Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
DANGERS OF IMPERIALISM
Train Of National Evils in the Wake Of
Territorial Expansion.
DISTRIBUTING THE OBJECT OF THE WAR
Efforts of Land Grnbbers 90 Re-
pudiate the Declaration of Com
prcss nnd Make Our Profess
sion n Gigantic sham.

ION. Carl Schurz writes to the New YORK
,endent the following arraignment OF
I IL who seek to transform a war entered
upon for humanity's sake into a gigantlc
land grabbing scheme:
1t Is remarkable how the moral sense, as
well as the reasoning faculties OF persons
who are otherwise quite upright and judi
cious. may sometimes become obscured
or confused by the influence Of those
violent currents of opinion which, In
popular p%arlance, we call "crazes.'
Shortly after the close of our civil
war the proposition was advanced that the
national bonds should be paid off in de-
preciated greenbacks. and, as this idea
seemed to take hold of the popular mind.
persons. who, in their private dealings, were
scrupulously honest, would convince them
selves. and try to convince others, that a
way OF paying debts which, between man
and man they would have abhorred as ut
terly knavish, would be perfectly just II
adopted by the government as to its bond
creditors. We had the same experience
during the fiat-money craze in the 70s,
before the resumption of specie payments,
and again later, during the silver craze. A
similar phenomenon we have had occasion
to observe since the day Of Dewey's bril-
liant victory in Manila harbor, which
seemed to put in our power a group of sew
eral hundred islands with a population of
over 5000, 900 souls, about 5000 miles away
from our western coast, thus giving us an
important position in those distant seas, in
which the colonizing powers Of Europe are
busily maneuvering for predomlnance.
This was to US n new sensation, APP
parently sufficient to %unsettle, in
the minds of many otherwise sober
and well-balanced persons, not
only all their old principles of policy, but
even their sense of honor. The word went
forth that the nation had suddenly come
to consciousness;'' that The United States
must accept the new mission" that it is
no longer the mere United States of Amer
ica," but Imperial America" that w al
ready have "Asiatlc and West Indian posses
sions,' which we must keep, that our "des-
tiny" points to expansion, and so forth ad
infinitum. | copy all these explanatory ex-
pressions from an editorial in the lndepend-
ent, where they appear with the ingenious
ness of a fresh enthusiasm.
When we inquire into the real meaning
OF these more or less ~ecstatic outbursts with
due soberness we find that this new mis-
SION or destiny commands us to have or
to get outside colonies-not as IL our popula-
ton had become too crowded in our present
boundaries, for our large country is but
thinly peopled; nor as If we found the re-
sources of our country too scanty to keep
our people proftably employed, for our home
resources are not only not fully developed,
but not even fully explored; nor as II we
needed outside possessions for our foreign
commerce, for we are still very far from
fully supplying the foreign markets open to
us; but we must have colonies, simply be-
cause we now have an opportunity for getting
some, no matter whether we get them honor
ably or whether their possession will be
good for us when we have them.
III Declaration Of War.
AS to the question of honesty in getting
them, l have again to quote the Independent,
for 1t furnishes the most striking illustra-
tion of the perversion, by a prevailing craze,
of the moral sense of otherwise scrupulously
upright men. The only authoritative declara-
ton of the purpose Of our war against Spain
is found in the resolution adopted by con-
gress, which contains the following clauses
That the people Of the island Of Cuba
are, and Of right ought to be, free and indie
pendent. : That the United States
hereby disclaims any disposition or intention
to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or con-
troll over said island, except for the paciflca-
ton thereof, and asserts its determination
when that is accomplished. to leave the gov
eminent and control of the island to its peo-
ple."
Nothing could be clearer and more specific
than this declaration. 1t was addressed moi
only to Spain, not only to the Cubans, but
to the people of the United States, and, ir
fact, to all mankind. The United States
proclaimed to the whole world, and it wa
repeated in this country by press and speech
untold thousands Of times, that we waget
this war against Spain from absolutely dis
interested and humanitarian motives, solel.
to deliver the suffering Cubans from Spanish
tyranny. Upon this ground we claimed thu
sympathy of civilized mankind, and wher
some European newspapers said that thi'
was all sham and hypocrisy and that oul
real scheme was to grab the Spanish colonies
for ourselves our press and our public mel
repealed the charge with ~virtuous indigna
ton. II ever a proclamation was moral!
binding as to the pledge 1t involved it wa
this.
But the Independent tells us that all thij
goes for nothing and that we have a perfec
right to take and keep Cuba as well as tn
rest of the Spanish colonies. The argumen
deserves TO be quoted as a specimen inspira
ton OF the new consciousness. 1t says:
Just think for a moment, The Unite,
States engaged TO deliver Cuba, preferabl!
by peace, by war il it must be. The presi
dents ultimatum to Minister Woodford Il
hat effect was sent in plain English TO him
in the belief that Spain would steal 1t from
the wires and withhold 1t from our repre-
sentative. Spain did both. Fortunately, gu
minister, who was not without resources o
private information, learned that fact a
soon as it occurred. and learned also tn
attitude which Spain intended to TAX
in regard to it. The order of event
here is important. Our ministe
first RECEIVED, not the ultimatum, which
should have come to him at once, but tn
Official declaration by the Spanish govern
ment that the resolutions OF congress, passet
three days before, had ended diplomatic re
lations between the governments. He a
once accepted the official declaration. re
ceiyed his passports, and left Spain withou
presenting the ultimatum at all.
The president Immediately accepted wa
as a fact. by the act of Spain. We ha,
made Cuba and her deliverance our sole OBJ
~Jective. The presentation OF our ultimatu
might have held us to that. By denyinI
access to the ultimatum, Spain not onl,
freed us from II, as to her, but also Launches
war on us, in n way 10 make the injury o
our whole country her program, and gu
disablement of her at every point both GU
opportunity and our right"