196 



CONGRESS. (ACQUISITION OF TERRITORY.) 



" Do you remember when Mexico was invaded 

 by the French, and Uncle Sam said : ' Go ; there 

 is the Monroe doctrine : Mexico is covered by the 

 shadow of its wing,' and the French soldiers left, 

 and the brave little republic of Mexico is slowly 

 but surely climbing the ladder to a better edu- 

 cation, a better civilization. Ah, Mr. President, 

 that is the expansion I believe in. That is the 

 imperialism the fathers taught. 



" Venezuela, within three years, was assaulted 

 by England sought to be despoiled of her port 

 of entrv. G rover Cleveland was President of the 

 United* States, and he said to the greatest naval 

 power of the world, ' Stop! ' You know the re- 

 sult. Venezuela, struggling along, improving in 

 civil and religious liberty, is climbing higher and 

 higher the scale of civilization. We did not want 

 to annex her when we spoke for her. We did 

 not seek to tax and govern her, but we set her 

 on the highroad of imperialism within herself, 

 and that is the imperialism the fathers taught, 

 and that is the expansion I plead for." 



Mr. Vest, of Missouri, introduced, Dec. 6, 1898, 

 the following joint resolution: 



" Retsolccd bu the Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatirrs of the United States of America in 

 Conyrcxs assembled, That under the Constitution 

 of the United States no power is given to the 

 Federal Government to acquire territory to be 

 held and governed permanently as colonies. 



" The colonial system of European nations can 

 not be established under our present Constitution, 

 but all territory acquired by the Government, 

 except such small amount as may be necessary 

 for coaling stations, correction of boundaries, and 

 similar governmental purposes, must be acquired 

 and governed with the purpose of ultimately or- 

 ganizing such territory into States suitable for 

 admission into the Union." 



Mr. Vest based his argument in support of the 

 resolution on certain Supreme Court decisions 

 limiting apparently the authority of the Govern- 

 ment. Mr. Platt, of Connecticut, said in opening 

 the discussion against the resolution: 



" 1 do not propose at this time to discuss the 

 so-called policy of expansion nor the features of 

 a government which we may authorize or estab- 

 lish in any territory w r hich we may acquire. I 

 will simply remark, in passing, that expansion 

 has been the law of our national growth; more 

 than that, it has been the great law of our racial 

 development, and the United States has shown 

 a capacity for government in all trying times and 

 under all trying conditions, and has shown that 

 it is equal to any circumstances which may arise. 



" I propose to confine myself to the question 

 of right denied in the resolution of the Senator 

 from Missouri. I propose to maintain that the 

 United States is a nation; that as a nation it 

 possesses every sovereign power not reserved in 

 its Constitution to the States or the people; that 

 the right to acquire territory was not reserved, 

 and is therefore an inherent sovereign right; that 

 it is a right upon which there is no limitation, 

 and with regard to which there is no qualifica- 

 tion; that in certain instances the right may be 

 inferred from specific clauses in the Constitution, 

 but that it exists independent of these clauses; 

 that in the right to acquire territory is found 

 the right to govern it; and as the right to ac- 

 quire is a sovereign and inherent right, the right 

 to govern is a sovereign right not limited in the 

 Constitution, and that these propositions are in 

 accordance with the views of the framers of the 

 Constitution, the decisions of the Supreme Court, 

 and the legislation of Congress. 



"Mr. President, this is a nation. It has been 



called by various names. It has been called a 

 confederated republic, a federal union, the union 

 of States, a league of States, a rope of sand; but 

 during all the time these names have been ap- 

 plied to it it has been a nation. It was so under- 

 stood by the framers of the Constitution. It was 

 so decided by the great judges of the Supreme 

 Court in the early days of the Constitution. 



" It is too late to deny it, and, Mr. President, 

 it is also too late to admit it and not have faith 

 in it. Intellectual assent to the doctrines of 

 Christianity does not make a man a Christian. 

 It is saving faith that makes the Christian. And 

 a mere intellectual assent to the doctrine that 

 we are a nation does not make the true patriot. 

 It is high time that we come to believe without 

 qualification, to believe in our hearts, in the ex- 

 ercise of patriotic faith, that the United States 

 is a nation. When we come to believe that, Mr. 

 President, many of the doubts and uncertainties 

 which have troubled men will disappear. 



" It is time to be heroic in our faith, and to 

 assert all the pow r er that belongs to the nation 

 as a nation." 



He went on to produce authorities to show the 

 national power in this matter, and then asserted 

 absolute right to govern: 



k ' In the right to acquire territory is found the 

 right to govern, and as the right to acquire is 

 sovereign and unlimited, the right to govern is 

 a sovereign right, and I maintain is not limited 

 in the Constitution. If I am right in holding that 

 the power to acquire is the sovereign power with- 

 out limitation, I think it must be admitted that 

 the right to govern is also sovereign and un- 

 limited. 



" But if it is sought to rest the right to govern 

 upon that clause of the Constitution which gives 

 Congress the power to dispose of or make ' all 

 needful rules and regulations ' for the government 

 of the territory of the United States, I submit 

 there is no limitation there. There is no qualifica- 

 tion there. It is to make ' all needful rules ' and 

 regulations for the government of the ' terri- 

 tory ' of the United States; not the ' Territories ' 

 of the United States. A great deal of confusion 

 exists in the way in which this word is used, 

 which I shall advert to later on. 



" Now, if we may make ' all needful rules ' and 

 regulations, where is- the limitation? Where is 

 the qualification? Justice Taney says the limita- 

 tion and the qualification are because there is no 

 power to acquire the territory except under the 

 clause for the admission of new States, and 

 therefore it must be held that these rules and 

 regulations must be made solely with reference 

 to the admission of the territory as a new State. 

 But if Justice Taney is wrong about that, if there 

 is other power in the Constitution and who now 

 denies it? if the power in the Constitution is full 

 and ample, then his reasoning falls to the ground 

 and there is absolutely no limit or qualification 

 to be found in that clause of the Constitution. 



" A Territory is not and can not be organize^ 

 under the Constitution. It is organized under 

 the power of Congress, which, as the cases have 

 said over and over again, is absolute, full, and 

 plenary. How far Congress in the exercise of 

 that power may be bound by rights conferred by 

 the Constitution upon the citizens I shall allude 

 to farther on. But the Territories are not or- 

 ganized under the Constitution. The Territorial 

 courts are not constitutional courts. If they 

 were the ' inferior courts ' mentioned in the Con- 

 stitution, the judges thereof would have to be 

 appointed with a life tenure. The judges are 

 appointed for a limited term. Over and over 



