Mexico weekly ledger., 1898-06-30

stakes driven through their bodies and
had their rotting heads exhibited on ev-
cry castle wall throughout the three
kingdoms
To establish representative govern
ment our Revolutionary fathers endured
untold h~ardships through seven long,
weary, bloody, terrible years of war
and seven more terrible years of doubt
and gloom.
The heads of the men who In Europe
and America have given up their lives
that we might enjoy the inestimable
blessings Of freedom would form a pyra-
mid of skulls far loftier than that erect
cd by Tamerlane upon the plains OF
Asia.
Our institutions have indeed been
purchased with q very great price, and
yet we are about to imperil them by
entering upon q vainglorious policy Of
imperial ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, gorgeous in
appearance, but surely fatal in its ef-
feet, or all history is a lie.
Why Territorial E~xpansionS
Why do we desire to expand u ter
ritory? 1t is too large already. You
know, Mr.. Speaker, with your long
service here and your keen powers of
| observation, that from the beginning of
| things-ab urbe oondita-the most per.
picking questions Of legislation, of gov
eminent and of politics have grown out
of our abnormal size. The largeness of
our territory, our wide diversity of soil,
climate employment and interest, have
always been the stumbling blocks to
perfect unity. On this rock-when our
area was insignificant compared with
what it is now--the constitutional con-
vention Of 1887, with George Washing
ton at Its head, came near going to
pieces These things caused the most
stupendous civil war that the world
ever saw, which ragged with Unsuitable
fury until this republic became another
Rachel weeping for her children and re-
fusing to be comforted because they
were not These things divide us here
now into warning factions, for, loath as
we arc to admit 1t, our political parties
are in the main founded on issues pure
ly sectional or local.
Vastness Of area, wealth Of resources,
variety Of climate, abundance of navi-
gable waters, multitudes of population
these alone r not all the necessary
constituent elements from which 8
great, free and enduring government
must be builded-
Russia has all these galore, and yet
she is the veriest despotism on which
the sun looks down.
The Austrian empire possesses these
in an extraordinary degree. Neverthe-
less she presents this hour to tho aston
ished gaze of men only q dissolving
view, and is held together solely by the
personal influence of her emperor, the
venerable and we'll beloved Francis Jo-
ssph.
Cut Bono9
What shall it profit US, even tempo
rarily, to do this thing? Tho annexation
lists draw a picture of these islands in
rosy hues and tell of the free home
steads awaiting us in that tropical re-
gion. We are to get the crown lands In
return for this 81, 500, 900 we are now
a~ppropriating and for the other count
less millions which we will expend In
the future AS a matter of fact the
crown lands are absolutely worthless
Rest assured that the sugar barons have
already secured titles to every foot Of
land Of any value. The free homesteads
to be carved out Of the crown lands are
q fake pure and simple. All the crown
lands which will ever be opened to
homestead entry are too dry to till
without irrigation and SO high mp in
the air that irrigation is impossible
Even if there IN valuable crown
lands which have never been broken to
the plow and fertilized by water they
are not for our children and other white
people Of our breed, for the all suffi-
cient reason that they cannot endure
outdoor work in that sultry climate.
More farming lands there simply mean
more Chinese cheap labor, more Chinese
contract labor, more Chinese and JAP
anese slave labor, brought into our
country to compete with our free white
labor. Such al outrageous and iniqui-
tous performance is forbidden by good
morals as we'll as by an exalted love Of
country.
But the annexationists have their plan,
like the nigger's coon trap, "set to
catch 'em gwine and comm"
They ct first gave 1t out that the req
son we needed the islands was that we
could then grow for ourselves all the
sugar we wanted, representing that the
cane sugar industry out there was only
in its infancy and could be increased
ad libitum. That statement so alarmed
the sugar beet enthusiasts that they
howled SO loud that the annexationists
hauled in their horns on the sugar uues-
ton and declared that they had been
mistaken about that, and that what we
really needed the islands for was to
raise q own coffee, 70 that neither
Spain nor any other nation could pre-
vent us from having an abundance Of
that delightful tipple-
No Use For III Philippines
Within the last few days the nimble
advocates Of annexation have abandoned
both sugar and coffee as reasons and
have found a brand new one-Admiral
Dewey's splendid victory at Manila.
Since he performed that immortal deed
without owning these islands they
soy that 1t is absolutely necessary for
us to buy them in order that we may
send re-enforcements to him. Suppose
Dewey had lost that battle? What
then7 Do you not know that tho an
nexationists would have been yelling
at the top of their voices that we need
these islands for strategic purposes and
because of his defeat?
Now, if his great victory proves any
thing at all about these islands 1t is
that we have no earthly use for them,
for he could not have done any better if
we had owned all the islands in all the
seas. .
We are told that we need these is
lands as a strategic base in military
operations. All the admirals, rear adj
mirals, oommodores generals colonies,
majors and captains say so. How does
1t happen, then, that we have got
along splendidly for 100 years without
Keep Politics in its Proper Place.