challenged white supremacist Senator Hoke Smith of Georgia on the floor of the Senate to acknowledge the successes of black farmers in the American South and protested instances of racial discrimination inserted into appropriations legislation. He was skeptical about American claims of violation of property rights by the government and insurgent movements in Mexico and was an outspoken opponent of imperialism and for the national independence of the Philippines. It was with respect to American involvement in World War I that Lane was his most outspoken. Late in 1915 Lane joined Socialist Meyer London in co-sponsoring a resolution criticizing the deepening sense of war-related fear and calling upon Woodrow Wilson to convene a conference of neutral nations with a view to ending the European conflict. Even after the resumption of unlimited German submarine warfare in their effort to blockade their enemies, Lane refused to support an end to diplomatic relations with the German empire. Lane was an outspoken opponent of Wilson's plan to arm merchant ships, arguing that the conservative Democratic President was thereby attempting to usurp the Congressional prerogative to declare war and to replace it with Executive authority. This filibuster to block Wilson's effort to expand war powers through his Armed Neutrality Bill proved successful. Lane and his co-thinkers, including Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, became the targets of intense political hostility in the aftermath, however, with President Wilson demeaning them as "a little group of willful men, representing no opinion but their own" who nevertheless "rendered the great Government of the United States helpless and contemptible." Many Oregonians were similarly incensed, and an outcry erupted for Lane's recall from office. An editorial in The Oregonian newspaper stated "Next to being ashamed of Harry Lane for what he has done ... the people of Oregon are ashamed of themselves for having sent Harry Lane to the United States Senate." Although the press lambasted him, a friend wrote in a letter that the majority of people "insist that you did exactly right ... It is the newspapers that are doing most of the kicking." Death and legacy Lane was a chronically ill person in 1917, suffering from Bright's disease or advanced arteriosclerosis. His precarious condition was further undermined by the intense barrage of public criticism to which he was subjected. Nevertheless, on April 4, 1917, against the advice of doctors, Lane made his way to the Senate floor