The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-01-22
FREDERICKSBURG JANUARY g. 1901
Hanna Thinks 1t A Fake Issue.
(B,ltimore News. Republican,

(b3ltl more news, tepuOllcan
without any offense TO the party on
the other side" said Ne. Hanna In the
Sonata yesterday, II regard imperial
ism as fake issue" II Mr.. Hinna
were osplble Of comprehendlng what 1t
Is that the opp )nents Of lm perialism find
TO ohjs TO in IL, there would be moth
ing 10 say # this except thAs 1t !san ex-
ample of colossal impotence, impudence
bordering on the sublime. Ia point OF
fact there is no reason TO believe that any
ray Of understanding on that subject
has penetrated into his Uranium. He
doesn't see that the diuner-pail Of any
American freeman would be made full
Ter by recognizing the national aspira.
tIons of the Filipinos he sees no rea.
son to believe those brown men can ex-
pe,t 10 get any more into their stomachs
If they govern themselves than they
will If they let Us do the job for them
whichever way he turns, he sees no
money In the anti.imperlalist agitation
for anybody accordingly, there is moth.
ing In it-it is q fake. We do not
believe for a moment that Senator
Hanna meant to be impudent; he was
merely half. He talked out like a plain
blunt man. and swept away the whole
mass of sentimental anti-imperialist
rubbish with one wave Of his arm.
Still, while. acquitting Mr.. Hanna Of
any charge Of intentional impotence,
IL is worth while to point out the ex'
treme impudencs Of his words taken in
themselves. Remembering that Senator
Hoar, one Of the most honored Of Mr..
Hanna's Republican colleagues, has
gone to q greater extreme than almost
any Democrat In the expression OF his
dread of imperialism and his opposition
TO It; that ex-Spesksr Reed, the most
distinguished Republican in the
country, has been alienated from
his party because Of imperialism {;
and that General Harrison,
the last Republican President
before Mr.. Mckinley. has very recent
ly made q most earnest public protest
against it the preposterousness of any
Republican dismissing the matter as
flake Issue" must be evident to any.
one. How far the ex President is from
taking the sordid view Of politics which
Mr.. Hanna represents will appear from
few extracts from General Harrison's
North American Review article;
at was one thipgto tolerate an exist
ing condition that the law Of liberty
condemned. In order to accomplish the
Union Of the States. aud 1t Is quite
another thing to create condition con-
trary TO liberty for a commercial profit.
"Is it not In the nature Of mockery
to raise the flag in Porto Rico and bid
It's hopeful people hail 1t as an emblem
of emancipation. while the Governor
we have sent them reads proclama-
tion, from the foot of the staff. an-
nounning the absolute power Of Oon-
gress over themP
lone who hes retired from the service,
but not from the love of his country,
lmust be pardoned II he finds himself
unable to rejoice In the acquisition Of
lands and forests and mines and com
msrce, at the cost Of the abandonment
Of the old American idea that a gov
ernmene Of absolute power is an in.
tolerable thing, and, under the Con
stltution Of the United States. an i'm
possible thing.
"God forbid that the day should ever
come when, In the American mind,
the thought of man as CONSUMER. "
shall submerge the old American
thought Of man as q creature of God,
endowed with "uualienable rights" "
"There are others besides Mr. Hanna
who need TO be reminded nowadays
that man is something more than Q
consumer. that thel abandonment of
the old American idea is thing to
be contemplated with foreboding. and
that the United States might be engaged
10 much better business than ''creatinR
o condition contr airy to liberty for g
commercial profit.