Evening star., 1898-06-14
RINGING SPEECH
Representative Grosvenor Speaks for
Annexation.
TEE HAWAIIAN DEBATE RESUMED
He Protests Against Partisan Con.
siderations.
MIR. DINSMORE ANSWERED

The Hawaiian debate was resumed in
the House of Representatives today with
ringing speech by Mr.. Grosvenor in favor
Of annexation. He held the attention of
the House throughout his remarks, and
vas warmly applauded at the conclusion.
Il propose to address myself for q few
moments to the consideration of the ques-
tion involved in the pending resolution"
said Mr.. Grosvenor. Il do not believe that
this question can with propriety or with
patriotic devotion to duty be made a party
question; and therefore 1. shall make no
appeal to any member on this side of the
House to waive his personal judgment be-
cause this is or has been or may be a
measure indorsed by a party platform.
The Acquisition Of Territory.
From the beginning of the government
down to the present time We have had
stormy controversies over the question of
acquisition of territory. Starting out with
the proposition that there could be no ac-
quirement of territory except by treaty. Mr..
Jefferson with bold admission that he had
no constitutional right to do what he did,
made the splendid acquisition that more
than any other act Of his administration
made him great in the annals Of his coun-
try.
1T ought to be said. however, that the
first President of the United States was
assailed by the same theory Of politics that
We have had recently proclaimed on this
floor, and when the title was settled to the
great northwestern territory where free
dom was first established by law and out
of which five magnificent states of the
Union have been carved. the same question
that has been made SO eloquently and for
chilly on this floor was made in opposition
to the acquisition of that splendid terri
tory.
Take the may Of the country and i'm
agine, if you can. the opponents of this
system OF expansion having carried their
views into the executive action of the coun-
try, and you will discover United States
limited by the Ohio river on the west and
by the line of Kentucky down to the point
where we strike the Louisiana purchase.
And every foot of this mighty domain that
has been added to the map of my country
by the successive acts of Washington and
Jefferson and their great successors has
been acquired over the protest and the
learned disQuisitions upon constitutional
law of great body of men holding the
same sentiments that We have heard here
during this debate on this floor.
There is no power expressly given to the
United States in the Constitution to acquire
territory by conquest. 1t is not stipulated
in the Constitution of the United States
that we can acquire territory. And yet
gentlemen come here and say that they will
select out acquisition by treaty, acquisition
by conquest and stop there, and deny to the
general government the power to acquire
territory by any way not specifically named
in the Constitution. That is the old contest
between strict construction of the Con-
Stitution and liberal construction of the
general welfare" clause of the Constitu-
tiOn. 1t is the same thing that at one time
arrayed a mighty party in this country
against the consttutionality of the appro-
priation of money by Congress for the i'm
provement of rivers and harbors.
Just as wise arguments. just as poten-
tial in the matter of learning and eloquence,
were made for quarter of a century upon
the floor of these bodies to show that be-
cause it was not written in the Constitu-
ton that it was legal and legitimate to ap-
propriate money for Improvement of rivers
and harbors. therefore under a strict con-
struction of the Constitution we could not
appropriate a dollar of money for that pur
pose. And that was over and over and over
again reiterated in the political platform of
those days.
The Right in the Constitution.
so all along the line there has been a
growth of constitutional construction which
| resulted, so far as territorial acquisition is
concerned. in this That the power of Con-
Gress being sovereign over the territory of
the United States, ard this being a sover-
eign nation it has Inherently self-sustain-
ing power-the right to do any act not
prohibited by the Constitution which in the
| judgment of Congress Is beneficial and
necessary for the preservation, the growth,
| the development and the prosperity of the
country. There is a platform that Suf-
| ficiently covers the ground of this argu-
! ment for my purpose. 1t not being forbid
den that this joint resolution shall be ef
| fective and operative, l assign 1t to the
powers in Congress covered by the general
| declaration of the Constitution that gives
| to the general government the power which
l have already described.
any attempt made here to make this po-
| litfcal question. 1t does not affect the
passage of this joint resolution. 1t cannot
turn back the clock of the age that is
striking. that America is entering upon the
dawn of new epoch in its history. No
party organization can turn back the
| hands upon that mighty dial. No puny
declaration of a party platform can turn
aside or silence the voice of the Ameri-
can people upon this mighty question.
Therefore 1 shall address myself, in the
few moments that shall occupy, not to an
appeal to republicans and not to an appeal
to democrats.
If l wished to pave the way for the
utter annihilation of the democratic party
as a political organization, if 1 had the
power to make and select issues on which
and under which and through which that
party should go to an oblivion that the
ages would never break the silence Of
would ask them in this heroic hour to plant
themselves as party organization against
the pathway that the people of the United
States have ordained to travel and which
with the mighty tread of an Irresistible
host they are travelling.
Mr.. DinsmOre's Argument.
''Mr. Speaker. 1 listened with great inter-
est to the very able speech Of the gentle
man from Arkansas Cdr. Dinsmore) on
Saturday, and while he made but one new
proposition, but one point that has not,
as 1 have already SHOWN, been repeated
year after year these instances have
arisen. he spoke earnestly and so ably
that l was attracted to his argument and
followed 1t carefully from the beginning
to the end. / shall not attempt to reply to
the detail of his argument, but 1 was
struck very forcibly by his proposition,
| which he made with so much emphasis in
answer to the general argument upon this
side which he anticipated that there was
at this particular time military necessity
for the acquisition of the Sandwich Islands
| for the military and naval purposes of the
United States.
II had never heard the suggestion made
before and as l listened to him, going
| forward step by step to demonstrate that
| there were two harbors away up at the ex-
a.A .tS.