DOCUMENT No. 133.

SHAMMING AN ISSUE.
Complete Change of Front by Bryan's
Chief Organ.
NEW YORK JOURNAL'S FLOP.

It is Now Very Much Afraid of the Bogy of Imperialism
Which It Ridiculed Last Year.

The chief organ of Bryan and Bryanism in New York in the present
campaign is the New York Journal. Adopting the policy announced by
the Democratic candidate himself at Indianapolis, The Journal is now loud
and constant in its denunciation of "imperialism" and is doing its utmost
to assist in electing the man who has declared that his first act as presi
dent would be to call Congress together for the purpose of withdrawing
our forces and hauling down our flag in the Philippines.
Mr. Bryan's inconsistencies in regard to the Philippine question have
been frequently pointed out, and it is in order now to point out the cor
responding inconsistencies of his organ, the New York Journal. This can
be done very readily and without the slightest difficulty by quoting from
the editorial pages of The Journal during 1898 and 1899. The following
editorial opinions of the Journal are extracted verbatim from the files of
that paper and serve to show what its present opinions are worth. No
comments are appended. No comments are necessary. The public will
make its own comments :
"Stupid Opposition to Annexation."
[New York Journal, June 2, 1898.]
We remember that Jefferson bought Louisiana, but the names of the
constitutional lawyers who opposed the purchase are buried with tljeir
empty skulls. "We shall always identify Andrew Jackson with Florida,
Sam Houston with Texas and Seward with Alaska, but to find the names
of the men who opposed these extensions of the sovereignty of the re
public we must turn to encyclopedias or dusty archives.
[New York Journal, June 12, 1898.]
They (the Ladrones), together with the Carolines, should be ours.
They lie midway between Hawaii and the Philippines and in our posses-

sion, together with the Hawaiian group, would give us a chain of naval
stations clear to Asia. Hawaii, the Ladrones, the Carolines and the
Philippines will insure us strategic and commercial supremacy in the
Pacific. "The Bogy of Imperialism."
[New York Journal, June 13, 1898.]
It is hastily assumed that any carrying of the flag away from home
means imperialism. That is a mistake. To conquer and colonize distant
lauds for the sake of glory and profit is one thing ; to secure outposts,
the possession of which will better enable us to preserve peace and be
more efficient for attack when war does come, is another.
[New York Journal, June 23, 1898.]
The final disposition of the Philippines should be of a nature to aug
ment our strength as a great power, to advantage our commerce and to
advance the ideas in government for which this republic, founded on
human liberty, stands. Is there anything imperialistic about that ?
[New York Journal, June 28, 1898.]
Perhaps, proceeding still slowly, Mr. Bryan may find that his first
eager conclusion that we should surrender the Philippines will not stand
the tests of time and thought. [New York Journal, July 1, 1898.]
Men who use their brains to think with are not to be bullied by
phrases. " Imperialism " for instance. That word comes down like a
portcullis before a good many minds, and the blows of fact and argument
beat against it in vain. The Philippines are in point. A splendid naval
victory has made us masters there. Should we keep them or give them
up? An "imperialism" which means the spread of American power, free
institutions and human happiness is not an "imperialism " to be feared by
anybody who has faith in the vitality of this republic and confidence in
the democratic principles on which it is founded.
Never Haul Down the Flag.
[New York Journal, July 30, 1898.]
Keep the flag flying in the Philippines ! Dewey has raised it there,
and there every American worthy to be a citizen of the great republic
should demand that it shall remain, a memorial of victory and a pledge
of freedom to the people rescued from the robber clutches of murderous
and benighted Spain. [New York Journal, July 31, 1898.]
As a practical people we must not be so imbecile as to relinquish the
military and commercial advantages that have come to us and our poster
ity through Dewey's immortal victory. Duty and interest go hand in
hand. Hold on to the Philippines !
[New York Journal, Aug. 8, 1898.]
The Philippines are ours. The flag waves over the islands. Nail the
flag to the mast I

No Backing Out.
[New York Journal, Aug. 9, 1898.]
But how if we take the Philippines ? Is that not going out of our
traditional sphere? The answer to that is that we have won the Philip
pines in war and need them in our business.
(New York Journal, Aug. 10, 1898.)
American blood has been spilled at Manila. Every drop was a sacrifice
to the cause of liberty. No retreat from the Philippines !
(New York Journal, Aug. 12, 1898.)
The American flag is up at Manila. Let it wave there until the people
of the Philippines, under American protection, have grown into capacity
for full self-government. That is the just, the American, policy. Nail the
flag to the mast ! (New York Journal, Aug. 17, 1898.)
The capture of Manila has made us masters of the Philippines, and
the American diplomat who would give them up would find it advisable
to stay abroad for the rest of his life.
(New York Journal, Sept. 14, 1898.)
Don't give up a foot of the Philippines !
Our Duty to Civilization.
(New York Journal, Sept. 17, 1898.)
"We have a duty to perform in the Philippines — a duty to the Filipinos,
to ourselves, to republican ideas, to civilization. The American people are
perfectly willing to assume all the risks and burdens of that duty. No
dishonorable desertion of the rescued people of the Philippines !
(New York Journal, Nov. 22, 1898.)
The substantial fact is that 114,000 square miles of fertile soil are
henceforth to be opened to American civilization, to be developed according
to American ideas and to be occupied, as far as practicable, by American
settlers. Welcome to the American Philippines ! The flag is up in the
old world, and long may it wave !
(New York Journal, Dec. 16, 1898.)
"We have demanded from the first the annexation of Hawaii; we
demanded the war ; we demanded the acquisition of territory in the "West
Indies and the retention of all the Philippines. "We now demand the
government of our new territories as integral parts of this country.
Warning to Mr. Bryan.
(New York Journal, Dec. 17, 1898.)
There is no danger that the American flag will we hauled down, but
The Journal hopes that no Democrat will make the attempt.
(New York Journal, Dec. 27, 1898.)
In the Philippines there are opportunities for a new development of
American enterprise. It is a rich tropical land, larger than Italy. It is

virgin of railroads. Its fertile soil is hardly scratched. Its rich mines of
gold and other metals have hardly known the sight of modern machinery.
Its water power is running to waste. Its millions of people have scarcely
begun to use manufactured goods. The effect of an American occupation
of the Philippines will be triple. The Americans who go there will better
their own condition. They will create new markets for American goods,
and in leaving home they will relieve the congestion here and improve the
opportunities of all that remain.
Treasonable Opposition.
(New York Journal, Jan. 6, 1899.)
And if, in performing this work of civilization, American blood should
be shed the position of our antiexpansionists would not be enviable. The
first shot fired against the American flag would make domestic opposition
to the measure of our government overt treason. And those who practice
treason find small indulgence in any country.
(New York Journal, Jan. 7, 1899.)
Evidently the pressure of population is greater now than it was at any
of our previous periods of national expansion. If we felt the need for
more room then, we feel it more intensely now.
A " Hopeless Beaten Party. "
(New York Journal, Jan. 24, 1899 )
If the Democracy shall once be thoroughly identified with opposition
to American progress, it will be the most hopelessly beaten party that has
ever been known in the United States since the days of the Federalists.
(New York Journal, Feb. 4. 1899.)
We have already expanded. Dewey and Merritt have been the advance
agents of American commerce. All that remains is to finish and secure
what they have begun. (New York Journal, Feb. 7, 1899.)
Order must be restored in the Philippines. The men who have taken
our forbearance for weakness must be taught their mistake.
(New York Journal, Feb. 8, 1899.)
Now that Aguinaldo has chosen to appeal to force he will get all the
force he wants. We shall give the Filipinos real liberty — not a gold
whistle dictatorship. The first step ought to be the capture of Aguinaldo
and his shipment to this side of the Pacific.

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