Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1898-12-12
THE OPINION OF HON. GEORGE
F. EDMONDS ON THE
PHILIPPINE CUES
TON.
TON.

| lowing as his views upon the Phlilp-
pine question:
Yours of the End inst, was duly re-
ceived, asking me to state what I
think respecting the proposed acqnis-
ition Of the Philippine islands by the
United States. AS you know that arch
ipelago consists of 1000 or 1900 islands,
124, 1000 square miles, and extending
over large area of the Pacific and
the China sea, in the heart of the trop-
les. 1t is subject to and frequently eX-
periences earthquakes and hurricanes.
1t contains alto gether about 100000
inhabitants, being about go to the
square mile, and just about double the
population of Vermont to the square
mile.
Before the war with Spain, take it
people of the United States would
have thought it bordering on madness
to have taken these islands into our
domain. Their population is almost
entirely what may fairly be called
savage, and absolutely incapable
of anything that civilization would
call self government. And if their in
habitants were as peaceable as the
best of other tropical countries, they
would still be Gas all experience has
prove6 incapable of governing them
selves. Our only motive for them only
for their acquisition, therefore, must
be the material advantages supposed
by some to flow from our controlling
the products of the islands, and
their trade. We get all the products
of the islands, now that we wish for,
and on the same terms that other ma
tons do. If we take them the cost will
precisely the same, unless we adopt
the ancient colonial policy Of Great
Britain and some other nations, in
controlling their trade exclusively,
and allow it to be carried on only in
our ships. In that case, retaliation
will certainly follow, and our ships and
goods will be excluded, in like man
ner, from the colonial of the great
manufacturing and trading powers,
which would leave the balance Of the
disadvantages vastly against US.
In business point of view we must
take into consideration the cost Of
governing the islands. This cost can
not, in all human probability be met
by the taxation of the inhabitants to
any considerable extent Nature sup
supplies them with substantially all
the food and clothing they require and
they are, of course, indisposed to Ia
Dor or thrift. If we take them we
must govern them by external power,
and not through any autonomy of
their own. This means a large and
expensive civil list, governors, coun-
cilors, administrators, officers Of JUS
tice, and SO forth, who must, in the
main, be paid out of the treasury of
the United States. The climate is, of
course very unWholesome for Amer
leans, and the death rate Of our Off
GERS there would be very large. 1t will
also require an American army Of de-
fence and for the preservation Of
peace and order, Of many thousand
men, and an American navy of six or
more ships, and probably 1000 men,
all exposed, like the civilians, to the
constant hostility of the climate, to
say nothing of that of the inhabitants
of most, if not all, of the islands. Are
we, under such circumstances, to
force a government on them.
The present condition between our
selves and Spain in regard to the is
land is, as the protocol armistice dis
tinctly shows, that we have not OBJ
tanned the islands, and that all our
rights that were recognized there,
were those of holding the bay and city
of Manila and their environments, un-
til peace should be established. What
was to be done with the whole group
was left for negotiations, which our
commissioners at Paris are now en-
gagged in. If then, we are to get them
without the cession of Spain, we must
do it by force of further war against
Spain, and probably by force of arms
against the vast majority of the in
habitants, who, so far as know, have
shown no disposition to be annexed
to the United States.
Why do you refuse to have any
business transactions with Wager?
Nagger-I'm afraid to deal with man
so much sharper than myself. Gag
I'll