The Irish standard., 1901-01-26
IMPERIALISM HAS COME.
Says Senator Teller In 4 Speech On the
Army Bill.

Says Senator Teller In Speech On tAs
Army Bill.
During the course of the debate on
the army bill in the United States sen
ate, Senator Teller, of Colorado, said;
have not agreed with everybody
who has been in fear of Imperialism.
| said two years ago last month in the
senate that there would not be any i'm
perialism there, for the American peo-
pie would not allow it. Since that I
have seen in those islands an imperial
government that has had no equal on
| the face of the earth, an imperial gov
eminent that has not counterpart
anywhere under the heavens, an impe-
rial government with five men, and five
men only, strangers to the language,
strangers to the country, unacquainted
with the interests of the people, sitting
there and administering government,
taking the money of the people and APP
propriating it without their consent,
ignoring the people entirely.
Mr.. President, the cZar of Russia is
an absolute car. He has counsel of
60 men who sit with him and consider
public affairs, but the 60 men are
Russians. They are people of that
country. They have their sympathies
and their ambitions for Russia. These
men in the Philippine Islands are
strangers. Under the military law
they have Il right there undoubtedly,
but under Gods law, which is higher
than that they have no place there at
all.
And so take back what said two
years ago. Imperialism has come; it
is there in its worst form, and what
want to know, like the senator from
Maryland Mr. Wellngtom, is, what
are you going to do now? Are you
going to keep up this impcrialistic gov
eminent? Are you going to continue
to govern 100000 people contrary to
their wish, without a voice. without
being heard, when your chief actor
over there, General MacArthur, tells
You that the people are Il unit against
this administration, when every Fill
pino i'll Europe today, and there are
thousands of them. is against our gov
crnment over there?
l. say to the gentlemen who are so
ready ato charge us with a desire to
withdraw the army and dishonor the
flag that it does not involve that when
we demand that you give to these peo-
pie government of their own. Gen
eral Otis said TO the president of the
United States: "Thesc people want
conditional independence" There has
never been Il proposition from any Fill
Pine authority anywhere that we
should withdraw our army and leave
them unprotected. They have said:
I'VE want your protection; we want
you to keep the rest of the world off
of u.s." Is that inconsistent with Civ
ing them government of their. own?
What did we say we would do for
Cuba? We said we would leave the
people to govern that island Does
anybody suppose that we are going to
leave them the prey of any other ma
ton? Wewill apply the Monroe doctrine
to them. And what the Filipino asked
was that we should apply the Monroe
doctrine to them over in the Asiatic
sea. That Is what we ought to have
given them. That is what I, on this
floor, said two years ago last month";
we were in honor bound before the
world to give them. When we said
what we said with reference to Cuba
we said practically to the world: "rhis
is not a war of aggrcssion; it is Il war
in the interest Of liberty and humanity
and of good government" We said to
all the world, ut is not a war of ag-
grandiZcment; it is not war of ac-
QUESTION; we are not going into it for
a profit; we are going into it for the
greatest good to those people,"
How stand we today, Mr.. President,
with war on our hands, and no effort
made for two years nearly to compose
1t? Nearly two years ago l said in
this body it Is not beneath the dignity
of this great nation to call about our
authority over there the leading men
of that rebellion, If you choose so to
call it, to confer with them and say to
them, 1--WE will give you what we
pledged the world we would give to
Cuba" l repeat, we are in morals
bound to give it to very man we took
from under the Spanish flag after we
made that declaration.