volt, and, after exciting revolt, has shown herself powerless to restore order and enforce law upon the island.

"Spanish rule in Cuba has disturbed the United States, interfered with business, increased the expense of guarding our shores and drawn upon the resources of our people to care for those made destitute by war. We have as much right to demand the cessation of war in the interest of the United States as Spain has to demand its continuance for her benefit.

"If the question is to be settled upon the basis of human rights, surely our people have waited long enough; if, on the other hand, pecuniary interests are to be considered, then it must be remembered that the loss suffered by the United States and Cuba together far exceeds any gain which Spain could reasonably expect to secure even if she had a hope of recovering Cuba by force of arms.

"Spain has only herself to blame for the condition of affairs in Cuba. If she denies to her former subjects the rights of war and calls the Cuban army a mob, let her remember the words of Victor Hugo: 'The mob is the human race in misery.' No nation can afford to make its people miserable.

"If the Cubans prefer death to Spanish rule it must be because Spanish rule has robbed life of joy and hope. If a nation sows the wind it must reap the whirlwind."

FIRST SPEECH AGAINST IMPERIALISM.

"Nebraska is ready to do her part in time of war as well as in time of peace. Her citizens were among the first to give expression to their sympathy with the Cuban patriots, and her representatives in the

Senate and House took a prominent part in the advocacy of armed intervention by the United States.

"When the President issued a call for volunteers Nebraska's quota was promptly furnished and she is prepared to respond to the second and subsequent calls.

"Nebraska's attitude upon the subject does not, however, indicate that the state is inhabited by a contentious or warlike people; it simply means that our people understand both the rights conferred, and the obligations imposed, by proximity to Cuba. Understanding these rights and obligations, they do not shrink from any consequences which may follow the performance of a national duty.

"War is harsh; it is attended by hardship and suffering; it means a vast expenditure of men and money. We may well pray for the coming of the day, promised in Holy Writ, when the swords shall be beafen into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks; but universal peace cannot come until Justice is enthroned throughout the world. Jehovah deals with nations as He deals with men, and for both decrees that the wages of sin is death. Until the right has triumphed in every land and love reigns. in every heart government must, as a last resort, appeal to force. As long as the oppressor is deaf to the voice of reason, so long must the citizen accustom his shoulder to the musket and his hand to the saber.

"Our nation exhausted diplomacy in its efforts to secure a peaceable solution of the Cuban question, and only took up arms when it was compelled to choose between war and servile acquiescence in cruelties which would have been a disgrace to barbarism.

"History will vindicate the position taken by the United States in the war with Spain. In saying this I assume that the principles which were invoked in

the inauguration of the war will be observed in its prosecution and conclusion. If, however, a contest undertaken for the sake of humanity degenerates into a war of conquest, we shall find it difficult to meet the charge of having added hypocrisy to greed. Is our national character so weak that we cannot withstand the temptation to appropriate the first piece of land that comes within our reach?

"To inflict upon the enemy all possible harm is legitimate warfare, but shall we contemplate a scheme for the colonization of the Orient merely because our ships won a remarkable victory in the harbor of Manila?

"Our guns destroyed a Spanish fleet, but can they destroy that self-evident truth, that governments derive their just powers, not from superior force, but from the consent of the governed?

"Shall we abandon a just resistance to European encroachment upon the Western hemisphere, in order to mingle in the controversies of Europe and Asia?

"Nebraska, standing midway between the oceans, will contribute her full share toward the protection of our sea coast; her sons will support the flag at home and abroad, wherever the honor and the interests of the nation may require. Nebraska will hold up the hands of the government while the battle rages, and when the war clouds roll away her voice will be heard pleading for the maintenance of those ideas which inspired the founders of our government and gave the nation its proud eminence among the nations of the earth.

"If others turn to thoughts of aggrandizement and yield allegiance to those who clothe land-covetousness in the attractive garb of 'national destiny' the people of Nebraska will, if I mistake not their sentiments, plant themselves upon the disclaimer entered by Con

gress and insist that good faith shall characterize the making of peace as it did the beginning of war. Goldsmith calls upon statesmen

***** * * to judge how wide the limits stand

Betwixt a splendid and a happy land.'

"If some dream of the splendors of a heterogeneous empire encircling the globe, we shall be content to aid in bringing enduring happiness to a homogeneous people, consecrated to the purpose of maintaining a government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

[Extract from speech delivered at Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha, Neb., June 14, 1898]

THE SAVANNAH INTERVIEW.

"My reason for leaving the army was set forth in my letter to the adjutant-general tendering my resignation. Now that the treaty of peace has been concluded I believe that I can be more useful to my country as a civilian than as a soldier.

"I may be in error, but in my judgment our nation is in greater danger just now than Cuba. Our people defended Cuba against foreign arms; now they must defend themselves and their country against a foreign idea-the colonial idea of European nations. Heretofore greed has perverted the government and used its instrumentalities for private gains, but now the very foundation principles of our government are assaulted. Our nation must give up any intention of entering upon a colonial policy, such as is now pursued by European countries, or it must abandon the doctrine that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

"To borrow a Bible quotation, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.' Paraphrasing Lincoln's

declaration, I may add that this nation cannot endure half republic and half colony-half free and half vassal. Our form of government, our traditions, our present interests and our future welfare, all forbid our entering upon a career of conquest.

"Jefferson has been quoted in support of imperialism, but our opponents must distinguish between imperialism and expansion; they must also distinguish. between expansion in the western hemisphere and an expansion that involves us in the quarrels of Europe. and the Orient. They must still further distinguish between expansion which secures contiguous territory for future settlement, and expansion which secures us alien races for future subjugation.

"Jefferson favored the annexation of necessary contiguous territory on the North American continent, but he was opposed to wars of conquest and expressly condemned the acquiring of remote territory.

"Some think that the fight should be made against ratification of the treaty, but I would prefer another plan. If the treaty is rejected, negotiations must be renewed and instead of settling the question according to our ideas we must settle it by diplomacy, with the possibility of international complications. It will be easier, I think, to end the war at once by ratifying the treaty and then deal with the subject in our own way. The issue can be presented directly by a resolution of Congress declaring the policy of the nation upon this subject. The President in his message says that our only purpose in taking possession of Cuba is to establish a stable government and then turn that government over to the people of Cuba. Congress could reaffirm this purpose in regard to Cuba and assert the same purpose in regard to the Philippines and Porto Rico. Such a resolution would make a clear-cut issue between the doctrine of self-govern