The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-02-28

""As to Porto Rico, do the only thing
that can bring relief to the island-pass
this bill As to the Philippines continue
to do as we are doing-put down the in
strrection and restore law and order"
(Applause)
MIR. BAILEY'S SPEECH.
The renlaining three hours eff the gem
eral debate was divided equally between
the two sides. Mr.. Bailey, Dem.,
Texas, and Mr.. Dolliver, utep., Iowa.,
closed for their respective sides. Mr..
Bailey spoke first. AS he arose MS poll i
cal associates gave him round of aD-
plarse. Preliminary to beginning his ar
gument Mr.. Barley said an accusation
MIR. Cannon had made against the Dem
ocratic side for voting the S2O,C00,000
to Spain was the only portion OF that
speech that called for serious reply. Nh.
Bailey said that vote comrdttcd the
Democrats to nothing as to the future
policy toward the Philippines. They vot-
ed the money to discharge an obligation
of the Government incurred without their
consent. Turning to the bill Mr.. Bailey
declared that there was involved in 1t a
question of law and question of morals.
Taking up the legal question involved
Mr. Bailey made an exhaustive argument
against the constitutionaEty OF the bill.
He was listened to attentlvely and ire
quently elected applause. AS he. pro
ceeded he aroused the lawyers on thr
other side and was for a time almost
continuously engaged in crossing swords
with one or the other of his alTarsaricS.
During the excitement of the Spanish
War, Mr.. Bailey said, he stood llnnov-
ed. He warned his count:Yncn then
as he warmed them today that the Con-
stitution could not be applied l. tie
government of the colonies. when emo
tional statesmen" said ne. in ,conclu
sion, were asking who wouil haul dow II
the flag | dared to say thai | would
take il down from any place where th"
Constitution could not follow it. II'emo-
cratic appla1rSe) Do you desire to pres
ent the anomaly of q Government re-
strained by the Constitution in one quar-
ter of the globe and possessed Of dcsp0t-
ic power in the rest Of the world? How
long is the Constitution to shield us ana
our children if its protection is with
held from the humblest inhabita,t,. Let
me borrow the words of lincoln: This
Republic cannot endure one half free
and one half slave We mus. b. all
citizens or in time we will be all subjects.
did not want to assi1nilate these ui!eh
and inferior races and / pray God to de-
liver us from the task. But if YOU will
take them they must share our destiny
with u.s.
DOLIVER FOR THE MAJORITY.
Mr.. Dolhver, Qowa), closed the debate
for the majority. Long and loud was the
demonstration which wTeeted him.
This BILL he Said is merely a tenn
porary measure to provide revenue for
Porto Rico. Yet it has been magni1ied
in this debate until it has been made to
include the whole problem of the govern
ment of all territory acquired by us by
the treaty of Paris. The President re-
commended that Congress should abolish
all duties on Porto Rican goods that the
inhabitants of the stricken island might
rebuild their fallen fortunes and regener-
ate their shattered Industries. Despite
the abuse heaped by the press upon this
hill | aan prepared to show that it viii
do exactly what the President recon-
mended should be done" (Applause)
$50 far as l am concerned" he said,
81 ain not frightened by all these tales Of
woe, by these predictions OF disaster, one
following the other, coming up straight
out of the Caribbean Sea or the
Pacific Ocean. For can see that after
recent national experience it is possible
for a man to underrate the effect of an
appeal to the popular fear of free trade
on a scale however small, even when
presented by the managers of Democrat
lie politics in the United States. daughter
on the Republican side But if that
were the only issue at stake, it is not
settled in my mind that anybody ought
TO be frightened, certainly not out OF his
wits, even by a proposal SO extreme
as the threat of the admission into the
markets of the United States of all the
products of OUT possessions, either now
or in time to come AT any rate it is not
commended that any American industry is
likely to suffer on account of the free
admission into this country of the sur
plus productions of the people of Porto
Rico. And so horizontal reduction Of
nearly 80 per cent in all the schedules of
the tariff law of 1897. has introduced no
element of alarm whatever into the AM
erican market place. So that has done
no harm. Not only has it done no harm,
but it has already done the Republican
party art least, q great service, for It
has put a stop to the uIscrupuous agita-
ton that was filing the United States
with the fear that in taking possession
Of vast tropical areas and territories, the
United States We're found helpless to
deal with them, except on terms of such
political intimacy and commercial equal
ity as the Constitution prescribed for
the people of the United States.
And SO gentlemen, We present here a
revenue measure containing within it poll
tical Possibilities that the Democratic
party has had its eye ON for a year and
which some of our boys on this side have
got wild about because they got their
eye ON them only 10 days ago." Naugh-
ter on the Republican side.)
ON THE CONSTITUTION.
Taking up the constitutionality of the
issue Mr.. Dolhver said:
IF the Constitution of the United
States establishes free trade between
Manila and San Francisco, as 1T un-
dollbtedly does between Maryland and
Virginia, then the fact that we have got
into a new competition is only the least
trouble that is before U.s. We are in
that case disar1ned at once in the mo-
mentous demand which this nation has
n Y.