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myself to your reason by sober argument, without any appeal to prejudice or passion. Might we not ask our opponents to answer these arguments, if they can, with equally sober reasoning, instead of merely assailing us with their wild cries of treason and lack of patriotism" and what not? Or do they really feel their cause to be so weak that they depend for its support on their assortment of inarticulate shouts and nebulous phrases? I plead the cause of the American people against all this; and I here declare my profound conviction that if this administration of our affairs were submitted for judgment to a popular vote on a clear issue it would be condemned by an overwhelming majority.

I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves too clear-headed not to appreciate the vital difference between the expansion of the Republic and its free institutions over contiguous territory and kindred populations, which we all gladly welcome if accomplished peaceably and honorably-and imperialism, which reaches out for distant lands to be ruled as subject provinces; too intelligent not to perceive that our very first step on the road of imperialism has been a betrayal of the fundamental principles of democracy, followed by disaster and disgrace; too enlightened not to understand that a monarchy may do such things and still remain a strong monarchy, while a democracy cannot do them and still remain a democracy; too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism, "Our country, right or wrong!" They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions, and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism, "Our country-when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right."

IMPERIALISM HOSTILE TO LIBERTY

[Delivered at Chicago, October 18, 1899.]

WE hold that the policy known as imperialism is hostile to liberty and tends toward 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 re-affirm 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 earnestly condemn the policy of the present national administration in the Philippines. It seeks to extinguish the spirit of 1776 in those islands. We deplore the sacrifice of our soldiers and sailors, whose bravery deserves admiration even in an unjust war. We denounce the slaughter of the Filipinos as a needless horror. We protest against the extension of American sovereignty by Spanish methods.

We demand the immediate cessation of the war against liberty, begun by Spain and continued by us. We urge 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. The United States has always protested against the doctrine of international law, which permits the subjugation of the weak by the strong. A self-governing state cannot accept sovereignty over an unwilling people. The United States cannot act upon the ancient heresy, that might makes right. Imperialists assume that with the destruction by American hands of self-government in the Philip

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pines all opposition here will cease. This is a grievous error. Much as we abhor the war of " criminal aggression" in the Philippines, greatly as we regret that the blood of the Filipinos is on American hands, we more deeply resent the betrayal of American institutions at home. The real firing-line is not in the suburbs of Manila. The foe is of our own household. The attempt of 1861 was to divide the country. That of 1899 is to destroy its fundamental principles and noblest ideals.

Whether the ruthless slaughter of the Filipinos shall end next month or next year is but an incident in a contest that must go on until the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. are rescued from the hands of their betrayers. Those who dispute about standards of value while the foundation of the Republic is undermined will be listened to as little as those who would wrangle about the small economics of the household while the house is on fire. The training of a great people for a century, the aspiration for liberty of a vast immigration, who have made their homes here, are forces that will hurl aside those who, in the delirium of conquest, seek to destroy the character of our institutions.

We deny that the obligation of all citizens to support their Government in times of grave national peril applies to the present situation. If an administration may, with impunity, ignore the issues upon which it was chosen, deliberately create a condition of warfare anywhere on the face of the globe, debauch the civil service for spoils to promote the adventure, organize a truth-suppressing censorship, and demand of all citizens a suspension of judgment and their unanimous support while it chooses to continue the fighting, representative government itself is imperilled. 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 re-election all 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.

We hold with Abraham Lincoln, that "no man is good enough to govern another man 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 defence 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 co-operation of all men and women who remain loyal to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

CHARLES EMORY SMITH

THE WAR FOR HUMANITY

[Delivered at the Peace Jubilee, Chicago, October 16, 1898.]

WE have just emerged from a short, but momentous war, whose transcendent events have spanned the whole wide horizon of this world, and have unveiled a new destiny for this country. This war has been altogether unique, exceptional, and remarkable in the annals of mankind. The American people make war as they make peace, according to their own peculiar principle and their own ideals. There never was a war made under such circumstances and under such conditions as that upon which we entered last April. We did not make war or accept war for conquest, for power, or for glory. We made war simply and solely for humanity and justice. We did not make it for ourselves, or for our own aggrandizement, but we made it for a longsuffering people, entirely outside of our own domain.

For years the oppressed people of Armenia had been lifting their piteous appeal, through the awful slaughter of 80,000 innocents, and Europe stood absolutely unmoved and lifted no hand. But when havoc and desolation and destruction, when the torch and the sword stalked through the fair island of Cuba, and demanded the interference of this country in the name of humanity, we could not remain silent. The President of the United States, who loves peace better than he loves war, and who has no aspiration for the glory of martial achievements, sought to avert the con