The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-07
FACING THE REAL ISSUE
THE LEADERS OF THE PARTY
HAVE STRAYED
RIPLEY's RINGING ADDRESS
Minneapolis Attorney Discusses
Cuba. Puerto Rico and the Phil
ipPineS I'm IL Speech AbIaze
With Patriotism.

| Col George q. Ripley, the Minneapolis
attorney, is another of the fast multi
| plying numbers of old-line Republicans
who refuse to stand for the imperialism
of the Mckinley administration, first dis
closed In the Philippines and now more
than confirmed in Puerto Rico. While
! for some time an active working mem
| Der Of the Minneapolis Anti-Imperialist
league. Col Ripley had not until the
evening Of the 4th inst. made any public
| statement of his position. At that time
| he was one of the speakers at the meet
ing held by the league in the Eighth
ward, Minneapolis. and in response to the
urgent requests of many the G e
gives below what the colonel said on that
occasion. His address was as follows:
REVEALS THE REAL ISSUE.
| The Puerto Rico tariff is the first Incl
| dent which has brought the people face
| to face with the real issue. The glamour
Of war and the dust of battle has hlther--
! to dimmed our vision as to the great
principles involved in the new departure.
| When our brave boys were going away,
| when they were struggling In tropical
| tungles, when they were returning to
us with the fatal sallow Of the tropics,
| our sympathieS were too keen to allow
! a calm consideration Of what all these
! things meant. The whole Spanish war,
| with all its incidents, was included in the
minds of the people In the glorious declar-
| alton of the war, that right at our
! doors the people of Cuba were subject to
| an intOlerable tyranny; and that this
| great republic recognized its mission to
| free them from that tyranny" Mr.. La
| bouchere, In his London newspaper,
| Truth, said at the beginning of our war,
| This is new crusade: the new chival-
ry; the new knighthood; nation going
| to war to free the oppressed" l am an
old soldier of the Civil war. and how
we all gloried In that STRUGGLED My old
| schoolmate Col Huntington. OF the ma
rine corps, with his 800 marines, made
the first landing in Cuba. Four boys,
who have punched cattle with me i'll Col
orado were with Teddy Roosevelt; three
were hit and one down with yellow fe
yer; the magnificent black cavalry always
on the firing line. God sent Ceryera out
to destruction, and nation was freed.
Spain was pierced to the heart, and the
| new crusade. the new chivalry. the new
knighthood had achieved even more than
1t originally hoped.
Puerto Rico hailed Gen. Miles. the
| SCARED hero of 100 battles of freedom,
as it's deityerer They cheered the dear
old flag for all that it really means, and
patton In the freedom of the great repub-
WE'RE GLAD TO SEE DEWEY.
The Philippines, suffering under three
hundred years of medieval oppression as
revolving as the inqutsitlon of their name
sake, Phillip II. and the Duke of Alva,
learning of Deweys intention, sent mes
sengers through their thousand islands.
the United States flag to rally round it."
Dewey won his immortal victory on the
water; ne furnished the Filfpinos with
arms, and they conquered the land
Dewey, in his official dispatch. said that
they were far more capable of sclf-goV-
ernment than the Cubans The new cru
sade. had been made. The Holy Land
had been reclaimed And what has come
of it all?
First-Cuba. Superb preparatory work
by Gen. Wood but a scheme of anneXa=
under the supervision of our army in
possession. How should we like that in
Minnesota i'll the election of town con-
stable?
Second-Puerto Rico. Don't speak of
the national infamy. A tariff against an
alien nation. and the alien nation with
no voice in the bargain.
Third-The Philippines. Our Gen. Otis
says that since Jan. l we have lost about
200 brave men from our own army, and
that he has succeeded in killing and
wounding about 5000 Of our little yellow
allies; and this is the new crusade; the
new chfvalry; the new knighthood Of La
bouchere! l vince when l think that he
may comment on us and dip his pen in
gall.
WHAT HAS CAUSED THE CHANGE?
That is what the American people want
to know, for the honor of the nation is at
stake. l pass by the scandals of the war
contracts and the Alger Incident, and ask
these questions; they are not partisan;
the American people ask them:
Why has Corbin, a bureau officer. I'M
known to the soldiers of the old army,
been preferred to Miles and Merritt?
Who authorized Gen. Otis, the day after
the first outbreak at Manila to say to the
Philippines when they came in and ex-
pressed their regrets at the occurrence,
that the war had begun and must go
through to the finish? Thus declaring
war;, The origin of a power above the
president of the United States
What influence has induced our hero
Admiral Dewey. to so pitiably stultify
himself as to write to Senator Lodge. II
to use his soldiers in our operations
against the SPANISH"
What influence is at work on the speak
er of the house of representatives to in
duce him to write the pitfable letter on
the Puerto Rican question in which he
says in effect on the Puerto Rico ques-
ton: Il was induced to do it by the
senator" Think of it! The speaker of
the house. The man on whom rests the
mantle OF Fox and Pitt, a Banks a
Blaine and a Reed Did you ever hear
Tom Reed plead executive dictation as an
apology for his acts?
IS IT MONEY OR GLORY?
What maIign, but powerful influence.
controls the president of the United
States, who said in solemn proclamation
at the commencement of this matter
that forcible acquisition was criminal
aggression, and who in his recent mes
sage to congress has said that 'our plain
duty to Puerto Rico was to grant II alb
solutely free trade" now induces him to
eat his own wards, and to go down into
| the houses of congress- as was done in
| England in the. bad old times of the
Georges, and. with all the power of ex
ecutive influence. compel the legislature
of the nation to vote against its con-
science? 1 know not what this influence
| is. If it be the preponderating power of
money, 1t must be controlled; If IT be the
| illusion of military glory it must be
nipped in the bud. This nation of ours is
not destined to play second fiddle to Eng
land in her colonial policy. The eloquent
junior senator from Indiana the other
| day said, 1--WE are to be the master ma.
ton Of the earth" Master nations neces
state subject nations. The orator is not
a prophet / once heard the witty French
man Max O'Rell say, Germany goes TO
war for power. and she usually gets If:
France goes to war for glory, and she
doesn't always get it, but when England
goes to war she takes along the bible
and when the war is over the heather
have the Bible and the English have the
land" Is this our mission? There is one
thing, however, to be said about England;