The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1899-04-08
BILL ARP'S WEEKLY LETTER.
DISCUSSES QUESTIONS OF ANNEX.
ALTON AND EXPANSION.
Ne HAVE HAD ENOUGH FIGHTING
expense OF Maintaining Authority and
Replenlshing Ranks Would Be
Too Heavy For Taxpayers.

This Philippine business has given
great accession for expansion of mind
md oratory, if not of territory, and I
Am proud to say that both in the sem
ate and the house our Georgia mem
oers have borne themselves we'll and
added luster to our states reputation
Tor fore nsic eloquence. It now seems
70 be settled thai the policy of the adj
ministration will not be sustained and
the Fil;pinos will not be robbed Of
their country. Mr.. Mckinley will
have to go back to his original decla-
ration, "that forcible annexation would
be Grim inal aggression" Our twenty
millions are gone where the woodbine
twineth and all we have left for conso.
lation is the glory of the Manila victo-
~. II may be worth that provided we
can settle up things and establish a
permanent peace. Peace is what our
people want.
If Edward Atkinson's utterances
even approximate the true situation,
we are in bad condition to carry on
any more war. He Is q great conser.
vative statesman and is always careful
about his facts. A fresh regiment
every month to take the places of the
troops who die in hospital from mala-
rial and venereal diseases. Just think
OF it. No, we are not going to do it.
Heard an expansionist say yesterday
that the Anglo-Saxon race must rule
the world because it was manifest des-
tiny. Who are the Anglo-Saxons, or
the English-speaking race, as they are
now called9 My reading tells me that
there is no such race. There once was,
but it has been lost by emigration and
immigration and amalgsmation. II
came originally from north Germany
when the Saxons conquered England,
and is more Teutonic than English. 1t
has not preserved its blood nor its
language, as many other nations have
done. The Russians snd Prussians
and French and Scotch and Irish and
Jews are today more readily distin-
guished than the Anglo-Saxon.
Their purity as race is gone,
especially in these United States,
where the blood OF our forefathers has
been crossed and recrossed until north
OF the line not one man in ten can To-
cate his paternal and maternal ances-
try. And even down south this cor
ruption of blood is going on. Who
am j? A cross of English. Irish and
Scotch. Who is my wife? A cross of
English and Low Dutch. Reader, who
are you? But the preachers say we all
speak English and that settles our
destiny under God to Christianize the
world. Well, Calvin dident speak it,
nor Luther, nor John Knox. The
Roman Catholics of this country speak
it, but our Protestant preachers who
are pleading for more missionary
ground do not recognize them as fitten
for missionary work. Verify, when I
think of trying to subjugate the Phil
ippines to please the preachers, I am
disguised and am reminded of that
scripture which saith, "The zeal of
mine house hath eaten me up" and
of what Paul said, "They have a zeal
of God, but not according to knowl-
edge"
The Lord does not favor an unjust
war. He may let it go on, just as he
hardened the heart of Pharaoh that
the plaques might come to punish
him, but it is biasphemy to say that
the Lord is behind this criminal ag-
gression. Might as well say He was
behind Napoleon in making widows
and orphans of million Of people. I
tell you, my brethren, if the scriptures
be true there is an evil spirit called
Satan, and he is still going to and fro
upon the earth and walking mp and
Town IN it. For reasons we know
not. he was not destroyed when he
fell and is still permitted to tempt
mankind from allegiance to the Gre
ator. This is not only Taught in the
scriptures, but the greatest of the
heather philosophers, such as Cyrus
the Great and Socrates, use the same
language as did Paul. when he said,
evil is present with me. That :
\
Cyrus said / am ever conscious OF
ihe existence of two spirits within me
-one inclining me to evil and the
other to good. Satan is spiritual be-
ing of great power and assurance or
The Lord would not have held converse
with him at Jobs feast, nor would
Michael the archangel had contention
with him about the body Of Moses;
nor would the Savior been led away to
he top of mountain by him and lis
tened to his persuasions. I heard q
good man. say that Satan was very
much of gentleman in his way and
aad most fascinating manners.
But I did not start to preach SER
mon. Ny thoughts ruminated that
way, and l reckon that every man and
woman has had the same consciousness
# evil that Panl and Cyrus had. The
devil is not dead, and war is his revi-
pal, his big campmeeting. During its
existence he catches men by the thou
,aud-young men who behaved well at
home, where they were under good
Influences, are turned into demons and
brutes. This late Spanish war has
neen a horrible exhibition of human
lepravity, both among officers and
men. The conduct of most Of them is
, stencil on the page of American his