Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1900-07-04

union and the new parts. we Assuro
them that trade follows the flag but
how much or how little or what kind Of
trade is our business, and not theirs
We place them on the solid rock of the
constitution, but we are careful to grease
the rock, so that In case they slide Off
they Will attribute the catastrophe to the
grease and not to the constitution.
How much better 1t would be If We
guaranteed independence to the Filipino,
self-government to. the Cuban and to the
Porto Rican equal rights in the union.
How much better 1t would have been
If we had done this two years ago-how
| Infinitely more urgent that we do it now.
"Thtrty-five years ago Abraham Lin
coin, standing on the threshold of his
second term as president, and unknow-
| 1ngly In the valley of the shadow, look
ing down the broad avenue of peace,
prosperity and contentment which he be-
| heved this nation would pursue from
| that time on: and this is the heritage he
left to those who should come after him,
and the guiding star of our domestic and
foreign policy:
With malice towards none, with char
1ty for ALL with firmness in the right
| as God gives us to see the right, let us
| finish the business we are in: to bind
! up the nations wounds; to care for him,
| who shall have borne the battle. and for
| his widows and his orphans; to do all
| lasting peace among ourselves and with
all nations
"AnalyZe that utterance in the light
| of modern imperialism. With malice to-
wards none'-is that our policy in the
Philippines? With charity for alr-is
! that our policy in Porto Rico?, Let us
| finish the business'-what business? To
embark In wars of conquest? To aban-
don the opportunities of the land we live
\ In for the business chances of lands
| where others live? No. 1t is to finish
the business We are in. Is it to make
new wounds or tear old ones asunder,
\ to make new veterans. new pensioners,
new widows, new sacrifices? No. 1t is
| to bind UP the nations wounds to care
for him who shall have already borne
! the battle. Is it to undertake an Inter-
national career which invites a perpetual
| threat of foreign war? No. 1t is to
do all that may achieve just and
lasting peace among ourselves and with
! all nations
| THE Imperialism of industry otherwise
the trusts-and the imperialism of arms
falsely called 'expansion'-is hard task
| master. It's promoters are the enemies
of mankind. They are telling the youth
of the land that the shoulder-strap is
more to be desired than the diploma.
They are raising the cry to stand by
the PRESIDENT when no man can stand
| by him a moment without jumping from
one platform to another. They are in
voking the patriotism of the people to
destroy the very foundations of patriot
ism. They are draping the flag around
a golden calf and asking you to fall
down and worship it. They are telling
you that the constitution is Obsolete
and the declaration of independence writ
| ten for an OCCASION They are doing
all they can to remove the possibility Of
"a just and lasting peace among ourselves
and with all nations
| ITO defeat and confouhd the enemies
of popular government is the mission of
| the democracy. We shall do it now or
fail hereafter. The republic cannot tenn
Eporize with the empire. The fight we are
In means life to one or death to both. No
division of opinion can prevent patri-
otto men from uniting on the propo-
sition that the union must be preserved.
During the civil war there was song
| that at one time or another has touched
| the heart of every man and woman in
| this audience-"The Union Forever! Hur-
| rah, Boys, Hurrah!' And to-day ma
ton that knows no north, no south, no
east, no west, repeats in the same words,
with the same enthusiasm, with the same
reverent devotion, with the same stern
purpose, The Union Forever"