The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-01-07

Took the Ground That Imperial
ism Is Wrong and That We Made
a Serious Mistake When We Took
the Philippine Island-Hon. G. B.
Lands of Indiana Ably Handled
the other Side of This Great
Question.
Hon Champ Clark. of Missouri and
| Hon. C. B. Landis of Indiana, two of
| the most noted speakers of congress,
met in joint debate at the Lyceum last
night. on the subject, imperialism.
1t was under the auspices of the
Brockway lecture bureau. Regret
able to say, the audience was smaller
than that which usually attends the
Brockway events. Had Scranton but
known of the merit of the affair the
capacity of the theatre would have
been taxed
The speakers were introduced and
the details announced by Livy S.
Richard, editor of The Tribune. Mr..
Clark dealt with the Democratic side
of the question for fifty minutes; Mr..
Lands then spoke for an hour and
five minutes, and Mr.. Clark occupied
fifteen minutes in rebuttal.
Expansion was the main question
discussed. That it was thoroughly and
Interestingly discussed goes without
saying. a resume of their arguments
can do them scant justice. Each was
rich in apt illustrative stories. ready of
wit and possessed In rare degree of
the essential ability of making his
point and driving it home. Briefly
stated, Mr. Clark said:
There are three leading questions
today before the American people:
Finance; the tariff, with it's cognate
branch. trusts; the colonial system,
which has come to be called Imperial
ISM 1 will take them up in what I
consider their order of Importance.
my friend Lands will get more ap-
plause than from a Pennsylvania au-
dience, but my speech will contain ten
times more sound American doctrine
and common sense than his.
IS OF SLOW GROWTH.
Fitness for American citizenship is,
declaration of independence didn't
make us free and fit. The battle for
human freedom began even before the
time of Alfred the Great. The declara-
tion of independence was simply one
of the luminous milestones marking
the progress of our march from bar
barism to our present civilization.
Our institutions were purchased at
q great price, yet my friend Landis
and his felloW-jingoes would fritter
them away in chase after a wll-o'-
the wisp OH the other side of the globe.
1T is not square miles of land, navi-
gable rivers and the like that makes
greatness in Il nation. Russia has all
these and is the veriest of despotisms.
Austria has them in n great measure.
but it is only the love of the people for
their aged monarch that prevents it's
dissolution.
81 am utterly opposed to taking to
our palpitating bosom horde of saw
ages who can only degrade and corr
rupt us.
This nation alone stands for the
deathless idea of human freedom. JEFF
ferson made US all propagandists of
equal rights. After practcing this for
one hundred and twenty-five years,
Lands and the other Jingoes would
have us resort to government by force.
IN 1898. just before entering upon
the Spanish war, we passed a resolu-
ton in congress declaring that we We're
not entering upon the war for self-ag-
grandizement We declared in that
resolution that we did not want to take
Cuba or Porto Rico to ourselves. If
any of US knew where the Philippines
We're we would have put them in, too.
What an enviable position we might
have occupied at the close of the war
if we had kept to the declarations OF
that resolution. We owed it to our
fathers, ourselves, our children and the
sacred cause of human liberty to have
done so. We ought to have said to
those whom we freed: You are free;
form your governments and we will
make other countries keep their hands
off. If they don't keep them off, we
will shoot them Off But we didn't do
it. We fell to the low estate of COM
mon land-grabbers,
WHAT FILIPINOS ARE.
Il want it to be understood that l am
not wasting any sympathy on the Fill
pinos. They are mere cumberers of the
earth, as far as I know, But this Is
one thing sure, They are either fit for
self-government or unfit. If they are
fit. why in the name of heaven do we
not let them govern themselves? If
they are not fit for self-government
we do not want them for fellow-clti-
Zens, Let Mr.. Lands take either horn
of that dilemma and impale himself
We surely do not want them for fell
low-citizens. We have 100000 now,
who are not strictly prime.
Our undertaking to hold the Philip
pines is the most idiotic and un-Ameri-
can idea human ingenuity can devise.
If we discovered those islands. with not
Il soul on them, they would still be OF
no use to us. A white man can't live
there. oh, it's Il lovely country. Our
soldiers appealed TO the war depart
ment not to pay them i'm paper money
any more. The ants eat IT,
"Why do we not learn something
from other countries Holland has held
the Island of Java for three hundred
years, and has spent vast sums OF
money i'm bounties and otherwise in at
tap,ntino to cnlnpi1e II with whites