The Irish standard., 1903-02-14

order-the desire to extend freedom.
opportunity and purer religion to alien
peoples. Second is the necessity of
new territory as a refuge for an over
crowded home population, thus reliev-
ing pressure upon subsistence. Third,
the need of new and wider markets
for surplus production.
| leave to others the discussion of a
benevolence which stops at no cruelty;
which in the Transyaal burned thou
sands OF homes and herded women
and children in pest camps where the
death rate was appalling; which in the
Philippines hunted liberty-loving pa
triots without remorse, and in one
province decreed the indiscriminate
slaughter of all people over ten years
of age. The freedom, opportunity and
religion offered were the freedom of
dying for native land. the opportunity
of serving the invader, religion
which, judged by it's fruits, was an
emanation from the bottomless pit.
The third pretense, that wider mar
kets are essential and must be had at
any cost, alone deserves attention The
obvious comment will suggest itself
that it seems a wasteful policy to Sc
cure trade connections with savage
and sparsely settled countries, at the
cost of armies and navies and human
life, when abundant commerce can be
had with rich and populous nations by
simply removing the artificial barrier
of the tariff. But the general theory
prevails that national ownership of
distant semi-civilized lands brings spe-
cial trade advantages. 1t is common
ly expressed in the phrase, TRADE fol-
lows the flag"
| Entering upon this new experiment,
our country lacks data to test this at
tractive aphorism. Let us, therefore,
turn to Great Britain, the greatest
and most successful colonizing power
in the world. Outside of her small
islands she numbers in her colonies
and dependencies a total of 1915, 7OS
square miles, with populations ag-
gregating 366,793,919 souls. If trade
has done it's duty by the flag, the
commerce between these countries
and the mother country must have in
creased with leaps and bounds.
Not such is the record. While the
total expenditure on ornaments, ex-
elusive of war charges, has increased
from f33 ,445,O00 in 1895 to f60,342, 900
in 1902, imperial expansion has shown
no increase in the value of British
trade with her colonies and depend
encies. At the same time her trade
with the group of nations regarded as
Industrial enemies-France, Germany,
Russia and the United States-has
shown considerable gain. (See ]. A.
Hobson's "Study of Imperialism"
James Pott & Co., New York; If
trade was the object of this costly
and bloody expansion, the thriftless
result gives small encouragement to
the Yankee mind.
There is, however, a reason for this
wasteful policy, carefully hidden in
the general discussion. II it Is with
out profit to the country itself, and a
curse to the wage-earners, it is highly
advantageous to certain favored
classes and individuals holding politi-
cal control. Because of special priv
ileges which have acquired the sane
tity of vested rights, personal and
governmental interests have come to
be one and inseparable.
10 attack the men or parties OF
privilege during national war waged
for imperialist purposes is, therefore,
to attack government itself, and is
constructive treason. Examples may
be cited in abundance, illustrated by
the South African and Spanish wars
Alike in spirit and purpose, both were
destructive of constitutional govern
ment.
For democracy and imperialism can
no more coexist peaceably in a polit-
ical system than could freedom and
slavery in the United States. The ire
pressible conflict between the two is
inevitable. We are facing again the
same issue we thought settled ut APP
pomattox, the old struggle with the
new name.
Militarism, executive usurpation of
legislative functions, Judges injunc-
tons overriding the safeguards Of ju-
diciul process, subordinated press,
compliant universities, absorption of
public interests in brutal sports, con-
sequent upon the growth of rich and
idle class, prurient and demoralizing
stage-these necessary landmarks of
despotism since civil government be-
gan are everywhere in evidence.
Whether Imperialism, the blood-red
blossom of this soil, means the de-
struction of the most hopeful demo-
cratic experiment yet attempted. or is
itself to be destroyed by reviving con-
science or material disaster, time
alone can determine. Its heart can
only be pierced by abolishing the
vested privileges that center in pro-
tective tariffs and land monopoly.
When that is accomplished, and not
till then,
I've will return to our appointed