The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-28

Manila until 'the conclusion" of the
treaty of peace; ~
concluded" and not the caprice or pre-
sumptiop q a president. or any other Of
n ninL which w Is e dispose Of the Philip
States makes the senate a coordinate
part OF the treaty-making power;
FouTth, the treaty was approved by the
Omted states senate Feb. 6, 1899;
Fifth, while technically treaty is not
cenciuded until 1t Is formally ratified,
an9 TINS treaty of Paris was not rati-
NED until March, 1899. still. in order to
make every possible concession, | will
sutpcse that public sentiment and con-
stitutlonal law might have been satisfied
properly II the president had undertaken
er ITS approval by the senate, and when,
consequently, he was assured that SO far
as this government was concerned, the
treaty was authorized.
But the proclamation referred to was
made public inRManila on the Sd day Of
January, 1899, more than thirty days be-
United States government had one sin
gle particle of TigHtful power outside Of
Manila city, bay and harbor: In speech
at Pittsburg a year ago tomorrow Pres
ident Mckinley himself said: Until the
treaty was ratified we had no authority
beyond Manila city, bay and harbor. We
thortty beyond that to maintain" But
surely II we had no title outside of Ma
mia to defend" we could not obtain such
a. e ta5 Dy mere assertion Of it, and If
we rad no other authority to maintain
now GOULD we get it by mere assumption?
yer the presidents proclamation begins
as follows: The destruction of the
by the United States naval squadron by
Rear Admiral Dewey, followed by the re-
,o az 10 g of the city and the surrender
the conquest of the Philippine islands
ana the suspension of Spanish sover-
eishty therein. With the signature Of
the treaty of peace between the United
States and Spain and
as the result of the victories of Amer
lcan arms, me future conf. oI, disposition
and gov eminent of the Philippine islands
are ceded to the United States'
ESSENCE OF IMPERIALISM.
Divested of it's cant, and made over
INTO plain language, the proclamation
tells the Fflipinos that We have seized
thelr country by brute force and pro-
pose TO hold it; and that they must sub
mt mt TO our pretensions, yield to our
assumed authority, or be shot to death.
II II BADLY proclafms the right of conquest,
s sre higgnWay robbery of nations. For the
serted by the responsible leader of a
q eat party and president of the re-
puDnc, that We may rightfully wage war
Tor purposes of dominion and acquire
property In the land of other nations and
| Jurisdiction over their liberties and per-
sons by the mere test of superior
II NlOldlcS the most sacred
traditions of our history. Thomas Jef-
ferson declared: 'If there be one prin.
eiple more deeply rooted than any other
In the mind of every American, 1t Is that
quest" And again: Conquest is not in
our government"
Despite the lack of system involved
In the plan, shall now take up the
speech of Mr. Roosevelt and comment
upon its principal points, finding therein
suInclent text for such further discussion
on the question of Imperialism as the
nit. van -
As the deliberate contribution of a can
dldate for the great office of vice pres
ident, and of a possible president, to the
discussion of one of the most momentous
campaigns in our history it must be
Confessed l1,ss that this st. Paul speech by
theodore Roosevelt is enormously dis
appointing. Neither in matter or in
manner Is it worthy of its occasion. In
respect of argument, the speech is, with
rare exceptions, an alienation of evasion
and assertion. In spirit 1t is a compound
OF scold and scullion. AS to it's facts II
aDounds In Inaccuracies which, IL acct
oental, are inexpHcable as coming from
man who has performed creditably in
history and biography. But the world
IS accustomed to Inconsistencies from
Mr.. Roosevelt. 1t has long looked upon
him as a predestinated and incorrigible
eccentric: 1t has given up attempting to
explain him or to reconcile him with
himself: 1t is quite impossible whether n
W. Mou De worth while otherwise or not,
10 make an entirely satisfactory dag
nosis of a civil service reformer in part
nershlp with Thomas @. Platt: q citiZen
soldier who ridicules the volunteer. q
leader IN battle who finds glory in being
rescued from an ambush; a hero who
boasts of shooting fleeing foe in the
PACK; a candidate who plays and poses
TO delegates and galleries to obtain a
nomination that he does not wcnf: a
gentleman who charges six and one-half
millions of his fellow countrymen with
IawieSsness, dishonesty and cowar dice;
a statesman who, mounted on a hobby
rides roughly at grave questions in eco.
nom1cs and politics swinging his parti-
san lariat and yelling like an intellectual
Comanche.
AS examples of the evasive style. which
conveniently, like Mr.. Podsnap. sweeps
away arguments too hard to answer, I
velt's speech:
.u There. is little need to argue against
free silver now"
ut hardly seems worth while to waste
any time upon what the Kansas City
people call imperialism and militarism"
What they say about Cuba and Porto
Rico need not detain US for a moment"
1t is hardly necessary to discuss what
they say about the constitution follow
ing the flag"
I'VE cannot argue with them on this
proposition Il. e., the danger of mir
itarisml, because no serious man be-
lieves for one moment that they believe
what they assert"
In illustration of the assertive method
as substitute for argument shall
quote, only a very few choice and char
| acteristic specimens among a legion He
declares that the success OF the opposi-
ton In 1886 would have produced fear
full misery, fearful disaster at home: IT
would have meant the shame that is
worse than misery and disaster" Put he
does not condescend to explain how and
why these dire results would, have hap
pened. In a similar spirit of dolefrl
prophecy he now exclainns that tho eiec.
ton Of Mr. Bryan would cause economic
and financial chaos" without specifying
the manner and reason of It, He asserts
the lack Of sufficient material among the
/ Democracy and its allies to furnish cab
| met ministers competent to their duties
which reminds me that Rufus C9loate and
many other good men entertained similar
| doubts respecting Mr.. Lincoln and his
associates forty years ago. The SNUG
assurances Of some Of the Republican
| the United States is probably the most
! gigantic exhibition of conceit in history
| That they can impose their own estimate
! of themselves on public that has seen
| them skulk and run to avoid nearly eV-
! cry attempt Of ours at deba te and discus
! sion with them for the past four years
! Is not to be believed Nor, IN my opin-
! Ion, will they succeed In soaring the vot-
| ers of America, like children in q nursery,
| with the conJured boyle man whom they
regularly bring upon the stage. in the
| dim half-light of their campaign trag-
! edy, to represent the alleged british In
| capacity~and devilish maIignity of the
! Democratic party and it's friends When
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