Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-10-08
A NOTABLE DECLARATION.

from its headquarters, No. IA East
T~wenty-third street, New York, a plat
form and declaration of principles, I'M
%animously adopted by the organization
named, and signed by men who IN
til this year have been Republicans.
These signers are: Patrick Egan, Pres
ident; Patrick Ford, Vice Pres; Mich
ael J. Jennings, Vice Pres; Dennis A.
Spellissy, Vice Pres; Edward T. Nc
Crystal, Vice Pres; jeremiah Murphy,
vice Pres; Patrick O'Mara, Vice Pres;
James f. Minturn, Vice Pres; Timothy
Riordan, Treasurer; Daniel F. Cohalan,
Secretary; Michael j. Bird, Thoma
Burke, James Bradley, John w. Dono-
van, William H. Fearns, Joseph A.
McNevin. Michael J.. O'Sullivan, Mich
ael r. Stack; Michael j. Tierney, Exec
utive Committee.
The document is a hot one. In It's
outset it arraigns the Republican az
ministration as false to the teachings
OF the party of Lincoln, of Steward, AID
of Blaine" and points out that j. has
failed to maintain the principles of the
founders of the Republic. 1t then pro-
ceeds to particularize in proof of this
claim, denouncing the unauthorized and
unnecessary war of conquest and sub
jugation in the Philippine Islands, in the
making of Porto Rico a colony, IS of
al empire" in reviving the Clayton
Rulwar treaty, which previous Ameri-
can administrations had held to be void,
in trucking to England, and pargicu-
larly d%enounces the surrender to Eng
land of fifteen hundred square miles
of Alaskan territory. In the sixth in
dictment this declaration says:
And most disgraceful of all, in making
a secret agreement whereby the power and
influence of this great republic have been
turned over to Chamberlain ct al, to be
used as the only Weapon left TO them with
pending over England, thus violating. at
once, the advice of Washington and JEFF
ferson against all entangling alliances,
and being guilty of the folly of allying
us with the only nation in Europe whose
failing fortunes could afford US no return
Tor the sacrifices we are called upon to
make. Disgraceful at any time, such an
alliance Is doubly SO when made while
England is using all her power in an at
tempt to crush out the life of the two little
South African republics. whose magnIfi-
cent fight against OVERWHELMING odds has
excited the wonder and admiration of
mankind"
The declaration then proceeds:
In the face of this record, we d~enounce
this present administrator as un-Demo-
cratic. u~n-Republican and un-American.
and We pledge ourselves:
"f1rst-To unite all sections, classes and
creeds of independent Irish-Americans for
the conservation and enforcement of the
glorious doctrines of human rights and
human liberty, laid down in the Declara-
ton of independence and the Constitution
of the United States.
"Second-To oppose by every means in
our power all efforts by any party, section
or clique to build up in this Republic any
form of Imperialism, or to carry into eff
feet any system for the conquest or SUBJ
jugation Of foreign peoples; and to oppose
all attempts on the part of an imperialis-
tic executive to sti1e the voice of patriot
ism and freedom either at home or abroad.
"Third-To oppose in every way all eff
forts to fo:st upon this country the ac-
cursed system of militarism, that is so
surely and so rapidly impoverishing and
degrading so many of the countries of
Europe.
ourth-To ~strenuously oppose all efforts
to involve our country in any ~entangling
alliance, especially with England, the he
reditary and ~implacable enemy of the
United States, as well as of human liberty
everywhere throughout the world.
"Fifth-As we hold it to be incontrovert-
ible that the American people always sym
pathize with a republic in any contest with
a monarchy; that they love liberty and
hate oppression. and hold 1t to be a crime
against humanity for a monarchy to wipe
out the existence of a republic, no mat
ter how small or weak in resources, we
pledge ourselves to demand that an ex-
preston of our opinion of the merits of the
South African war should be made known
to the world, to the end that our sympa-
thy with the gallant soldiers of liberty
might be known. and might encourage
them to continue and maintain their hero
ic fight until, as in the case of Washington
and our forefathers, it should end in COM
plete victory.
"SiXth-To declare that the Monroe Doc
trine is one Of the cardinal principles of
hAhNA WI n.y. anu that ditN "a III L r..
by an American administration. of any
portion of American territory to any Euro
pean power, is dishonorable and treason
able, and any Executive which thus be-
trays American interests is guilty of trea-
son, and should be forthwith impeached.
T attain the foregoing ends and 10 put
into effect our purposes, we call upon
every man of Irish blood In this country
to remember what the men of his race
have done in the ~upbuilding of the insti-
tutions OF this country; TO rally to the sup
port of the principles which in the past
have enabled these United States, in n
little more than a century, to grow from
a struggling republic of three millions of
people into a gigantic republic of seventy
five millions of people; and remaining true
to the traditions of the Irish race the
world over, TO choose the side of right and
freedom rather than that of conquest and
tyranny, and thus to perpetuate a truly
republican form of government on these
shores, and to stamp out once for all the
imperialism which is now attacking these
free Institutions
This enunciation of principles is rec
commended to the earnest attention of
every Irish-American voter. 1t cor
tains the essence of Democratic dos
trine and the principles for which he