The age-herald., 1901-03-19
DAVID B. HILL
 MAKES PLEA
 FOR THE BOERS Delivered Strong Speech to St
 Patrick'S Society," TRULY AMERICAN ADDRESS
criticises the Recent Utterances of Kinq Edward VII. On South Afri- can Trouble, Which He Says
 Are Most Remarkable.

New York, March 1S-About 200 people sat down to the banquet of the St. Pats rick's Society in Brooklyn tonight Presi- dent D. J. Carin of this city had with him at the guests table ex-Governor D. B. Hill, Controller Coer, pr. J. A. Kenny and about dozen others. The toasts given and responded to were as follows:
 "The Day We Celebrate"-Rev. E. J: McGoldrick.
 "The United states"-Former Governor Hill.
 "Ireland"-Andrew McClain.
 "City of New York" "4-Bird S. Coer.
 "Our Sister Societies"--J. A. Keene.
 Governor Hill made the principal speech of the evening. He said;
 Governor HilI's. Speech.
 Every true American rejoices in the fact that he lives in Republic. A rep resentative form of government, whereby the people rule not directly as in a de- mocracy but indirectly through their chosen representatives under a written constitution wherein popular rights as well as governmental powers are clearly defined, constitutes the best form of gov ernment ever devised by man.
 "The distinctions which exist between our form of government and that of mon- archies, limited or otherwise, are partio- uarly emphasized in the recent address to Parliament of Edward VII the new King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India.
 He assures Parliament that my rela- tions with other powers continue to be friendly He rejoices that the capitals of the two South African Republics are in my possession, and he trusts that my troops will deal effectually with the forces of the enemy.
 "Such expressions sound strangely up- on our ears in free Aneg'-a. Here we would tolerate no such assumption of su- periority and power as those terms imply.
 '"The Kings address deserves further notice in passing. He characteri2es the resistance of the brave Dutch farmers heroically defending their liberties and their hearthstones as the 'fruitless guer- rilla warfare maintained by the Boer par tisans in the former territories of the two Republics"
 He further asserts that their early sub mission is much to be desired-in their own interest, and then adds: "As until it takes place, it would be impossible for me to establish in those colonies insti- tutions which will secure equal rights to all the white inhabitants and protection and justice to the native populations.
 Most Remarkable Utterances.
 'Those are most remarkable utterances in this progressive and enlightened tWen- tieth century. We submit that 1t does not render the British cause any more righteous by stigmatizing the Boers as partisans instead of patriots, nor does It obscure the exact military situation by assuming to regard their continued stub
 
 warfare
 "rhe supineness of this great republic in the present emergency, while witness ing the destruction of two struggling re- publics in South Africa and the substitu- tion of monarchial government in thelr place is almost incomorehensible.
 of 1t be urged in defense of our na- tional lethergy that the Monroe doctrine presents no objection to the destruction of republics elsewhere than upon this continent 1t may be well answered neith- CT did that doctrine contemplate an at tempt upon our part to extend our Jurls- diction into the Pacific seas
 But whether it can be seriously estab- lished that there rested upon this nation the positive duty of interference In the first instance to protect its two sister repuolics from annihilation at the hands of a monarchial government, It IS sug gested that at least it was our national dutv to insist that the alleged grievances of Great Britain which formed the pre- text for it's warfare upon two weak re- publics should have been submitted to arbitration before hostilities were actu- ally opened.
 from a formal tender of friendly offices of this government to the respective bellig- erents (which Great Britain promptly and rather tartly declned) there has been no manifestation of our national interest in the outcome of the struggle; there has been no protest raised against the cruel consummation of the wrong; there has been permitted in Congress not even mild expression of sympathy for the struggling republics; and they have been confronted not only with a cold neutral ity, but with a manifest indifference to their fate and there has been an apparent abandonment of the new American doc Urine which was proclaimed so vigorously and effectively in 1895.
 Sympathies With the Boers.
 "But whatS Ter may have been the atti- tude which our government has felt con- strained to assume there has never been the slightest question of the sentiments of the generous and warm hearted Amer ican people upon this subject Their hopes, their prayers and their sympathies have been with the gallant Boers in their un- equal contest with British usurpation.
 "I do not violate any confidence when I state that at an interview which I had in Washington on December last with ex-President Harrison. one of our gi~t- est lawyers and statesmen. whose recent death the whole country is now lament ing, in discussing some constitutional questions not now necessary to be men toned, and reference having been made to the South African struggle, he sud denly turned to me and with much feel ing and impressiveness said: Governor Hill, am au American, and my sympa- thies are with the cause of the Boers. I cannot help it. It was an impromptu ex- presson of patriotic sentiment, creditable alike to his head and heart which shall always remember.
 Ut has ever been our pride and our | boast that we have cordially welcomed