The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-26

Striking at the Treaty.
The meeting held the other night in
New York under the auspices OF the
Continental League to protest against
the policy Of Imperialism" is fine H.
lustrntlon OF the cry OF wolf when there
Is no wolf. These gentlemen who pro.
TESS to see so many dire things happen
Ing to the country have nothing tangi-
BILE to base their wOeful predictions up
on. The evils they are conjuring up are
children of their own disordered imngi-
nation. They are simply combating q
man Of straw. and indirectly aiming ut
the defeat OF the peace treaty which
would dIshonor and discredIt all the
dearly bought achievements Of the. late
war with Spain.
1t Is scarcely conceivable that man
OF the supposed character Of ex-Mlnis-
ter to France James b. Eustis. could
give utterance to such silly expressions
as he is credited with. He is reported as
saying:
what spectacle! American
citizens meeting upon American
soil TO protest against the imperiniis-
tic tendencies OF our own nation.
hardly feel as II were In n Continent
tai country"
Mr.. Eustis predicted dlshonor and
disgrace for the nation and degrada-
ton for the army unless the Philip
pines were given UP. Then he turned
to the question OF climate.
you know what happened In Santi-
ago" said lie. AFTER our army had
been there forty days SO per cent of
them were sick. What can we do
against the dangers OF such tropical
climates?
"There have been only two real argu-
mcnts adduccd in favor Of retaining the
Philippines. One Is that OF the secrc-
tary OF war. who thinks we can sell the
Filipinos cheap bcdsteads. The other is
that OF n minister, who believes he can
sell them Protestant Bibles. II we take
over these Islands Congress will make
President Mckinley military despot
over 100000 people. Won't that give
the President military swelled head?
Beware. II you make of your President
half President and half an empcr-
or. lest In outgrowins the constitution
OF the United States you do not also
outsrow your own liberties"
What Il spectacle, indeed. Mr.. EustiS'
humor is about as coarse as that per-
petrated By eN-Prcsident Cleveland,an
the trend OF his argument is not only
fllppant but vulgar. Who has ever ex-
pressed Il desire for the institution of
imperialistc rule over the Philippines?
a wise protectorate until such time as
the people OF those Islands arc able to
govern themselves Is all that has ever
been suggested. But Democrats who
are always opposing everything and
originating nothing. are but following
the traditions of the party. The Re-
publican party stands for the ratiica-
ton OF the treaty In all its integrity
That accomplished, 1t remains with
Congress to settle the other matters.
and the cry of imperialism" Is nothing
more than an attempt to defeat the
treaty. On this point the Atlanta Con-
stitution. Il strong Democratic journal,
makes some very pertinent reflections
when II freely ConfcsscS that 1t neither
understands nor appreciates the atti
tude OF those Democrats In the senate
who are opposed to the ratification Of
the treaty. I'VE can understand and
sympa;hize," 1t says, with thclr op-
position to the plan to erect the Phil
ippines into 4 vaSSal colony: we can
sympathize most heartily with their
opposition to anything that looks like
conquest. such n policy being foreign TO
our history; but We cannot see what Is
10 be gained by n blind opposition to
the treaty. That document settles
nothing but the war itself. Ratified, II
eliminates Spain, and places the whole
question Of expansion before the peo-
pie on its merits.
As there is no principle involved in
the ratification of the treaty. that doc
umcnt merely putting m end TO Span
, ish sovereignty In the West Indies and
In the Philippines. we do not see what
the Democrats are TO gain by opposing
1t, 1t would he quite otherwise If the
defeat Of the treaty tended TO establish
any principle. AS matters stand. the
, only meaning to be extracted from op-
position TO the treaty is the fact tina.
those who oppose II resent the result of
the war which has deprived Spain OF
her sovereignty in Cuba. Porto Rico
and the Philippines