The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-11-12

sons we taught have reVolutioniZed co.
( lonial life and government. We have
lost none of the ideals or knowledge Of
those days. and it would be ditticult for
our nation to ignore them In practice in
view of the examples Of present Eng
llsh colonial governments, which are
tn" results of our teachings. Indeed, it
was because these ideals were firmly
fixed in our national character that we
could not endure the evils of S9ain'S
colonial system, and went to war
rather than have them continue.
But If we never had gained the last
ing experience of our own colonial life
ana never had thought out and fought
on the real problems Of colonial ad-
miniStratiUn II seems tu me il would
have been impossible to doubt that our
nation would he finely fitted to any
great political demand.
people that could adapt untram-
meltd undertaking and unCOmpromising
! democracy To the widest national life
ana make II the most conservative
form OF government known to man
KIND, can ke trusted to govern a few
colonies justly, helpfuily and wisely
y people that could administer and es-
tabliSh and develop self government
so as 10 bring no suggestion of dis
Couragement to the democratic idea i'm
q country which had vast system of
unqualified slavery, can be trusted to
promote self-gOvernment in whatever
part OF the world and with whatever
subject populations.
ANTI-EXPANSION BUGBEAR.
The rigid, mechanical notion that you
cannot govern a colony without maxi
ing IL an immediate state of the union
and giving all the inhabitants the i'm
mediate suffrage regardless of the in
habitants' state of political develop
ment Is a mere bugbear There has
never vet been included in the idea
| of self government the requirement
! that political rights and privileges
should at all times he universally equal
| Legal rights are equal but political
| rights, even i'm the freeSt republic, are
! still governed i'm part by eXpediency
! The right to vote has various interpre-
| tatiuns in the different states of this
union itself, and the nearest approach
| TO uniformity in any one particular Is
| found i'm the almost universal exclusion
of women, who are one-half the popuIa-
| tion, unless il is the exclusion every
| where Of all men under the arbitrary
| age of 2l.
And once more, let us not be over
| impressed in this crisis by constitutional
| teChnicalities. Any country with a
! written constitution will always be
| hampered in a new departure. When
our clvil war came on-and when 1t
| Waa going On-and afterwards when
| the war was OVer-We found ourselves
with grave constitutional doubts and
| obstacles. In the first instance we ig-
| nored them, being forced to If we meant
| to take the great steps of limiting and
| aboli'hing slavery and Of centralzing
| sufficient power i'm the federal govern
| ment TO govern a great country, and in
| the last instance We changed the con-
| stitutiOn TO cover the new departure,
| And now II must not DE an answer
| To the demand for a colonial policy
| that the constitution does not contem.
plate a colonial policy, OF course, the
| constitution, at the time II was made.
| contemplated no colonial policy. We
| were glad at that time to stop being
| colonies ourselves. We dreamed only
of the dignity of governing ourselves.
| But / think we all can see, nOtwith-