Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1899-08-17
A Patriotic Democrat.
From Iowa State Register.

Moines Gazette: am proud of be-
ing democrat for seventy years, and
camped in the woods but once, when
the southern politicians forced on the
democratic party. as its candidate for
president, kind hearted old gentle
man whose apparent qualification for
that Office was that he signed the bond
of Jefferson Davis. am again
brought up standing in the face of
what / sincerely believe is a great, u
fatal democratic mistake.
In the Polk county democratic con-
vention held last Saturday, in which
honors were reciprocal by electing you
paragraph of its resolutions opposed
the governments retention of the Phil
ippine islands. am opposed to that
part of the resolutions, and desire to
state some of my reasons for such OPP
position.
1t is true that was present as a del
egate and did not vote for or against
the resolution. / raised no objection
at the time, as the hour and business
of the convention precluded full ex-
PLANTATION of my views.
l. I believe the government is par
amount to I'LL parties.
2. Amy party should not do wrong
because in so doing it would tend to
cripple or defeat its adversary.
8. do no violence to truth when l
say for the last fifty years the demo
cratic party, north and south, has
favored the annexation of Cuba.
4. The acquisition of Florida and
Louisiana had the touch of the demo
cratic hand
5 Expansion was plainly visible
in the acquisition from Mexico, when
the democrats were opposed by the
| Wings. This, it seems to me, would
tend to prove that expansion was dem
ocratic doctrine.
g. Alaska is not adjacent territory,
and I find no democrat willing to turn
over that gold region, with its sea ports,
island and fisheries, to Canada or
England.
7. We have the rich Hawaiian
islands and / find no democrat willing
to give them up to Germany. Surely
they are not contiguous islands.
8. We have Porto Rico. 1t is not
contiguous. Who will give it back
to Spain or Great Britain.
8. We own one of the Samoan
islands and are interested in others,
and they ate not contiguous. Who will
give them to Germany.
| 80 IL
pansionists, I am at a loss to see what
would accomplish that feat. If the
peerless William Jennings Bryan,
whom we all love and respect for his
unmistakable judgement, candor, hon
esty and craftsmanship, were elected
in 1900, which, if any, of those islands
or territories would he turn over to an
alien flag. I assert without fear of
respectable contradiction that such q
thought would never enter his mind.
There never was any recognized gov
eminent in those islands but the
tSpanish government It is weak and
superfuous to contend otherwise. We
should look this question in the face as
sensible men; as honest democrats We
can't afford to bubble. The United
States under the lawful treaty making
[power purchased from Spain and took
legal possession of all the islands in
the archipelago. The ratification of
that treaty made the United States re-
sponsible to every nation on earth for
the protection of the lives and property
of their respective citizens doing bust
mess, residing or soujourning in those
islands. Congress made no disposition
of or government for those islands.
They were of necessity under the mill
tary arm of this government until con-
gress decided otherwise. There was
and is nothing that the president, as
commander-in- chief of the army, could
or can do but to demand and enforce
obedience to existing law. and to re-
store and keep order in the islands.
AS understand the reading of that
Objectionable resolution, it declares
the democratic PARTY of Polk county to
be opposed to the acquisition of all
, territory or islands not confined to the
American continent in our own waters.
Our own waters can have but one
meaning. viz, waters which belong to
us or are under our control. The old
law, believe, fixed the range of the
common shot at three miles. 1t is now,
believe, eight miles. So this reso'
luton precludes Uncle Sam from even
buying coaling station outside of the
eight mile limit. 1t opposed the &C
ausition of islands or territory outside
OF our own waters, although we tender
, pure American territorial form OF
government such as the president has
rendered to Cuba; even though the
UNANIMOUS consent of the people of the
islands or territories were given.
r Now, Mr.. Editor, want to know
where this new doctrine was Matched
where it came from and what party
could expect to survive one campaign
with that infamous doctrine on it,
3 banner.
1t is absolutely certain that in {
commercial point of view we are ap
i preaching to a first class power, ant
3 must do business with every countr.
!, on earth. Oursnavy and most of oul
= merchant marine must be protected b,
an adequate navy. Our navy and mos
of our merchant marine must be sup
q piled with coal. This coal can not bt
1 carried from the mines of the United
States even if we had coaling stations
. in the remote parts of the earth. II
order to sustain our trade on the seas
: we must own the coal lands and mine
i the:coal at points approximately neaI
+ to our coaling stations. In the Pana,
{ island, one of the islands in the archi
= pelago which this resolution says w
= can not keep, we have sufficient coal t.
q snnnly all our wants La it democrat