Platform of the American
Anti-Imperialist League, 1899.
.
. . Much as we abhor the war of "criminal aggression" in the
Philippines, greatly as we regret that the blood of the Filipinos is on
American hands, we more deeply resent the betrayal of American institutions at
home. . . .
Whether
the ruthless slaughter of the Filipinos shall end next month or next year is
but an incident in a contest that must go on until the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the United States are rescued from the
hands of their betrayers. Those who dispute about standards
of value while the foundation of the Republic is undermined will be listened to
as little as those who would wrangle about the small economies of the household
while the house is on fire. The training of a great people for a
century, the aspiration for liberty of a vast immigration are
forces that will hurl aside those who in the delirium of conquest seek to
destroy the character of our institutions.