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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1899)
nl L. Conservative * which I belong has acted during the whole of my public life. The United States are a nation composed of forty- five states in the language of a great statesman and chief justice , "an inde structible union of indestructible states. " To the people who compose that union belongs sovereignty in amplest measure. That sovereignty they may exercise to such extent and through such agencies as may seem to them good. Or they may refuse to commit any part of it to any ngency whatever. Or they may determine that it shall never be used for purposes which they think unfit. They have not deposited all sovereignty eignty anywhere , and have authorized no agent of theirs to exercise in their behalf all sovereignty , unlimited , un checked , and uncontrolled. Part of this sovereignty is vested in nnd belongs to the nation as a unit , and may be exercised by national agencies exclusively. Part of this sovereignty , is vested in and belongs to the states as units , and may be exercised by their agencies exclusively. Part of this sov ereignty , though exercised by other sov ereigns , the people have not delegated to the government of the United States as a unit , and have prohibited it to the states. That part is reserved to the people by the express terms of the con stitution , because they do not think fit that it shall be exorcised at all. The power to conquer alien peoples and hold them in subjugation is nor where implied as necessary for the ac complishment of the purposes declared by the constitution. It is clearly shown to be one that ought not to bo exercised by anybody one that the framers of the constitution thought ought not to be exorcised by anybody ( J. ) Because it is immoral and wicked in itself. (2. ( ) Because it is expressly denied in the Declaration of Independence , the great est interpreter and expounder of the meaning of the constitution , which owes its origin to the same generation and largely to the same men. ( & . ) It is af firmed that it is immoral and unfit to bo exercised by anybody in numerous in stances by contemporary state constitu tions nnd the contemporary writers and authorities on public law , who ex pressed the opinion of the American people in that generation who adopted the constitution as well as of the men who framed it. Now , Mr. President , there are sena tors hero yet hesitating as to what their action may bo in the future , who will toll you that they loathe and hate this doctrine that wo may buy nations at wholesale ; that wo may acquire im perial powers or imperial regions by con quest ; that wo may make vnssnl states and subject peoples without constitu tional restraint , and against their will , and without any restraint but our own discretion. Now , I appeal to those gentlemen whenever and wherever they may be * ; ' ' ' i ft'Vj t ' - i i > IIIA'S'i , , - ' called to net to answer to thomsolvcs as the 0110 great proposition , the greatest question that has ever been or over will be put to them in their lives , the ques tion , not of a year or of a congress , not of a generation , not of a century , but a question pertaining rather to the great period of a national life , I might almost say to the great eternity of national life , wl/ethor even if that action bo per mitted or not by the letter of the consti tution it be not repugnant to its form and spirit. Will they commit them selves in principle and in doctrine to such a policy , and then say that they will consider hereafter the question of how they will act under it 'i Mr. Hoar said that Louis Napoleon proclaimed at the opening of the French Assembly in 18i)4 that the time of con quest was passed , never to return , but that he forgot what ho had said when he saw his opportunity in Mexico ; the sure and terrible fate of destiny overtook him in the midst of his pride and power. "Our commissioners , " said Mr. Hoar , "came back from Paris bringing with them the cast-off clothing of this pinch beck Napoleon , and ask us , who have seen his fate , to discard for them the spotless robes in which our fathers ar rayed the beautiful genius of America. " The senator continued : A year ago last December the presi dent of the United States sent a mes- snge to congress. In that message ho said : "I speak not of forcible annexa tion , because that is not to bo thought of , and under our code of morality that would bo criminal aggression. " "The time of conquest is past , " said Louis Napoleon. Ah , Mr. President , Presi dent McKinley but repeated Louis Na poleon , though in a louder and clearer voice. "The time of conquest is past , " said the French emperor. It is not by extending the boundaries ofjts territory that a nation can henceforward be hon ored and powerful , but by placing itself at the head of generous ideas and spread ing everywhere the empire of right and justice. " President McKinley , when he spoke , was not thinking oven ol honor or of power , inspiring and allur ing as are honor and power. He placed himself and placed the American people on the stem , enduring , and perpetual rock of righteousness ; that forcible an nexation is not to bo thought of , under our code of morality ; that would bo criminal aggression. Who shall haul him down ? Who shall haul down the code ? Who shall haul down the presi dent ? There are other things found in this declaration which the senator from Con necticut wishes I understood as the fathers did , which I commend to his most respectful attention. In enumer ating the wrongs inflicted upon this people by George III. , the declaration says that he "refused to pass laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would re linquish the right of representation in the legislature , a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. " And now , my honorable friend says that the same men who set their hands to that declaration , and pledged their lives , fortunes , and sacred honor to its support , proceeded twelve years after to establish a government , on which they conferred the power exercised by George III. , to destroy the right of representa tion in the legislature , to govern a people ple without it , and to forever extinguish and trample out that inestimable right , formidable to tyrants only. And not only that , but ho is about , as I under stand him , to proceed to vote to do it. Further , our fathers in their terrible arraignment and indictment of the king for using these sovereign powers , which the senator now claims belong to and are to bo used by the president and con gress of the United States says , that the king had "made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries ; " and yet he proposes to make judges for twelve million people dependent on the will of the president only for their tenure of office , and on the will of congress alone for the amount and payment of their salaries. Further , they said that King George had "kept among us in times of peace standing armies , " and "quartered largo bodies of armed troops among us with out the consent of our legislatures. " I suppose somewhere in this capitol men are at work today in devising ways and means for a permanent standing army to be kept in these islands , east and west , without the consent of anybody there. They said King George had combined with others to subject us to jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and not ac knowledged by our laws , giving his ns- sent to their acts of pretended legislation for quartering largo bodies of armed troops among us ; for imposing taxes on us without our consent ; for depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury ; for altering fundamentally the forms of our government ; for declaring themselves invested with power to legis late for us in all cases whatsoever. The declaration of independence de clares that whenever any form of gov- ermont becomes destructive of the ends therein stated , it is the right of the pee ple'to alter or abolish it , and to institute new government , laying its foundation on such principles , and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. But the senator from Connecticut thinks we have the consti tutional right ourselves to institute a new government for that people , laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as shall seem to us most likely to effect our