The President is the creature of the Constitution, and his jurisdiction is measured and limited by the jurisdiction of the Constitution.

When the President asserts that the Philippine Islands are not under the Constitution, he admits that the Philippine Islands are not within his jurisdiction.

I claim that the Philippine Islands are under the Constitution and that the President may exercise in and over the islands whatever powers the Constitution and the laws may have placed in his hands.

I claim further that as a right on the part of the Filipinos, and as a policy of justice and wisdom on our part, we should relinquish our title, whatever it may be, and allow the Filipinos to enter upon the work of governing themselves.

The President sets up the doctrine that the islands are not under the Constitution and that they may be governed by him outside of all constitutional restraints.

Let the charge be answered, or otherwise, let the President and the supporters of his policy abandon the doctrine that we can seize, hold and govern communities and peoples who are not within the jurisdiction of our Constitution and, who…

I have said that the President and his supporters are imperialists.

On public grounds I ask this question: Are those who may hold office under the leadership of a party, to be held by party discipline to the support of measures and policies which they condemn?

Freedom of opinion and freedom of speech are of more value than public office.

The movement for the reform of the civil service is, in its best aspect, but an attempt to rescue the body of office holders from the tyranny and discipline of party and of party leaders.

Never for a moment from my early years did I entertain the thought that I would enter public life, or that I would continue in public life, as a pursuit or as a profession.

Hence, it has happened that I have never asked for personal support at the hands of any, and hence it has happened that I have never solicited a nomination or an appointment from or through the Republican Party or any member of it.

Shall the history that you are now making be consistent with that which you have inherited and which you cherish?

The chief value of that ordinance is in the sixth article which is in these words: "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have…

By repeated decisions the Supreme Court has held that the stipulations and terms of the ordinance remained in force after the adoption of the Constitution, unless a conflict should appear, and in such a case the ordinance would yield to…

Of all the eminent men that you have sent forth into the service of the State and the country, he must be accounted the chief, when we consider the value of his contribution, historically, and on the side of freedom and civilization.

By the Ordinance of 1787, freedom and full right to self-government were made secure to the coming millions who were to occupy the States northwest of the River Ohio.

By the amendment of 1865 freedom and equality in government were guaranteed to all and especially to the negro race in America.

Shall the avoidance of the Amendment in States of this Union be tendered as a reason for a denial of equality and the right of self-government in the Philippine Islands?

If the negroes in America are entitled to freedom from a state of subserviency, are not the colored races in the Philippines entitled to freedom, and that whether they are under the Constitution or beyond its jurisdiction?

You are called to a choice between the doctrines of Nathan Dane and Abraham Lincoln on one side and the doctrines and policy of President McKinley and his supporters on the other side.

President McKinley and his supporters demand subserviency of all who are not within the lines of the American seas.

They assert supreme authority over their fellow-men for an indefinite period of time, and they promise therewith good government.

Here are the assertion of power and the promise of goodness that have attended the origin and movement of every despotism that has risen to curse mankind.

Is a vote for President McKinley and his policy in the Philippine Islands a vote in harmony with the teachings and examples of Nathan Dane and Abraham Lincoln?