tions of the common people of this country. It is fortunate for the country and fortunate for both parties that it is so. One of those men was Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, the great annexationist of American territory, the man who from the beginning repudiated all annexations of territory ultra mare. The other one of those great leaders was Abraham Lincoln; and, singularly enough and fortunately enough in the contemplation of the great subject which we have before us to-day, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln stand for the same doctrine, and the two parties are made into one stream flowing into the great constitutional channel of American liberty. Both of these men, more than any men of their day and generation, had confidence in and trusted the common people. Each of them believed that every individual had rights which all men were bound to respect; and if Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration, Abraham Lincoln carried that Declaration severely, exactly, and strictly to its logical and essential consequences. We have just got through that work with the loss of much blood and treasure, and to each gentleman who to-day may hesitate upon this subject, be he a Democrat, I would say: "My friend, follow the teaching and the inspiration of Jefferson;" and, if he be a Republican, "I invoke the spirit and teaching of Abraham Lincoln." There be those who see an American scepter in the eastern sky. It may be that that scepter is there; but if that scepter be there, it is not a scepter that sparkles by the side of the star that shone over the manger of Bethlehem when the shepherds watched their flocks at night and when the wise men, looking for the Messiah, came. No; I would rather invoke to-day that star which hovered over old Independence Hall on the morning of that 4th of July, 1776, when the world waited the deliverance of a mighty message; I would point to that star, the star of the great northern Republic, founded by the great white race of the northern nations; I would say we go on no war of conquest; I would say that we respect the weakest and the most helpless of mankind; I would say to the men who are fighting for their freedom, be they many or be they few, be they in Cuba or be they in the Philippine Islands, that to them the great American Republic gives the salute of honor and dares not condescend to put her foot upon their necks. I would point again to that bright star that beamed over Independence Hall in the bright morning of our birthright, and I would hope that ever hereafter we might say of it that of its true-fix'd and resting quality There is no fellow in the firmament. CHAPTER XVII. ARE WE TO SPREAD THE CHRISTIAN RE- ISM WITH A SCIMITER? BY HON. BENJAMIN R. TILLMAN, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. I have listened to the long and able debate on the general proposition of annexation or expansion, and have never at any time intended to obtrude my views. I have never in my legislative experience in this body or in any other assemblage heard so many speeches giving the most cogent reasons why a man should not vote for a proposition followed by the acknowledgment that the speaker notwithstanding intended to give his vote in its support. So at least a great many votes that have gone to the treaty and have enabled it to become the law of the land have been cast by men who have been in great doubt as to their duty and have at last yielded rather to pressure than to any conscientious or calm consideration of the result. As far as my observation goes, and as I understand the present status of the American people, we have no Constitution left. The only rule which governs Congress now is the rule of the majority. We had an illustration of that when the Hawaiian treaty was rejected by the constitutional one-third, more than one-third refusing to ratify it, and the majority brought in its resolution of annexation by which the Constitution was overridden. I will qualify the statement I have just made as regards our having no Constitution left, which the majority are bound to respect, by saying that the twothirds vote to ratify a treaty is the only scintilla of the original instrument which now remains to hamper the majority. If the Senate joint Resolution should pass and be approved by the President it would mean nothing more than the cold-blooded enunciation of our power, and a declaration that we will deal with this question from the standpoint of our interests, regardless of the rights or the wishes of those 10,000,000 Asiatics who have come under our sway. And above all, notwithstanding the assertions which we heard here yesterday, that we could not take time to enter into negotiations with the men who had pistols at our breasts, or with those who had fired upon the flag, it appears to me that of all times in our history we could at this moment give forth a sound that would be generous and worthy of the great American people. What caused this last battle of Manila? The reports which we receive through our newspapers all come from American sources; they charge that the Filipinos wantonly attacked the American army, and that that army had a right to defend itself, which nobody assumes to deny. But when we recollect that the telegraph lines from those islands are in charge of the American commander there, or of those whom he designates to control them, it is natural for us. to suppose that nothing would be let out under the censorship which has existed for the last three months or more that would be in the slightest degree derogatory to the good faith or the honor of the American army there. Time alone will tell whether this battle was provoked by the Filipinos for purposes of their own or by the Americans for the purpose of endeavoring to sway men in this Senate to ratify the treaty and change the status. I recall one of Esop's fables in which a painter had depicted a lion lying on his back prone beneath the heel of a man, and when he showed the painting to the lion the lion said, "Yes, you painted that; but if you will let me paint it, the situation will be just the opposite." I come now to make a statement, upon which I base what I have just said, to this effect: That I have seen in the last forty-eight hours an invalided officer of the American Army, one of the regulars, who has just reached this city from Manila. From what he told me of the situation before he left there, I dare to assert that the American Army has been in a state of siege in that city for three or four months; that the lines surrounding the city have been in the possession of the Filipino army outside; that no American was allowed to cross them; and that those Filipinos, while they had not been actively engaged in firing upon our troops, have preserved a strict recognition of the fact that they were in an attitude of antagonism, that they did not recognize this Government as having any rights outside of the city of Manila. If that be true, the question recurs as to who may be responsible or who was responsible for the battle of Saturday night last. As I understand the legal status the ratification of the treaty will bring about this result: That in the eye of the law the Philippine Islands are ours and the inhabitants thereof are to-day rebels; they are now ours by right of cession from Spain, ratified yesterday |