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'« ■* ;*■■ ^;' ;«■ »■ %" %' J|^ * -I ^, ^ ;* ^- (^1^ :;* I t ^ % ;t" V' *' Jk" ;l .-.....■..■ .-, > ■^. f\ * !>• * «^ *' S* * iJf ■!)■ « 1^^ ^ ^' ^!tj#j8fe*^ # :* i)», ^\ M, ¥. i»' -f ^^ i*' ■% * I' * H ^ ■? iOyfcjte^^^ •*:* *.^> *. ^ » ii^ ^ i^' ^^^^ "9 jMi^f # -^ ^ ¥ ^ n I * ^^ i»' *'¥ ii- '^ rj 'W%' ir S^' dk' Jk' k' k" £i^ &~ &' & k WhiTh^ h"" ft 1.1 I .597 ^m Ulass _^^j^zJz — Book^--^ f 7 Rights of American Citizenship — Ireland and the Ii'ish. SPEECHES HON. THOMAS SWANN, OF MARYLAND, IN THE HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIVES, FEBBUARY 2 A3rj) 15, 1870 Wednesdat, February 2, 1870. Mr. SWANN, I am instructed by the Committee on Foreign Affairs to present a report, the subjeet-matter of which is of considerable interest to a large class of our citizens. I am also instructed to ask that the resolution appended to the report be now considered. The report, which was read, states that on the 14th of December, 1869, the following reso. lution relating to the treatment of American citizens now held in prisons under English authority was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs: Resolved, Tliat the American people leai-n with horror and infllfcnatlon of the treatment of Ani'M-icnn citizens now held as political prisoners under English authority ; that no lan^uafj^e is ffuUici'-iit io rnndrinii the usage of such prisoners, and that we urge upon the national K.xccutive llir iiii|H i;,ii\ ,• iliuy of imiueiUate intervention on their behalf in such manner as sh.all lend to tiir in <]iii|ii : n III' I i- Mat ion of tlieir condition or their release : that the President communicate to tliis llou^t- >iu-li iulormation as he may have in reference to this subject. The report further states that the committee have no official or authentic information which would justify at this time, and without further investigation, the adoption of the resolution in the form in which it was presented for their action ; tRat they, however, deem the inquiry which it proposes of too much gravity, affecting as it does so large a class of our citizens, to be hastily disposed of, and without the most searching scrutiny into the obligation which, if the facts therein stated be true, it imposes upon the Representatives of the people in the cause of justice and humanity. The report further states that the committee cannot shut their eyes to the fact that a large element of our population, composed alike of Irish and native-born citizens, have become deeply interested in the wrongs alleged to have been committed by the authorities of Great Britain ; but while expressing no opinion upon the truth or falsity of the statements brought to their notice, the committee deem it their duty to express their cordial sympathy in the subject of the resolution submitted to them, so far as to coOperate in the* endeavor to pro- cure the fullest information upon the facts involved in the inquiry, not only as a duty of Christian charit}-, but of obligation to otir adopted citizens ; that while interposing the offices of humanity in behalf of all alike, it should be demanded by this Government, when- ever occasion arises, a;s atneasure of international right as well as of justice, that no American citizen, whether native or naturalized, shall be subject to outrage in any country or by any people without prompt and ample reparation. The committee, therefore, submit the following resolution, and recommend its adoption by the House, namely : Rexolverl by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be requested to oonmiiuVieate to this House, if not incompatible with the public interest, any information which jiiuy ha<'e (ronie to his knowh^dge concerning American citizens, whether native or naturalized, who may lie at this time confined in the jails or prisons of Great 15ritain for political tfenses, and any facts in relation ici the treatment of such prisoners which he may feel at liberty to communicate, Tlie question being upon ;uloptiug the resolution, 3Ir. SWANN. i\lr. Sjieaker, the resolution as reported by the committee is a simple res- olution of inquiry, calling upon the President of the United States to furnish this House with information in reference to the confinement of American citizens charged with political offenses by the authorities of Great Britain. Upon this resolution I desire to say a very few words. It is well known to the country that for years past the people of Ireland have been subjected to outrage aud degradation; deprived of the rights which were accorded to others living under the same Government ; restricted in their religious faith ; robbed of their hard earnings by an exacting aristocracy, and finally driven to seek an asylum in this free land, under the combined pressure of slavery and starvation. Of the nationalities that liave flocked to our shores to escape the oppression of despotic rule it is not invidious to say that the Irish have taken the lead as pioneers in that great march of progress and development which has leveled your forests called into practical existence your works of internal improvement, and contributed by their labor to the productive wealth nnd power of this nation. The Irish constitute a large and useful element of our population. IJeeply imbued with the spirit of liberty, they have sus- tained your institutions and fought your buttles. To say that I am in sympathy with those pcople'would be to express but feebly mj? appreciation of their character and services. ' It is the first duty of a Government, Mr. Speaker, to protect her citizens, to throw around them the panoply of her power, and to defend them when assailed, at every sacrifice, against oppression and wrong, come from what source it may. Not less imperative is the moral duty of friendly remonstrance when the principles of right and justice are forgotten, and nations, like individuals, become blinded by distorted views of their own interest. The people of Ireland are charged with " political oftenses," and some of our harmless and unoffending citizens of Irish descent have fallen victims to the suspicions which have at- tached indiscriminately to, tiieir.raqe. They are tlie despised champions of popular sover. cignty and the right o£ sclf-govefnmefit. ■ TWs is the high trrme with which they stand charged. They have done no more than the people of Prance have done recently, and Louis Napoleon has been forced to concede, in boldly striking, the chord of popular sovereignty and self-government and demanding the liberalization of the degrading system under which they have so long and patiently sufl'ered. England may throw them into prisons, but that chord, she may rest assured, will never cease to vibrate. It is the voice of freedom, coming from the martyred graves of Tone and Emmett and Fitzgerald. Can any one with the impulses of an American heart refuse to extend a helping hand in every form of benevolent sympathy to these brave and gallant people, and in thus acting to make glad the firesides of millions who are scattered over this land, showing at least that if we are powerless we are not ungrateful ? If England can see her true interest, which I sincerely hope she may, in the midst of the lights of universal progress blazing in her face, she will throw open her prison doors and cease" this war of rigor and exaction so widely at variance with the spirit of the age. The Presi- dent of the United States, representing the sentiment of the whole American people, in any effort he may make toward a general amnesty, will win for himself the applause of every lover of republican government and free institutions by using all the moral influence which his high and commanding position may enable him to exert. Mr. Speaker, the day for human degradation h.-is gone by. The light of a new era is dawning upon the world ; and insult and injury and tyranny and oppression, in whatever form and to whatever people, whettier weak or powerful, will be visited by swift retribution. The American people will ere long cover this whole continent. In the providence of God they will hold it. In the intersst of human freedom they will stretch forth their arms to the remotest confines of civilization, ofl'ering encouragement and fellowship to the suflering of every land. Ireland will be free and the whole world will be free. But in entering upon this great march of civilization and Christian charity toward all mankind let us proclaim in the foreground, let us write it in letters which may not be mistaken as the car- dinal prnioiple of c ur political faith and our settled rule of action, that an American citi- zen, wli. tli.r native born or adopted, in whatever quartcrho may bo thrown, whether among Christi.iiis or iiitidrls, whether in free lands or lands dedicatid in human bondage and oppres- sion, shall btanJ^ forth with the oflicial assurance of this Government of immunity and protection under that noble passport which the world will be made to rcspict, "I am an American citizen." Non-intervention in the affairs of other nations has always been a ruling principle in the past administration of this Government; nor is it my purpose at this time to recommend any departure from this rule in the case submitted for the action of the committee in the sense in which it has been understood. While insisting upon justice to our citizens without compromise or abatement, we infringe no duty or obligation enjoined upon us by our relations with a friendly power or the duties of reciprocal courtesy and good understanding as be- tween friendly nations. But it is no part of that policy that we should submit- to in.uJii4 their eyes to a brighter and more auspicious future. Their example is abroad U])on tlie earth with its lessons of wisdom and triumph. Prance has felt it; and the world has reached the turning-point of the coming conversion. The rights of man will triumph over tyranny and wr ng. England may talk of her " political oflenses" and manacle still more securely the hands of our helpless breth- ren to stay the torrent which she is hopelessly striving to avert ; but the time will come — nay, Mr. Speaker, is not far distant — when these obnoxious " political ofionses'' will be the groundwork of lier regeneration and the pride and glory of those who will control her destiny. ^ M.r... Spoalcerj let me indidgo, the hope that the nympatby of this House in the cull whii-li --■v.W(j: propose to make upon the President will reach 'the prisons of our Irish brethren and impart at least one ray of sunshine amid the darkness wkioh has so long hovered over them. ''■'And let me hope still further that England, warned by events wliieh have so recently trans- <;i pired upon her own borders and at "her own door, and before it is too late, may see the ^ wisdom of breaking asimder the bolts of her dungeons and at once striking the shackles "^^ - from the hands of these suti'uring people. It is what we have a right to expect from a groat .. and generous nation. I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the resolution submitted by tho committoo may bo put upon its passage. ^ TnKSDAT, February 1-5, 1870. Mr. SWANN. Mr. Speaker, I had indulged the hope that tho report which I wa'i in.'-tructed by the Committee on Foreign Afiairs to make to this Uouse, in reference to the eonfiuiunent of American citizens of Irish descent in the jails and prisons of Great Britain, WDuld have been permitted to pass without debate, and I am sure that but for tho course which the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Willakd] has thought it his duty to pursue, no serious opposition could have grown out of tho action of tho committee. In replying to his are;ument, I must disclaim, in the outset, any purpose to do injustice to my colleague, for whom I entertain a very high respect, or to' speak with any more freedom than has boen forced upon me by the attitude in which I have boen placed. Tho issue raised in this debate is one which afl'ects a very large class of our citizens, and involves principles of the deepest concern to tho whole American people. Tho rights of citizenship .stand at the very foundation of our free system of government, and the Cum- mittee on Foreign Affairs would have been wanting in a proper appreciation of their duty had they given any different direction to tho resolution of tho gentleman from Now York [Mr. Cox] whichwas submitted for their examination and report. Tho gentleman from Vermont has thought proper, I regrot to say, to give a political turn to this "discussion. Whether he expected" by this to benefit himself by showing his great adroitness in this sort of tactics, which I must say in all frankness has not impressed me favor- ably, or whether he hoped to relieve his party from the attitude in which he has placed them before the country, very unjustly I know, as opposed to Ireland and tho protection of Ameri- can citizens of Irish descent, I am unable to conjecture, nor is it of much consequence to this House to inquire. In my relations with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, it has beenmy food fortune to be thrown in contact not only with men of ability and national reputation, ut with high-toned gentlemen ; and I am sure that both the gentleman from Vermont him- self, as well as the members of the committee, will do me the justice to s.ay that in all the discussions which have taken place in that committee I have looked with a single eye t<.> the honor of the countrv as well as its material interests, without political or party bias ; and this is the first time that the motives of any member of the cummittoe have ever been assailed on account of present or past politicaraffiliations. It was the pleasure of the gentleman from Vermont to make this gratuitous and uncalled-for attack upon a member of tho com- mittee, and if ho.bas gained'laurels with those who may sympathize in this sort of irregular warfare, I. am sure it is no interest of mine to undertake to interfere with whatever of credit he may hope to appropriate to himself. Mr." WILLAKD. Mr. Speaker, I only desire to say, and I think the record will bear me out in the statement, that I have imputed no improper motive to him, and no improper motives of any sort'to any of my associates upon this committee, in the support of this reso- lution. The allusion I made to the gentleman from Maryland, my colleague on tho com- mittee, was made in no unkind feeling'on my part, and only in what I considered a pleasant and jocular way. Ceftiiinly no gentleman "in this House could have a greater solicitude than myself not to injure in any "way the feelings of my friend from Maryland ; and I now say, and I say it with entire cheerfulness, thafc if I had supposed tho allusion I mado to the gentleman's former political associations, or to what I was told was his former political asso- ciations, would have excited in him thb smallest degree of the feeling which he seems hero to manifest, my regard for him personally certainly would have prevented me from making it. And I only did it, as I have said already, in a pleasant and jocular way. Mr. SWANiST. In the speech to which l" refer the gentleman says : " Well, sir I sav now ami licre tliat this resolution, in mv Judgment, never would bavo appeared on tins 'floor, ami Kir i oininitl >ii Kiiri'it;ii Airiiis would never have been invited to lirinx beforf this Hor.si' 1 hi^ 1 rpiii I , IkhIh jint lui-ii iluii the constituents of many gentlemen of this House HI' liisli- \ in. i ir i n ci 1 i/.iiis, who s\ iiipal hir.i' with this elTort to divide the empire of Urcat Uiilain aiul I .. .-^hil il i..li :i >c(iar;ai- t:ovri iinic-nl lor Ireland. It is, air, nothing less than sviiipitliv with -lu iii-uni<-tii)n ac.o^s the wiitcr— sviiipalliv witli an assault upou the integrity o'rih.- Kiivdoiii (ift.i.-at r.ritaiii— and lor aii .xpr.'Hsiou (it aiivsui-li symiiathy 1 have not only no kindly l.-rling, l.ul 1 ni, an to i-ntcT niv proli-.^t a-aiii^l it. .Vnd I think it is very clear iiuleed, sir, for tho.;,- who have read tli.' dri.at._- on tliii rc|>.>rt t.i si'c that K.-niautMin if not openly expressed. Is inipii.-il in tin- r.-iolulion rit tin- tri-ntb-nian rr-.>ni N.-w York [Mr. (JoxJ and in the report ot tho eonimitlui'. Tiir ".■n i l.ijian tmni .Mai ylan.l, (.\1 r. swan.n.) who is my colleague on this eoniniit- tia-, will piMhap- pai.l.in nn- loi arty that he has utterly forgotten some of bis past record ; and 1 imagims some fourteen or llfleeu years ago, if many of his constituents and stauiicli supporters in ilarylund had heard him express this warm sympathy with our Irlsli adopted citi- 6 01' Suiitli America who wei-o struggling for tlieir imlcpeni'lonce against the tVspotic power ot', the niothi^r country, and Mr. Clay cleclarcd boldly that he would ce:use to reprcsont his con- stituents if they disajiprovod his action as a synipathiziT with those people. When Kossuth came to this country he was rt'ceived by the two Houses of Congress, and entertained l>y the Presidium of the United States and nearly all the legislatures of the country, in the interest Of free institutions. This was not treated as a cause of offense. There are other examples in the progre.ss of this Government which sustain the action of the committee in the report whieh they have submitted. The honorable gentleman from Vermont raises the voice of warning; and this house is to be gagged and the American people degraded and brought down to the standard of a third-rate power, afraid to provoko imaginary consequences which we conf.'ss ourselves too weak to encounter. ilr. Speaker, I repudiate and turn away from all such teachings. It is not tho spirit of the Jlonroe doctrine or any other doctrine upon which we have heretofore acted ; and if it were, I am free to say for myself I would not be bound by it. Let us hasten on the spread of free government by every fair and honorable instrumentality. If monarchies vrither and decay under its influence let them go down, and God be praised for it. But let ue not under- estimate our duty or our strength. ^I have been tak( n to task more than once for my extreme conservatism, butupon this subject I find myself an ultra radical as compared with the gen- tleman from Termont. I wage n<) war upon foreign governments, but I claim tho right of the largest latitude in the expression of the sympathies of this House. If England takes oft'ense, let her do it. If she wants to make war for any such provocation we are ready to meet the res])onsibility whenever it suits her convenience. That is the doctrine with those who would undertake to cramp the free will of our people, or to interfere with its outspoken expression. * I am, perhaps, a little more exacting in regard to the rights of American citizenship than tho gentleman from Yermont. My colleague docs not seem disposed even to entertain a doubt as to the fairness and impartiality of "Great Britain, while I have been taught to dis- trust that government from the period that I was able to comprehend the workings of its aggressive and tortuoiLs policy. His cordial sympath.}' cannot lie extended to the Irish peo- jiio because they have " violated the laws of Great Britain." Suppose they had done so, is it sufficient to prove that they were guilty of an unpardonable act of outrage, and are not entitled 1. 1 sympathy? Did not the whole American people, with Washington, and Jefterson, and Hancock, and Adams at their head, violate the laws of the mother country when they refused to continue longer under a government which had become intolerable? Tho laws of Gr(>at Britain are, like the laws of other states, made for tho protection of tho govern- ment, without reference to unforeseen contingencies which aii'ect more diuectly the welfare of the people. If we had not violated law we should not exist now as a republic. Tho mere allegation of a violation of the laws of Great Britain is sufficient with the gentleman from Vermont to justify, without further question, the denial of his cordial sympathy, or any sympathy at all, for the people of Ireland. Laws are made for the benefit of mankind ; and, although the constitution and laws of England are as unexceptionable, perhaps, as those of any other government based upon the monarchical principle, the gentleman surely cannot mean to contend that issues may not spring up which may make it necessary to .vio- late law in the interest of humanity. ' No doubt the people of Ireland have violated the laws of their country ; but admit them to be revolutionists, are they the less entitled to our sympathy for attempting to throw off the J'oke of oppression and wrong? Does my colleague mean to say that his sympathies jire with England in such a contest as against the principles of free government and the inalienable rights of man ? I speak now of the Irish people and their claims to our sympathy, apart from the question of American citizenship or our right to intervene in their behalf. In a contest between monarchical and republican government, docs the gentleman array himself on tho side of monarchy ? Had tho theory of myjcoUeague been sustained we should have made but slow progress in th(! maintenance andpropagation of free principles anywhere, and the world would have retrograded rather than advanced to her present elevated standpoint. "We should have been hopelessly remanded to the dark ages. There are principles connected with human govern- nitnt more to be cherished than the restraints which the law throws around them; and to deny to the Irish people the cordial sympathy of this country because they violate law in the effort to establish freedom, is dangcrousi in theory, un-American in spirit, and oppo.sed to all the teachings of our past history. Sympathy based upon the promptings of enlight- ened humanity is sometimes more powerful than force. It is the language which Christian people not uufrequcu^Jy resort to as a preliminary warning of graver and moro decided action. ■ ■ But what, after all, is this great bugbear of Fenianism which has exercised so fearfully tho imagination of the gentleniah from Vermont, and which has caused him to .suspect that Irish traitors were not only concealed in the " belly " of the report, but in every fence cor- ner whore a hiding place could be found? I know little about the Fenian Brotherhood, and less about any armed organization in which they are engaged at this time. I know that my o ilK'aguc has a holy reverence for the laws of neutrality ; aud'so have I, u])on any fair basis 'if just reciprocity. I would treat England just as she treats us. There was no time during the war of the rebellion l^^^both^ljBandjjFrancc would not have wiped us from existence. Tho of a proper neutrality ;b I, u^po^^^^^^^ .} ^vould not broaic the laws mittinc; high treasnn-aUun't the offen/ol n^,^ '^ ^^v' '"'^■"dual sympathy without com- the pooplelf Ireland .siiouM s^ec^odfo'Ln^r'Lf,,.'':::' f/^fp" ' --^I '''' ''"'' '?"' }' hberabzin;,' the r Kovernnient or in e..t>,>,li V; Ti • ■'^ j '^ , •'^™"'^"' ""ve succeeded, in These Fenians afe stlS^upon tht^.K li,, '^^ independence, I should rejoice at' it. Great Britain. We have n^riKiute™ e Z ^l v in^ ^'1 '" °"'" ^^'■'"■•^'tion from it. It is a domestic issue of theif own R, tT . - ^ II "I ',"^^' ^''"''^'' ' "^'" '^" ^ '^'""'i be a step onward in that "r e t mtrchoF rno-t "'T;-**""* '^'^'^ ^'^""''^ ^"<^^<^<'«'J ''^'""'d sooneroVhUcr,toenfranchisrtheu^rM i^nd^r A ■'"' S"^*^™"!™' ^''"ch is destined, I have reason to believe" would no ro4tU Tli^ewT" ^'7^"' 'il '^'''' Vrcs,,,^ tomper] a deaf ear to all that has toan"pired in rf4d to rtul^^^^^^ ■"'" ^"■'"™' ''""'' *" »"'•" which go to show the severity rfSu^reTZe^? f ,? i A'"' pnsoners, or to any statements seemed to hav6 misdviuc^s rsVthfoonfinen en If H r *'''-^ have been subjected. He even descent. Mr. Spealcer, tt ii wel known f l^t A f"i« «V-"-^ American citizens of Irish without material cone essk n Ti th c C ^- r r/ f^^?. ^-''^ th>s struggle has been going on relaxation has taken place ntLeluu-eh Kwnn^ .?*'""' """^ '' ',' ""^'^ ''"•'''^y '''"' "ny policy in the future. There are now so^itln f 1 '' ""''"'^"^^^ l^""^*"? to a more liberal Whether they have been mUe res ITl? f T^^'' "^ °"' """^'"'^ ^"^"^■'^ i^i t^eir jails, overt acts of Lason S^ns^ tlL G™^^^^ "P«" <'''■■'''- ^o'L "'• people of this country°want intbrmation If fnv ! "^'5' ^ '^t"'" '^ ^"^ inrorn,ed. The subject we wish to se^it in orderXt we may mak'Tt'Z"^ •''''/''\'=''""" ^'"^^ "''°° '1'° may think projier to direct ^^ make it the basis of such action as this House matic correspoiuifnce In^remonA anfe *^"^^^ ^''^ '^"' -^J^«' "^ ^iplo- insist upon a code of her own^X'u regard to tre^cCi?alri"'hr her maritime poweV to eyery instance where concession has beenCde it ts been dnn? f .f"^"clly powers. In only under a pressure which she was poTed Jss to I ihstam^ with/r", °'"°'r," ''" I'"'"'' """^ It will be a subiect for considentinn in^fV, f ♦ withstand without danger to her own safety, citizenship, hoi ?L the An e i<^*^" ople wfu erndZ^^ ^''^ the rights of America^n ency witll its attendant aiTogan"e,^inrhrr cb im by the 'w i?"''f ^ %"-f '*™ terms to the rest of the world We ciVnnfJv, ♦ ^ ,^™^" "^ ^^^ trident to dictate forward and the delations [nwhMi the ".''t "^ '^''' ^" ^'^ ^'^^^Ses that are daily going of England is eirntially champed sL^l,!, e^^^'f f ''''""^ ^"^"""^ "'"^'^ '"^''■'- The Itatul . or the^y rant, and her ^ari i^e asce^^^denc: sa thin.° of"?hV,ff f 'T '° P'^^ the dictator make it so. "ucncy is a tning of the past whenever we choose to '^^''lo:::S::::^:^1^lF^^l^ ^'^twecn monarchical citizenship is concerned In such r K^ we^n , n ,f f T *"l? •,?"«^h'"' «" f="- 'i^ American we must triumph. The power exercLdL^^ir'""'''"' '''/'" ''"'i'"'^- I" ^"^l" '^ ^"-"SSIg of their own laws carries wirittran^eanVti^Kr^^ ''^'= supremaerof decision, without the benefit of appeal %vhkh aft c^^^^^^ of ultimate American citizens have been thrown ii^lo prison nnd^fTv,"''^;''' "Sl'' of citizenship., because of their devotion to the 3, ., VI ^ ^nd m^ietho objects of penal infliction their hostility to hei> own L^i^e cfnnot'F"" '^''"fVV'i^r"'"'"'^"^ '^ '^""^ed and of of action hereafter to torn, d he leHverv,-.^'^^ ^l''^' "^ '["' Government, as a settled rule -ay be under arrest' fc.r^^'lilLaVff^^tot deal7with"w the Tfu °' \'' I'lf "'^ "'''* country and under such provision.; of 1.^J „o n •> '"*^ tribunals of their own try are now claniori ,g I'or inor^devicirK on Wl,n T ''"°'' V "'">' P'^'''' "'' '^« '^"^'"- messnffe to this House" and eM^?,vi; •' -, ''' I regret the tone of the President's towarS the Cubt^^ .',; e b! ti' st^ e Dep'.rta^^ almost unfriendly policy pursued cap«Me^ olm>,.^^^-^J^^:X:^^^-: ^ZiS^^^Z^^^ 8 BpsidcB. Mr. Speaker, I did not see the evidence of that concert and union among themselves which gave assurance of success. They had in fact no government that we could recognize. They had no stronghold upon their coast, nor had they the power to do more than keep up a guerrilla warfare, seeking refuge when hard pressed in the more inaccessible parts of the island. This state of things exists at the present moment. How this struggle may end I do not pretend to anticipate. Should these Cuban people be able to hold out, Spain, from her almost bankrupt condition, becoming worse and worse every day that she is compelled to keep up the expenses of her army, may find it necessary to invoke the good offices of the United States in abandoning for a consideration her claims upon that island. I sincerely trust such may be the result. Those who indulged the hope that some amelioration in the condition of that people would result from the late revolution in the mother country must have been convinced that no such happy termination can ever be reached. Spain has fallen back into her normal condition. The faint glimmer of a more advanced era in her night of despotism has been hopelessly extinguished ; and Cuba, with her struggling masses, must continue to invoke the symjiathieB of the advocates of free government under the increased rigors of the despotic arm which will be extended over her. The American people cannot view without emotion the compli- cations which have sprung up in that quarter, and I will say for myself, in explanation of the views which I have heretofore presented to this House, and in close connection with the general subject which I have been discussing, that so soon as a period shall arrive when this Government may intervene, without infringement of international obligations, that I shall be prepared to discharge my whole duty to an oppressed people, and in vindication of tha right of self-government and the claims of a progressive humanit}'. The principle enunciated in the report of the committee involves the rights of American citizenship and the duty of this Government when these rights are brought in question. It is the greatest of all the national issues with which we have to deal. It is not to be settled by part}' crimination and recrimination, but upon an enlightened interpretation of inter- national law and the requirements of enlarged statesman.ship. There can be no more im- portant feature connected with the progress and success of this Government or of any Govern- ment. If it should turn out that we have no just cause of complaint against Great Britain in the imprisonment of American citizens, so much the better ; but experience teaches us that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; and be the pretext what it ma_y, be it ever so trifling, it is better to err on the side of caution and over-watchfulness than that the humblest of our citizens should be made to suffer for a single instant. England recognized this principle in her Abj'ssinian expedition, and should hardly complain of the application of the same rule to herself where causes of complaint are found to exist. But be this as it may, our obligation is plain and unmistakable. The duty of allegiance carries with the reciprocal duty of protection, and any apathy or indifference on the part of this Government toward those to whom she has guarantied protection can only result in degredation and dishonor. The report of the committee contains nothing to which any one ought to object. The res- olution is a resolution of inquiry merely, committing this House to no definite action until the fullest light is shed upon the whole subject. As to any concealed purpose in the report of the committee or the resolution appended to it, the gentleman from Vermont would tax his ingenuity in vain to make it apparent to this House. , Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to be placed in a false position. I am no agitator ; at the same time that I can never he induced to shrink from the discharge of a high public duty, Wiiere national issues are involved, be the consequences what thay ma}-, I am not one of those who believe in a policy of weakness and indecision. We have a great mission to perform, and this Government must be true to herself. If the Monroe doctrine has answered its day arid generation we must ascertain wherein it fails to meet the demands of a progressive age. If the law of nations is defective we must interpolate our own principles of right and justice and claim their recognition. The power of this Government must be felt, not only on this continent, but throughout the world. With a territory stretching from ocean to ocean, comprising within itself all the ele- ments of production which enter into the estimate of national wealth and the material power and greatness of a people ; with a tide of immigration setting in from the Old World, startling in its magnitude and proportions ; with new States bursting into existence almost with the rapidity of magic, and claiming representation upon this floor as a part of our common brotherhood ; with a people warlike and full of the spirit of enterprise and adventure ; with a power of concentration by means of our great works of internal improvements, making us impregnable to foreign encroachment or invasion, the American people will no longer consent to play a subordinate part in giving direction to the world's progress. The first of our duties in this new role as the protection of American citizenship. It stands at the foun- dation of all government. It is too great a principle to be lightly regarded ; and I should look upon it as the greatest calamity that could befall this nation at any time and at all times, for this House to show apathy or indifference in extending protection, when demanded, to the humblest citizen of this Republic, whether native born or naturalized, and from whatever nationality. Published by the National Democratic Execntive Kesldeut Committee, Wa8liiji;,'ton, D. C. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 013 787 004 6 .t .*■ K J ^ «■ , „ % t j. f' * % 1^ % i ' i L I ,« .^..^ .« D «: r ri #, ii^ :,, > f .% ,f f ^ ^ ^ - ' .«^« .f < € - .■1 .^ € * f # '"■ •' 1^ t- V ^ t "8^ «• .t^« .-f '% ■€ '■- fi,4 « C ^ " *