headed by Carl Schurz prepared a declaration of principles, which was passed by acclamation, which was, in part, as follows:

We hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends towards militarism, an evil from which it has been our glory to be free. We regret that it has become necessary in the land of Washington and Lincoln to reaffirm that all men, of whatever race or color, are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We maintain that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. We insist that the subjugation of any people is "criminal aggression" and open disloyalty to the distinctive principles of our government. . . .

We demand the immediate cessation of the war against liberty, begun by Spain and continued by us. that Congress be promptly convened to announce to the Filipinos our purpose to concede to them the independence for which they have so long fought and which of right is theirs. . .

...

We propose to contribute to the defeat of any person or party that stands for the forcible subjugation of any people. We shall oppose for reëlection all those who, in the White House or in Congress, betray American liberty in pursuit of un-American ends. We still hope that both our great political parties will support and defend the Declaration of Independence in the closing campaign of the century.

"No man is

We hold with Abraham Lincoln that: good enough to govern another without that other's consent. When the white man governs himself, that is self

government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government that is despotism. Our reliance is in the laws of liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and under a just God cannot long retain it."

We cordially invite the coöperation of all men and women who remain loyal to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

A great many things, good and bad, have been said of the anti-imperialists. In the course of their campaign they incurred the enmity and even hatred of many of their own countrymen for opposing the policy of the American Government in retaining the Islands. Traitors they were called when they dared raise a voice of sympathy for the struggling Filipinos. But there is one thing that they were never accused of, and that is personal interest. They are now a small but very sincere group of political idealists, fighting for the preservation of time-honored American political principles, without any hope of material gain for themselves. It is true that the anti-imperialist movement was not started purely out of love for the Philippines. It was formed to check the tide of imperialism which had started with the SpanishAmerican War and which, its leaders contended,

was a menace to American institutions and Government. Imperialism manifested itself in the seizure and retention of the Philippines by America, and therefore they endeavored to free the Islands as a means of keeping America from that danger. The Filipinos, too, believed that their country should be freed from America; so, what is more natural than that there should be an alliance, as it were, between these two groups of men fighting the same battle?

But while to escape from imperialism was the prime object of the anti-imperialists, it cannot be denied that many of them, after thus espousing the cause of a weak people struggling for freedom, acquired a sincere interest in their welfare and manifested righteous indignation at their forceful subjection by the American Government. Senator Daniel declared that many of his colleagues voted against the treaty of Paris simply because they were convinced that it was an injustice to the Filipino people. The foremost leader of that movement, the late Senator Hoar, whose reputation for uprightness and morality has never been excelled by that of any American statesman, was certainly inspired by the deepest sympathy for the struggles and privations of the Filipino people and by the most earnest solicitude for their fortunes, their liberty, and their happiness. During his declining

years, in reviewing the long and fruitful record of his distinguished public life, he looked back upon his efforts to arouse the conscience of his people and induce them to recognize the right of the people of the Philippines to self-government and independence as the proudest, noblest, and most sublime of his public endeavors. "I would rather have," he said in his Autobiography of Seventy Years, "the gratitude of the people of the Philippine Islands, amid their sorrow, and have it true that what I may say or do has brought a ray of hope into the gloomy caverns in which the oppressed people of Asia dwell, than to receive a ducal coronet from every monarch of Europe, or command the applause of listening senates and read my history in a nation's eyes."

The campaign of the anti-imperialists helped the Democrats in a large measure to bring the issue of imperialism to the front. Some Democrats, it is true, were favorable to expansion, but most members of the party welcomed the issue of imperialism and were willing to stake their fortunes on it in the coming presidential election.

The Republican national convention was the first to be held. It took place in Philadelphia on June 19-21, 1900. The dream of a vast Oriental commerce and an Asiatic market that would be developed through holding the Philippines as a

base had not yet faded from the minds of Republican leaders. The permanent chairman of the convention, Senator Lodge, very frankly said:

We make no hypocritical pretense of being interested in the Philippines solely on account of others. While we regard the welfare of these people as a sacred trust, we regard the welfare of the American people first. We see our duty to ourselves as well as to others. We believe in trade expansion.

This spirit was manifested throughout the whole proceedings. There were also vague asseverations of American duties and responsibilities as a world power, but not the remotest suggestion as to when these duties and responsibilities would end. "Let faint hearts anoint their fears," declared Senator Beveridge, "with the thought that some day American administration and American duty there may end. But they never will end. England's occupation of Egypt was to be temporary; but events which are the commands of God are making it permanent. And now God has given us the Pacific empire for civilization." 2

Most Republican leaders, however, were not quite sure that the American people as a whole were ready to accept such sentiments as these. Some of the Republicans themselves, while not so radical as to join the anti-imperialist group and at2 Speech at Philadelphia, February 15, 1899.