The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1899-09-22
LINCOLN AND SO-OALLED I'M
PERIALISM.

Will pcopl0 WiohOuo ''oA
and have so often quoted garbled por-
tions of his address, state papers or let
tiers to show that he held views directly
in opposition to those put forth by the
Mckinley administration, in its de-
termination to bring about peace in the
Philippines, that the Chicago Inter
Ocean has taken the pains to look up
his utterances upon this question, and
as a result gives the following views of
the martyr president upon what is now
called imperialism by the opposition to
the administration:
In reply to the first pleas that due re-
spect for the right of the governed
would prevent him from making war
on the secessionists or rebels, Lincoln
said:
You have no oath registered in
heaven to destroy the government,
while shall have the most solemn
one to preserve, protect and de-
fend it
He added that he would use every
means in his power to suppress the re-
bellion.
In reply to the Baltimore committee
April %, 1861, President Lincoln said:
You come to me and ask for peace
on any terms and yet have no word
of condemnation for those who are
making war upon u.s. You
would have me break my oath and
surrender the government without
blow. There is no Washington
in that, no Jackson in that. There
is no manhood or honor in that.
In letter to Horace Greeley August
%, 1862, Lincoln explained his war
policy thus:
I shall do less whenever shall
believe what I am doing hurts the
cause, and 1 believe that doing
more will help the cause.
He told Mr.. Greeley plainly that he
did not propose to observe the limita-
tions fixed by doctrinaires and hobby
riders.
Among the severest critics of the
present war policy is Carl Schurz, who
would have the people believe that he
speaks from his close association and
sympathy with Lincoln. In letter to
Mr.. Schurz under date OF November
"a, 1862, Mr.. Lincoln said:
The purport of your letter is that
| we lost the late elections and the
| administration is failing because
the war is unsuccessful, and that
must not fatter myself that I am
not justly to blame for it. If I must
discard my own judgment and take
|
others, and by the time 1 should re-
ject all that l should be advised to
reject I should have none left.
Then turning to Mr.. Schurz's special
complaint, Lincoln said:
l wish to disparage no one, GER
tainly not those who sympathise
with me, but must say need sue
sesses more than I need sympathy.
In his second annual message, De-
cember 1, 1862, Mr.. Lincoln, in urging
more vigorous prosecution of the war,
said:
The dogmas of the quiet past are
inadequate to the stormy present.
The occasion is piled high
with difficulty and we must rise
with the occasion. AS our case is
new, 30 we must think anew and
and act anew. We must disenthrall
ourselves, and then we shall save
our country. We shall
nobly save or meanly lose the last
best home on earth.
In his reply to the New York Demo
Gratis, under date of June 10, 1868, Mr..
Lincoln defended the suspension of
habeas corpus and spoke of the assaults
made on the government under cover
free speech and free press After refer
ence to spies, informers, aiders and
abettors of rebellion, Mr.. Lincoln said:
He who dissuades one man from
volunteering or induces one soldier
to desert, weakens the Union cause
as much as he who kills the Union
soldier in battle.
Coming close to the special plea of
the New York Democrats, he said:
The man who stands by and says
nothing when the peril of his goy-
eminent is discussed can not be mis-.
understood If not hindered he is
sure to help the enemy; much more
ia he who talks amhipuouslv talLe