Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 May 1899 — CHICAGO EXPANSIONISTS MEET [ARTICLE]

CHICAGO EXPANSIONISTS MEET

Two Large Audiences Indorse the Governneat'a Philippine Policy. A pouring rain didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of 6,000 Chicagoans who mgt Sunday in the Auditorium and Central Music Hall to indorse the Government’s Philippine policy. According to a dispatch, two audiences, fired by the eloquence of speakers who lauded loyalty to the Government in the present crisis, cheered at the mention of the names of the President and the heroes of the conflict in the Philippines and biased the sentiments expressed at the Central Music Hall anti-imperialistic mass meeting of a week before. Clergymen, civilians and soldiers voiced the sentiments from the platform. Almost every sentence was punctuated by applause, and when a popular war hero was named the cheers were prolonged into minutes. The Auditorium was elaborately decorated for the occasion. The speakers’ desk was draped with an American flag made by Cuban women. The faces of McKinley and Dewey were portrayed in huge proportions on the platform. The army was represented by the portrait of Col. Roosevelt and the navy by the portraits of Sampson, Schley and Sigsbee. The Naval Veterans’ Association, under command of Lieut. W. J. Wilson, and fifty strong, was conspicuous in the uniforms which Imd seen service at Santiago. Sprinkled in the audience were noticed the blue uniforms of the boys of ’9B and the gray heads of the veterans of ’6l. There were many women present, both in' the audience and on the platform. When the vote was taken on the resolution of indorsement of the administration the few anti-imperialists who were present remained seated and at once became the objects of attention. There were eries of “Put them out!” and one or two of the “antis” bid defiance to the audience by leaving the meeting. When Judge O. H. Horton called the Auditorium meeting to order at 3 o'clock there were almost 5,000 persons in the great hall. The Central Music Hall meeting was presided over by Thomas B. Bryan and about 1,200 were present. The speakers at the Auditorium were William Dudley Foulke of Indiana. Judge Richard S. Tuthill, the Rev. P. S. Henson. Bishop Samuel Fallows. George E. Adams. Gen. John C. Black and Congressman J. P. Dolliver of lowa. Letters were read from Dr. Lyman Abbott, lambert Tree, E. Benjamin Andrews, Luther I-aflin Mills and the Rev. Thomas P. Hodnett. The resolutions were read by Gen. John C. Black and declared the belief of the assemblage that the present conditions in the Philippines are the natural result of the events of the war; that the destruction of Spanish authority there left no other authority than that of the United States: that peace prevailed from the time of the American occupation until the firing by the insurgents; that every honorable means has been employed by this Government to cauae a cessation of hostilities; that faith is declared in the army and navy; that the administration has discharged its duties fully and well; that support is pledged to the American soldiers in the Philippines, and end with this sentence: “Until armed insurrection has ceased we have no terms to offer but the American terms of unconditional surrender.”