The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-10
MIR. BEvERIDGE's SPEECH.
Text of the Most Notable Address De-
Iiyered I'm the senate for Years.


Iiyered I'm the Senate for Years.
/ address the Senate at this time because
senator's and members of the House on
both sides nave asked that / give to Con-
gress and the country my observations in
The Philippines and the far east and the
conclusions which those observations COM
pei. and because of hurtful resolutions
introduced and utterances made in the
Senate. every word of which will cost and
is costing the lives Of American soldiers.
Mr.. President, the times call for candor.
The Philippines are ours forever, terri
tory belonging to the United States" as
the Constitution calls them. And just be-
yond the Philippines are Chinas illimit-
able markets. We will not retreat from
either. We will not repudiate our duty in
the archipelago. We will not abandon our
opportunity in the Orient. We will not re-
nounce our part in the mission of our race,
trustee, under God. of the civilization OF
the world. And we will move forward to
our work, not bowling our regrets like
slaves whipped to their burdens, but with
gratitude for a task worthy of our strength
and Thanksgiving TO almighty God that He
has marked us as His chosen people.
henceforth to lead in the regeneration of
the world.
This island empire is the last land left
In all the oceans. If il should prove
mistake to abandon IL, the blunder once
made would be irretfievable. IL ii proves
mistake TO hold it, the error can be cor
rected when will. Every other progress
sive nation stands ready TO relieve us.
But to hold it will be no mistake. Our
largest trade henceforth must be with Asia.
The Pacific Is our ocean. More and more
Europe will manufacture all Ii needs-se-
cure from its colonies the most it con-
sumes. Where shall We turn for consumers
of our surplus? Geography answers the
question. China is our natural customer.
She is nearer TO us than TO England, Ger
many or Russia the commercial powers
of the present and the future. They have
moved nearer to China by securing per-
manent bases on her borders. The Philip
pines give us a base at the doors of all the
East. Lines of navigation from our ports
to the Orient and Australia: from the Is
thmian canal to Asia; from all Oriental
ports TO Australia. converge at and sepa-
rate from the Philippines. They are self
supporting, dividend-paying fleet, perma-
nently anchored at a spot selected by the
strategy of Providence, commanding the
Pacific. And the Pacific is the ocean of
the commerce of the future Most future
wars will be conflicts for commerce. The
fore, is the power that rules the world.
And with the Philippines, that power is
and will forever be the American republic.
VALUE OF CHINA'S TRADE.
China's trade is the mightiest CONNER
cial fact in our future. Her foreign COM
rlerce was s2s5, 73S, 800 in 1897, of which We,
her neighbor. had less than Is per cent. of
which only little more than half was
merchandise sold to China by us. We
ought to have 80 per cent, and we will.
Ard Cffina's foreign commerce is only be-
g.r hing. Her resources, her possibilities.
her vrants-all are unueveloped She has
only $40 miles Of railway: l have seen
| trains loaded with natives and all the ac-
tivities of modern life already Appearing
along the line But she needs, and IN fifty
years will have. ?0.a)0 miles OF railway.
Who can estimate her commerce then
That statesman commits crime agains.
| American trade-against the American
grower of cotton anI wheat ana tobacco,
| the American manufacturer Of machinery
| and clothing who fails tn put America
| where she may command that trade Ger
/ manys Chinese tra1e is increasing like
/ magic: she has established ship lines and
| secured a tangible foornoId Chin.s vcry
soil. Russias Chinese trade Is 2rOwirg
| beyond belief: she rs spen.ling the revenues
| of the empire 70 finiTh her railroad into
| Picking itself, and she is in physical posses
| sion of the imperial province of Manchuria
| Japans Chinese trade Is multiplying il
volume and value; she is bending her en-
| ergy to her merchant marine, and is To-
| Gated along ChIla's very coast. Eut Ma
Mia is nearer China than Yokohama is
/
| situation of the entire East. can America
| best trade with Chna from San Francis &C
| or New York? From San Francisco. OF
| course. But If San Francisco were lose;
| to China than New York is 10 Pittslirg
| what then? And Manila is nearer Hong
| Kong than '1avona Is To Washington AND
| yet American statesmen plan 20 Surrender
| this commercial throne Of the Orient where
| Providence and our soldiers lives have
| placed us. When history comes tn write
the story OK that suggested treason e
American supreinacy and therefore IT, Tie
| spread OF American civilization. let her IN
| mercy wr4te' that tn Is. who rropos {
| were merely bind, and nothing more.
RESOURCES OF THE ISLANDS,
But If they did not command China
India, the Orient, the whole Pacific FOL
| purpose OF offense, defense and trade, the
Philippines are so valuable in themselve.
that we should hold them. 1 have cruiseC
more than two thousand miles through the
archipelago, every moment a surprise at it.
loneliness and wealth L have ridden hun
dreds of miles on the islands, every foot Of
the way "a revelation of vegetable anC
| mineral riches. No land in America sur
passes in fertility the plains and valleys o.
| LuZon. Rice and coffee. sugar and cocoa
| nuts hemp and tobacco, and many prod
| ucts of the temperate, as well as tropi,
zone, grow in various sections of the
archipelago. have seen hundreds of bush
els of Indian corn lying in a road fringe(
with banana trees The forests of Negros
Mindanao, Mindora, Paluan, and parts o
LuZon are invaluable and intact. The Woo
of the Philippines can supply the furniture
of the world for a century to come. y
Cebu, Rev. Father Julio Segrera told M
that forty miles of Cebu's mountain chair
are practically mountains of coal Pabl'
Malta. one OF the most reliable men on tn
islands. confirmed the statement. Some de
| clare that the coal is only Ignite; but shil
4 have IL,
is better steamer fuel than the best coal o
| up in its present form on the banks of
| Philippine creek. l have gold dust washe'
| out by crude processes of careless native
| from the sands of a Philippine stream
Both indicate great deposits at the SQUIRE
| from which they come In one of the Is
| lands great deposits OF copper exist un
| touched. The mineral wealth of this EN-
pire of the ocean will one day surprise tn
| world / base this statement partly 81
, | personal observation, but chiefly on tn
| testimony of foreign merchants in tn
| Philippines, who have practically inveSti
| gated the subject. and upon the unanlmou
| opinion Of natives and priests And IN
| mineral wealth Is but a small fraction O
| the agricultural wealth of these islands.
And the wood, hemp, copra, and othe
| products of the Philippines supply wha
we need and cannot ourselves produce. An
the markets they will themselves affor
will be immense. SPANS export and impoT
, trade with the islands undeveloped, wa
! Sf2175549 annually. Our trade with tn
, islands developed will be $l25.000.O00 annual
w: for who believes that we cannot do lie
| der heir i'm