The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-09-08
JUR|ST AND
STATESMAN
IN ARGUMENT
Shall We Hold the
Philippines?
SPREAD EAGLE VERSUS FACTS
PERKINS AND BARNES TAKE
OPPOSITE SIDES.
Heated Argument Made by the Noted
Speakers at the Convention
of the Women's Press
Association.
PERKINS AND BARNES TAKE
OPPOSITE SIDES.

The eighth annual convention of the
Womens Press Association, after
rather fiat, stale and Improbable session,
closed in blaze of glory last evening,
with ringing cheers and a magnificent dis
play of verbal pyrotechnics.
Like diplomats, the members of the as
ISOLATION kept their best for the last, and
Senator Perkins and General w. H. L.
Barnes found the audience larger and in
an appreciative mood ready to side with
the more convincing speaker in the ar
gument, Shall We Hold the Philippines"
Barnes spoke first, inflaming the audi
ence with his running story of patriotism,
his brilliant review of Americas recent
and glorious victories and a magnificent
tribute to our sailor and soldier heroes.
Rapidly and succinctly he reviewed the
history of the country, gradually nearing
the present time and tracing en- route the
story of the great acquisitions.
He dwelt upon the opposition with
which territorial acquisition had always
met and opposed the tradition that would
make of us hermit nation.
why should we not take what we
have won?" argued the General. .Can the
Philippines hurt US? and on the other
hand may not the United States be an in
to those o people,' continued the orator,
land we promised to be their friends. Is
it possible to turn those people back again
1--WE want the Philippines because they
offer to us a magnificent territory; be-
cause there is no longer such a thing as
a sailing man-of-war; because coal is
king. But we don't only want a coal hod
for the United States navy; we want the
land to civilize the people to Christianize
the people. We want those islands as an
outpost for the great American people,
and where the flag has once gone up it
must never come down.
When Senator Perkins. took the floor in
the face of the applause that was still
ringing for his opponent, without any pre-
amble he at once began to demolish the
pretty castle of sentimental phrases that
the general had reared.
Where Barnes gave sentiment Perkins
gave facts.
picture of the Philippines with thousands
of Americans luxuriating on enormous
wealth-producing sugar Plantations and
showed the country clothed In all the hor-
rors of the destructive earthquake, lne
ath-dealing cyclones, the deadly cholera
and the enervating, prostrating heat of
IF you have any missionary work to
do said the Senator, come right home
here to do It. And when you have fin
ably find field in New York. If we save
this country we are doing pretty WELL,
:, The cheap labor of the Chinese in Man
as to the impossibility of our boys com
petfng with them, and "cheap labor
means danger to republic" he de-
In conclusion Senator Perkins said:
Let us confine ourselves to this CONT
nent. Let us revere our banner as we
now do. Let us maintain our nationa!
dignity, our national honor. Let US build
war ships. but never let US bring In any
element that is SO antagonistic to repup-
lican government as are the various sects
and tribes that inhabit the Philippine
Islands"
Interspersed with programme of m So
members of the ,Women's Press Associa-
ton Joined Mrs. E. o. Smith in a discus
In her paper, Does a Man Own His own
Face?"
Mrs. Smith claimed. that in this day OF
sensationalism and caricature the press
seemed to think that they alone owned
all faces, to do with them. as well or "a; as
badly as they pleased. The caricaturIst
came In for many hard taps by the lady,
who was ably seconded in her sweeping
assertions and all-round abuse OF the dis-
torter Of faces by Mesdames Cooley'
ton.