Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1899-11-09
CARL SCnURZ'S SPEECH
At the Anti.Imperialist Confer
ence in Chicago.
WHO ARE THE TRUE PATRIOTS
The Policy Known as imperialism i
Hostile to Liberty ami Tends To
wards Militaryisln.

WArOS MnltArylSms
Mr.. Schurz, after rev iewing at length
the circumstances Of the capture of Manila
and the final acquisition Of the Philip
pines, said:
"Let us recapitulate. We so to war
with Spain in behalf OF an oppressed col
ony Of hers. We soemnly proclaim this
to be u war, not Of conquest-God forbid
but of liberation and humanity. We
invade the Spanish colony Of the Philip
pines, destroy the Spanish fleet, and i'm
vite the cooperation OF the Filipino in
surgents against Spain. We accept their
effective aid as allies, all the while per-
hitting them to believe that, in case OF
victory, they will be free and independ-
ent. BY active fighting they get control
Of a large part Of the interior country,
from which Spain is virtually ousted.
When we have captured Manila and have
no further use for our Filipino allies our
president directs that, behind their backs,
treaty be made with Spain transferring
their country to us; and even before the
treaty is ratified he tells them that in
place OF the Spaniards they must accept
us as their masters, and that if they do
not they will be compelled by force Of
arms. They refuse, and we shoot them
down; and, as President Mckinley said
at Pttsburg, we shall continue to shoot
them down without useless parley.'
~ ask you now what epthet can you
find Justly to characterize such course ?
Happily, you need not search for one, for
President Mckinley himself has furnished
the best when, in virtuous moment, he
said that annexation by force should not
be thought Of, for, according to the Amer
lean code Of morals, it would be criminal
aggression Yes, criminal is the word.
Have you ever heard Of any aggression
more clearly criminal than this? And in
this case there is an element OF peculiarly
repulsive meanness and treachery. I
pity the American who can behold this
spectacle without the profoundest shame,
contrition, and resentment. Is it won.
der, 1 repeat, that the American people,
in whose name this has been done, should
be troubled in their consciences?
"Now, I ask any fair.minded man
whether the president, before beginning
that war, or while carrying il on, has ever
taken any proper steps to get from the
congress, the representatives Of the peo-
pie, any proper authority for making that
war. He issued his benevolent assimi-
lation' order, directing the army to bring
the whole Philippine archipelago as
promptly as possible under the military
government Of the United States, on De-
cember 81, 1893, while congress was in
session, and before the treaty with Spain,
transferring her shadowy sovereignty
over the islands, had acquired any force
Of law by the assent OF the senate. That
was substantially declaration of war
against the Filipinos asserting their indie.
pendence. He took this step Of his own
motion. To be sure, he has constantly
been telling US that the whole subject is
with congress- and that congress shall
direct But when did he, while congress
was in session. lay full statement be.
fore that body and ask it's direction? Why
did he not, before he proclaimed that the
slaughter must 60 on without useless
parley, call congress together to consult
the popular will in constitutional form ?
Why, even in these days, while swing
ing around the CIRCLE the president and
his secretaries are speaking Of the princi.
pal thing, the permanent annexation Vi
the Philippines, not as a question still to
be determined, but as thing done-con-
cluded by an executive-implying that
congress will have simply to regulate the
details.
"Those are, therefore, by no means
wrong who call this the presidents war. ,
And war 90 brought about and 80 con.
Quoted the American people are asked to
approve and encourage, simply because
we are in it'-that is, because the presi-
dent Of bis own notion has got US into it.
"Imagine future president to have
before him the precedent OF Mr.. McKin.
ley's management Of the Philippine bust.
ness, sanctioned by the approval or only
the acquiescence Of the people, and to
feel himself permitted-nay. even en-
couraged-to say to himself that. as this
precedent shows, he may plunge the coun.
try into warlike conflicts Of his own mo-
ton, without asking leave Of congress,
with only some legal technicalities to
cover his usurpation, or, even without
such, and that he may, by q machinery
Of deception called war censorship, keep
the people In the dark about what 10 6