Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-22
EXPANSION IS DISCUSSED
Both Sides Of the Problem Presented to the
Commercial Club,
MAHoNEY EXPOSES MANY FALLACIeS
Federal Constitution stands In the
way IL Eventual Statehood Is In
tended as the Destiny of
the philippines.


tended as the Destiny OF
the philippines.
The ilogicaiity of imperialism was
nrettv we'll exposed by I. ]. Mahoney in his
snooch against expansion at the regular
monthly dinner of the Commercial club last
aveninr Rev. Hubert C. Herring, Judge |
w. w. Keysor and himself were down on
tho program for responses to the query |
"What Shall We Do with the ISLANDS MT
NIahoney gave clear and torclole answer
Euclid Martin acted as toastmaster ana |
when the cigars were passed he comph-
mented the club on its apparent increase OIL
and the enlarged scope Oh lts
influence. More than 100 guests sat at the
tables.
Gilbert M Hitchcock was the first speaker
and his subject was The Annexation Oh
South Omaha" While favoring consolida-
tion. he was opposed to annexing South
omaha without first obtaining its consent.
change in the present law was needed, he
thought, and he hoped the legislature would
make 1t possible for South Omaha to volun-
tarily unite It's destinies with those of THIS
city.
E. H. Sprague spoke felictously upon
"Our Present Prosperity and Future Pros
pects" Plenty of nerve is the main thing
needed he believed, illustrating this idea
with an amusing reminiscence OF his own
when an actor, broke once in Cincinnati.
Sovereign Commander Joseph G. Root OF
the Woodmen of the World was present ana
at John Steels suggestion he was called
upon. He had a good word for consolida-
ton, based upon his own experiences with
Clinton and Lyons Ia, where he formerly
20 nrin hp
he said it now annually passes through the
banks of Omaha ST. 25OOO0 His speech was
full of local pride and he reminded his
listeners that Omaha has the name of gem
orally accomplishing whatever 1T starts out
to do.
Takes Up Main Topic.
Then the main topic of the evening was
taken UP. Rev. Hubert c. Herring being the
first to discuss It, Viewing it largely from
moral and sentimental point of view, Mr..
Herring favored the annexation of the Phil
ippine islands. Prophecy is not always
gift of craftsmanship, he observed, and he
was reminded of remark recently of Pres
ident Mckinley, to-wit: "A nation cannot
fashion the program of war when it starts
out on one" Lord Melbourne had said on
one occasion that upon certain great proc
! lem all the sensible people had one set Of
ideas and all the fools another set. Events
/ proved that the sensible people were wrong
and the fools right. Consequently the law
/ of expediency determines the law of right.
Taking into consideration these two prop
! ositions, that the field of prophecy is closed
! and the question of expediency involves ma
tional integrity, he believed a proper solu-
| tion of the problem could be reached. Con-
tinuing, he said substantially:
1--WE must not be baby nation. We must
not be satisfied with being a republic such
as Switzerland is. 1t is not what Ia profit
able?' or what is agreeable?' but what Is
right Since the war with Spain the pro-
/ cession of events seems to have been con-
trolled by the finger which directs the
/ planets. In the brief period OF one year this
nation has been confronted with serious
task which it must bravely face. In the
disposition of the Philippines we are not
bound by the same pledges as governed our
disposition of Cuba"
The speaker opposed the turning of the
islands over to any other power. The whole
question passes from that of the immediate
disposition of the islands to the broader one
of this nations position in world politics.
He predicted that imperialism" would yet
have the right of way in the decision of the
great controversy which is shaking the
country Like Governor Roosevelt of New
York, he did not believe that "any man in
his right senses counts upon a national
mission of knight errantry with colonial ag-
grandizement for its end in view" Uphold
ing what seemed to him to be the humani-
tartan phase of the matter he denied that
the term imperialism" is a proper one and
after thus calculating his position he de-
ciared that he is an "imperialist," believing
IN ha ba 6uty of IN ,Iit
and give the Asiatic people the benefit OF
its civilization. Thus" said he, the Fill
/pinos have been providentially made the
wards of this country"
Keysor Believes in Destiny.
He was followed by Judge Keysor, who
said he was a believer in destiny and who
referred to the Maine disaster at Havana
and the destruction of the Spanish fleet by
Dewey at Manila as demonstrating that the
voice of God had called this country to 8
higher destiny and making turning point
in the national career. With Mr.. Herring
he did not believe this country should be
content TO be the sort of republic Switz.
erland is, nor should it be longer crcum.
scribed by the Monroe doctrine of merely
protecting the weaker republics of this con
tinent, The great question, though, is no
what will the islands do with us?" TIL,
way he looked at ii he did not apprehenC
that they would have the effect OF startinl
this nation out upon a career of greedy O
vainglorious conquest, nor would the countr,
be held up as recreant TO its love of poitica
freedom by abandoning the islands at thi
: critical stage.
I'VE did not take the islands as aggres
> sors or tyrants," he declared, "and we vii
not leave them as sneaks and towards"
He anticipated that the great sociological
contests of the future would be waged upo
3 Asiatlc soil where millions are awakenin
and argued that this country should do it
part of the world development. For thi
Z reason he advocated holding onto the isl
) ands, saying il does not necessarily fol
low that, while the Filipinos were bein
blest with the benefits of free institutions
they would be admitted to citizenship o
representation in congress on the same leve
as the people of this country. He denie
: that there are constitutional difficulties i
the way, but admitted that the Filipino