Washington sentinel., 1901-04-13
HON.JOHN J.LENTZ
The Distinguished ohIoan viii ne
Missed.

Missed.
Ofthe many statesmen who have
been retired temporarily from . ub-
lie life owing to the corrupt mach
nations OF Hanna, Heath & Co, =,
perhaps the greatest loss is that
stalwart German Democrat Hon.
John ], Lentz, OF Ohio. He had
incurred the enmitY Of Mckinley
because he knew so we'll the pecu-
liar peccadilloes ot that oleaPinous
disciple oi Pecksniff and Machia-
velli, and had never lost an oppor-
tunity to expose them or 10 bury
his poniard in the tough hide OF
Mark Hanna. So 'the cradle and
the grave" were robbed to carry
his district for a Republican, which
was done by the narrow majority
of 10. Mr.. Lentz has entered a
contest which will be watched with
interest.
AT the close OF Congress he de-
livered a speech which is marked
by his usual bo,dness and origin
ality. It marks out a path for the
Democracy which. if followed, will
IN our mind lead to success. Mr..
Lentz is not only a critic OF the
corrupt and dangerous methods Of
the Republican party, but is a con-
structive statesman OF high order
pointing out policy for his own
party. We reprint his speech in
part, with the assurance OF our
editorial support in the consum-
nation of his policy Of Continental
expansion:
While our plain duty" 70 the FIlipi-
nos should insure our granting them
self government, duty to ourselves
would still more strongly point to that
course. Itis almost unnecessary to state
that the Philippine islands can never be
oi anv material benefit to the masses Of
the American people, however much
the lands and franchises may enrich
few exploiters. On the other hand, we
have spent, and are spending, and must
periorce continue to spend, hundreds Of
millions Of dollars to guard them from
within and without 1t will be remem-
bered that they are surrounded bv
nations which may at any moment
become hostile to US, and without an
immense ravY and enormous irc S ant
expense we are forever to be at the
mercy OF any combination OF these
nsions
rodaS we are humiiatlnRly subser
vient % Great Britain on mat account
Already we have permit ed her to take
our territory and our citizens in Alaska
She harbors the Filipino junta at Hong
Kong, openly plotting against us, and
we dare not say her nay She built the
Canadian Pacific Railroad as a military
base Immediately on our northern bor-
ders, and now she is about TO build
parallel line in case the Northern Pacific
should at any time be blocked. She has
sent Sir Edward Warren, her greatest
military engineer, to Canada, and has
arbitrarily seized the island of ADtCosti
for the purpose Of iortiiying it. She is
delaying the building Of the Nicaragua
Canal to keep closed that means of
connection with the Pacific Ocean, and
is attempting, with our acquiescence
and virtual assistance, the subjugatlon
OF two sister republics in South Africa.
She controls the Straits OF Gibraltar and
Suez Canal, and we are thus completely
at her mercy for peaceable transit to the
Philippines by that route. When we
were confined to our own iillmitable
and inexhaustible continent, the surface
of which has ouly been scratched, and
the resources of which have barely been
touched, we were masters OF the situa.
tion. We were truly "world power"
Today we are a world mendIcant,
seeking whom we may placate. We
have been befogged, befooled. and be-
trayed by England. 1t was said. "Be-
ware OF the Greeks even when bearing
gifts" The same is true Of England,
With the honeyed phrases about the
Anglo Saxon race, aud blood being
thicker than water, she has sjoled a
few pin head politicians and sycophantic
pIutOcrats in the United States. She
told the Paris peace commission that
s 600 soldiers would be sufficient to hold
the Philippines. Instead, it takes
$500 Who pays1 We. Who is weak
ened1 We.
But her prime object in sll the diplo-
macy by which she has fooled us so
completely is to take our miuds of
Canada, She knew that the war fever
had only been whettsd by our brush with
Spain, and she succeeded only too well
in drawing a herring across the track
leading to our northern neighbor
Hence the BETRAYAL OF our ideals. In
our present humiliating predlcament we
find hostile territory in Cuba and the
Philippines, the South American Re-
publics rendered uneasy and suspicious,
perfidious Albion surrounding us on
every side and constantly strengthening
her position, the faith OF millions OF our
own people in our Constitution shaken
Our condition is truly lamentable Had
we granted Cuba and the Philippines
self government asking only such naval
and coaling stations as we deemed neces-
sarv, and which would have been freely
given, we would not only have been a
world power, but wOrld master. We
could have insisted on Canada being
| given autonomy or annexed to the