The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-02-10
CARMACK ON
. IMPERIALISM.
Speech of the Gifted Son
of Maury,
MADE IN CONGRESS- JANUARY ~.
Free States and Free Men Versus Con-
quered Provinces and Vassal Subjects
4 Strong Argument against Expansion.

Following will be found a few ex-
tracts from Hon. r. w. Carmack's
great speech on "Imperialism,' de-
livered in the Lower House of Con-
gress on Thursday, Jan, u, 1899.
This speech has been copied and
commented on by the press through
out the Union, and is pronounced
one of the strongest arguments yet
made on that side of the question.
We are obliged, for lack of space, to
leave out some Of the best parts Of
the speech, but the following ex-
cerpts will serve to show the trend
of the argument.-Ed.
Mr.. Carmack said:
"Mr Chairman: This country has
lately conducted a successful war
for declared and definite purpose.
The President of the United States
is now waging another war upon his
own responsibility and for purposes
of his own. The country's war was
fought to destroy military despot-
ism in neighbOring island and to
confer the blessings of liberty upon
its people; the Presidents war is to
establish despotism in another
country and to destroy the liberties
of its people. The first war was for
liberty and humanity; the second
war is purely for conquest and do
minion. The first war was blessed
of Heaven and approved by the en-
lightened conscience of mankind
the second war is a crime against
liberty, and the curse of God is upon
it. [Applause.l With the people of
the Philippine Islands, whom our
armies are sent forth to slaughter,
we have no other cause of quarrel
than that which the wolf had with
the lamb. [Applause on the Demo-
cratic side.
=
In all the history of our territorial
acquisition there is never a parallel
for that which is now proposed. .
Heretofore our acquisitions have
been confined entirely to our own
continent. With the single eXcep
tion of Alaska, they have all been of
contiguous territory, and have
served to fill out the measure of our
empire to the limits which God and
nature have prescribed.
"With the exception of TeXac
where we admitted a sovereign State
by the expressed consent of its own
people, we have not annexed popu-
lations, but uninhablted territory.
This territory, in the fullness of
time, has become peopled with men
of our own race and blood, worthy
to possess the rights and powers of
American citizens, and has been
organized into communities, worthy
! to be admitted as States of the
! Union. You can not, from all this,
eXtOrt a single precedent for the
fOrcible annexation of distant and
barbarous archipelagoes, where men
of our race can never live and thrive.
ut is now proposed to acquire
territory, not that it may be the
home Of a free and self-governing
people, but to set it apart as a land
accursed-a land into which the
| Constitution and the principles of
American liberty are forbidden to
enter. 1t will be a country where
you could not teach the people the
Declaration of Independence with
out teaching that the government
you have established over them is a
tyranny and that rebellion against
it would be duty and not a crime
Go search the history of your cOun-
try and find me, if you can, pre-
cedent for this.
X
"Our friends sometimes, it seems
to me, try to shift the responsibility
for their course upon the flag. The
flag being up, it can not be taker
down. We are to infer, L suppose
that if it were not for this embarrass
ing attitude of the flag their course
would be very different; but wher.
ever the American flag has once
been raised, they tell us, there i
must remain forever.
Mr. Chairman, this is simply ont
of those sounding phrases with
which the literature of the imperial
ist campaign so greatly abounds
but which, even when uttered by
President of the United States, doe
: not contain one grain of reason o
one grain of truth. Neither this ma
tion nor any other civilized natiol
Z
; on such a maxim.
, THE flag of this country ha
waved over the City Of Mexico, owe
the halls of the MOnteZumas, but /
, was taken down and brought hom
{ with honor. It has waved owe
TripOli, in Africa; but L thank Go
we did not leave it there. The fla
Of England has waved over Kabu
and Kandahar, in Afghanistan, owe
the southern provinces of Persia
over the IOnian Islands. 1t ha
q waved in triumph even over tn
capital of France. Yet in each cas-
: il was removed not only without th
{ loss of prestige but with added glor
: and honor. IL our war with Spai
0 had been prOtraeted, our flag woul
; surely have waved over the Goa:
: cities OF Spain, and the same argJ
I ment, II such miserable balderdas
D may be called an argument, wOul
haze wnnnfraH a maintain