The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-08-10
PARKER'S REPLY.
Continued from Page Ski,

| III the purchase OF the ISLANDS ana the
| 600 millions said to have been since
/ diSbursed will ever come back to us.
The accident of war brought the Phil
| 1pplneS into our possession and We are
not at liberty to disregard the respon-
SlhllIty which thus came to us, but that
/ responsibility will be best subserved by
preparing the islanders as rapidly as
possible for self government and giving
| to them the assurances that il will
come as soon as they are reasonably
prepared for il. There need be no fear
| that the assertion SO often made of late,
that we have now become world pow
er, will then be WITHOUT support. Ours
is world power, and as such it must
be maintained, but l deny that 1T is a
all recently that the United States has
attained that eminence. Our country
became a world power over a century
ago, when, having thrown off foreign
domination, the people established a
free government, the source of whose
authority sprung and was continuous
ly to proceed, from the will of the peo-
pie themselves. 1t grew as a world
power as its sturdy citizens, to whose
natural increase were added immi-
grants from the old world seeking to
obtain here the liberty and prosperity
denied them in their own countries
spread over the face of the land, reduced
the prairies and forests to cultivation,
built cities, constructed highways and
railroads, till now a nation which at
the formation of the government num-
bered only three millions in population,
mas become 81 millions, ana from ocean
to ocean and the lakes to the gulf, the
country is the abode OF a free and pros
porous people, advanced in the highest
degree in the learning of arts and arts
of civilization. 1t is the liberty, the adj
vancement and the prosperity of its
citizens, not any career of conquest,
that make the country a world power.
This condition we owe to the bounty
of Providence, unfolded in the great
natural resources of the country, to the
wisdom of our fathers manifested in
the form of government established by
them, to the energy industry, moral
people themselves.
Not Military People.
We are not a military people, bent
on conquest, or engaged in extending
our domains in foreign lands or de-
Sirous of securing natural advantages,
however great, by force; but people
loving peace, not only for ourselves,
but for all the nations of the earth.
The display of great military arma-
ments may please the eye, and, for the
moment, excite the pride of the citi-
zen but it cannot bring to the coun-
try the brains, Drawn and muscle of
single immigrant, nor induce the in
Vestment here of a dollar of capital.
OF course such armament as may be
necessary for the security of the coun-
try and the protection of the rights of
its citizens, at home or abroad, must
be maintained. Any other course
pusillanimous. L protest, however,
against the feeling, now far too preva-
lent, that by reason of the command
ing position we have assumed in the
world, we must take part in the dis
putes and broils of foreign countries; |
and that because we have grown great
we should intervene in. every impor- |
tant question that arises in other parts
of the world 1 also protest against
the erection of any such military es-
tablishment as would be required to |
maintain the country in that attitude.
We should confine our international
activities solely to matters in Whlch
the rights of the country or of our
citizens are directly involved.--T That. Is |
not situation of isolation, but of in
dependence.
The government of the United States
was organized solely for the people /
of the United States. While 1t was
contemplated that this country should |
become a refuge for the oppressed of !
every land. who might be mt to DIS
charge the duties of citizenship, ana
while we have always sympathized |
with the people of every nation in
their struggles for self government the
government was not created for |
career of political or civilizing evan- |
gelization in foreign countries, or
among alien races. The most efficient |
work we can do in uplifting the peo-
pie of other countries is by the pre-
sentation of a happy, prosperous self |
nation as an ideal to be en-
ulated, a model to be followed. The
general occupation of our citizens in
the arts of peace, or the absence of
large military ornaments, tends to inn
pair neither patriotism nor physical |
courage; and for the truth of this !
refer the young men of today to the
of the civil war. For fifty
years, with the exception of the war /
with Mexico, this country had been at
peace, with a standing army most of
the time of less than ten thousand |
men. He who thinks that the nation
had grown effeminate during that peri
cd should read the casualty rolls OF
the armies on either side at Shiloh,
Fredericksburg and Gettys-
I would be the last man to
pluck a single laurel from the crown
of any one of the military heroes to
whom this country owes so much, but
proceeded infinitely more from devo-
ton to the country, than from a mar
tiaI spirit.
Wait for the Letter.
AS I have already proceeded at too |
great length, other questions suggest
ed in the platform must await my let
ter of acceptance.
Mr.. Chairman: In most graceful speech
you have reminded me of the great re-
sponsibility. as wen as the great honor of
the nomination bestowed upon me by the
you represent this day. Be
assured Inat 3otn +, are appreciatedIso
their presence.
I accepted gentlemen of the commit
tee, the nomination, and if the action of |
the convention shall be endorsed BY an
election by the people, will, God helping
me, gave to the discharge of the duties of
that exalted office the best service of
which l am capable and at the end of
the term retire to private life. 1 shall not
be a candidate for. nor shall I accept a |
Several reasons might be
for this position, but the con-
trolling one with me is that 1 am fully
persuaded that no incumbent of that Of
ice should ever be placed in a situation
Of poSsible Temptation to consider what |