Delaware gazette and state journal., 1899-11-02

needs protection. we nave TO protect
it against desecration by those who are
making it an emblem of thut hypocrisy
which seeks to cover war Of conquest
and subiugation with cloak Of
humanity and religion; an emblem of
that greed which would treat u matter
invoiving our national honor, the in
tegrity of our institutions, and tho
peace and character OF the republic as
a mere question Of dollars and cents
an emblem of that vulgar lust Of war
and conquest which recklessly tramples
upon right and Just and all our higher
ideals; an emblem OF the imperialistic
ambitions which mock the noblest part
of our history ands tamp the greatest
national heroes of our past rs hypocrites
or fools. These are the dangers threaten
ing the honor of our flag, against
which it needs protection, and that
protection we are striving to give it.
APPEAL TO wELL.MEANING CITIZENS.
Now last word to those of our
fellow -citizens who feel and recognize
as we do that the Philippine war of
subjugation is wrong and cruel, and
that we ought to recognize the in
dependence OF those people, but who
insist that, having begun that war, We
must continue it until tho submission
of the Filipinos is complete. / detest,
but | can understand, the Jingo whose
moral sense is obscured by Intoxicating
dreams OF wild adventure and conquest,
and to whom bloodshed and devastation
have become reckless sport. | detest
even more, but still | can understand
| the cruel logic of those to whom every
| thing is matter of dollars and cents
| and whose greed of gain will walk
coolly over slaughtered populations.
But must confess / cannot under
stand the reasoning of those who have
moral sense enough to recognize that
this war is criminal aggression
| must say to themselves that every drop
of blood shed in it by friend or foe is
blood wantonly aud wickediy shed,
| and that every act of devastation is
harbaIous cruelty inflicted upon an
innocent people but who still main
| tain that we must go on killing, and
| devastating, and driving our brave
soldiers into fight which they them
selves are cursing, because we have
once begun it. This ! cannot under
stand. Do they not consider that in
such war, which they themselves con
denim as wanton and iniquitous, the
more complete our SUCCESS, the greater
VIII DC our ulSgfac0F
What do they fear for the republic if,
before having fully consummated this
criminal aggression, we stop tc give
a people struggling for their freedom
what is due themf Will this republic
be less powerful? 1t will be as strong
as ever. nay. stronger, for it will have
saved the resources Of its power from
useless squandering and transfoi med
j NJ tatipa io, Int ~ WIFI
it be less respectedi Nay, more, for it
will have demonstrated its honesty at
the sacrifice OF false pride. Is this the
first time that powerful nation de-
sisted from the subiugation of a weaker
adversary? Have we not the example
of England before us, who, after q
seven years war against the American
colonists, recognized their indepen-
dence? Indeed, the example OF Eng
land teaches US double lesson. Eng
land did not. by recognizing American
| Independence. lose her position in the
world and her chances of future great
ness on the contrary, she grew in
strength. And secondly, England would
have retained, or wen anew, the friend
ship of the Americans, if she had
recognized American Independence
more promptly, before appearing to
have been forced to do so by humiliat-
ing defeats. Will our friends who are
for Philippine independence, but also
for continuing to kill those who fight
for it, take these two lessons to hear IL
FALSE AND TRUE PATRIOTISM.
Some of them say that we have here
to fulfil some of the disagreeabe duties
of patriotism. Patriotism! Who were
the true patriots OF England al the timo
of the American Revolution-kin
George and Lord North, who insisted
upon subiugation; or Lord Chatham
and Edmund Burke, who stood up for
American tights and American liberty?
Who were the true patriots of France
when, recently, that ghastly farce of
q military ttial was enacted to sacrifice
IN innocent man for the honor Of the
French army and the prestige Of the
French republic-who were the true
French patriots, those who insisted
that the hideous crime of an unjust
condemnation must be persisted in, or
those who brarely detied the cry oi
"traitOrn' and struggled TO undo the
wrong, and thus to restore the French
republic to the path of justice and tc
the esteem of the world? Who are the
| true patriots in America today--thost
who dag our republic, once so proud
Of its high principles and ideals,
through the mire Of broken pledges,
vulgar ambitions, and vanities anc
! criminal aggressions-th those who dt
I violence 10 their own moral sense b,
4 insisting that, like the Dreyfus in
z iquity, criminal course cnce hegur
0 must be persisted in, or those who
fearless of the demagogue clamor, ,sti iy,
| to make the fling of the ratuhlir onoi
0 more what it once was-the flag o
/, Justice, liberty and truo civilization
. and to lift up the American peopl,
d among the nations of the earth TO til,
j. proud position of the people that hay,
y a conscience and obey itf
y Tho ccuEtry has these days hiehl
I and deservedly honured Admiral Dewe
I as national hero. Who are his tru
It friends-those who would dcseclat
Y Dewey's splendid achievement q
d Manila by making ii the startin
point of criminal aggression, and thu
u tho opening Of q most disgraceful ant
y inevitably disastrous chapter of Ameri
o can history, to be remembered wit
'f sorrow, or those vino strive so to slIap
o the results of that brilliant feat q
y arms that it may stand in history no
1t rs part of treacherous conquest
a but as true victory of American goot
l. faith in an honest war of iberatio
10 and humanity-to be proud of for a
al time, as Dewey himself no doub
1t meant IL to be?
- know the imperialists will say tina
% l have been pleading here for Aguin
= aldo and his FiliEinos against on
&c republic. No-not for the Filipino
rs merely, although as one of those wh