Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-10-06

told his audience to meet Democratic
statements with the polite assertion,
IT'S lie."
The drawback to this style Of cam
paign is the fact that nearly every
prominent Republican who Is now in
dustriously engaged in denying that
there is such thing as Imperialism is
on record as declaring, before the is
sue was drawn. that Imperialism was
precisely what the Democrats now de-
fine it to be. What these Republicans
now, in partisan heat. characterize as
bugaboo. a phantom of a disordered
imagination, a false campaign cry, in
sober mood eighteen months ago they
were warning the country to beware of.
What was Imperialism in the contem-
plation has become thin air in the ac-
complishment
There is Hon. Chauncey Depew, as n
shining example. Nobody shouts Dug
aboo" louder or more sonorously than
he; nobody disengages larger gobs of
eloquence touching duty and destiny:
nobody is more sure that Hon. Will
liam Mckinley is the guardian of each,
in keeping $4,000 soldiers in the Phil
ippines in defiance of the Declaration
of Independence. Yet here Is what
Hon. Chauncey Depew thought OF I'm
perialism and Militarism in May, 1898,
and what he said in an interview in
the Chicago Times-Herald, Mr.. McKin-
ley's organ in the Middle West:
eff we should keep the Philippine
T..r.x L.. "a n
reverse the traditions of this Govern
ment from it's foundation. We would
open up new line of policy. Let us
see what that would mean. In the
first place it would mean the establish
ment of a military government over
possibly 100000 of people 5000 miles
away from u.s. it would mean the in
crease OF onr navy to the proportion of
the navies of Europe.
but with the increase OF our ex-
penditures by 100 per cent. the taxes
to support the Government would be
felt in our homes and In our offices. We
would feel them in both the necessaries
and luXuries Of life-in our homes, In
our tools, in our food. in our clothing.
in our carriages and in our wagons. in
our checks and notes and bonds and
transfers of property-in every trans
action OF our everyday business life.
For If we are to maintain great armies
and navics like the powers OF Europe
we must raise the revenues for them
by the means mentioned and also by
stamp tax that will face us at every
turn.
"'What else does a worldwide pol
icy mean to us2 1t means centrali-
cation which would change materially
the relations of the United States to
the Federal government. The control
OF these popular colonies would be ecu
tered at Washington and we should
have n centrutization of pouer far beyond
Uhot tho old FedsrdiiSts eusr dreomtd OF.
You cannot haze empire tDithuut all its at
Tributes. and that means O precttcol r.no!u-
tion of our form Of ooucrnment and an
abandonment of tho heiief. ,ck,eh The fathers
held uhcn they established this ooptrnmrnt
in 1776.'
We take OFF our hat to Hon. Chaun-
cey Depew. There has been no more
eloquent statement Of the contention OF
the nti-ImperiaIIsts. Besides this re-
markable prophecy. whose fulfllment
we are daily witnessing, Mr.. Dcpew de-
clared that every time an attempt was
made ito collect tax from these peo-
pie they would rise; that they would
quote the Declaration of Independence
against 1t: that I'VE would have to
keep an army OF $4,000 men on the ISL
ands to hold them in check: that we
should have to increase the standing
army to zoe. 900 men. doubling our an
nual expenditures: and finally that we
should give up the Philippines and
withdraw from the East" otherwise
I'VE must adopt the policy of the ma
tons of Europe and utilize our con-
quest by further expansions"
Shall we believe Depew the citizen or
Depew the partisan orator?