Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1899-07-27

| Urine true or Is II IdlSe. IL II Is IdlSG, nov
| long ought it to take US to decide wha: &c
| do in the Philippines? We recognized the
truth of that declaration when we went
| to war with Spain. We said the people OF
| Cuba are and of right ought to be free.
| Why? Because they live near us? No.
Because they are part Spanish? No. They
| We're and of right ought to be free because
| they wanted to be free, and governments
come up from the people .LApplause.1 II
| they were and of right ought to be free,
| who can draw a line between them and the
people of the Philippines? Where is the
| philos ophy that entities one to liberty and
! another to vassalage? You say you dom
know what to do? [Applause.l If you find
pocketbook, and on it the name of the
| owner, do you have to count the money in
| the pocketbook before you know what to
| do with the pocketbook?
| ''Ifthe doctrine set forth in the declaration
| of independence is sound, then we cannot
| rightfuly acquire title by conquest. If
| the doctrine set forth in the declaratio
| of independence is sound, we cannot right
| fully purchase 100000 of people at g
| apiece from an alien monarch, whose re-
| bellious subjects we ourselves armed to
| fight against their monarch. There is a
principle involved, and when the principle
| is once understood its application is not
difficult and if the people of the Philippine
| islands are and of right ought to be
| free. then this nation should without one
moments delay announce to those people
| that we are there as friends and not as
| enemies to establish a government, which
| shall be their government and not our
government when it is established. Not
| only ought we to do that now: we ought
| to have dOCe it in the beginning, and il the
promise made to Cuba had been made to
| the Filipinos not one drop of blood would
have been shed in the Philippine islands
And we would be sending school teachers
to Manila to teach them instead Of SOL
diers to tell them that the ieclara ton was
a lie The Filipinos came into our hands
by accident of war, and, coming into our
hands, they must be dealt with according
to American principles and not according
to European principles.
They say that if we were to give those
people their independence other nations of
Europe would laugh a US. Are We afraid
TO be laughed at? Why, more than hun
dred years ago, when there were but three
millions of people in this country, our fore
fathers dared to give to the world declar-
alton at which the people of the ole world
laughed, but for which our people fought.
When the trainers of the declaration Of in
dependence wrote among the self-evident
truths that all men are created equal,
endowed with inalienable rights, that gov
ernments are instituted among men to Sc
cure these rights, deriving their just pow
ers from the consent of the governed. the
people of the old world laughed. But they
didn't laugh long, because our forefatherS
maintained their declaration, and for more
than century this republic has been the
most potent factor in all the world in in
f1uencing the destiny of the human race.
GApplauSe.l Shall we be ashamed to admit
now that We believe in the declara ton of
independence? l repeat that We must deal
with these people according TO American
principles. They desire their irGepend-
ence. Let us say to them. as we said to
Cuba. stand up, be free, and then to all
the world say hands off, and let every re-
public live.
Tell me that we don't know what to do?
All We have to do is to read our nations
history, to watch the nation a It travelled
the pathway to lead from the little name
of might to the lofty name of right, and
then You can tell what this nation must do
if It is true TO its past You have in your
city a poet who has written the best poem
on the Philippine question. DR.. Taylor has
crowded into a single verse more philOs-
Ophy as well as poetry, more philosophy
than you will find in a whole speech on the
side of Imperialism, and if ne never does
anything else he has done enough in that
writing Of this one poem to give him a
claim to the consideration of his fellow
men. This nation has not wasted its SUBJ
stance in riotous living. This na tion is
not ready to turn back and with trembling
voice ask TO be clasSed among the hired
servants Of royalty. This nation has not
sinred against heaven, and God grant that
the crowned heads of the old world may
never have occasion to kill the fatted calf
to celebrate the return of this republic
from independence back to the creed of
Caln. w nat SnOuIu the democratic .t<TLy
do? Why, there is but one thing it
DO. Sometimes l hear the people say if the
party is not careful about this question OF
Imperialism it is going to lose votes. My
friends, when the declaration of independ-
ence is repealed there will never more be
a democratic party in this country or
need for one. Our faith is built upon it.
and We cannot turn our backs upon the
teachings of the fathers. Every wrong to
be righted finds its inspiration in that doc
lT0nn II a Of aSl- for Siy Ole
form without showing that all ask
conforms TO the principles CT the declara-
ton of independence. And so the demo-
cratic party must be true TO the foundation
principles of this government. 1t believes
in the independence of the individual in
Industrial life, and says to the trust: You
shall not crush up the life of the struggling
manhood of this country 1t believes in
the independence OF the financial world,
and says to the foreign financier: You
cannot make the policy for 100000 of
American citizens It believes in the doc
trine of liberty and independence every
where. and when We plead for the right of
people to govern themselves, although they
differ from US in color and in race and in
history, we are pleading for them. We are
pleading for the safety of our own inStitu-
tions. Lincoln said that the safety of this
nation was not in its army or its navy,
but in the spirit of liberty, in the spirit that
prizes liberty as the heritage of all men
in all lands everywhere, and he said that
if we destroy this spirit of liberty we plant
the seeds of deSpotism at our own doors.
You ask me why the democratic party
believes in giving independence to the
Filipinos. 1 reply, because we cannot de-
stroy self-government in the orient without
endangering self-government in the United
States. It is not for the Filipinos that we
plead. It is for 100000 of people. the
greatest in the world and yet people not
great enough to do harm to the Eumblest
people in all the world. We are preparing
-
committee met to-day and prepared fer
its work. We are going out to fight. You
ask me whether we are going to win. ]
tell you 1 believe we ought TO win, and
there is no way upon which you can pre-
dict success except to deserve success.
IApplause.l We are not going to ask: Is
this thing popular?' or Is the other thing
popular? We are going to ask: is this
thing right?' Ard if this thing is right,
the democratic party would rather go down
as the champion of the right than to win
as the champion of the wroHg.
Don't be afraid of defeat. / can speak
from experience, and having met face to
face large number of those who were
kind enough and generous enough to give
their support in 1896, I can say TO you
without flattery that, having seen them,
l would rather go down with them to
eternal defeat than be president and have
to ask England what to do for ny country"
MIR. Mckinley is the weakest of
American presidents since James Blu
chanan. Avoidance of responsibility. |
timidity, the complete domination of |
politics and an opportunism that has t
made anything like definite policy |
have thus far be- the |
marks of William McKinley's adminisI |
tration. Whether OF not the people lik9 |!
this sort of administration will be seen |