Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-09-07

| advice Of the President. and that treaty
/ might have given Independence to the
Filipinos when it gave independence
| TO the Cubans.
Il believe that the treaty should
have given independence to the Fill
pines when it gave independence to
! the Cubans, and then not one drop OF
American blood would have been shed
| in the Philippine Islands. (Cheering)
You ask me who is responsible for the
shedding OF American blood in the
Philippines, and say that that party
is responsible for the shedding OF
blood that was responsible for the
treaty that made freemen of Cubans.
| and tried to make vassals of the Fill
pinos. Great applause)
When that treaty came to the Sen
ate it had to be met, and there were
| three things that might be done. First,
the treaty could be ratified; second, 1t
could be amended if there were votes
enough in favor of amendment; third,
| it could be rejected 1t could not have
| been amended, because there were not
votes enough, and if any republican
| tells you that that treaty could have
been amended in the Senate, l want
you to remember that when the Bacon
resolution came before the Senate, it
| was tie vote and the vote of the Vice
| President defeated it, / did all that |
1 could to get the Bacon resolution
passed, and what Republican will say
that could have got the treaty amend
ed when ! could not get the resolution
passed that promised independence to
the Filipipos. (Great applause)
| 1T was much easier to get promised
Independence to the Fqlipinos after the
war had been closed, than ii would
have been to secure an amendment to
| the treaty, which would have had to
have been ratified by Spain. l chal-
lenge any Republican to say that |
could have secured an amendment to
the treaty when was not able to Sc
cure the passage of the Bacon resolu-
ton. Therefore, we are compelled to
either accept the treaty or reject it.
/ What did rejection OF the treaty
mean? 1t meant one Of two things:
either the President would have to call
the new Senate together, which was
overwhelmingly Republican, as soon as
the new Senate was sworn in, and
then secure ratification from the new
Senate, or else he would have had to
appoint new commission to make a
new. treaty if it had been rejected. Sup
pose the President had appointed a
commission to make a new treaty. who
| could tell what complications might
arise while the new treaty was being
made? II those who opposed imperial
ism had regretted the treaty, who
would have become responsible for all
that happened before the new treaty
could have been ratified? We had seen
the Republican party win in the cam
paign Of 1896 by holding out to the
| people the plea that the nation might
| be discredited when it dealt with a for
eign nation, and If new commission
had been senk abroad it would have
prolonged the contest, and it might
have carried 1t into Presidential cam
! paign, and there would have been no
question before the people upon which
| their judgment could have been taken.
When you accepted the treaty, you
ended the war, and believed then and
| still believe that this nation, acting
alone, could do by itself everything that
! it could have forced from Spain. |
| favored the ratification of the treaty
not because it was good, but because it
was easier to correct its mistakes by
| legislation than by diplomacy. Lin
| coin, in appealing to the South, said.
Can aliens make treaties easier than
| friends can make laws?' Was it easier
| to make the treaty with Spain give in
| dependence to the Filipinos than it was
| to give them independence by act of
our own people? I preferred to let the
American people give independence to
the Filipinos. rather than ask an UNI
friendly people to do it. Whenever you
hear Republican say that / am re-
sponsible for the ratification of the
| treaty, want you to listen and see II
he adds that | also favored a resolu-
ton promising independence to the
| Filipinos, and you will listen in vain.
"The Republican who charges me
with helping to ratify the treaty is not
honest enough to tell you at the same
| time that / favored a resolution that
would have prevented bloodshed to the
| Philippine Islands, and made them our
| friends instead of our enemies. l re-
! signed my commission in the army on
the 10th day of December, the day the
treaty was signed In an interview two
days later, l pointed out that it was
better to ratify the treaty and declare
this nations purpose by resolution
which would promise independence TO
the Filipinos and end the war. than to
reject the treaty. What Republican is
honest enough TO meet the last propo-
| sition, and then say l am wrong in
the light of the Bacon resolution? II
| the Bacon resolution had passed, we
would not have war to-day in the Phil
| ippines, because it was introduced a
! month before shot was fired. Re-
! publicans. you are responsible for the
defeat of the Bacon resolution, and are
responsible for the conditions that now
| exist
Don't say that you haven't had time.
/ When Congress met you had time to
give to the national banks a monopoly
of your paper money, but you didn't
have time to promise independence to
| the Filipinos. You have had time to
| turn the government over to those who
used it for private gain, but you have
not had time to stop the war in the
! philipDine Islands and return tn the