Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1899-02-24

these poor people in Cuba. now favo,
the acquisition Of all of the territory
that is within our grasp as result o.
that war. [Applause ] To say thai
we will not take these acquisitions, and
to say that we will not extend to the
people thereof the civilization of ou,
country. the Christian manhood and
womanhood we enjoy, is to Go them 9
wrong and to take steps backward.
! therefore favor the annexation of the
the Philippine Island, and I also favo,
the bill now vending before this House
for the extension Of our standing Army
commensurate with our new conditions.
Our Army up to the time of this re.
cent war was mere bagatelle. 1t was
not at all in keeping with the great
nation that we are. Our Navy consist.
ed of only a few crafts hanging around
our shores, and the condition we were
found in at the beginning of the Ameri-
can. Spanish war is too we'll known to
US all to require any discussion on my
part. .<-. . e.. "a
In time OF peace it is will to prepare
for war. We are now at peace, but it
may not be thirty days before we shall
be thrown into another war. Who can
tell? Certainly II this discussion goes
on, the treaty being considered in the
other end Of the Capitol, and being Of
snch character so % to encourage and
inflame those of the Philippines op-
posed to the annexation, it is most
likely that it will not be thirty days be-
fore we will be at war again. There
fore favor action upon this bill and
extending our Army so that it will be
ample for all emergencies that may
arise. s55",,. .-.u.1 t.ss',
Mr.. Chairman, it is not so much on
account of the recent war with Spain,
or the money it took to carry on that
war, on the annexation of Cuba, or
Porto Rico. of the Philippine Islands
that desire to speak, nor is it so much
the pending bill we have before us that
I desire to address myself to this
House. ....... ,.-
But it is another problem, possible
more vsxing than the one we have now
under consideration. Iknow that you
will pardon me II do not address my
self to the question before us when
you recollect that am the only repre-.
sentative on this floor of 10, ,OOO, 900 peo-
Pile, from q racial standpoint. They
have no one else to speak for them,
from race point Of view, except my
self. shall therefore address the re-
mainder Of my remarks to another
phase Of the situation in this country
toanother great problem that confronts
us, and one which trust ere long we
shall have the manhood to stand up in
our places and meet like American citi-
zens, not like sectional towards. re-
refer to the race problem. I have sat
here iu my place and heard discussions
pro and con; have heard my race re-
ferred to in terms anything else than
dignified and complimentary. I have
heard them re ferred to as savages, as
aliens, as brutes, as vile and vicious
and worthless, and have heard but
little or nothing said with reference to
their better qualities, their better man
hood, their developed American citizen
ship. 1t is therefore in reply to those
seemingly unguarded expressions that
I wish to speak.
have listen to gentlemen here-par-
ticularly one of the gentlemen from
the State of Mississippi [Mr. WlLL1AMs]
in his great eloquenee about "white
supremacy'-just here permit me 10
say that l have no respect for ':su.
premacy," white or black, which has
been obtained through fraud, intimi-
dation, carnage, and death-''white su
premacy" in the great State of Mississ-
ippi; about the Anglo-Saxon ruling this
country. l did not know that it re.
quired any specific reference of this
kind for the world to know the fact
that the Anglo.Saxon will rule the
United States. We constitute as race
less than one-seventh, possibly, of the
population. We have been enslaved;
we have done your bidding for two
hundred and forty years without any
compensation; and we did it faithfully
We do not revert to it grumbllngly or
regretfully, but we refer to it because
it seems ungracious In you now, after
you have had all this advantage of us,
after you have had all this labor of
ours, to be unwilling, at this late day
to give MS a mans share in the race of
life. 'l
That is the only sense in which l re-
fer to it. 1t is not with view to dig
ging upthe past. It's not with view
kindling renewed animosity between
the races, but only in answer to those
who slur at us and remind us Of our in
feriority. Yes. by force of circumstan-
ces, we are your interiors Give US
two hundred and forty years the start
Of yon, give US Your labor for two
hundred and forty years without oom.
pensation, give us the wealth that the
brawny arm of the black man made
for you, give us the education that his
unpaid labor gave your boys and girls,
and we will not be begging, we will
be in a position to be sneered at as ali
ems or members of an inferior, rs ca