St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1899-12-13
rlR. STAFFORD'S ADDRESS.
A Resume Of His Patriotic Speech n
Bellows Falls.

''' VII Ihe evening VI Dec. ana
the following account Of his address is
taken from the Bellows Fails Times of
Dec. 7:
more than average Saturday even
ing audience gathered in The opera house
to listen to the address, Freedom in the
Philipplnes,' by Hon. w. P. Stafford of
st. Johnsbury who came to Bellows
Falls under the auspices of the Young
Mems Club. Mr.. Stafford has more
than state reputation for being an
orator OF unusual ability and promise,
and there was considerable curiosity on
the part of the audience mingled with
the disire to see and hear the man.
None were disappointed. and on all
hands was heard warm praise both for
the speaker and his attitude toward the
the most important question confront.
ing the American government. Mr..
Stafiord's style of oratory is so superior
to the ranting OF the average public
speaker, that one has to hear him more
than once to fully appreciate him. He
has voice Of rare richness and his de-
livery is calm, conversational, with few
gestures, yet logical and convincing.
The address was an admirable defense
OF the adminisI ration's Philippine pol
icy, and was delivered to sympathetic
audience as was shown by the frequent
bursts of applause.
The speaker was introduced by DR..
Edward Kirkland, chairman of the COM
mttee OF arrangements. After the adj
dress some rs or 100 repaired to the
parors OF Towns Hotel where an infor-
NAL reception was held. Those receiving
with Mr.. Stafford were George H. Bah
btt and N. G. Williams. Light refresh
ments were served. Wheeler orchestra
provided excellent music both in the
the opera house and at the reception.
Lack of space forbids the reproduc-
ton OF Mr. Staffords admirable address
in full. We give below that portion
which touches on that great question OF
what is to be done with the Philippines.
The speaker supports the administration
splendidly and gives solid reasons for
the faith he PROCESSES.
The antiexpansionists admit-Carl
Schurtz the rankest and bitterest OF them
all admts-that we are responsible for
the international relations of those
islands. II anarchy breaks loose, il the
dogs of civil war shall be unleashed, il
foreign citizens shall be massacred il
property shall be turned upside down,
who but Uncle Sam must answer? Well,
then | say where responsibility rests
sovereignty rests; and the anti.expan'
sonist has not ley to stand upon until
he has made out that it would have been
| ,frht Ia g., ha Init 30
have entrusted life and property in those
islands to the tender mercies of Aguin-
aldo and his followers. Has the case
ever been made out? 1t stands confessed
that for four hundred thousand dollars
in hand paid, Aguinaldo sold out his re-
bellion against the crown of Spain. And
this is the man for whom Uncle Sam
ought to have abdicated, the man
whom certain Boston gentlemen place
side by side with the father of his country
and who, in gracious recognition of the
compliment, names his latest child
George Washington. An attempt ha:
been made to draw parallel between
the Tagal instruction and our owr
struggle for independence; but the re
port OF our commissioners shows that
until we had destroyed the Spanisl
power the islanders had never fought fol
independence but only tor the reforma
ton of abuses. When Spain sank, hel
rotten government sank with her, anC
the United States appeared instead, Offer
ing the people all the home rule they
could manage-the more complete the
better it would suit us-natives to b.
preferred tor officers-everv penny o
their taxes to be spent at home, and only
insisting with them as it insists with us
that the flag which had brought then
freedom and should guard them from thu
onsaughts of the world should fly il
dignity and honor there as here.
The anti-expansionists entertained
great hope that when Dewey returned
the atmosphere would be cleared-and Sc
it was. We do not know just what th'
admiral told the president, but we de
know that within l 5 minutes afterwards
the war department was called up ant
that four battleships headed for Manila
The admiral may not have shown him
self an expert in real estate transactions
but he is still very iair authority on tn
water-reasonabl familiar with condi
tons in that quarter of the globe-ant
he, with every colleague upon board o
unusual strength and sagacity, has mad
clear and comprehensive report upon tn
case, concluding that there has neve
been moment since the Spanish flee
went down when we could have retired
from those possessions with safety tt
the people or honor to ourselves.
The earth is getting smaller every year
our neighbors are drawing closer; tn
whole tendency of the time-spirit is to in
terlock and knit together the interests
and activities of men. To dream tina
we can any longer shun the problems o
International policy and commerce is tt
dream indeed. Every sign assures u
that the great developments of the com
ing century are to be in ant
about the shores Of the Pacific. Tha
noble ocean, silent and sailless for cen
turtles, its eastern waters "barred south
ward by the stormy terrors OF Cap
Horn and northward by the polar foes,
has come to life at last. OF our own do
main, not mentioning Alaska, 800, OO'
square miles find their outlet on its coas
"a region larger, as James G. Blaine re
: minded us, larger than the German En-
pre and the tour Latin countries @
Europe combined. When Yankee brain
and patriotism shall have cut wa
across the istbmus, the Gulfstates and tn
, Atlantic seaboard will find their Quite
there as well. Two thousand mile
north OF San Francisco lies the main bod
of Alaska, bought 80 years ago tor seve
millions and q quarter, six times as larg