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Show 1 1 Panama Canal Tolls 1 I Speech of HON. JAMES E. MARTINE, of New Jersey, in the Senate of the United States I was a delegate to the Baltimore convention. As a delegate, I voted to adopt the plank Vouching the matter mat-ter of tolls In the Panama Canal. Later, La-ter, on every hustings where I bad tho honor and privilege of speaking, I dwelt with all the earnestness of my nature upon tho wisdom and Justice Jus-tice of the policy declared In tho platform of my party. I believed In It as ardently ns over a child be-' llovcd the words that felt from Us mother's lips. Was I justified, Mr. Presldent?-Yes, Presldent?-Yes, answering my own question; for did not our standard bearer Wobd row Wilson reiterate and declare both tho wisdom of the policy and Us Justlco to the -American people? Further, It was my privilege to have conferred with the late Senator from Cleorgla, Mr. Bacon, on the subject; sub-ject; also former Senator Butler; also al-so Hon. Hannls Taylor, who Is deem cd an authority on International subjects. sub-jects. All of these and many more authorities agreed not only as to our right, but Insisted on the wisdom of resisting tho repeal of this so called tolls measure Aside from these verbally expressed express-ed opinions tlio voters at tho polls have also ratified tho plank declaring for exemption from tolls. Tho Democratic Dem-ocratic campaign text book was placed plac-ed In my hands nnd In tho hands of every" other stump speaker and In the hands of thousands of others. When handed to 113 wo were bidden: j "Now go forth nnd proclaim tho true Democratic doctrine" Tho text book pressed with much forco tho Justice and wisdom of this particular plank In our platform. To my mind It Is most unfortunate and unfair now, nftcr nil this, to attempt to run nway from tho question and to disavow or disown this plank. Mr. President, after most dellber-, nte thought two years ago I voted tor j tho present tolls bill, and I have heard no argument that has convinced convinc-ed mo against tho wisdom of my Judgment Judg-ment at that tlmo. To this day I do-cloro do-cloro myself ns unnltcrably opposed to tho repeal of this measuro and-shall and-shall so vote? I listened some weeks since to the exhaustive and Instructive address of the senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Lodge), which carried with it particular force to me becauso of the senator's identification in tho bonate with tho construction ot tho Hay-Pauncefote Hay-Pauncefote treaty. His conclusion that there was no legal or moral reason rea-son to demand from the United States tho repeal ot the act was to me most forceful and convincing; but his conclusion con-clusion that since wo were so big and so rich that wo might be justified In granting this claim and demand of Great Britain brought to my mind the Instance of an old fellow I know, ot eccontrlc tastes, who lived near a little country school honto. Two or thrco times a year ho would stand In his door nnd throw from $8 to ?10 In quarters In tho rohd for tho delight of seolng tho boys scramble tor them. When asked why ho did this his re-.sponso re-.sponso was: "Oh, I do this just to Impress tho kids." This, I feel Is about tho only justification jus-tification that has been offered by tho senators on the other sldo for the repeal of this bill. It Is Just to tlcklo Great Britain. Further, Mr. President, I can nol subscrlbo to tfie doctrine and expressions expres-sions of tho senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Owen), In his address some weeks since, with roferenco to tho platform. 1 bcllovo In tho platforms of our party. I believe in adopting, platforms by nominating; conventions and when so adopted they are the creed of our party. To me politics is a religion. I believe in it and In tho policies I advocate. I was a delegate to the Baltimore conventions and to four previous presidential pres-idential conventions. In the campaigns cam-paigns following ench of these conventions con-ventions I pressed tho claims of our party with all the earnestness, fidel-lty, fidel-lty, and zeal of my nature. I believed In the platform; and, Mr. President, I would hesitate I would be ashamed to face my fellow citizens now and repudiate the words and the platform I then pressed. No; a thousand noes. Though I shall stand alone In this body I will vote "no." Senators, my countrymen, I plead do not take this step. Do not commit com-mit this wrong upon the country and the posterity that may come after us. A kindly disposed friend writes me: "Wo think It best that you should be with the procession on this repeal measure." Now, Just whom "wo" may constitute I do not know, for his is I tho only name signed to tho letter. ! Mr. President, I want to stato In tho Senato nnd to my countrymen that I deem It better yes, best that I should stand right. But do you ask me, "What is right?" for great minds in tho Sentite differ widely. In answer, an-swer, "My conscience and Intelligence, Intelli-gence, ns God has given mo reason to seo It this must bo my guide.' This courso to mo is safer nnd better to follow than that of nny roan, bo ho ktng or potentate on earth." Mr. President, my "relations with the President of the United States havo been, and I feel still are, particularly par-ticularly close and pleasant. As n Jorseyman, I say that the State ot I New Jersey owes to Woodrow Wll-!;son Wll-!;son a debt of gratitude that It can scarce repay; for It was he", who when governor of our Stato, opened to us a now pathway, and started us again upon a glorious future Tho people of Now Jersey breath o moro freely now ("We Have faith In hlra, nnd wo lovo him. Now, in tho larger and broad-, broad-, er field of President of this great Re-, Re-, public I believe the great masses of all our fellow citizens aro still firm I in the belief that he is un unselfish patriot., They believe he is prompted only by honest and patriotic motives. But, Mr. President, honest and patriotic patri-otic though we know him to be, he may err; and I believe this measure Is a most serious and unfortunate error, though l.feel It is one ot the head and not ot the heart. Presidents are but human. There Is none of us who Is Infallible Then, Mr. President, Presi-dent, in this dilemma, and yielding to my conscience, I shall be on the sldo of my country ns against nny man on enrth. I want to bo with tho President, It Is hard, very hard, for mo to bo against him In this matter, for I believe be-lieve him to bo a patriot and a conscientious con-scientious man; but I want to bo with him In heart nnd in conscience On this matter of yielding our rights to satisfy tho greed of Great Britain-1 and It enn bo termed nothing olso both volco and voto shall bo recorded on tho sldo of my country, nnd I shall voto "no" to this proposition. 1 am told by somo that by opposing this repeal I am breaking nlleglanco with rny party. This I deny. I love my party. There Is no senator In this body or clsowhero who has mnde greater sacrifices than havo I for 45 years for my party's welfhro, as God cavo me reason to understand It. No; tho charge is as ungenerous as it Is untrue. I was fighting the battles ot my party when my present accusers know not where they stood, bo ran, like frantic madmen, to and fro, wor shiping false gods on every side. Mr. President, we own the Ian on which this gigantic work has been about completed. The brains of American men conceived and design ed the great undertaking. American men did the work; $400,000,000 or more ot the hard earned money ot the people paid for It; more than a thousand lives have been sacrificed, in the accomplishment ot this stupendous stu-pendous work. Of course, It was built primarily to advance the weli being ot the American people; and to this end I feel that we have the rjht to grant exemption from tolls, both ocean and coastwise, to our own people. Mr. President, I feel that the treatment treat-ment that foreign powers have received receiv-ed at our hands In connection with this great waterway Is fair, Just, ard generous, and naught but gleed and avarice on the part of any foreign power can prompt fault finding jot protest. I shall stand by the rights' of our government as I understand them. If there be doubts- -and giS. minds do doubt then I shall-give the benefit of the doubt to America, my country. Mr. President, I clipped from tho London Times tho following llttb editorial. ed-itorial. It says after some olher matter mat-ter .referring to tho tolls! It Is .however, an ' unavoidable situation nnd will remnln so ns long ns tho Constitution glvos Congress a share in the making of treaties. Great God, Mr. President, they do not oven llko our form of government! govern-ment! Our Constitution Is not right. They want to eliminate this. Is it not funny tliut some of the advocates of repeal on that side, and somo of them on this side, bavo not had tho wisdom to propose even our changing that to suit Great Britain? Tho editorial says, further: It . . . "will remain ns tho Constitution Con-stitution gives Congress a uhara in tho making ot treaties, or until the country Is sufficiently educated In foreign affairs "Oh, Ignoramuses ot America, educate edu-cate yourselves, absolve yourselves, cleanse yourselves by voting to repeal," re-peal," is the dictum ot Great Britain. I appeal to the chairman of tho Committee on Education and Labor, the senator from Georgia (Mr. Smith), who unfortunately Is o:i the English side of this question I pray and beg him to formulate at once a bill that shall have for x purpose the education and teaching of the American people to give away their very souls to Great Britain without a whimper or a murmur. Oh, what a humiliating spectacle. I fear ttils measure may pass this body. I ask when will the bending and bowing of the American neck to tho British yoke cease? I was taught that that Ignoble habit on our part ended with the Battles of Pilnce-ton, Pilnce-ton, ot Mnmmouth, ot Bunker Hill, and of Concord. Mr. President, havo we, tho sons of noble sires, degenerated? degener-ated? What will our sons say of us, what will the world shy of us, it we yield to this unjust and unwarranted unwar-ranted demand? The whole demand Is chiefly sentimental senti-mental after all. The President In his address to the Congress, did net onco claim that tho United Stales were bound In law or morals to repeal this law, but he urged that slnco wo aro so rich, so big, so powerful, pnd so self respecting wo should accede to Great Britain's demand. Ah, Mr. President, I feel tho hour has como for America to assert her self, onco for nil, against thfiso Arrogant Arro-gant demands. Grant this unreasonable unreason-able and unfair demand, aud our children-will not live to see the end ot (Continued on page seven) i Panama Canal Tolls I (Continued from page two) j theso unjustifiable claims. I I can see no Justification or war-I war-I rant In the proposition to submit this j question to arbitration. Arbitration is I only the escape door for doubtful j minds after all. 1 have no doubt on j this matter. To submit It to arbltra-' tlon would be an admission that wo' I have doubts as to our own rights In Lour own territory. Mr. President, arbitration? Arbitration? Arbitra-tion? Did you ever hear of Great Britain pressing or assenting to ar- bltratlon with any nation except one stronger than herself? No! To a smaller or weaker power, the thundering thun-dering of cannon and the clash of steel would bo the answer. Senators, run your minds back a fow years. How well I remember ltl Do you not recall tho struggle of that Spartan band contending for Justice, Jus-tice, right, and liberty tho Boers? Did not they, while contending with brutal odds, ask for arbitration? i What answer camo back from this great Christian, peace loving nation but more soldiers, the clash of steel, more cannon, and more blood? It was most touching to me a short time ago to listen to tho tremulous tones of the senior senator from New York (Mr. Root) trying to place Great Bltaln In a good light before the world, and to give her a clean bill of health. Read back further, until you find tho poor, helpless Sepoy band bound In front of tho English cannon mouths and Bhot therefrom In order to Impress their helpless captives I All this mul more I might recite, but I sicken at tho task. Wo aro told, Mr. President, that all this was done In the Interests of peace and for tlio advancement of Christianity mul civilizations. God help our land! As to tho amendment offered by tho Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Simmons) I say most respectfully, and In a most kindly spirit, that the proposition Is to mo as empty as a &il.t Is as though lis on the highway, high-way, I were robbed of my belongings, belong-ings, and I should tell tho highwayman. highway-man. "Use my money, spend It as you will; all" I nsk Is that you acknowledge, ac-knowledge, when you havo dona so that It belongs to me." Oh, I cannot vote for such tomfoolery tomfool-ery under any conditions. Senators, Democrats and Republicans, Republi-cans, patriots all, Join with us to avert tho humiliation and disaster that threatens our nation through the. repeal of the canal-tolls bill. 1 have listened, almost to the degree de-gree of nausea, to tho well-worn ph.a: "Even though wo" do grant this demand, de-mand, we will only be yielding to the nation of our blood and our bono." Mr. President, none of my blood or bone, 1 will thank you! Oh. it Is hutv bug and nonsense! I It crossed my mind but today that this Is 1914. They love us, wo arq told. This is 1914. Only a hundred years ago but a day In the llfo of a nation In 1814, our so-called brothers of our bone and blood, so loved us that they set Are to and burned the very building In which we today deliberate! de-liberate! They acted then as though they loved us, and still they act In the same way. I shy sadly and without with-out feeling of revenge, that too mhny of my colleagues seem willing to sing praises and hallelujahs to the crown of Great Britain In a higher key than they have ever tuned their voices cr hearts to tho air of "My Country! My Country!" i Mr. President, this Is not a party question. It transcends all party controversy. con-troversy. I feel that It Is vital to my country. Yet I feel that the well-being of our country Is so we'll interlaced and interwoven with 'the Democratic party that I look with Jealous eyes on every stop that may bo taken by our party, tho ruling party, of the na-tlon. na-tlon. Therefore, I appeal to you, my Democratic senators, to stop hnd listen; do not be led as willing lambs to the slaughter; for I tell you an outraged and wronged peoplo will visit their vengeance on your heads. I want to stimulate tho building ships, and I hellovo that with tho completion of this great waterway, nnd exemption from tollls for both-ocenn both-ocenn and coastwise trade, tho dawn of a brighter day for tho American merchant marine will be at hand. Mr. President, listen: There is nothing that I am more Interested in than tho fullest development develop-ment of the trade of this country and Its righteous conquest of foreign markets. I am sura that I speak tho convictions convic-tions of all of you when I say that ono of our chief needs Is to havo merchant marine, because if wo have to deliver our goods In other peoplo's delivery wagons their goods aro delivered first and our goods are delivered lncl dentally on tho route. If the ship owners of the nlitlons carry their own grain and cargoes, they are going, to carry them by routes and to markets -which Bult tbem, not the routes and markets, which are chosen by you. These words I Quote. You know whoso they hre. They were delivered in the White House oh the 28th day of May, less than two weeks ago. I stand with that theory. These are not my words, but they contain my thoughts and views. As I say they are the words of tho President of the United States, expressed by him on the day of the 28th of May. I want to bring about these thoughts In tho form of legislation as passed by the Senate. I have hero h llttlo clipping which I gleaned from tho London Times. Some peoplo think that this canal will not amount o much. Take tho opinion opin-ion of tho London Times. Tho London Times says: But the American foreign-carrying mercantile marine Is comparatively small, and It Is fairly certain that, ns In tho enso of tho Suez canal, British Bhlps will outnumber those of any other nation using the Panama canal for years to como. That Is, that America, owing her small shipping Intorests, will be overdone over-done by England for many years to como. God grant that America will havo moro. It has been my hopo nnd my dream that I might llvo to the day when I Bhould see tho deep blue ocean decked with American-registered whlto winged craft, mossengors of peace, of plenty, of trade, and commerce, com-merce, carrying tho products of our farms, our shops, our looms, and mills and tho wealth of our mines to the, remotest corners of the earth. It has been my hope hnd prayer that each craft might carry aloft our banner, and that It might go on and on to greet and reflect tho morning sun In every climo nnd dip and drop only that It might kiss the waters of every sea. Senators, thousands yes, tens of thousands; aye, millions of my countrymen coun-trymen sharo with me the same pa. trlotic hope. Senators will you dnsh from their lips this cup of glorious expectancy? Mr. President, the dawn of a better day Is near at hand. Stop and do not take this step of weakness and Imbecility. Imbec-ility. To pass this repeal measure I feel it is to blot our boasted Americanism, Ameri-canism, and It Is to defile a page of our nation's history. My Country, my country, I cherish thee still, Though many the ills thnt defile thfo; I weep o'er thy wounds nnd pray for thy weal, Yet never, no, noer, revile thee. |