The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-12


a Running Fire of Debate In Which
Foraker Shines Brilliantly.
WASHINGTON, Jan. ia climax
was reached to-day In the debate on the
question of expansion which is In pro-
Gress In the senate. Heretofore all OF
the speeches. with the notable exccp-
tion OF that Of Mr.. Platt. Comm, have
been In opposition to what Is presumed
TO be the policy Of the administration
with respect TO the acquisition of the
Philippines. To-day Mr.. Foraker,
(Ohio), addressed the senate in oppo-
sltion to the declaration OF the Vest
resolution that the United States hns
no constitutional power to acquire for
elgn, territory 10 be maintained as COLO
nies While much Of his speech was de-
voted to a constitutional argument in
support Of the right of this country as q
nation to, acquire and govern outlying
territory, he gave particular attention
to the utterances that have been made
IN contravention OF that position, cspec-
tally those OF Mr.. Vest and Mr.. Hoar.
Mr.. Foraker has clear, direct and
forceful style OF 0ratery which COM
mnnds attention, not only by reason OF
the recognized ability OF the man, but
also by his impetuosty and power as a
speaker. He Is at his best in a running
fire OF debate and the frequency OF in
terruptlons to-day afforded him ample
opportunity 10 elucldatc his argument
to the best advantage. He laid down
the board proposition that to adopt the
Vest resolution was TO declare that our
fathers had brought forth nation that
was inferior to all othe.. nations re-
gardless OF the generally accepted idea
that one nation was the equal OF an
other and all equally restricted. He
maintained that the right to acquire
territory was an Inherent right OF rl-
tt0nality, and that us we have the right
to rake war and TO enter into treaty
agreements, 1t follows logically that we
have the power TO acquire territory, by
contest and to assume The responsible.
ties that may accrue stherefron. Mr..
Fornker's strong assertion that the ac-
quistion of the Philippines WAS tenn
porary In character created sensation
in the chamber. He maintained, how,
ever, that we have 4 legal right to hold
the islands permanently,
= In beginning u discussion OF, the
speech OF Mr.. Hoar, Mr.. Foraker said:
- llstcned,sas always do listen. to
the speech of the. senator from Massp-
chusetts. 1t was speech OF great
ability and power, such us he always
1ayyt = 10. IL
amounts only TO this. that the govern
ment of the United States has only the
power to acquire territory for .constitu-
tional purposes and as to what those
constitutional purposes are, the senator
from Massachusetts shall be the sole
and exclusive judge" .
555ls K. Stirs Up lIonr.
Mr.. Foraker's remarks brought Mr..
1ioar out for further explanation OF
his position. Rising and interrupting
the Ohio senator. he said: 'lr We
thought 1t necessary for our national
defense to annex an outlying territory
and IL the people of that territory OBJ
jccted TO our acquisition OF 1t, SHOULD
consider the subjugation of 1t as a great
national crime to be repudiated and
condemned and should say the United
States would better go down beneatl,
the waters OF the Pacific In honor rather
than disgrace itself by such action
Mr.. Hoar said he did not mean to say
that q great continent upon which
roamed few thousand savagcs having
no government should he passed by or
that civilization should stop ut Its
threshhold.
Mr.. Foraker repudiated the conclu-
isons reached by Mr.. Hoar.
AS now understand the senator
from Massachusetts," said Mr.. Foraker,
"the march OF civilization ought not to
be stopped for lack Of consent The
march Of the French across the dark
continent and of the British to Fashoda
is not then 10 be interrupted"
Mr.. Foraker maintained that the gov
crnment of the United States hadflm-
pie power to acquire territory by treaty
and he demanded to know of Mr.. Hoar
IL he did not think territory so acquired
was acquired constitutionally.
THE trouble. Mr.. President" con-
tinucd the senator, "is that senntors are
talking about theory instead OF n
practical condition. What have }thc
senators who have discussed these ttieo-
rlcs proposed? Nothing. You all know
the precedentS of the condition we face.
We had made war and It's fortunes bad
carried us to the Philippines. When
the end came those Islands were in our
possession, What was to be done.
-Four possibilities existed. We might re-
turn the Islands TO Spain, allow Some
other country to seize or gobble them
up. the people OF the Islands might be
lnf 49, = H. Z,
existed there, or we might take possess
sion Of them. The unanimous voice Of
the country was opposed to the return
OF the islands 10 the tyrannlcnl govern
ment of Spain. In many Of the state
conventions ringing declarations
against such n course were adopted and
one OF those was the convention Of the
state Of the senator from Massachu-
sctts tMr, Hoar).
II wrote 1t myself" announced Mr..
Hoar.
Then I presume the senator is op-
posed to that course?" remarked ar.
Foraker, amid laughter. 1t E
Only Thing We Could DO.
"rhe return OF the Islands to SPAIN"
resumed Mr.. Foraker, "was therefore
not to be considered. Were they then
to be left to themselves? About the
time this question was confronting us 1
saw. repeated newspaper statements
from Aguinaldo and his associates
among the insurgents to the effect that
all the countries OF Europe would be on
their backs before breakfast II tho
United States deserted them ar this
juncturc. We could not leave tho Is
lands al the mercy of other countries.
Such n course would have been cruel.
We wisely decided against both these
courses. We decided 10 take possession