Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1899-02-24

these poor people in Cuba. now favo
the acquisition Of all of the territor..
that is within our grasp as result o
that war. CApplause To say tina
we will not take these acquisitions, ant
to say that we will not extend to tn
people thereof the civilization of GU
country, the Christian manhood ant
womanhood we enjoy, is to Go them I
wrong and to take steps backward.
therefore favor the annexation OF tb'
the Philippine Island, and l also favo
the bill now vending before this House
for the extension of our standing Army
commensurate with our new conditions
Our Army up to the time of this re
! cent war was mere bagatelle. 1t wal
not at all in keeping with the great
nation that we are. Our Navy consist
cd of only a few crafts hanging around
our shores, and the condition we were
found in At the beginning of the Ameri
can. Spanish war is too we'll known tc
US all to require any discussion on my
part. ...a. --....--
In time of peace it is will to prepare
for war. We are now at peace, but it
may not be thirty days before we shall
be thrown into another war. Who can
tell? Certainly if this discussion goes
on, the treaty being considered in the
other end OF the Capitol, and being OF
snch character so a. to encourage and
inflame those of the Philippines op-
posed to the annexation, it is most
likely that it will not be thirty days be-
fore we will be at war again. There
fore favor action upon this bill and
extending our Army so that it will be
ample for. all emergencies that may
arise.
Mr.. Chairman, it is not so much on
account of the recent war with Spain,
or the money it took to carry on that
war, on the annexation of Cuba, or
Porto Rico. of the Philippine Islands
that desire TO speak, nor is it so much
the pending bill we have before us that
1 desire to address myself to this
House.
But it is another problem, possible
more vsxing than the one we have now
under consideration. know that you
will pardon me If do not address my
self to the question before us when
you recollect that I am the only repre-.
sentative on this floor of 10, DOC, 900 peo-
pie, from racial standpoint. They
have no one else to speak for them,
from race point OF view, except my
self. shall therefore address the re-
mainder Of my remarks to another
phase of the situation in this country
to another great problem that confronts
us, and one which trust ere long we
shall have the manhood to stand up in
our places and meet like American citi-
zens, not like sectional towards. l Ire
refer to the race problem. I have sat
here in my place and heard discussions
pro and con; have heard my race re-
ferred to in terms anything else than
dignifed and complimentary. have
heard them re ferred to as savages, a,
aliens, as brutes, as vile and viciou.
and worthless, and have heard but
little or nothing said with reference u
their better qualities, their better man
hood, their developed American citizen
ship. 1t is therefore in reply to thos'
seemingly unguarded expressions tina
I wish to speak.
Ihave listen to gentlemen here-par
ticularly one of the gentlemen from
the State of Mississippi [Mr. WILLIAMS
in his great eloquenee about "whit'
supremacy"-just here permit me Il
say that have no respect for a ''sd
premacy," white or black, which ha
been obtained through fraud, intimi
dation, carnage, and death-''white su
premacy' in the great State of Mississ
ippi; about the Auglo-Saxon ruling thl
country. l did not know that it re
quired any specific reference OF thi
kind for the world to know the fac
that the Anglo-Saxon will rule tn
United States. We constitute as rae
less than one-seventh, possibly. OF tn
population. We have been enslaved
we have done your bidding for tw'
hundred and forty years without an.
compensation; and we did it faithfully
We do not revert to it grumbIlngly O
regretfully, but we refer to it becaus'
it seems ungracious in you now, afte
YOU have had all this advantage of us
after YOU have had all this labor o
ours, to be unwilling, at this late day
to give rs mans share in the race o
life. 'F3 ~
That is the only sense in which l re
fer to it. 1t is not with view to dig
i cling upthe past. 1t is not with view
kindliug renewed luminosity between
the races, but only in answer to thos'
who slur at us and remind us OF our in
feriority. Yes. by force of circumstan
ces, we are your interiors Give u
two hundred and forty years the star
of yon, give us Your labor for two
hundred and forty years without com
pensation, give us the wealth that the
brawny arm of the black man made
for YOU, give us the education that hi
unpaid labor gave your boys and girls
and we will not be begging, we viii
be in position to be sneered at as ali
ems or members of an inferior race