Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-06-21
FIRsT DAYS WORK.
Continued from Page One.
He said IN part

round US today United, proud of the
achievements of the past four years, cur
country prosperous and happy, with moth
ing to regret and naught to make us
ashamed. with a record spotless and clean,
the Republican party stands facing the
dawn. confident that the ticket 1t shall
present will command public approval ana
that in the declaration of its principles
and its purposes it will voice the aspfra-
tons and hopes of the vast majority or
American freemen.
We need mo omen but our country's s
cause yet there Is significance in the
fact that the convention is assembled in
this historic and beautiful city, where we
first assumed territorial responsibilities,
when our fathers century and a quarter
ago promulgated the immortal Declara-
ten of Independence.
The spirit of justice and liberty that ami
mated them found voice three-quarters of
Il century later in this same City of
Brotherly Love when Fremont led the
forlorn hope of united patriots who laid
here the foundations of our party and put
human freedom as its cornerstone. 1t
compelled our ears to listen to the cry of
suffering across the shallow waters of the
gulf two years ago While we observe the
law of nations and maintain that neutral
ity which we owe to a great and friendly
government, the same spirit lives today
In the genuine feeling of sympathy we
cherish for the brave men now fighting
for their homes In the veldts of South Af-
rica. 1t prompts us in our determination
to give to the duSky races of the Philippines
the blessings of good government and re-
publican institutions and finds voice in our
indignant protest against the violent sup
preston of the rights of the cOlored man
in the south That spirit will survive in
the breasts of patriotic men as long as the
nation endures. and the events of the past
have taught us that it can find its fair
and free and full expression only in the
..,.Ix. % Do, too
party.
The first and pleasant duty of this great
convention, as well as its instructive i'm
pulse, is to send message of affectionate
greeting to our leader and our country's
president. William Mckinley. In all that
pertains to our welfare in times Of peace
his genius has directed us. He has shown
an unerring mastery of the economic
problems which confront us and has guild
ed us out of the slough of financial dis
aster impaired credit and commercial
stagnation up to the high and safe ground
of national prosperity and financial sta
bility. Through the delicate and trying
events of the late war he stood firm,
courageous and conservative. and under
his leadership we have emerged trium-
phant, our national honor untarnished.
our credit unassailed and the equal devo-
ton OF every section of our common coun-
try to the welfare of the republic cement
ed forever Never in the memory of this
generation has there stood at the head of
the government a truer patriot. a wiser or
more courageous leader or a better exam
pie of the highest type of American man.
hood The victories of peace and the
victories of war are alike inscribed upon
his banner. Those of us whose pleasure
and whose duty have called us from time
to time into his presence know how freely
he has spent and been spent in his coun-
try's service but the same vigorous man
hood and clear and patriotic vision ami
mate him as of old and give us confidence
and trust for the future of our republic,
because his hand will guide us and his
genius direct.
MIR. Wolcott then reviewed the work
OF the present administration. Speaking
of the Porto Riean question, he said:
There has been much discussion during
the past few months in respect to the ex-
tent OF the power of this country to deal
with Porto Rico and our other possess
sions. and it has been frequently contend
ed by the Democracy that as soon as we
became the owners of any of these islands
the constitution of the United States at
once extended over them or. in the ora
torcal but misleading. phrase, The con-
stitution follows the flag" The argument
is speeious, but it will not bear investiga-
tion. The same question was raised in
1893 vt the time of the Louisiana pur-
chase. and the doctrine then established
by congress that we could acquire foreign
soil by purchase, that congress had the
right to establish there such government
as 1t saw 1T and that the constitution did
not Of its own force extend over such ter
ritory The doctrine was never questioned
UNTIL in Calhoun's time, II was sought to
be denied in the effort to extend human
slavery into the territories.
The supreme court of the United States
has more than once determined the ques-
ton. and the contention concerning 1t now
by our opponents is not because anybody
believes that the laws we have enacted
for the government of the island un-
just. but in order to embarrass the adj
mmistration in dealing effectively with
our new possessions. The flag went to
Mexico in 1S4S; the constitution did not.
The flag went to Cuba and was carried
into Santiago and is there yet. But our con-
stitution not only is not there but we are
busy encouraging Cuba to prepare con-
stitutien of her own. When any portion
of our territory becomes sovereign
state, then is our constitution its corner
stone. In the territory of the United
States not Included within state bounda-
ries congress alone determines the extent
to which the provisions of the constitution
extend.
In referring to the Philippines he said
We are actually owners of the Philip
ItlheS py an unulSputeQ ana 1nuuDltdDle
title We are there the necessary and
logical outcome of our victory over Spain.
There are upward of a thousand islands
sprinkled upon that southern sea- peo-
pied by more than 80 tribes of differing
race and language and having absolutely
nothing in common with each other
Most OF these tribes welcome coming
and are grateful for our protection The
Tagai tribe, hostile not only to us. but to
most Of the native tribes, are in insurrec-
tion against our authority. They have
neither government nor the capacity to
conduct one and are waging a predatory
guerrilla warfare which would be turned
against the other native tribes If we let
them alone What would the Democracy
have us do? Give them up to rapine and
boodshed and leave the islands as flotsam
and jetsam on the face OF the waters? .
The obstacles to the establishment of
civil government in the islands are many,
but we shall overcome them Mistakes
Will undoubtedly be made. but we shall
remedy them. We shall in time extend
oyer that archipelago the agis of our pro-