The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1902-10-16
OUR BOYS IN BLUE
Have Never FaItered in Devotion to
the Nations Cause.
SHALL THEY GO UNPROTECTED

quent Reply to Democratic Leader
Who is Afraid of the MAILED Hand"
Of the American soldier-The Flag
is the Symbol of Liberty Wherever
UnfurIed.
One of the most eloquent members
of congress is Representative James {.
Watson, representing the Sixth district
of Indiana. His speech on the Philip
pine question during the last session
attracted the admiring attention not
only of his auditors in the house OF
representatives, but of the entire coun-
try. He answered in mastery fashion
the complaints of the minority against
the policy of the administration.
Some of his most eloquent sentences
were inspired by text taken from the
speech of Representative Desmond OF
Missouri, wherein the Missouri repre-
sentative said: do we lack the power
to take the mailed hand from the
threats of men who are crying out for
liberty and independent national ex-
istence?" Replying to this question,
Mr.. Watson said:
Whose is the mailed hand that is
held at the throat of the Filipino!
Manifestly the boys in blue, fighting
under the ripping folds of our beauti-
full banner over the Pacific, across the
ocean, 1000 miles away. Is this
mailed hand? Shall we sit patiently
by while the soldier boys of the repub-
lie, CALAMITY contend.ng for the honor
of the country and the glory of the
flag are assaulted and aspersed on the
floor of this house?
Sir, no more singular devotion to the
flag has been known than theirs. They
left their country's shores, they
climbed over the ridge of the western
sea, to plant their country's banner
in a strange land and under new skies.
Clad in their uniform of blue and be-
meath the emblem of their nations
power they have never faltered In
their devotion to their country's cause.
They are today struggling for the SUI
premacy of republican principles and
the equality of ali men. (Applause)
In the desert sands, in the mountain
fastness, in the tangled forest, in the
treacherous swamp, they have not
ceased to contend, not for power, for
conquest, for territory, for spoils, but
for the eternal principles represented
by their flag. (Applause-)
No Mailed Hand There.
Is theirs a mailed hand? Can 1t be
withdrawn at this time and in justice?
No; it cannot be. And it is not a
mailed hand. 1t is the helping hand
that rolls back the clouds, that dis
perses the mists, that brings the sun
shine of hope and liberty into the hui
man heart. applause on the Repub-
lican side.)
And shall these boys go unprotected?
Will the Democracy vote against the
proposition here involved? Will they
refuse shelter to and withhold protec-
ton from the defenders of their coun-
try's flag?
Are they subject to the unjust Gen.
sure of the gentleman from Missouri?
They who rushed to arms when the
Judgment drums beat to quarter in
1885," and who have since borne stead
lily aloft the sacred banner of the free?
Men of the north, your sons are
there. When you came back from APP
pomattox you brought an unsullied
banner. Every star was shining on
The spangled flag, and there was Meth
er master nor slave beneath it's folds.
Who the Soldiers Are.
While they were yet children you
placed it in their keeping, under your
watchful care, and they are guarding
it with a jealousy worthy of the sa-
cred trust. They are your sons, and
they can no more help being what they
are than the sunset can help being
glorious; than the rose can help being
fragrant; than the bird song can help
being sweet; than the rainbow can
help leaping from the jeweled rain
drop. They were bred in an heroic
who went singing up the sleeps of
Mission Ridge; who rolled up their
sleeves and calmly lighted their pipes
before they rushed into the leaden
storm at Fredericksburg; who shouted
the national air as they swung into
battle at Charlottesville.
Men of the south, your sons are
there too. for, thank God, today there
is but one uniform and one flag.
cloud applause.) Sons of the men
who wore the confederate gray; sons
of the men who rushed into the leaden
hell of battle as to banquet; sons
of the men who followed Lee and Jack.
son. and Johnston and Hood and Bragg,
upon hundred CORY fields of strife.
They are heroes to the manner born,
and are entitled by right of birth to a
place among the bravest and the best.
These boys are true to their immor-
tai heritage. Catching the spirit of
universal freedom, they are contending
for the enfranchisement of a race be-
yond the sea. Amid thick dangers
and hidden perils they have been true
to their country's cause. They have
conquered, they have overcome And
behold The flag of the western land
is today unfurled in everlasting tri-
umph above those distant islands of
the sea, uplifting in its rise race from
bondage and a nation to triumphant
hope. cloud applause.)
Faith In the Future.
Can the sun refuse to shine? No
more could we confine the spirit of
liberty which gave us a nation to our