Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-10-07

u nuRSIlOn
Is purely business one to determine
whether they can be of substantial value
to us, If we assumed the responsibility
OF their government. On this basis it
must be conceded that these islands have
yielded to Spain very large net revenues 4;
ana as net income is a fair measure of
the value OF the property producing It.,
1t might be argued that we could make a
profitable bargain by accepting the
Islands. But it is to be remembered that
the large revenues received by Spain
have not come by legitimate and normal
methods but by the stand-and-deliver
methods used by oppressors upon their
victims. This Is the same policy that
Spain has adopted In all her colonies for
centuries. The growth and development
of every industry in the island have been
choked to death by the oppressive
tribute exacted of the people, both by
the home government and the home
church, exercising absolute power in the
islands.
Shall the United States at this late dav
in its history acquire territory for the
purpose of grinding the faces of its
people! do we propose to practise the
arts of wholesale robbery to replenish
our eXchequer? Revenue collected i'm the
| Phillpplnes in the same moderate con-
trihution as, in normal times, is made
by the people of the United States, would
not pay the expenses of their government.
nor could we hope that in the future anv
substantial increase of revenue could be
shown. Distance, climate and the char
acter of the native population will pre-
clude American immigration, and we will
be left to the doubtful and dangerous ex.
pertinent of making an unprogressive
and semi-barbarous people into good
Intelligent American citizens, capable of
self-government and attached to the
principles of our constitution. God
save the mark
If we permanently take the Philippines
we will be compelled to govern them
with or without their consent, as the
case may be. They will not in all
human probability be able to govern
themselves, and thus we shall abandon
the fundamental basis upon which our
system of government rests, namely,
that the people shall be their own
governors. Besides all this, the people
of these islands can never be governed
by US, if we undertake the task without
an immense expense to our treasury. !
If 1t be logical to Judge of the future by
the past, we will have a revolution on
our hands the greater part of the time
n standing army of mammoth size will |
be needed to garrison the 400 islands |
constituting the group. Coast fortifi- |
cations, the number and extent of which |
no man can define, will be required as a
defence against attack by other nations |
We have here at home the longest and |
most exposed coast line of any nation on |
earth, already involving an immense
expenditure of money and not half |
protected at that. Are our people yearn-
ing to secure a territory extending |
over l6 degrees of latitude and 10 degrees |
of longitude and made up principally of !
coast line, to still further expand our
frontier?
But it is said that we owe it to human
ity to give relief to the people of the
Philippines now so sorely oppressed by |
Spain and that the occupancy of Manila |
makes it obligatory that we continue our
hold for this purpose.
If Watson had taken Cadiz, would it |
have been argued that the behests of hu-
manity would require us to deliver all
the people of Spain from the exactions
of the Spanish government?
Our possession of Manila IS merely ten
tatve. We hold it only for tactical and
diplomatic purposes. By it we have no
constructive possession even of the
ASiohN VI i%uNOhf muSll lCoo VI tue WHOlt
group of Islands. We have only what
lawyers call a "possesio pedis'. The
boundaries of our actual occupation
limit the extent and field of our duty.
The claim that we must not return the
Philippines to Spain is entirely fallacious.
We have not yet taken them from Spain
and so have nothing to return. Before
we can have any responsibility for the
Islands we must capture them either by
our arms or by our diplomacy. If we
leave them alone, Spain and the in
surgents will determine their future.
But having regard for our commercial
interests in the East, it is plain that we
need coaling station somewhere In the
group. 1t may be Manila; it may just as
usefully be some other harbOr. This
will doubtless be made in the
treaty of peace. Beyond this there is
nothing in this territory that we need or
can afford to take.i