Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-01-19
DEBATE ON PHILIPPINES,
Senator Pettigrew Made Bitter At
tack Upon Administration.

senator woIcou Replied, Rebuking
Pcttigrew and CrItIcising senator Bev-
eridge aud Others for Base and sOrdtd
Motives.
There was a spirited debate on the Phil
ippine question in the Senate Monday,
when Senator Pettigrew of South Dakota
made bitter attack upon the admlnistra-
ton He said that those who deny free
dom to others cannot long retain IL for
themselves The result of following to its
logical conclusion such a policy would be
the destruction of the republic. Mr.. Pet
tigrew discussed at length the constitution
al questions involved in the admlnistra-
tion's Philippine policy. He then entered
upon a sharp attack on the treaty made by
the Americans with the Sultan of Sulu.
He charged that polygamy and slavery
were not only endorsed, but maintained by
the United States through the treaty with
the Sultan. He declared that the Repub
lican party was going out of power as the
champion Of slavery aud repudiator OF
the Declaration of Independence. Mr..
Pettigrew cited Egypt as one of the coun-
ties brought under English "civilizing
sway" As result over $500 minions of
the English government were wringing
taxes from the oppressed people in Egypt
in the name of civilization.
Mr. eltigrew argued that the Ameri-
cans could not dominate the Philippines.
1t was an histosical fact, he asserted, that
the Aryan race could not live in the trop.
les. Kipling's poem, THE White Mans
Burden" he characterized as contempt
Bile. Turning to the commercial side of
the question, he contended that trade did
not follow the flag. How were we to get
rich supporting big standing army in the
Philippines in order that people who earn
five cents day might trade with us? II
his program could be carried out, 1t would
be first TO withdraw our troops; second, to
allow the Philippines to set up an indie
pendent government, and third, he would
say "hands of, this is neutral territory"
Senator Wolcott OF Colorado replied.
Our first duty, he said was to quell the
instruction. When that prevailed it was
time enough to bring order out of the
chaos that existed there. He would not
have replied at all save for the "remarka
bic and incorporate" utterances of
the senator from South Dakota. No bet
ter demonstration of the value Of the SEN
ate as a public forum could be found than
this speech. There were in this country
20, 900, 600 of people, good, bad and indif-
tered through every community there were
the Discontinued and unhappy; people who
had not been successful and who viewed
with suspicion and hatred all whose lives
had been crowned with success. In the
warm sunshine they saw only the shadows;
behind every good action they looked for
lurking, sinister purpose.
There was but a step from individual to
national hatred, hatred of the country,
which nourished and protected them. 1t
was fitting that such people should be rep
resented here. "And know OF no man
so fl tied TO speak for them as the senator
from South Dakota said Mr.. Wolcott,
turning his eyes upon Mr.. Pettigrew, who
sat close 70 him, and who steadily returned
the gaze of his assailant. During all the
years ! have known him." continued Mr..
Wolcott, pitilessly, II never knew him to say
kind or friendly word about a single person
or a single cause. II is not only valuable
that such persons as ! have mentioned
should be represented here, that their
views should be accounted and ventilated,
but it is of great importance that those
views may serve as a warning and deter
ment 10 the young men who are growing
TO manhood, and upon whom eventually
the responsibility Of government will fall.
They should see how important it is that
they should cultivate a good digestion,
hopeful heart and cheerful mind"
What Democrats Would DO.
Mr.. Wolcott said he did not share the
suggestions that utterances here had any
influence upon the insurgents. II Agui-
naldo had his ear to the ground he must
know how utterly trihing is the captious-
ness and cavilling that went on here.
will admit, that if his party were in power,
the first thing to be done would be TO
crush the instruction.
Mr. Wolcott said that while the utter
ances of Mr.. Pettigrew were deplorable,
he was still unable to acquiesce in the utter
ances of the extremists, on the other side.
We had taken the Philippines, he said,
not as conquest, but as one of the high
est duties we owed TO the human race.
We had entered into the war with Spain
because we could not listen to the cries of
distress that came from Cuba. We had
| girded up our loins for the fray with the
assertion that We were not entering upon
a war of aggression. When we inaugural
ed the war no one dreamed of the Philip
pines, but when it closed so quickly and so
VIGOROUSLY we found 100000 people
suffering from oppression and cruelty,
| opaln deteated ana bankrupt, and the
Philippine Islands floating derelict We
had taken them because to have allowed
them to drift helplessly into the power of
another would have raised international
complication.
Base and SOrdId Argument.
He then directed his attention to the
speech delivered by Mr. Beverage last
week. He did not approve of the resolution
of Mr.. Beveridge. The senator from Indi-
ana had told of nuggets of gold, of noun
tain of gold: of coffee, of hemp, of corn, of
the rich and tempting Valley of Luzon, and
he had said our commerce, by the retention
of the islands, would be richly rewarded.
"Mr. President" saidSenator Wolcott, "the
argument of the senator from Indiana is
base and sordid. This war, If we consider
first our duty to the people of the islands,
is the noblest ever fought; but, if our pur-
pose in retaining them is that they are
rich, the war will go down as miserable
and degraded a one as ever disgraced the
history of the Middle Ages"
There was disposition, he continued, re-
ferring to Mr.. Beveridge's speech, to treat
the question involved with a sentimental
ity somewhat maudlin. There were too
many references to Almighty God His
tory had taught him that God usually
fights on the side of the heaviest battalions.