competition with our intelligent, well-paid labor will be to degrade and lower our civilization. Already in Illinois negroes from Alabama have been shot and driven from the State, and such action defended by the Governor.

Again, will Americans ever consent to live in the Philippines and aid in the development of its natural resources and the evolution of barbarians into the light and liberty of civilization? Inhabitancy is one of the conditions to success in colonizing. Seneca said of the Romans, "Wherever the Roman conquers he inhabits." The partial failure of England in India is mainly attributable to the impossibility of getting Englishmen to inhabit the country. Her rule of a century in India has not materially changed the habits or customs of the people. England has conquered India, but her influence would disappear when her dominion as a ruler ended.

I suppose that I might be called a moderate expansionist, but it seems to me that the United States. can well be content with the territory of North America without reaching out to the uttermost parts of the earth to embrace a people so different from us in race, religion, and civilization, and who will never be able to appreciate or understand our institutions. It looks to me as if some of our public men had gone wild on this question of expansion.

Here we stand to-day with great issues of financial reform, labor and trusts questions all sidetracked; the whole business of the nation suddenly become artificial; our people called upon to abandon the safe treadmill of domestic concerns for new fields, new thoughts, and fresh hopes, that can not but prove illusive. It is wiser and better to look after domestic politics first, and not avoid grave questions at home.

in order to join in the international game of land grabbing.

If we embark in a colonial system, it means the inauguration of a despotic power in Washington. It means a large standing army that will not only be used to rule outlying territories with an iron hand, but that, sooner or later, will be used at home to overawe and override the popular will. An imperialistic democracy, like an atheistic religion, is an impossible hybrid.

The hand of God may have been in the war with Spain, but I do not feel that it is in obedience to the Divine will that we are pursuing a career of conquest in the Philippines. Conquest has never been the handmaid of our civilization or the Christian religion; their triumphs rest upon a foundation of peace. The sword established the religion of Mohammed, but it will never spread and maintain the religion of Jesus Christ. I am in favor of the United States continuing as a peaceful Republic, not a conquering empire. We should not become entangled in the rivalries of European kingdoms, but be content with the banishment. of European tyranny from this hemisphere. I would not sell the principles upon which our Republic is founded for a mess of pottage in the Philippines.

Why should we run after "strange gods?" Let this Government move along in the same orbit that has transformed a few scattered colonies into a great nation, and fanned a feeble spark into a beacon light among the nations of the earth.

Better than wealth, better than "a territory upon which the sun never sets," is the transmission to our children of a Republic built upon the indestructible rock of constitutional government.

EXCESSIVE TAXATION DESTRUCTIVE TO

PATRIOTISM.

BY HON. ALEXANDER 5. CLAY,

UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM GEORGIA.

The resolution passed at the last session of Congress declaring war against Spain declared expressly that the United States disclaimed any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control. over the island of Cuba, except for the pacification thereof, and asserted its determination, when that was accomplished, to leave the government and control to the people thereof. If it had been declared that it was the purpose of the war to conquer, acquire, and annex the Philippine Islands to the United States, I do not believe the proposition would have received a half dozen votes in the Senate. If it had been known that the war would result in the acquisition and annexation of the Philippine Islands to the United States and their permanent retention by us, I do not believe that the resolution declaring war against Spain would ever have received a majority of the votes. of the Senate.

The President in his message to Congress said:

"As soon as we are in possession of Cuba and have pacified the island, it will be necessary to give aid and direction to its people to form a government for themselves. This should be undertaken at the earliest moment consistent with safety and assured success. It is important that our relations with this people shall be of the most friendly character and our commercial relations close and reciprocal. It should be our duty to assist in every proper way to build up the waste places of the island, encourage the industry of the people, and assist them to form a government which shall be free and independent, thus realizing the best aspirations of the Cuban people."

595

These patriotic utterances of the Chief Magistrate of the nation commend themselves to the intelligent. and thoughtful people of America. I shall have occasion to refer to them again before I close this argument, and I shall take the position that if they are applicable to Cuba, then why are they not applicable to the Philippines? In my judgment, if this part of the message is put in operation by appropriate legislation, the honor and good faith of the United States. will be fully carried out, and in less than a half dozen years Cuba will ask to be annexed to the United States, and at no distant day, when the Islands of Cuba and Porto Rico have acquired sufficient population, and have otherwise qualified themselves for statehood, they will ask to be admitted as States in this Union of States. They belong to the Western Hemisphere; nature has in all probability intended them to be a part of this country, and if they come freely and willingly and ask for annexation I am not prepared to say they ought to be rejected.

Let us see what we are to get by the acquisition of the Philippine Islands, and what are the responsibilities we assume by such acquisition and what are the consequences likely to follow. These islands, 1,200 in number, are out in the ocean, near China, on the other side of the world. It is more than 7,000 miles from Manila to the nearest point of land of the United States. In order to reach these islands from our eastern coast you must travel by water nearly 14,000 miles. They are located in the tropics, in a climate unsuited to the Anglo-Saxon race, and are populated by about 8,000,000 people totally unacquainted with and unsuited to our form of government. There is no hope of American communities being built up in this territory capable of statehood.

The history of the past demonstrates that our race can not thrive and prosper in the tropics. The area of these islands is about twice as large as my own State. This population is composed of Spaniards, half-castes, Chinese, Malays, and Japanese. Of the total population, Europeans and Americans compose less than 2 per cent. The English, Germans, French, and Americans, knowing the climatic conditions of the country, have never sought homes among the Filipinos. Now, why do we want such a population, situated at such great distance from us, and why do we want to become responsible for their future government, when such responsibility is almost sure to involve us in future wars with foreign governments?

It has been the policy of this Government to be on friendly terms with all nations, but to form entangling alliances with none. Our phenomenal growth as a Republic can be attributed largely to the fact that we have avoided foreign wars, and only a small per cent of our citizens have been taken from the pursuits of peaceful and productive occupations. to engage in military life. If we undertake to cross the ocean and to establish colonies, we will be driven. to an alliance with England, Russia, Japan, or some other foreign power in order to hold and defend our newly acquired possessions. What would such an alliance mean? If with England, and she engaged in war with Germany, France, or any other power, then our fleets and our soldiers must cross the ocean and help fight England's battles. If the alliance should be with Japan or any other foreign power, the result would be the same.

The senior Senator from Minnesota hopes to see the day come when an alliance will be formed between