The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-05-22
ARE THEY TRAITORS?
The Men Who Want Government as
Our Fathers Made 1t.

To the Editor of the Globe:
The greatest issue that is now before
the American people, and the greatest
question that has ever come before the
nation since the adoption Of the national
constitution is, whether that constitution
shall stand as the safeguard of the rights
of the people; or whether it shall be made
to voice the theories Of Imperialism and
to sustain the men who arrogate to
themselves absolute and irresponsible
power?
Expansionists have been complaining
that those who oppose them did not look
at things as they are, and even charging
them with reasonable utterances when
they quote the constitution and the Dec
laration of independence in demanding
that the fundamental principles Of the
government shall be maintained. Strange
it is! Fassingly strange! That we nave
reached such g. condition of things that
the friends of the government as our IA
Tiers made it cannot quote the principles
voiced in the supreme law of the land
without being greeted with the cry Of
treason
1t is not so strange that those who
claim to be able to see things they
are, who look at the situation as 1t is.
should actually see that the principles an
nounced by such men as Thomas Jeffer-
son and James Madison, and which were
embodied in the fundamental law of the
land, are directly antagoniStic to the
course that is now being pursued by the
nation. But 1t is strangei And passingiy
strange, too, that these men should lay
hold of that sacred document and attempt
to give 1t an Interpretation such as would
make it voice the theories of Imperialism
attempt to make it speak in tones directly
the opposite of what it does sayi And
then it is more than passingly strange
lit
should turn around and say Of themselves
that these documents have now been IT.
terpreted by men supremely great!'
In the Forum of February Mr.. DENLY,
late United States minister TO China de-
clared that the constitution of American
republicanism has absolutely no binding
force whatever upon the men who have
sworn to support it, and that it is USE
full only to "consecrate," and to STAMP
legality" upon the acts Of the ''nen SUI
premely great" who attend to the mat
ters of it's Expansion" and ''contrac-
ton" He declared that the constitution
was the most expansive document ever
written by the hand of man." And, re-
ferring to a trial of man who commit
ted murder in Japan, who was con-
victed and sentenced to the New York
penitentiary for life, though tried without
a jury, he said 1.-THE constitution had con-
tracted to suit the casei''
What then can be expected from those
who refuse to recognize the safeguard of
the rights of the people, declaring that
it has no binding force? But with consid-
cradle feeling Mr.. DENLY says: There
is great talk of justice and peace, as If
we were going to Cypress anybody-which
We could not Go If we wanted to-"
This was in February. What Of the
more recent developments? Has the
slaughter of 10000 Filipinos been an act
of justice? Is 1t doing Justice to put q
bullet through the head Of the wounded
Is it justice to bury FIlipinos alive? Are
not these things evidence that injustice
is being meted out to these islanders
whether we would or not: When men,
though 'supremely great" win interpret
the constitution as In harmony with ex-
Dansion and Imperialism they must ac-
cent Of that Which follows al also Ia