Evening star., 1901-04-02
THE. BUBBLE
MONDELL ON THE
ANTI-IMPERIALIsTS' PLIGHT.
Compares WyOming's Constitution
With MarylRnds Disfranchfs-
ing Enactment.

The few republican representatives in
town are iubilant over one phase of the
Philippine question, and the relation the
capture of Aguinaldo bears to it, and that
is that the bubble of 'the empire has
been so neatly pricked by the combination
of circumstances. and the manner in which
the President has met existing conditions.
In a chat this morning with a Star re-
porter Representative Mondell of Wyoming,
who is a member of the committee on mill
tary affairs, said:
''The determination of the President as
regards the eniistments in the army, where
by that body will, in all probability be
kept at about a strength of $4,000 men,
and in any event will not be recruited
above the actual number of men necessary
to meet conditions as they may exist IN the
Philippines. knocks the remaining prop cut
from under the anti-imperialists, and sends
the dreams of those who saw empire
written across the country from the AT
lantic to the Pacific scattering INTO space.
The President Has Shown Wisdom.
''In this the most recent exhibition of the
sa gacious wisdom of the President, is
shown the difference between a President
who is mindful of public opinion, where the
public is in full possession OF the facts, and
of a President who is inconsiderate OF tEat
opinion and judgment, and by his acts sets
his own judgment over all else. In the lat
ter case the man is a dictator, pure ana
simple, and such was President Cleveland,
than whom no President ever sat IN the
chair who was more unmindful OF the
Judgment of his fellows. and who left the
White House carrying with him so little OF
the real esteem of his cOuntrymen
I'm giving heed to public sentiment, 1t
seems to me. where public sentiment is not
carried away by passion or excitement,
President Mckinley shows his wisdom and
reveals strength of character which re-
minds me of Lincoln. 1t will be renlem-
bered that Mr.. Lincoln was criticised by the
opposition because he kept his ear to the
ground to sound public sentiment, but his
tory has shown that in this, as IN other
things, Mr.. Lincoln betrayed rare Judg-
ment which elevated him high in the ranks
of the really great men of any period. The
President possesses this faculty of admin
istering the grave responsibilities of his
great office. and L believe the people
wherever our flag floats appreciate his
motives and honor his unselsh aims. l
don't think will hear so much after
this about 'dictatorS,' empire imperial
ISM and similar rot.
Administration Policies Sustained.
while l have always had faith in the
ultimate pacification of the islands, | will
confess that until recently I did not think
early and it was with this thought that
Congress, in framing the new army bill,
made the provision elastic to meet cOndi-
tionS which We're then far in the future.
The President was given the power to in
crease the army to its maximum. if need ID,
but with the capture of Aguinaldo. the sur
render of the various subordinate gen
erals of the insurgent army, and the eStab-
lishment of civil government so extensively
in the archipelago, that condition, S thus
wisely provided for. will not have to be
met. In fact. the action of the committees
on military affairs in both houses Of Con-
gress as sustained by the Congress in the
enactment of the bill. is now shown to have
been wise one. while the policies of the
administration have been sustained in a
manner which the people at large are bound
to appreciate and applaud
Mr.. Mondel was asked his opinion as to
the disfranchisement act recently passed
by the Maryland legislature, inasmuch as
Wyoming has constitutional provision
which prohibits illiterates from voting. On
this subject he said:
Disfranchising Voters.
Il consider the act of the Maryland legis-
lature, and the acts of the legislatures Of
other southern states which have disfran-
chised voters, to be clearly unconstitution-
al, dangerous and a menace to the repub-
lican form of our government.
''It is ineXact and wrong to draw paral-
lei between these acts and the constitution
of my state. Wyoming has never disfran-
chised a single voter. but these acts have
and do disfranchise thousands Of voters.
They go into operation at once They are
also retroactive. If they We're to say that
on and after a certain date, a certain num-
ber of years hence, no elector could exer-
else the right of franchise unless he knew
how to read and write, different aspect
would be placed upon the question, and the
sidered.
"The constitution of Wyoming, briefly,
declared that all persons who were electors
in the state should remain so, but that
after four years no one who had not been
an elector at the time or e adoption Of
the constitution could exercise the right Of
franchise unless that person could read and
write.
''It will thus be seen that no person in my
state who ever exercised the right of fran
chise was deprived of the right by the con-
stitution. How different in Maryland
With stroke Of the pen $4,000 men who
away from them. Another question entire
ly is presented.
May Go on without Limit.
eff man may be disfranchised because
he cannot read and write he may also be
deprived Of his vote because he has no tax
able property, or the limit of taxation may
be placed at so, 900 or 500, 900, or any other
sum, or some other qualification may be re-
quired, as, for instance, that he was born
in this country or Is a native Of his state
or any other qualification the majority may
see fit to enact, for it is purely an arbitrary
assertion of the power of the ma jority over
the minority.
1T is my opinion that it will shortly de-.
velop into most serious problem, and with
it cones the question of congressional rep
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