The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-02-18

scendants Of those who said millions for
defense, and not one cent for tribute
thunder back today to the demand for a
colonial policy. Millions for defense. but
! This question has not been settled. Cues
| lions are not settled by cabinets In this
| country. They are not settled by a simple
resolution of congress; in this country ques-
| lions are settled by the people. If the prcsi-
| dent made up his mind that the peop.e
| wanted conquest and colonization, as 1t Is
sad by some that he did when he went out
| West. he had better come out West again.
for his colonial policy by putting his ear
| to the ground once he will get another one
by putting his ear to the ground another
time. (Applause) Because, my friends. in
the last two or three months there has been
a change in public opinion and a natural
change. Why who that understands hui
man nature would attempt to guage the
sentiment Of the people In an hour of ex-
| element? Who that knows human nature
does not understand that difference takes
| place In man when he gets mad? You
have seen men mad You Know how 1t Is.
Take the best man you ever saw and let
him get into a fight and then talk to him
while the blood is on his face. Q4aughter.l
| What does he say? Why, ! can lick any
man that belongs to the family. U.aughter.)
But wait until he gets the blood washed Oft
| his face: wait until he Gains down and
you will see him walking along arm in
| urn WIN inc man ne louent, ana men
! they both wonder how 1t was that they
=! ever could get into quarrel. My friends,
| 1t is not in hours Of excitement it is in
the days of elaboration that You must judge
| the sentiment Of a people: and YOU must
judge the sentiment of this people on this
great question. not when they are excited
! by the fact that 100000 OF people have
overcome 17.C00,C0O. You have got to set
tie it, my friends, and Judge their opinion
when they think not what they can DO but
| a hay 1uNt t,, do tn,,
| "a voice: That's it: that's IT'D
| Might says What can do?" Right says.
What should I dog" Shall we substitute
might for right? Why In the beginning,
our constitution said, We, the people. joined
| together to establish justice, and to secure
tranquility, and to perfect the union, and to
secure the blessings Of liberty for the found
/ ers Of this nation and for our posterty:
that is what the constitution said; and that
! is what those men wanted-to secure JUS
tice. And. my friends, justice has been the
one thing that has been held up by our peo-
pie as the thing that ought to pe consider
ed. Shall We throw down our idea of JUS
tce, and set up the picture of a Warrior?
Shall we say. What can we do" INSTEAD Of
What ought we to do" No. my friends
! We don't believe that it VIII be that.
don't know that I am under any special
obligation to the Republican party (Laugh-
! ter.) But my friends. think too much Of
the Republican party to say that even a
| majority Of the Republicans will be in a
| war of conquest. when they have chance
! to consider it: the Republicans have never
| done enough harm to me to make me think
little enough of them to believe that today
! in the hearts of the people of the Republican
! party Marcus A. Hanna is a more gloritied
| saint than Abraham Lincoln (AppauseQ
They have simply made mistakes in their
! haste: the Republicans are Bible-readng
! people, but under excitement people will get
scrptural quotations mixed. Laughter)
i For instance. there is a commandment that
i reads, Thou shalt not steal" All the Re-
| publicans understand it, but when they got
excited, they looked at it, and it was so
/ blurred that they thought it read '"Tilou
! shalt not steal except the opportunity is
| presented" Uaughter) They have read the
| Beatitudes. They know that there Is a bless
ing promised to the meek, and they know
! that there is a blessing promised to the
I peacemaker. and then the thought came to
/ them. I'VE are a peacemaker," and as they
(! remembered the beatitudes that particular
| promise read, Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall inherit the earth" Uaugh-
| teri
But my friends that is not the way that
reads; and the Republicans will find it out
| when they take time to verify the quota
ton. Laughter) 1t is. BLESSED are the
children of Cod Isn't that it? laugh
| ter) And, blessed are the meek for they
! shall inherit the earth" Have You noticed
anything meek about the Republicans that
should inherit the earth? Q.aughter.) Why.
my friends, you can't defend the policy OF
| imperialism on any ground. 1t may be that
| imperialism brings benefits to those who are
| strong enough to conquer. 1 doubt it. 1
may be an old fogy in my theology, as some
| think I am in my politics. but according
| to my theology no man can do wrong with
| impunity-and nation is but an assem-
! blage Of individuals. (Applause)
! Why. I read in the Old Testament that
| a n M 1o6 hal, tod win ord
a neighbor. not a remote man, living off in
the next county, but the man right next
door to him; and because Naboth wouldn't
let him have it, Ahab was sorely aggrieved,
arranged that they should have meeting
and that two men should testify that Ma
both had blasphemed. and that then lie
should be killed. And the conspiracy
work out, and they had the meeting. and
the two men watched. and they went and
bore false witness and said that Nabo:h
| had Eiasphemed and so they took him cut
ani killed him, and then j Il. rel said tt
Ahab, Now go and get your vineyard:
everything is all right" and Ahab wiped
his eyes and started out; and he met Eli
| jah that brave old prophet of the oden
days. and he said. Hast thou killed, and
| will thou also take posscssion?' And then
he proclaimed the sentence OF the Al.
mighty, In the place where the dogs lick
! the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy
| blood; even thine Ahab was tried before
! a court where it didn't make any difference
! how big the man or how rich he
! was or how strong he was the decision
| was just the same. and he could not escape
| 1t, and the decree was fulfilled. Thou
| shalt not covet: thou shalt not bear false
| witness: thou shalt not steal; thou shalt
I not kill" four commandments broken to
| get a little piece of land And he didn'u
! get the land after all. (Laughter) My
| friends, don't believe that this great ma
| ton can afford to do wrong any more than
| the humblcst Individual can afford to do
! wrong; l don't believe that this nation can
| afford to covet any more than individual
| can afford to covct. And coveteousness lies
beneath every war of conquest.
| The history of the human race has been
| written in blood-because rulers coveted the
! possessions of Others (Appause.) Wars Of
conquest are the outgrowth of covetousness
=, And l don't believe that this nation (this
! nation least Of all the nations OF the world)
! can afford to set before the human race this
! doctrine of coveteousness as a principle of
| our government Mr. friends, do you think
| that the good Samaritan would have ever
| lived in parable this long If he had made a
/! slave out Of the man whom he rescued?
Do you think. my friends, that we ran go
! into war for the sake OF humanity and
(! go out Of it with conquest" emblazoned
/; upon our banner, and escape the verdict Of
| history? Oh, we can escape some verdcts!
! Those hist ocians who live under monarch
| les, and write for monarchics, will never
| criticise US. But my friends, there will
! be those who will. And we who would
| save the nation from this disSraceful step,