The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-13
In Speech on the Floor OF the
L. S. Senate.
KNOX WAS MILD
Did Not Tell Half That He Might
Have Told.
Most Despicable Figure That Has
Arisen i'm Central America.


resolution offered in the senate last
Friday, aut hoIIzing the president of the
United States to take all necessary
! steps to a.pprehend President Zelaya of
Nicaragua, and bring MIN to trial on
a charge of the murder of Groce and
Cannon, the Americans recently exc
cuted i'll Nicaragua, Senator Rayner
of Maryland, today addressed the SEN
ate at length.
Senator l2ayner's speech. stirring and
denunciatory in tone and characterized
by dramatic fervor was an unSparing
arraignment of Zelaya, whom he desig
mated as one of the criminals of the
age.
what I am concerned in now said
Senator Rayraer. lis not the question
of the belligerent rights of the revolu-
tionists. o. in case of their success
their recognition either as the de facto
or the de jure government, but in the
speedy apprehension and punishment
of Zelaya.
This desperaeo is everything the
secretary of state says about him, and
q great deal more. If the country knew
what is known in official circles in ref
erence to his general depravity, it would
regard the secretary's communication
as exceedingly temperate
'I have watched for years the revo-
lutionary history of Central America
end am familiar with the career Of a
great many of the impostors and us
urpers ard the grotesque and motley
leaders that have sprung from their
chaotic institutions. but Zelaya Is PRO-
badly the most despicable inquire tnat
has ever risen in their midst.
Can't Classify Him.
.'If he were simply a highwayman we
might identify him; if he were simply
q tyrant who oppressed the people for
the purpose of robbing them, we might
particularize him: if he was a usurper
who was only holding onto power so
long as there were any money in the
treasury to steal, or any further ter
ritory that he could sack for private
plumber, We could assign him proper
place il the ranks of some of his pre-
decessors; and it he were purely an as
sassin who regarded murder as a legiti-
nate profession through Which he
could despoil his victims of their pos
sessions until the time for him to flee
from the hands of retributive justice 1t
would be easy also for any one ac-
quainted with the political history OF
Nicaragu to classify him.
He is however, all of these things
combined; in the school of corruption
dishonor, perf1dy and crime he stands
without a peer, and exhibits in one
glow of associated harmony the pride
of every model and the perfection of
every master.
''I have been reliably informed that
the vices of his private life are more
tails than the iniquities of his pubi1c
career. Such creature as this de-
serves the execration of mankind
Now, as the eliminating infamy OF
his administration, trampling upon
every instinct of humanity in violation
of universal law, in defiance of those
precepts Of the international code
that have been recognized ever since
the night of barbarism receded before
the rays of civilization, he has put to
n r.
lean citizens who were not guilty of
treason, who were not spies. but
whom he had captured as prisoners
of war in the army of revolu-
tionists
The Act of a Efend.
'"This act was not only the act of
a fiend, but was an insult to the honor |
of this republic and can not remain |
'.It is preposterous for us to talk |
about indemnity. Indemnity is no
for murder. 1t is said |
we ought to break off Official COM |
with his accredited repre- |
sentatives. We have already done |
that and that amounts to nothing,
and is a matter of absolute uncon- |
Germ to him.
"Then it is said we ought to de- !
clare war against Nicaragua. 1 think |
that is unnecessary.
This government is a cowardly gov |
6rnD6nl II IL OO6S nOC I1dk0 dH 6AdI1pIo !.
of Zelaya before the eyes of the civil /
ized world. This case will not admit of
any trif1ing or concessions. If two
American citizens have been murdered
by Zelaya then he must be made to pay !
the penalty of his crime.
Once spread before the American
people the details of the execution and /
our people will rise in arms and demand |
retribution. They have not yet fully
absorbed the significance of this deed.
IF Zelaya had the right to sentence
these men to death and execute them in
cold blood, then we must acknowledge |
that right and recognize it before the
nations of the world. If he did not
have that right this government is his !
accuser and if he is guilty he must be
awarded the doom and fate that he de-
serves so that every tyrant on this /
earth in every nationality under the
sun and in every government large or
small, and especially these dictators in
several of these Central American I
states who have received every favor
and consideration at the hands of the
United States and to whom has been
extended the official hospitality of our
land. and who in return therefor have
exhibited to us at times the bitterest |
hatred and visited upon our citizens the
most cruel indignities and outrages,
shall be told once and forever that our
flag follows our citizens wherever they
go, and that when an assassination like
this occurs the malefactor must take
his place like any other culprit at tine
bar of criminal justice and must answer
for the deed with his liberty or his life
The resolution which he offered was
not a declaration of war, said Senator
Rayner. He desired his resolution be
considered as a separate propositionl
from any action that might be taken
with reference to the state of govern
ment existing in Nicaragua
Wants His Sons Body.
Harrisburg, Pa. Dec. I'D. X
Cannon. father of Leroy Cannon. sent