Filibuster

fil'i-bus-ter, a member of a lawless band. The word is Dutch, signifying a freebooter, rover, or buccaneer. Now that the days of piracy are practically over, the term is applied to a member of an armed party that interferes in the affairs of a foreign country for the purpose of producing a revolution. Such an expedition was conducted by Lopez from New Orleans against Cuba in 1851. In 1853 William Walker of California conducted a filibustering expedition against the state of Sonora, and in 1855 a second expedition against Nicaragua. Both of these leaders, it may be said in passing, were arrested and executed. In case of arrest and imprisonment a filibuster has no claim on his home government for protection. In 1895 Dr. Jamieson organized a raid against the Boer government in South Africa. Garibaldi's various attacks on the Papal States were in reality filibustering expeditions, although the final success of the cause which he espoused has given him the rank of a patriot and revolutionist, rather than a filibuster. In parliamentary usage, a movement organized by the opposition party or a faction to obstruct the course of legislation is called a filibuster.