The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-03-03
CARL SCHURZ ON EXPANSION.
DISCUSSES THE PHILIPPINE
AND PORTO RICO
QUESTION.
SCORES THE MCKINLEY ADMIN
ISTRATION.

was tue pTiuClpdl sptdhtt. LIE Sdius
For more than three quarters of "a century
war of our own making and the period of
our civil conflict excepted-the American peo-
pie have enjoyed the inestlmable boon of
substantial unarmed peace in perfect security.
Until recently we valued this priceless prvi-
lege so heartily and proudly that we looked
down with pitying superiority upon the nations
of the old world, seeing the'a grievousy bur-
dened with their monstrous military and naval
establishments; and we watched with an almost
disdainful smile their incessant efforts to in
crease those burdens in their nervous anxiety
lest some rival might get an andvantage; until
at last one of their mightiest rulers truthfnlly
confessed that the ruinous competition could
| not much longer go on without fatal conse-
quences. And we were the only great nation
on earth securely free from these drag weights
| and worries.
Therefore, we could-not have war unless
We kicked some foreign nation into it. Even
| all our wishes concerning Cuba would prob
ably have been conceded by Spain without
| firing gun, if we had only waited. In one
word, it was the first precept of European
craftsmanship to remain on good terms with
| this Republic at almost any cost. And, there
| fore, it was that we we're secure in the enjoy
ment of the inestimable blessings of unarmed
peace, with the fullest liberty to devote all
our social energies to the development of our
| immense material resources and of our men-
| tai and moral capabilities; to the solution of
the great problem of popular government
given in our charge, and to our glorious mis-
sion to promote the cause of liberty and civlli-
| zation among mankind by the peaceable moral
force of our example.
"These were the extraordinary providential
favors bestowed upon the American people,
part of which Washington witnessed, part of
which he foresaw, and the duties and respon-
sibilites flowing from which he felt so deeply.
"What have we done with these blessings
While the conduct of the American Demo-
cracy has, indeed, not reached the ideal which
was in Washington's mind, and while for this
reason it has had its failures, the Republic has
achieved measure of development in wealth.
greatness and power that has in like space
of time never been equaled by any nation in
history.
THE DEGREES OF PROVIDENCE
ssBut now we are told that we have come
to turning point; that the very power we
have won in walking that proVidenial path,
obliges us to strike out in different direction;
that we must no longer content ourselves with
making this vast continent the home of u free,
peaceabe and happy people, with an honest
| endeavor to solve on this virgin soil the mo-
mentous problem of popular self-government,
/ and with advancing the cause of liberty and
civilization among mankind by the moral
force of our example, but that we must give
| up the priceless privilege of unarmed peace;
| that we must have big fleets and armies in
order to play new part in the affairs of the
| world; that we must become conquerors TO
spread our commerce and have far away
possessions and rule foreign peoples as our
| subjects--no matter what the original design
of our Republic and the fundamental prin
| ciples of our democracy may have been. And
when the advocates of this new course are
hard pressed in argument, they always resort,
as their last refuge, to the plea that Proyi-
| dence has precipitated us into this new course,
/ and that it is vain to resist.
s'Nobedy can be less disposed than | am to
pose as mouthpiece of Providence. But |
| do maintain that when we speak ofsomething
having been so ordained by Providence that
/ no human being could be held responsible for
it, we can only mean that the will of man one
way or the other could not play determining
part in it. In this sense it may be said that
geographic, climatic and other such con-
ditions, which made the building up of great
democracy on this American soil so natural,
were providentia; that the rising up of an
| idea leader at the beginning of our Govern
ment was providential; that the peculiar stu
alton of this Republic among the Powers of
the earth, enabling it to build up that great
| democracy in the new world, untroubled by
| the jealousies and luarrels of other nations,
was providential. But can it be maintained
that in the same sense the conquest of the
Philippines was provldential, and thai Presi-
dent Mckinley was right when he said in Bos-
ton, February 16, 1899: The Philippines
were intrusted to our hands by the Providence
of God; it is a trust we have not sought? 2 a"
| DELIBERATELY PLANNED CONQUEST.
4 u,t a. H.
pondence between Commodore Dewey and
the Government respecting the Philippine
Islands and the Spanish forces there; to his
| instructions after the declaration Of war TO
destroy the Spanish feet and then said:
| 'When Spain, after series of defeats, got
ready for peace, the Secretary of the Navy
telegraphed to Dewey as follows: Washing
ton, August 1S, 1S9S.-The President desires
to receive from you any important informa-
ton you may have of the Philippines; the
desirability ofthe several islands; the character
of their population; coal and other mineral
deposits; their harbor and commercial ad-
vantages. and in naval and commercial
| sense which would be the most advantage
ous,' etc. Thus, it appears that the President
was then not yet quite certain how far it would
be profitable to us that Providence should i'm
pose that 'nnsought' trust upon us. When
| he had received information which made him
| think it would be profitable 10 have the whole
archipelago intrusted to us, he instructed our
| Peace Commissioners at Paris to insist that
| Spain should cede us the whole. And after a
| long and arduous wrestle with the representa-
tives OF Spain, as described in Senate docu-
ment No. g. our Commissioners at last sue
ceeded in extorting from them the cession Of
what sovereignty Spain had over all those
islands, and they agreed that the United
States should pay $40, ,O00. 900 therefor.
ssThus the record shows most conclusively
that the conquest of the Philippines was not
thrust upon the Administration by mysteri-
ous and overruling power, but that it was de-
liberately planned with cool circulation of
profit. and that if the business so far has not
been as successful as expected, it proves only
that the calculation was not quite correct.
And when now President Mckinley tries TO
make the American people accept his inter
probation that the Philippines were simply
Entrusted 10 our hands by the providence ol
God,' and that st is trust we have not
sought, he has, to say the least, taken iiber-
ties with Providence which he may answer
for
The speaker then reviewed the history Of
the war with Spain, to show how the policy
for which the President makes Divine Provi.
/ dence responsible was carried ont He said
the spectacle of our going to war TO secure
freedom for foreign population was so novel
that we had been charged with some secret
| design for conquest, and that Dewey's victory
in Manila Bay brought with it the temptation
testing our sincerity; that Dewey invited
Agunaldo to join him in movement against
Spain; that he did so. and set up civil gov
ernment well spoken of by imperialistic agiia-
tor Barrett; that the Filipino army did The
only fighting against the Spanish up to the
surrender of Manila, and had cooped up the
Spanish in Manila; that all this time they
acted as our allies against common foe. He
continued:
'sAnd then when he had taken Manila and
assembled large land force there--did we
remember that we had to war against Spain
with the solemn proclamation that this should
be war Of liberation, and not of conquest,
and that our Filipino allies were fairly enti-
tied to the full benefit OF that pledgef No,
not that. President Mckinley entered into
peace negotiations with the common enemy,
Spain-negotiaiion from which our allies,