Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-06-08
A SENSIBLE VIEW.
CHAMP cLARK'S COMMENTS ON
THE WAR.

Commercial Expansion - Just as Congress
usurped Power in Reconstruction. the Pres.
ident Has Now Assumed Control Till the
Legislative Body Has Become Merely an
Animated Cash Register for the Executive
DEPARTMENT. Lost Opportunity - The
Filipinos Are Not Fit to Govern Them.
selves. Muuh Less the Citizenship Of the
United States.
The following are extracts from the
speech of Hon. Champ Clark, deliv-
cred in the House OF Representatives
on Feb. 5th:
A man is not traitor because he is
opposed to doing those things which
ieopardize the existence of the repub-
lie. An American is not a pessimist
because he is unwilling to see his
country adopt as settled policy the
political principles of Alexa ander, Caesar
or Napoleon.
l do not care a baubee about A gui-
naldo or the Filipinos. My sympathy,
my heart, my .olicitude, 60 to the
American people. think far more OF
the liberties of my children than OF all
the trade of the earth. I would not
give the life of one healthy, honest,
moral, patriotic, ambitious American
white boy in exchange for all the Fill
ipinos nov in the Archipelago, or who
will be there until the great judgment
day.
In the days of reconstruction Con-
gress usurped executive functions un-
til the office OF the President OF the
United States was reduced almost to a
nullity. Now the President of the
United States usurps the congressional
and legislative function until Con-
gress has fallen to the low estate of
being merely an animated cash regis
ter for the executive department Of
this government.
When the Spanish war closed we
could have occupied the most enviable
position ever held by any nation since
Creations dawn, and all We had to do
was to do that which we owed it to
ourselves to do, and that was to say to
both the Cubans and the Filipinos,
1.-THE Spaniards are beaten; your
chains are broken; you helped us to
do this thing; now set up any form OF
government you want. and we will
make the other nations OF the earth
keep their hands off of you or We will
shoot them off," We would never
have been compelled to fire gun to
make that promise good, for there is
not any nation on earth that has any
desire to see the fleets of Dewey and
Schley riding triumphantly in their
harbors and shelling their seaport
cities. Had we done that, unstinted
praise OF our disinterestedness and
philanthropy would have rung round
the world. coupled with the amazing
story OF American valor and the Prov
ess of American arms. Now the
crowned and sceptered despots of Eu-
rope will say to us: "All hail! We
welcome you to membership in the
ancient and sordid society of land
grabbers. You have eschewed the
pestiferous principles of the Declare
ton of Independence, the cobweb re-
strictions of the Constitution, the pre-
posterous sentiments of Washington's
Farewell Address, the decisions Of the
Supreme Court for century, the pre-
sumptuous doctrine of James Monroe,
and the solemn advice of Abraham
Lincoln, and we will 60 land hunting,
gold hunting, diamond hunting and
man hunting together. As a special
favor we will give you all the entang-
ling alliances you want for the rest of
your lives, beginning with the Anglo
American alliance"
One of two things is true about the
Filipinos-either they are fit for self.
government or they are not. If they
are, in Gods name let them govern
themselves. If they are not we do not
want them as fellow citizens. No
matter whether they are fit to govern
themselves or not they are not fit to
govern us, and that is precisely what
they will do if we let them in as
States. At the lowest estimate there
are 100000 of them, and they will
be entitled under the Constitution to
the same representation in Congress
as any American State. The more
the American people think about it
the less stomach they are going to
have for having the liberties of their
children impaired by people who 60
naked, sleep out doors, and make their
living by eating breadfruit off the
trees.
May God preserve our great repub-
lie, the last hope of constitutional
government on the face OF the earth,
from all its enemies, foreign and do.
mestic, and from its unwise friends
who would lure it into the path that
certainly leadeth to destruction.
To rid a room of mosquitoes burn a
piece of gum camphor about the size
of n walnut on plate. To prevent
their bites, bathe hands and face in
water in which you have dissolved
salt to make it taste slightly salty.