battle with an ancient tyranny in the name
Of right and justice and humanity We who
enjoy the blessings of freedom must not for
ever turn deaf ear to the cries Of starry
Cuban villages and forbidden to till the
fields lest they aid their friends who are
for independence A country so favored as
the United States cannot wax fat in the
midst of its great possessions and ignore
q struggle going on at its very gates. Ma
tions, like individuals, have stern duties to
perform at times. The very wealth and
power of this country, resulting from its
enjoyment OF the nauIOlQ dressings oI Tree
dom, creates the danger that it's people may
grow indifferent to the miseries of others
who are struggling for the right of self
government. Let us think of our own his
tory, of the glorious memories of the revo-
luton and of the aid which came from
France at a critical time and turned the
scale in our favor. In our pursuit of the
almighty dollar let us pause long enough
to remember that the virtue of patriotism
has not persisted. America, no less than
England, needs a poet or an orator to rouse
the national conscience with an appeal like
that of the "Recessional," which may well
apply to our own land as it confronts a
crisis in it's history:
Gcd of our fathers; known of old
Lord of our far-hung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palms and pine
Lord God of hosts, be with US yet
Lest we forget-lest we forget.