Douglas Island news., 1898-12-21
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2l, 1898.
THE PHILIPPINES.

The peace commission has arranged that the United States shall retain the Philippine islands andpay Spain S2O,OOO- coo. To this part of the treaty of peace serious objection is made and doubts are expressed as to whether the senate will give it's approval upon the ratitica- tion of the treaty. Only the sena tors will vote, but upon the appropria- ton of money the house and senate each have a voice.
 Territorial expansion, to such an eX- tent as to take in the Philippine islands, is & serious question and it Is not un- expected that there should be great diversity of opinion on the matter, upon which, we are pleased to say, there will be no party lines drawn, but rather the east will be arrayed against the west. the latter in favor of, and the for mer opposing acquisition.
 1t is not our aim to enter into a full discussion of the subject, but briefly stated, some of the arguments of those opposing the expansion of the territory to so great distance are, that the in habitants are a very undesirable class of people and unworthy to be made citizens, and who, owing to lack of ed ucation aud even civilization, must be difficult to govern; that our standing army would of necessity be increased and a greater navy would also become necessary; that the fOrefathers of our country opposed expansion and we should in the future as in the past con- fine our acquisitions to the North Amer ican continent.
 On the other hand it iS argued, that with the great increase of population, trade, manufacture, and agriculture we should extend our interests, and that an increase of territory will open up new markets that we could not otherwise control. Also that having engaged ill war to free Cuba from Spanish oppreS- sion, we saw proper to carry the con test to the Philippines and after hay ing assumed control of them we are morally bound to not permit their return to Spain.
 Of the two contentious, we are favor ably inclined to the latter. The gov ernment of the Philippines may cost us some money, but suppose it does? We will need larger standing army and good navy, but suppose we do? What we need, or even want, we can afford to have, and why not have it? A fine navy, the superior to that of the Brit ish empire, we can we'll afford to main tain and we believe it would be very gratifying to Americans to possess 1t, as a matter of style We have been re- garded as joke" by European pow CTS until we licked the stuf1ng out of Spain. Germany and France have both been anxious to knock the chip off our shoulder, and we believe in entering European politics and like the British government, grabbing onto everything in sight. 4 people that can build up a government such as we pos sess, need not hesitate to undertake the government of even that composite mass that inhabits the Philippine is- lands. China will be for division soon and why not take our share. The ad- vance of the English speaking people is just commencing. It is to the An plo Saxon race that the world must ti- nally look for good, decent, free gov ernment. Man cannot live for himself, and the same rule will apply to gov ernments. As free, enlightened, ed ucated and christian people, we owe duty to God and man to render such aid as is in our power to bring good government and civilization to all man. kind, and when the first real opportu- nity has been presented to thus extend our influence, must it be said we were not men, but towards.
 Examine into the various systems of government in Europe, and outside of the English nation the people are free in name only. We all know what Spanish rule Is. France, that floats under the name of republic, is dis grace to the earth. Germany IS just a trife better. Russia is next to an un-