The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-02-10
CARMACK ON IMPERIALISM.
Continued from First Page

colonial empire is one which appeals
to the imaginatiOn;yet what is there
in the history of other nations to
make it attractive to the American
people? What is there in the his
tory of England, the great landgrab-
Der of the world?
after all has been said that can
be said of the march of civilization
under her banners, the fact remains
that her career of conquest has been
a career of crime and cruelty.
Where is there a sadder story of
wrong and oppression than in Eng
lands government of Ireland? Find
me in the story of any heather con-
queror a blacker crime than the
wholesale deportation of the simple
Acadian peasantry, torn from their
homes, stripped of their possessions,
wives separated from husbands,
mothers from children, and scat
tered homeless, helpless, and heart
broken among strangers in a strange
land.
when did Attila, the Hun, ever
do more cruel and ferocious act
than was done by civilized England
when she stirred up the Indian saw
age to slaughter, without regard to
age or sex, the people whom her
tyranny had driven to rebellion?
X x x
"Another incident of that glorious
campaign in the Soudan was the
deliberate slaughter of the enemy's
wounded as they lay mangled and
helpless on the bloody field of
Omdurman. This was excused as
an act of mercy, but it would have
been called an act of inhuman bar
barity if the dervishes had been the
perpetrators instead of the victims.
4 x Il
"And this horrible, wholesale
massacre of wounded and helpless
men who fell fighting for their
country is civilized warfare Nay,
more, Mr.. Chairman, it is called O
war of civilization and humanity |!
1t was in truth war waged for the
sheer lust of empire, and, like all
such wars, it was bloody and re-
morseless, unrestrained by single
Christian virtue, characterized by
all the merciless ferOcity of the saw
age. But, sir, so completely are the
minds of the English people swayed
by this passion for conquest that
these hideous atrocities stirred in
their bosoms no feeling either of
pity or of shame. Such, sir, are the
glorious achievements of imperial
ism.
X 4 x X
"But we are told, Mr.. Chairman,
that the Philippine Islands are not
wanted merely for their own sake or
for the direct advantages that are
to accrue from their possession. Our
imperialist friends tell us that they
are to be to us what Hongkong is to
Great Britain, a sort of fulcrum by
means of which we are to prize open
the Jaws of the Chinese dragon and
pour the products of American in
dustry into his capacious and ON
niverous mouth.
1--WE are told, sir, that the opening
up of China means the building of
railroads there, and that this means
a new market for American nro-
ducts. But, sir, for what purpose
are these railroads to be built? We
IOtu iIC W Illb
great internal resources of China.
Then, sir, l beg to know something
more of these great resources before
/ grow happy over the prospect. We
are told that there are vast fields of
coal and iron ore and other minerals
ready for the developing touch of
American capital, and that there is
an abundance of cheap labor there
which can be made wonderfully
effective under the organizing and
directing genius of American enter
prise.
II have seen il stated that there
are vast areas in China that will
grow an excellent quality of wheat
and that cotton can be successfully
cultivated in its river valleys. If
this, sir, is what the opening up of
China means, beg leave to say
that cannot grow enthusiastic over
the prospect. It means, sir, that
American capital is to be diverted
from the development of American
resources and the employment of
American labor to the development
Of Asiatic resources by the employ
ment Of Asiatic labor. Applause
1T may mean vast fortunes to a
few syndicates of American capital
lists, but where will there be any
profit to the American people when |
the vast agricultural and mineral |