The Forrest City times., 1899-05-05
AGAINST EXPANSION.
r,o,omic Reasons for Disco-tiru-
 ance of War.
, !. Laurence LaughIfn Talks Upon the Philippine situation at Chicago Anti-Expan-
 sion Meeting.


 aoainst the existing state of affairs in tbe Philippine islands and the policy of ,be administration relating thereto. Many prominent speakers were pres snt among them being Prof. J. Lau- renee Laughlin, professor of political economy, who said:
 .1 have great respect for those who diff Gar from us and who believe that war and expansion are just and wise. But ss they have right to their opinions, so we have to ours, and let us calmly give ,hs grounds for our beliefs. knowing that the fairness and intelligence of the Amer ican people will decide correctly be- tween us.
 eve are not now concerned with the right or wrong of the original war with snain. That is past and gone. We are moi here to discuss things which cannot he changed. There is here no need of words about how we came by the Philip hines We are there to-day fact. It is also a fact that we are in Cuba-but, thank God, we are not distributing liberty ,o Cubans with rapid-firing guns. Why are we doing 1t in the Philippines? Some me has blundered there, hence the useless equation by thousands of innocent lives and the consequent sorrow and loneliness in thousands of homes.
 Have we gone to war only after ex- hausting all the arts of diplomacy and conciliaton? No. we have gone to war first despising the arts of statesmanship. That is why we demand that war should cease until every device of peaceful nego- tiation shall be tried and tried in vain. We went there with uplifted club, saying: We bought you. you belong to us. Sur render outright or we will subjugate you And then because they did just what our forefathers did at Lexington and Concord we sent more troops and killed more na- tives to satisfy our prestige before the world How like a coward and a bully before helpless child! Have we forgotten the attempt of Napoleon l. to conquer Toussaint LOverture with veteran bat taons which melted away before the levers of Hayti? Will not the day come when Aguinaldo may claim niche in his tory alongside L'Overture as the defender of his country?
 Trade Reasons Answered.
 They tell us we must stay in the Phil ippines in order to obtain markets for our goods and to give us base for our trade with China and the east. Nay, one expan- sive nature says: We must expand our trade even if 1t costs 1000, 10000, 100000 vesr There you have merciless commer- cialism run riot. Is it really true that America has become a soulless statistical machine to make profit by trade? Have WE lO uVNtis Ol IldNc Nt nothing left of right of justice, of honor? Are We ready to sell good Anglo-Saxon lives in an indefensible war of conquest for mess of pottage? Cursed be the day when that can be said of us! Now, even if we could gain trade and profit by such dishonor. there are not words enough in our vocabulary to express the abhor- renee we should feel at such immortality. IL is time to hear the voices of men of character ring clear and loud in protest against such despicable policy.
 But if 1t should prove that in return for a policy of conquest instead of humanity, of murderous depopulation instead of peaceful negotiation, there would be no profits of trade to speak of. no expansion of trade that we might not have other wise obtained without this enormous cost of money and life. then the men who have brought us into this pass ought to be shriv- eled by public indignation and disappear from public life.
 Increase Begins at Home.
 If we wish to increase our trade with the Philippines or any other nation we must look within, not without Our abili- ty to sell in competition with others de- bends upon the richness of our natural resources, the skill and efficiency of our iaborers, the organization of our indus tries, the invention and use of machinery, low cost of transportation by sea and land, knowledge of foreign markets and adapta bility to the customs and prejudices of our buyers Why have the United States recently taken the lead of the world in the iron and steel trade? Because of the abundance and cheapness of our ores, the wonderful machinery by which it is loaded nto and out of ships, the great capacity of new transports on our lakes, supplies of good coal. the new methods of coking by which the smoke is consumed, produc- uon in large quantities, skillful labor. sci entific management and low cost of trans portation. The reason why the bridge over the Atbara in Egypt for Gen. Kitchener was awarded to an American firm was because the above advantages allowed us to build it cheaper and more quickly than the best firms of Great Britain. It makes no difference to our trade who owns the Nile If we can build the best bridge at the lowest cost
 Flag Follows Trade.
 They tell us indeed, that trade follows the flag. It would be equally sensible to say that game follows the hunter or that the horse follows the cart. You may wave the nag until its honored stripes have been worn into tatters or you may cover the waters of Luzon with a new navy, but you will not increase our trade one whit unless you have the economic advantages above enumerated, and if we have them We will inevitably have the trade with or
 tic navy "hSh ou' ability to compete in foreign markets IS proved then there our trade will go. and later our protecting flag will follow.
 If, then. there is so little real gain to pc made out of the Philippine trade to whom would the expansion of our terri tofy be profitable? It is quite clear that the great body of our laboring men could not continue to live in that climate and .t that there is no future there for them. ihey can have no lust of conquest, be- cause from them are recruited the brave rank and file who are always paying the cost Of war with precious lives. Moreover, oh them falls heavy part of the expendi- tufe Tor war and expansion. The hundreds ol millions of dollars which the Philippine ,slands are costing us must be paid for py taxes on our shoes, our clothing, our m mats and on our tools of industry. If. then, lhe iaboring class and the taxpayer must gay Tor this war, who gains? l answer only the few favored ones who may obtain puohc office or concessions for banks, spe- clal Franchises to build and operate street .dnways and other similar commercial privileges. That is. the workingmen and .he taxpayer are to be impudently asked ~ oHer their lives and property that syndi- .ates may have a few more chances to fill .nelr purses. How long will we go on pa .iehtly submitting to this exploitation of