The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-27
Vain CRY OF IMPERIALISM.
JAMES W. BECK'S TALK TO THE
PRINCETON STUDENTS.
Opponents OF Expansion Are Fighting
Not Only Our Traditions. but Our
Constitution -Holding Colonies Not
Term OF Reproach to Country.


PRINCETON, n. j., Oct 49,. Assistant
Acknowledgement James NJ. Beck this
evening addressed the Republican Club
at Princeton College, in Alexander Hall,
on the issues Of the campaign.
After some discussion OF the work Of
the Department of Justice in enforcing
the sherman antitrust law, Mr.. Beck dis
c,,sse the issue OF Imperialism. He said
in part;
-Thc issue of Imperialism. raisei az
last effort of a dying cause, Is stale, Nat,
and, | venture to predict, Improbable.
Throughout our history it has been last
resort Of party without other definite
issue and has been urged against every
President who attempted any work Of
creative craftsmanship. With the limita-
lions of the different departments Of the
Government clearly defined by a written
Constitution and with a Supreme Court
70 interpret the meaning and to enforce
all it's DEGREES, the issue Is hollow and in
sincere.
PROFESSIONALLY the changed conditions
which followed the Spanish American
War did give rise to many grave con-
sttutional questions as to our power TO
govern outlying territories, and in number
4 cases the right Of Congress to pass laws
and the President to execute them was
challenged upon constitutional grounds.
N each case the President and those acting
under him could have readily been shorn
Of power had the Supreme Court of the
United States adopted the constitutional
views Of the critics OF the Administration,
and does any sane man suppose for, one
moment that the President would not have
yielded willing obedience to any adverse
construction? How can there be either
Imperialism or an Empire if President
Is willing to confne the limits OF his power
to those prescribed in the Constitution
If Mr.. Parker had written philosophical
treatise instead Of a partisan letter OF ac-
ceptance, he would be obliged to admit
that the constitutional evolution Of our
country has been due to the centripetal
influence of steam and electricity. which
have woven the American people into a
coseness of life of which the trainers of
the Constitution never dreamed. The Con-
stitution was and is growth. As Mar
shall said, it was intended to endure for
ages to come and consequently to be adapted
to the various crises Of human affairs
-Un1uestionably, we have just passed
through such crisis, and our Govern
ment has been forced by the logic OF events
to adapt itself to the government Of partly
civili ed peoples in outlying and non-con-
tguoous territories. We have ,overleaped
the barrier OF the Pacific, and near the
cradle of the human race and adjacent to
the oldest empire of the world we have
planted the flag Of our country at the fur
thest outpost Of our influence In this
policy Of territorial expansion We have
nut followed in the beaten paths Of our
fathers.
Our infancy as a nation was spent upon
the Atlantic coast; lusty youth found us
on the banks Of the Mississippi and vigor-
GUS maturity has brought us to the Pacific.
| fail to find In any portion of the Consti-
In nf hn foil
the doctrine that the Pacific coast was to
be the be all and end all Of our national
career. Those who would forever keep
the Republic In her swaddling clothes and
for this purpose invoke the name Of Wash-
ington, should first convince lis that IL he
were the President Of the most powerful
nation in the world he would advise
it to stand aside for lesser and weaker
powers.
"Tf the opposition mean anything by the
cry Of imperialism, they refer to the wider
influence which the United States to-day
exercises through its possession Of out
living territories, They fling. the word
colonies into our teeth. as though Il involved
get that with the exception OF England
we have always been the greatest colonizing
power of the world. We sprung from a
race of colonists, and their blood flows
in our veins. Before the Constitution was
possession Of the land west Of the Allegan-
ies as national domain for colonial len
terprise, and the ordinance OF 1877 could
still be used as a model for all colonizins
governments. The magic Of a name has
obscured this significant phase
OF our history. We have called our colon les
territories. but colonies they remain in
the truest sense Of the word until elevated
to the dignity Of sovereign States. Why. |
then, should the opposition grow hysterical
on the subject Of outlying ooloniesf There
is MOI novelty in the fact that they are
not contiguous, for since weS acquired
colony covering an area OF over 800 900
square miles. When has our government
Of the Philippines or Porto Rico differed
in any essential respect from our previous
government Of territories? The terri