The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-13

government to the people of the Philip pines as they shall become better educat- ed by practice, and by the school system, is following the true spirit and proper interpretation of the principles of the Declaration of Independence. No man would have been quicker to scout as impractieable dogmatism, the bitter crit icism, the unreasonable opposition and the almost traitorous sympathy with the op- position to our government in the prin- ciples displayed by the anti-imperialists and their democratic followers, than Lin- coin.
 Expansion Policy.
 stepping now beyond the Philippine policy into the general policy of expan- sion, can it be properly assumed that Lincoln would have been opposed to this distinguishing characteristic of the Mc- I<inley administration? If 1t were founded on military glory and the lust of power, it would certainly not meet his approval, but that is the last motive which can be properly attributed to those who have supported and carried on the present na- tional policy of expansion and world pow CT influence.
 "one of the reasons why MT. Lincoln was so bitterly opposed to slavery was that it was an inconsistent blot upon our escutcheon as free country, and that 1t robbed us of our proper world influence In favor of freedom and liberty.
 "The growth in the power of this coun- try even from the time of MT. Lincoln to the present day has been enormous. The increase has been from about 5O,- 000 GOO to 5000, 900 of people. The popula- ton of the country now extends solidly from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast All of this increases the influence that we must Wield in the world, whether we would or no.
 "Fnally, can there be any doubt where Abraham Lincoln would have stood on the issues which peculiarly distinguish the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt? I refer to the struggle which he and his administration have made for the elimination from our business and political fabric, of the corrupting infiu- ence of the unlawful business complna- tions and the demoralizing effect Of dls- obedience to law by our great railroad and transportation companies.
 Lincoln's Democracy.
 ''The one thing that distinguished Lifl- coin all of his life was the equal admin- istration and protection of laws. From the soles of his feet, through all that long frame, to the top of his head, he was democratic in the true sense, and op- posed to privilege and class immunity. lie was not all eneiny ol "coi'ii i1" accumulated. He welcomed and encour- aged internal improvements and, or course, cherished prosperity developed by business enterprises, and the combina- tions of capital but he always exalted in the consideration of every issue the rights of the individual and especially of the humber memper of society, who were least able to protect themselves. There fore we may know with certainty that cannot brook contradiction, that in the struggle to make all business lawful, to take away from great corporations the illegal privileges and ifnmunites that of ficial investigations have shown in many instances to prevail. Lincoln would have made the same good fight which has en- deared Roosevelt to the same plain people of the country, who upheld the hands Of the martyred President through all the great trials of his administration.