The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1900-10-24
ArotnnR SERMON on Polrrlcs



the hated banner Of an invading army,
the Stars and Stripes which dying white
men once held up before the tear-dim.
mel eyes Of black slaves, declaring tc
them that there were white men who
were willing to die for black mems
liberty. Today brown men look at this
banner and curse II with their last
breath, leaving an inheritance OF hatred
to the invaders OF their liberty. Admit,
for arguments sake, the benignant pur-
Pose Of our administration; admit that
humanity, and not the mineral wealth
and forest resources, has induced the in.
vasion, it is enough for me to know that
we are not wanted there, that nine mill
lion or more are afraid Of us; that a
population twice as dense az the popula-
ton Of Wisconsin is being compelled by
people on the other side Of the globe to
submit to a government they do not
want because they are lured by dream
Of seli-government Of which the United
Stateswas the model and the ideal.
Thisis TO rae the paramount issue Of
this campaign. What, compared 10 this
cry Of the dying Filipinos, is that clamor
for prosperity, and how selfsh and base
in this light is that "tremor" which
Chaucey Depew says "has spread all
over the state Of New York lest the
commercial relations be disturbed. 1"
Put over against this anxiety of bankers
and business men for prosperity the
noble seli-denial Of the Lancashire weav.
ers during our war for the freedom Of
the slaves, who drew their belts still
tighter around their einaciated forms
and cent their contributions TO help
along the war that prolonged the cotton
panic. Then starving men and women
sent their cheers across the sea to en-
courage the army that was fighting for
liberty, though the cotton looms were
idle and not their prosperity, but their
bread sacrificed thereby. respect the
"full dinner pail" of workingmen, but
when you put that "dinner pail" in one
pan Of the scales and brown mother g
babe in the other pan, / say the dinner
pail will "kick the beam" in the scale of
justice.
Justify this Philippine war il you can.
Believe that the world is still in the
ieudal age, when invasion, capture and
subjugation are the order Of develop
ment, but do not say that this prolonged
agony at home and abroad that the wild !.
owe and orphans, white and brown, that
the war that has already cost us over
two millions of dollars in money and be-
tween thirty ami forty thousand lives on
both sides Of the battle line, endless de-
bsuchery of the individual soldier, the
lowering Of the national idea and pois-
oning Of the imagination Of tteAmerican
youth, are no issue in this campaign.
Believe in monarchy il you can, las many
wise men do; justify the rough riding on
the part Of the United. Statesin this last
year Of the nineteenth century II you
will, but do not tell me that the 'pars-
mount issue" in this campaign is a ques.
ton Of prosperity, full dinner pals or
plethora Of the banks, important as they
are. II the issue is forced who would
not rather belong 10 a pauper nation
than 10 be a tyrant nation2 Perhaps the
last four years are justified by their
prosperity and their financial integrities,
but the grim facts remain, that the
storm.centers of human liberty, the
battle lines Of democracy, are now In
South Africa and in the Pacific lslands.
Those who, wisely or unwisely, have
fought for their freedom In theTransvaal
have received the cold shoulder, and
those who have struggled in the same
way In the Philippine archipelago have
received cold lead at the hand oi this re-
public. ! admit the perplexity OF the
situation. But that should not blur the
main facts. Humanity Is the same over
there as here. fDon't cheer. boys, the
poor devils are ding over there. said
Commander Philips in Santiago Bay,
when the Spanish war ships were going
to the bottom. And 80 say on the eve
OF this election, to Republican and DEM
ocrat, Prohibitionist and Populist, Do
not cheer. o voteri do not smile, o
mother; do not laugh, o sister and wife
for poor humanity is dying and starving
iorliberty's sake over yondsr.