The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-09-22
Philippine PROBLEM.
Serious Statement Made by a
1 Leading Singapore Paper.
ITS VIEW OF OUR DUTY IN THE EAST

An opinion Of what Is Likely to En-
sue by the Institution OF n Joint
spanish-AmericanC CommissIon--Re- c
suit of the Return of the Philip
pines to Spnin-An American Pro-
tectorate said to De the only soIu-
aion.
OF the latest war news the item that
most closely concerns the far east is the
announcement that the future Of the
Philippines, concerning which the Unit.
ed States government is clearly unable
60 make up its mind definitely, is to be
considered by a joint commission of
American and Spanish delegates. That
statement, if authentic, as there is every
reason to suppose it to be, may we'll
give cause for anxiety to all who are
interested in the maintenance of the
balance of power in the far east, who
desire to see peace prevail and COM
merce prosper and who are convinced
that by retaining large degree Of con-
troll over the Philippines the United
States would thereby be doing no more
than assuming that position as a great
power on the Pacific that it is right and
necessary for her to acquire
1t may well bo asked why, in the an.
nouncement of the proposed institution
of Hispano-American joint commits.
sion Ror the determination of the future
of the Philippines, there should be ap.
pretended any possibility of peril. Our
reply is that the danger is to be found
In the presumption, in the fact of the
creation of such q commission, that the
result TO be arrived at must be of the
nature Of compromise between the in
terests of the two parties to the discus
sion. Compromise, to our thinking and
according to our estimate of the situa-
tion, would in such matter be fatal to
the cause of lasting peace
To compare, in passing, the relative
positions of the populations OF Cuba and
of the Philippines under Spanish rule
1t is true TO say that while the easier
opportunity for American Intervention
was apparent in the Cuban case, partly
owing to proximity and the resultant
commingling of commercial interests,
yet the dire necessity for Intervention
from some humane quarter or other was
far moro claimant in the case Of the
Philippines. 1t is proper to assume that
In both cases. Cuba and the Philip
pines, the main features of Spanish ad-
ministration-call il maladministra-
tion if you will-were practically iden-
teal, and that therefore all the conse.
quent grievances and disabilities that
ensued to the disadvantage of the two
populations were similar in nature and
perhaps in intensity.
Had that been all the mild and tract.
able Filipino population might never
have showed intolerance Of Spanish rule
in the way in which their brothers in
misfortune in Cuba have done. But
within the Philippines there has existed
for centuries a dominant power that
has absolutely overridden the entire
civil and military executive and by its
influence over these has in effect held
in the hollow of its hand the lives and
fortunes Of each individual Filipino be-
yond all hope Of appeal for protection
TO the ordinary tribunals Of the law.
We refer, of course, to the great reli-
gious fraternities who sway to their arbi-
trary will every power of church and
state in the Philippines, Their mem
bers, in many instances, are grasping,
unscrupulous and vicious. 1t has been
related by those who know that the
honor Of wife or the virtue Of daughter
of the unlucky Filipino is held at the
disposal of the fraile on demand. Re.
Ristance to such demand means certain
announcement of the victim to the civil
power as "Freemason" or "sympa-
thizer with insurrectos,
The civil official knows much better
than to question any charge Of this kind
emanating from such q source, and the
unluoky man vanishes, perhaps forever,
from his family. What goes on in
Philippine prisons without trial in the
way Of torture, misery, thirst, starva-
tion, mutilation and murder has been
of late a common enough theme. These
religious orders have, it is well known,
been expelled from Spain. They have no
existence in Cuba, but the unfortunate
Spanish colony of the Philippines has
been their happy hunting grounds for
many generations
It is against the intolerable centuries
Of oppression and extortion at the hands
of these religious interpretations and
their plant tools of the civil power that
the Filipinos have entered upon their
struggle, now at last crowned with sue
cess owing to the encouraging influence
and aid of Admiral Dewey. By this in
stitution of joint Spanish American
commission as to the Philippines what
is likely to ensue? First of all, il is TO
be remembered that the American dele
gates will not be able TO forget that
Spain has been defeated, her fleets have
been wiped out, Cuba removed from her
Jurisdiction, Porto Rico surrendered,
while the United States declines to- CON
sent to take over any of the undoubted
immense pecuniary Indebtedness Of eli
ther Cuba or Porto Rico. Knowing all
that and going into conference with the
delegates Of the defeated power with
the express object Of treating with them
over what has been apparently deliber-
ntely left as an open questionable des-
tiny of the Philippines--can it humanity
be wondered at if the tendency in the
mind Of the American delegates will be
irresistibly toward concession and allie
Walton Of the terms, so as to enable
Spain to say that out Of the general
wreck of her colonial fortunes she had
saved some shreds of her ancient digni-
ties and possessions?
But what will all this mean? II it
means, in any degree, a survival Of