The age-herald., 1899-09-12
NO SPLIT ON THE
 gs. EXPANSION PCLICY
From the New York Journal.

eilher III HallOnal pontlcS UT nallONaa thought. so far as the results of the Span- ish war are concerned. He charaeterizes those who are opposed to holding the Phil- ippines as contractionists. "Anh-expan- ist is papably misnomer," declared the senator.
 He also avows the firm belief that there can be no split in either of the great par ties on the question of our sovereignty in Porto Rico or the Philippines. He is con vinced that there will be no platform dec- larations against our retention of the Philippines or other recent insular acqui- sltions by the next democratic national convention.
 Senator Morgan gave forty minutes of his time today to the Journal to discuss these questions.
 So far as we can judge their opinions by their public utterances, Messrs. Bryan and Mckinley are on the same platform on the Philippine question:" said he. That is to say. each wants to restore peace and order in the Philippines and deal afterward with the question of what form of govern ment should be erected in the islands.
 "of course we shall hold the Philippines. We cannot alienate them. They were brought under the sovereignty of this gov ernment by solemn treaty, just as were the Louisiana purchase, California and the other states and territories ceded to us by Mexico. and Alaska by Russia
 Some gentlemen who now making the loudest outcry against our retention of the Philippines were among the most clamorous of those who urged upon the senate the speedy ratfeati of the Paris treaty. This instrument conveyed to us the Philippines as it conveyed to us cer- tain other islands in the Pacific, as well as Porto Rico. and imposed upon us distinct obligations in Cuba. So I say there is not now, and cannot be, any longer an issue of expansion either in national politics or national thought. That issue was settled by the ratification of the Paris treaty.
 "Those gentlemen, who call themselves anti-expansionsts, are really contraction ists If there be an issue on that score 1t is one of contraction. And that. in turn, is reduced to a matter of degree contained in the question, How much should we con tract?"
 If we alienate the Philippines, can we not also alienate Porto Rico, or the Ha- wailan Islands, or Alaska? And where is the man who now wants to transfer Alas ka from the sovereignty of this country to the sovereignty of another? The constitu- ton imposes upon every American citizen the solemn obligation of erecting in the Philippines the same form of republican government that is to be erected in Porto Rico and in Hawaii. We cannot turn any of these islands over to king or kingdom. Ours is the duty, sworn to before the world and enjoined by the letter and spirit of the constitution, to give to each and all of them a republican form of government alike in essence. This is duty ahead of congress and not of political parties or conventions"
 Do you think that the next democratic national convention will declare against retention of the Philippines?' was asked
 .I cannot foretell what the next conven- tion of my party will do on that point. do not believe, however that the demo- cratic convention will adopt a platform declaration of that character I view the Chicago platform as the party creed Creeds cannot be modified without mate- rially modifying the organizations based upon them.
 "Of course, 1t is possible that the gentle- men now making lusty outcry against ex- isting facts and conditions may be numeri- cally strong enough in the next convention to force through it a resolution expressing the views of the contractionists. But a res- olution is not platform plank. and such a resolution could not be regarded as declaration of party principle"
 "Will you attend the next convention as delegate and there contend for your principles?"
 Il shall not. I have not attended na- tional convention as delegate since 1 have been a member of congress. Alabama does not believe in her official representatives performing sucn service As long as I am a member of congress I shall refuse to at- tend national conventions. Even if my friends al home should select me as a dele gate to the next convention I should de- cline the honor. My fight is to be made on the stump and here in the senate"
 Speaking of the relations of the south to expansion, Senator Morgan said:
 "Of course the south is in measure more directly interested in our mastery and control of the commerce of Asia and the North Pacific than is any other section or the country. That is one of the req sons that have formed my opinion and de- termmed my attitude on the Philippine question. Manila is the apex of a triangle in which more commercial forces are at work for our profit than can be found in similar territory In any part of the world.
 "one side of the triangle dips down into India. another shoots off into China, and the third reaches out toward Japan. With our sovereignty firmly established in the Philippines, Manila will become the distrib- ubng base for our cotton and cotton prod ucts throughout Asia. It will soon become an Asiatic Liverpool
 "One-half of our cotton and cotton pro- ducts which now go to Asia are distributed from Liverpool in British bottoms, or other European ships. When the Nicaraguan ca nal is constructed-and that is an inevita- ble and logical outgrowth of our present position in the world-the cotton and cot A