Tuesday, August 8, 2000

Wednesday, August 8, 1900. Imperialism: Flag of an Empire

The Eight Nation Alliance beat the Chinese at Tsi-nin.

William Jennings Bryan gave a speech on imperialism:

It is said that we have assumed before the world obligations which make it necessary for us to permanently maintain a government in the Philippine islands. I reply first, that the highest obligation of this nation is to be true to itself. No obligation to any particular nations, or to all the nations combined, can require the abandonment of our theory of government, and the substitution of doctrines against which our whole national life has been a protest. And, second, that our obligation to the Filipinos, who inhabit the islands, is greater than any obligation which we can owe to foreigners who have a temporary residence in the Philippines or desire to trade there.

{2}It is argued by some that the Filipinos are incapable of self-government and that therefore, we owe it to the world to take control of them. Admiral Dewey, in an official report to the navy department, declared the Filipinos more capable of self-government than the Cubans and said that he based his opinion upon a knowledge of both races. But I will not rest the case upon the relative advancement of the Filipinos. Henry Clay, in defending the right of the people of South America to self-government, said:

{3}"It is the doctrine of thrones that man is too ignorant to govern himself. Their partisans assert his incapacity in reference to all nations; if they cannot command universal assent to the proposition, it is then demanded to particular nations; and our pride and our presumption too often make converts of us. I contend that it is to arraign the disposition of Providence himself to suppose that He has created beings incapable of governing themselves, and to be trampled on by kings. Self-government is the natural government of man."

{4}Clay was right. There are degrees of proficiency in the art of self-government, but it is a reflection upon the Creator to say that he denied to any people the capacity for self-government. Once admit that some people are capable of self-government and that others are not and that the capable people have a right to seize upon and govern the incapable, and you make force -- brute force -- the only foundation of government and invite the reign of a despot. I am not willing to believe that an all-wise and an all-loving God created the Filipinos and then left them thousands of years helpless until the islands attracted the attention of European nations. . . .

{5}"Can we not govern colonies?" we are asked. The question is not what we can do, but what we ought to do. This nation can do whatever it desires to do, but it must accept responsibility for what it does. If the constitution stands in the way, the people can amend the constitution. I repeat, the nation can do whatever it desires to do, but it cannot avoid the natural and legitimate results of its own conduct.

{6}The young man upon reaching his majority can do what he pleases. He can disregard the teachings of his parents; he can trample upon all that he has been taught to consider sacred; he can disobey the laws of the state, the laws of society and the laws of God. He can stamp failure upon his life and make his very existence a curse to his fellow men and he can bring his father and mother in sorrow to the grave; but he cannot annul the sentence, "The wages of sin is death."

{7}And so with the nation. It is of age and it can do what it pleases; it can spurn the traditions of the past; it can repudiate the principles upon which the nation rests; it can employ force instead of reason; it can substitute might for right; it can conquer weaker people; it can exploit their lands, appropriate their property and kill their people; but it cannot repeal the moral law or escape the punishment decreed for the violation of human rights. . . .

{8}Some argue that American rule in the Philippine islands will result in the better education of the Filipinos. Be not deceived. If we expect to maintain a colonial policy, we shall not find it to our advantage to educate the people. The educated Filipinos are now in revolt against us, and the most ignorant ones have made the least resistance to our domination. If we are to govern them without their consent and give them no voice in determining the taxes which they must pay, we dare not educate them, lest they learn to read the Declaration of Independence and the constitution of the United States and mock us for our inconsistency.

{9}The principal arguments, however, advanced by those who enter upon a defense of imperialism are:

First -- That we must improve the present opportunity to become a world power and enter into international politics.

Second -- That our commercial interests in the Philippine islands and in the Orient make it necessary for us to hold the islands permanently.

Third -- That the spread of the Christian religion will be facilitated by a colonial policy.

Fourth -- That there is no honorable retreat from the position which the nation has taken.

{10}The first argument is addressed to the nation's pride and the second to the nation's pocket-book. The third is intended for the church member and the fourth for the partisan.

{11}It is sufficient answer to the first argument to say that for more than a century this nation has been a world power. For ten decades it has been the most potent influence in the world. Not only has it been a world power, but it has done more to affect the politics of the human race than all the other nations of the world combined. Because our Declaration of Independence was promulgated others have been promulgated. Because the patriots of 1776 fought for liberty others have fought for it. Because our constitution was adopted other constitutions have been adopted.

{12}The growth of the principle of self-government, planted on American soil, has been the overshadowing political fact of the nineteenth century. It has made this nation conspicuous among the nations and given it a place in history such as no other nation has ever enjoyed. Nothing has been able to check the onward march of this idea. I am not willing that this nation shall cast aside the omnipotent weapons of truth to seize again the weapons of physical warfare. I would not exchange the glory of this republic for the glory of all the empires that have risen and fallen since time began. . . .

{13}The pecuniary argument, though more effective with certain classes, is not likely to be used so often or presented with so much enthusiasm as the religious argument. If what has been termed the "gun-powder gospel" were urged against the Filipinos only it would be a sufficient answer to say that a majority of the Filipinos are now members of one branch of the Christian church; but the principle involved is one of much wider application and challenges serious consideration.

{14}The religious argument varies in positiveness from a passive belief that Providence delivered the Filipinos into our hands for their good and our glory, to the exultation of the minister who said that we ought to "thrash the natives (Filipinos) until they understand who we are," and that "every bullet sent, every cannon shot and every flag waved means righteousness." . . .


{15}Imperialism finds no warrant in the Bible. The command "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" has no Gatling gun attachment. When Jesus visited a village of Samaria and the people refused to receive him, some of the disciples suggested that fire should be called down from Heaven to avenge the insult; but the Master rebuked them and said: "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Suppose he had said: "We will thrash them until they understand who we are," how different would have been the history of Christianity! Compare, if you will, the swaggering, bullying, brutal doctrine of imperialism with the golden rule and the commandment "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." . . .

{16}When our opponents are unable to defend their position by argument they fall back upon the assertion that it is destiny, and insist that we must submit to it no matter how much it violates our moral precepts and our principles of government. This is a complacent philosophy. It obliterates the distinction between right and wrong and makes individuals and nations the helpless victims of circumstance. . . .

{17}I can conceive of a national destiny surpassing the glories of the present and the past -- a destiny which meets the responsibility of today and measures up to the possibilities of the future. Behold a republic, resting securely upon the foundation stones quarried by revolutionary patriots from the mountain of eternal truth -- a republic applying in practice and proclaiming to the world the self-evident propositions that all men are created equal; that they are endowed with inalienable rights; that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Behold a republic in which civil and religion liberty stimulate all to earnest endeavor and in which the law restrains every hand uplifted for a neighbor's injury -- a republic in which every citizen is a sovereign, but in which no one cares to wear a crown. Behold a republic standing erect while empires all around are bowed beneath the weight of their own armaments -- a republic whose flag is loved while other flags are only feared. Behold a republic increasing in population, in wealth, in strength and in influence, solving the problems of civilization and hastening the coming of an universal brotherhood -- a republic which shakes thrones and dissolves aristocracies by its silent example and gives light and inspiration to those who sit in darkness. Behold a republic gradually but surely becoming the supreme moral factor in the world's progress and the accepted arbiter of the world's disputes -- a republic whose history, like the path of the just, "is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 7, 1900. Yang-tsun


Saturday, August 5, 2000

Sunday, August 5, 1900. The Battle of Beicang 北倉之戰)

At the Battle of Beicang 北倉之戰) the Eight National Alliance forced Chinese troops out of their positions and into retreat.


Bishop of Portland James Augustine Healy died at age 70.  He was the first African American Bishop.

He'd been born into slavery to an Irish immigrant father and enslaved mother who had a species, sort of, of common law marriage.  The union occured when he was 33 and she was 16.  Her ancestry included a fair degree of European heritage, which would lead to their children appearing to be of European ethnicity.  The union was not as surprising as it might seem and inspite of the burden of slavery, such unions occured, but could only have common law status.

The ten children to the union had apparently originally also been enslaved but were freed.  The family, in spite of the lack of a licit marriage, must have been religious as Bishop Healy was not its only member to enter religious life.  His brother Patrick was a Jesuit, his brother Alexander was a Priest, his sister Amanda a member of the  Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, and his sister Eliza a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame of Montreal and the first African American abbess.  Those who had secular vocations were also high achieving.  They were remarkably well educated, something that had been secured by their parents with some difficulty.

Apparently their parents had intended later in their lives to sell their plantation and move north, but death intervened.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 4, 1900. Eight Nation Advance.

Friday, August 4, 2000

Saturday, August 4, 1900. Eight Nation Advance.

20,000 troops of the Eight Nation Alliance began an advance from Tianjin to Beijing.  2,500 of those troops were American.  The largest contingent, 9000, was Japanese.

Imperial Chinese troops were also traveling to Beijing to reinforce the city.


Jacob Dolson Cox, Civil War general and also lawyer, Republican politician from Ohio, Liberal Republican Party founder, educator, author, and microbiologist passed away at age 78.

Last edition:

Thursday August 2, 1900 and Tuesday, August 2, 1910. Odd racist coincidence.

Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Thursday August 2, 1900 and Tuesday, August 2, 1910. Odd racist coincidence.

1900:

Voters in North Carolina approved an amendment to Article VI of the state constitution, worded specifically to disenfranchise African-American voters. Under section 4, all persons registering to vote were required to pass a literacy test, "But no male person who was on January 1, 1867, or at any time prior thereto, entitled to vote and no lineal descendant of any such person, shall be denied the right to register and vote by reason of his failure to possess the educational qualifications herein proscribed"

1910:

The Oklahoma constitution was amended to require literacy tests for all persons except descendants of persons who were free prior to the end of slavery.

Odd.

Last editions:

Wednesday, August 1, 1900. Off to see the Wizard.


Tuesday, August 1, 2000

Wednesday, August 1, 1900. Off to see the Wizard.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, was published for national distribution.


Hugh Marshall Hole, colonial administrator of Matabeleland and Bulawayo in Rhodesia issued his own money script to solve a currency shortage.


Race riots broke out in Keystone, West Virginia, when a white policeman shot a black suspect who went after him with a knife.

The first non Catholic university in the Philippines, National University, opened.  In addition to Spanish, it offered instructions in English.

The Insurrection was still ongoing.  I wonder how popular it was?

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 31, 1900. Things Commonwealth.

Monday, July 31, 2000

Tuesday, July 31, 1900. Things Commonwealth.

Voters of Western Australia approved the Constitution of Australia, allowing them to join the Commonwealth of Australia.

Boer commandos surrendered to British troops near Clarens.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 29, 1900. Gaetano Bresci killed King Umberto of Italy and brought Theodore Roosevelt to power.

Saturday, July 29, 2000

Sunday, July 29, 1900. Gaetano Bresci killed King Umberto of Italy and brought Theodore Roosevelt to power.


King Umberto of Italy was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci, a resident of Paterson, New Jersey in an act which achieved nothing direct whatsoever.  Bresci claimed he wanted to avenge the people killed in Milan during the suppression of the riots of May 1898, but instead he just comes across as an idiot.  The act did influence Leon F. Czolgosz in his unhinged plot to kill President William McKinley in September 1901, so in a weird way, it helped bring Theodore Roosevelt to power.

New Jersey Governor McGowan Voorhees helpfully noted; ""There is one thing I want to say and that is the plot to kill King Humbert was not hatched in New Jersey.  I am sure it was made up in New York if plotted in this country at all."

Last edition:

Saturday, July 28, 1900. Paying for his opposition.

Friday, July 28, 2000

Saturday, July 28, 1900. Paying for his opposition.

Hsi Ching-ch'eng, formerly China's ambassador to Russia, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, was executed for his opposition to the Boxer faction in the Imperial Court.

Albert Einstein received his diploma from technical school, the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in  Zürich, Switzerland.

Last edition:

Friday, July 27, 1900. Huns.

Thursday, July 27, 2000

Friday, July 27, 1900. Huns.

In reaction to the situation in China, Kaiser Wilhelm II delivered the "Hun Speech", comparing German troops to the Huns of the Nibelungenlied.  The speech read:

Great overseas tasks have fallen to the new German Empire, tasks far greater than many of my countrymen expected. The German Empire has, by its very character, the obligation to assist its citizens if they are being set upon in foreign lands. The tasks that the old Roman Empire of the German nation was unable to accomplish, the new German Empire is in a position to fulfill. The means that make this possible is our army.

It has been built up during thirty years of faithful, peaceful labor, following the principles of my blessed grandfather. You, too, have received your training in accordance with these principles, and by putting them to the test before the enemy, you should see whether they have proved their worth in you. Your comrades in the navy have already passed this test; they have shown that the principles of your training are sound, and I am also proud of the praise that your comrades have earned over there from foreign leaders. It is up to you to emulate them.

A great task awaits you: you are to revenge the grievous injustice that has been done. The Chinese have overturned the law of nations; they have mocked the sacredness of the envoy, the duties of hospitality in a way unheard of in world history. It is all the more outrageous that this crime has been committed by a nation that takes pride in its ancient culture. Show the old Prussian virtue. Present yourselves as Christians in the cheerful endurance of suffering. May honor and glory follow your banners and arms. Give the whole world an example of manliness and discipline.

You know full well that you are to fight against a cunning, brave, well-armed, and cruel enemy. When you encounter him, know this: no quarter will be given. Prisoners will not be taken. Exercise your arms such that for a thousand years no Chinese will dare to look cross-eyed at a German. Maintain discipline. May God’s blessing be with you, the prayers of an entire nation and my good wishes go with you, each and every one. Open the way to civilization once and for all! Now you may depart! Farewell, comrades!”

Should you encounter the enemy, he will be defeated! No quarter will be given! Prisoners will not be taken! Whoever falls into your hands is forfeited. Just as a thousand years ago the Huns under their King Attila made a name for themselves, one that even today makes them seem mighty in history and legend, may the name German be affirmed by you in such a way in China that no Chinese will ever again dare to look cross-eyed at a German.

New Orleans police and vigilantes attempted to arrest Robert Charles, which went badly, and lead to the house in which Charles being set on fire.  He was shot during the episode by Charles Noiret, a medical student at Tulane University.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 24, 1900. Regulations for Peaceful Rule.

Monday, July 24, 2000

Tuesday, July 24, 1900. Regulations for Peaceful Rule.

Chinese revolutionaries signed the  Regulations for Peaceful Rule, a petition for help from the United Kingdom.  While the Boxer Rebellion was actually going on, the petition hoped for a parliament served by an advisory body of foreign ambassadors.

Sun Yat-sen was one of the signatories.

The push pin (thumb tack) was patented.

Last edition:

Monday, July 23, 1900. Various forbidden acts.

Sunday, July 23, 2000

Monday, July 23, 1900. Various forbidden acts.

King Alexander of Serbia announced that he would marry his mistress, Draga Mašin. She had been one his mother's servants.


The cabinet resigned, including his father.  He persevered and married her anyway, although they were both assassinated in 1903.

The First Pan-African Conference took place in London.  W. E. B. DuBois and Henry Sylvester Williams were among those in attendance.

Self educated African American civil rights activist Robert Charles shot and wounded one of three members of the New Orleans Police Department who approached him while he was sitting with his roommate in a predominantly white neighborhood.   Riots ensued.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 21, 1900. The murder of Fr. Alberic Crescitelli (1郭西德).

Friday, July 21, 2000

Thursday, July 20, 2000

Friday, July 20, 1900. Still alive.

China's minister to the United States, Wu Ting-fang, delivered a telegraphed message from U.S. Ambassador to China Edwin H. Conger to United States Secretary of State John Hay confirming that the foreign envoys in Beijing were still alive.

The message was in cipher.  John Hay wasn't fully convinced and sent back a message asking for Conger's sisters name as confirmation, which he rapidly sent.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 19, 1900. Métro

Wednesday, July 19, 2000

Thursday, July 19, 1900. Métro


The first line of the Métro was inaugurated in Paris. 

Michel Théato won the Olympic marathon in a time of 2:59:45). Temperatures in Parish for the race were over 102 °F (39 °C) for the race.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 17, 1900. Time Out.

Monday, July 17, 2000

Tuesday, July 17, 1900. Time Out.

A temporary truce was called between the Chinese Army and the Eight National Alliance in Beijing which allowed for food and the transmission of information to occur.

Last edition:

Monday, July 16, 1900. Leaving for Munich.


Sunday, July 16, 2000