The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-07-14
wash from the escutcheon of the repub-
lie the blot put upon it by such outrage
eous faith1essness to allies

perallStlc policy divides Americans into
two classes, first class Americans, who
take part in the government, and Ameri-
cans of the second class, who are to be
ruled. Instead of a government of the
people, by the people and for the people,
we have government of one part of
the people, the strong, over another part
of the people, the weak. The imperial
policy is teaching the young that might
is right, teaching them to scoff at the
Declaration of independence, to make
sport of the high ideals of liberty, to
ridicule the teachings of Washington
and of Lincoln as antiquated nursery
rhymes, and even to consider that the
Constitution is to be lightly brushed
aside when it stands in the way of land
grasping schemes"
"Do you believe the moral side of the
question will influence the average voter
as against the commercial advantages OF
expansion?" l asked Mr.. Schurz.
"In the first place." Mr.. Schurz an
swered, 'the moral question is superior
to mere commercial problems. In the
second place, when the imperialists say
the subjugation of foreign countries is
necessary to the expansion of our com
merce, they say that which is false.
Gas our official statistics show, our
foreign commerce, and especially the
expectation of American products-not
only the product of the soil, but manu-
factured goods-l,as of late years tre-
mendously increased without any terri
torial contest, and even without the dis
play of formidable ornaments. They
| have increased, not because we pos
| sessed more guns, but because we fur
nislled superior goods at comparatively
lower prices. And there is not the
slightest reason for doubling that they
would continue to increase in the same
way if we continue in a peaceable way
to offer to the world the same induce
ments.
81 have repeatedly and publicly chal-
lenged the imperialists to deny that VIC
| could have obtained all the commercial
facilities and advantages, all the accom-
| 1nodations for our navy and all the nee
essary footholds for our Asatic trade
by respecting the rights of the~Philip-
pine Islanders and without killing thou
sands and thousands OF them for the
purpose OF subjugating them to Our SOW
ereignty, and those challenges have been
| unanswered.
1--WE could do the same thing today
by treating the Philippine Islanders
upon the same principles upon which VIC
have promised to treat the Cubans
Thus we could have obtained all that is
required for our commercial expansion
without shedding single drop of blood
without abandoning the fundamental
principles OF our democracy, without
committing single act of treachcry
such as we have been guilty of, and
without the incalcu1ablc cost which tho
policy of the administration has brought
upon lis.
Gail this, by just policy. we might
do today. Nobody has as yet dared tc
deny this. Thus Our policy OF blood
and trcachery has not only been Grim
| inal aggression, but has also been [;
stupid and most expensive blunder, ane
that blunder will grow in stupidity ant
in hideousness the longer VIC continu,
that policy. The so-callcd commercial
argument, brought forward by the i'm
perialist, is nothing but false pretensc
eve have increased Our navy, in
creased our army, weakened our powe
of defense by multiplying the terrific
ries we have to defend-and made NOR
tai enemies of the population thereof
tremendously augmented the expense o
running the government, and all with
out the slightest necessity
What may prove equally consequen
tial, we have frightened our neighbor
to the south by making them appre
hensive of being swallowed under SOM
similar false pretcnsc, and so destroyc,
the efficacy of the Monroe doctrine"
"But what will be offered as the bcs
way out of the difficulty?" | asked Mr.
! Schurz.
eve cannot wake the dead whose in
nocent blood has been spilled" was tn
striking answer. eve cannot altogcthc
expunge the disgraccful page of histor,
that has been written But the Amcri
can people can rise up and declare tha
the great wrong attempted by misguid
ed men in power shall not be consum
mated and approved.
Don't you believe the foreign gov
ernments would at once pouncc upor
the Philippine Islands if we acknowledg,
the right OF the Filipinos to an inde
pendent government" was asked.
Il do not; and they will be far les!
inclined to do so, if they ever were
after having witnessed the job we hav,
on our hands in subjugating tn,
! flllplnos. Moreover, Mr.. Mckinley
himself, in his last message, said tha
no foreign power would permit another
foreign power to have them. Thi
shows, too, the feasibility of an agree
ment between all the powers concerned
that none of them shall have the Philip
pines and that they shall be protected
as neutral ground II nnc-tct1th Of I'll.