The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-18
A FOREIGN POLICY
Argument for a New One for the
United States.
PAPER READ AT 4 CLUB
People VIII Rise Equal to Require
ments of Expansion-The Future
Of the Philippines.

/ paper of Jas S. Lynch read before
the Young Mems Research Club
It is no longer allowable to argue the
/ abstract question of expansion. We
I have gone past the problem OF what we
should do and are abruptly confronted
with what we must do Whether or
I not it is consistent with the accepted
+ principles of Americanism. our actions,
| or rather the circumstances of the past
/ six months, have brought to us terri
/ torial responsibilities, which National
| honor alone Will be more than strong
/ enough TO compel us to accept.
! That we are to have outside posses
sions is assured. 1t is simply a ques-
! ton as TO the manner in which they
/ are to be governed. Is the system to
! be colonial, territorial or absolute
I home rule? If we were dealing with
/ Hawaii alone, the problem would be
easy. A limited form OF territorial
! government ultimately leading 10
statehood could very likely be ar
ranged TO best answer the needs of
/ these Islands. But now that we are
to have Porto Rico by conquest. Cuta
by pledge, and very probably the Phil
/ ippines by demand, the problem viii
have become 50 vast that it viii Ne
cessitate the founding of a wholly new
department in our National Govern
ment, and will have to be administered
/ by broader and more unselfish service
than has characterized the majority of
! American Statesmen for the past ten
| years.
That we are to retain at least por-
ton of the Philippines is assured.
/ believe it will be most prudent to re-
/ tain all. 1t is quite widely conceded
! that the inhabitants of the Philippine
| Islands are incapable of self govern
ment as we understand it. We will
/ have to deal with a population of over
/ eight millions, mostly ignorant, unac-
/ quainted with our form of govern
nent, without any common interest
with us, and worst of all. without ca
| pacity of quickly materially improv-
! ing their own condition under any
! form of government that we may de-
! wise for them.
1t is not a case of reconstruction,
! because the government Of those
Islands has never been constructed. An
! entire government must be founded
! from the outside. We can expect no
! help from within. In fact we will be
most fortunate if we are not most
| heavily handicapped in our endeavors
| by the very people whom we seek to
aid. l feel that to retain the Island
| OF LuZOn alone will eventually involve
| us in disastrous European disputes as
| TO the disposition of the other islands.
| We cannot expect to successfully eS-
| tablish a Monroe doctrine in the East,
and what may now be accomplished by
a single declaration may later take
years of diplomacy to bring about. If
we are to have a footing at all, we mag
as we'll have room for both feet. Other
/ wise we may get tired of standing on
one leg-Or one island in a close COM
pany of so many.
Never before in the history of the
Republic have the American people
been confronted with problem which
necessitated so many changes, in our
| traditional policy Of nOn-interfeTence,
| as the question which cOnfrOnts us to-
day.
We all realize that up to the pres
ent time our foreign policy has been
| internationally regarded as weak. Not
because we have had any preference
for international affronts, but for the
! reason that our condition has always
been so isolated, that the attention OF
our leading statesmen has been direct
ed more to our own internal affairs
than to the questions of open doors, -
balance of powers" and. representa-
tions in the East.
Any Government hampered by such
a drawback as our ridiculous "spOils
system" cannot reasonably expect &c
make much of a success in the govern
ment of outside people.
England is making a success of heI
colonial system because she has prop
erIy encouraged the services of her
colonial men, and systematically re-
wards merit in the colonial depart
ment wherever found.
Our government of outside people
must be kept outside of party politics
to very liberal extent. Appointments
10 Office must be made upon merit
What a mans father was or has done
must cut no figure in the selection OF
officials for the delicate tasks which
will be involved in the handling OF
, our new possessions.
Appointments should be made by the
President with the sanction OF the
United States Senate, until such tins
as a proper colonial bureau is estab-
lished and in working order.
We have promised the world to give
Cuba a free autonomous government
With my own knowledge of the Span.
ish character, l realize that this viii
take a long time. l believe that in
the interval, American capital shall
have taken such a firm hold on Cuban
enterprises. and shall have so benefit.
ed the country. that there Will be
stronger reasons for annexation thar
ever existed in Hawaii. l feel that
! Porto Rico Will come under the same
head. In the administration of al
/ these Islands, we must as much as +.
prudent, govern with the consent OF
the governed. 1 do not favor absolut,