Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-01-06
WE'LL BURIED ISSUE
CORPSE OF ANTLiMPERlALIsM TWICE
r = PUT UNDERGROUND.

POI aUNOEKGROUNO.
The Venerable Gentlemen Who Adj
vocate Hauling Down Our Flag In
the Philippines Have Outltved
Their Political Usefulness.
The Chicago Tribune in an editorial
commenting on the recent campaign
says: 4 f# 4 ssi-ss,s \ " T. =
Looking back upon the campaign in
a dispassionate spirit, does it not strike
the reflective and philosophical student
las amazing that any "sane and safe"
party should propose to the bounding
manhood Of this country the abandon
ment Of one Of It's best possessions?
When we come to think-in the calm,
melancholy days Of late November--of
this issue so cruelty resurrected from
the grave where it was put in 1900
and propelled into the forum Of de-
bate, insufficiently clad for public ex-
posture, we are inclined to drop 81
lent tear over the follies Of mankind.
What political leaders having an atom
of sense or experience can believe now
that the Democracy had any chance to
win on an issue Of that kind? r
The cry Of "anti-imperialism" was
raised by number of venerable gen.,
tlemen who have outlived their po-
litical usefulness. The apostles Of dis
content on the Philippine question
were Carl Schurz, George s. Boutwell,,
George F. Edmunds and General Mel
son A. Miles. The average man, and
especially the average boy in the street,
would have thought twice short time
ago if he had been, asked whether
some of these gentlemen were alive or
dead and might even now reflect with
discomfort upon the fact that one or
more Of them are certainly known to
be alive since the campaign brought
their existence to light e..
In a sense, all these gentlemen, and
many more like them, who became
strenuous" over the Philippine issue
are on the retired list. The American
people have never yet been governed
by their retired list They never will
be while they remain vigorous, pro-
gressive, self confident, alert and virile.
Take the case Of General Miles. for
example. The young men of the coun-
try who know anything about him
know that he was a brave soldier in
the civil war and very paladin of Of
Tense during the Indian wars that sue
ceeded it. AS counselor they know
nothing good of him. He is not saga
cious when he leaves the tented field.
His craftsmanship is mediocre, his
temper bad, his vanity boundless and
his conceit uncomfortable Who would
think of asking General Miles in these
days for an opinion on any public
question? Even in matters relating to
the army his judgment is SO warped by
political feeling and utterances SO tine
tured by malevolence. that they no
longer have any weight. -
Mr.. Boutwell, is Grabbed. egotistic,
self conferred octogenarian whom no
man would think Of consulting on any
question of business or affairs. Messrs
Edmunds and Schurz decidedly are on
the shelf, and so are most Of the other
gentlemen who have united with them
in the Philippine clamor.
The Tribune does not care to indulge
in self laudation nor to iterate the wea-
rsome shibboleth, II told you So" but
is it not true that the bounding youth
Of the country repudiated, as the Trib-
une said it would do, with scorn and
indignation the suggestion that we
should let the Philippines go? The is
sue was no more popular than that of
1860, when Horace Greeley cried out,
Let the erring sisters go in peace"
The young men of the country simply
would not have 1t, They were deter
mined that no palsied hand should
haul down the American flag in the
Philippines or any other place where it
was properly flying. ..i ~ !,
Why, the story Of the Hawaiian Is
lands should have been enough. para
mount Ascendency" Blount, under the
direction Of Grover Cleveland, took
down the flag in those islands, and the
country knew him no more, and there
was no stop to public agitation until
they became permanently part Of the
United States. as7gg i "A
So will it always be in matters of
this kind. The little Englanders who
wished to have Great Britain abandon
South Africa have put the Liberal par
ty out of power most of the time for a
generation, and 1t will be kept out of
power as long as peace at any price
statesmen control it's policy &t
The corps Of "anti-imperialism has
hnn v>,,k
should be enough but IL the insane
and unsafe Democracy wishes to raise
the issue in 1908 the party Of progress
will again cheerfully meet 1t with
bloody hands and welcome 1t for the
third time to hospitable grave.
Trade still Lively.
The election has come and gone and
trade is running along as briskly as be-
| fOro y1ndop a fv1I1 hnad ~ <oo n, V1,orn