Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-11-03
Gen. Grout on the Philippine Question

Gen. Grout on the Philippine Question |
The communication OF Congressman |
Grout, IN another column, is lawyers |
pisa rather than s;atcsman'S discussion 1
of the subject Rohearsing the possible /
and probable advantages to come from
possession Of the Philippines. and ignoring
or dismissiug with slight refer
ence, the countervsiliug disad-
vantages. it IS easy for him 10
satisfy himself that We should take and
hold all the islands of that archipelago.
We have not Yet taken the islands, or any
one of the fourteen hundred Of them.
Whether Spain has surrendered her SOW
ereignty over the group. or not the fact
remains that We have taken and hold the
city of Manila and the portion Of tho
, shores 90 Manila Bay commanded by the
guns Of DcWey's fleet and nothing more
The Insurgents hold a vastly larger por-
ton of the Island of I.uzon. than do the
Americans. This iusursent ,lemen, in the
, problem. cannot he dismissed from any
comprehensive discussion Of the subject.
There is large insurgcnt army. equipped
! in part with modern arms. They have
/ fought the Spaniards with success. having
! taken number of Spanish positions
around Manila, and captured some eish;
thousand Spanish soldiers. They desire
! independence. not subsection To the Uni
/ ted States, and say that they will nch,
whoever. Spanla.i or American. stands in
the way OF their Independence. We have
most certainly got to reckon with them.
Ii we SO 10 war with them, We must ,x-
pect 10 see them helped. secretly or OPEN
", by one or more OF the European pow
ers, with arms. money. and trained off,
GERS. They could probably carry on in
definitely the kind of warfare waged by
the Cuban Insurgents. and il might cos,
Us as many lives as Cuba has cost Spain.
20 take and hold the Snglr Island OF I.u-
zon, which is almost as large as cuba, to
say nothing of the other thirteen hundred
and ninety niue.
But ii We could have the Islands by
poace1h!e surrender on the part of both
Spaniarts and natives. which cannot I've
, expected. it does not follow that they
would he worth the taking. Mr.. Joseph
Earle Stevens, an intelligent cN-rcsiden;
in the Philippines, says that they are no
, FL Dorado. lie says that more money
, has been put into the ground there in the
,, working of coal and gold mines than has
, been taken out OF it. There canno, he
, many advantages of trade there that can
not be gained by holding a coaling port
= and securing satisfactory traffic arrange
4 ments.
/ We do not need TO traverse Congress-
: man CIRCUITS arguments in regard TO ma
4 ,ional policy. Most Of our readers will,
n We fancy. take practical rather than
= any theoretical view of that branch of the
q subject. That nobody now rcgrets the
9 Louisiana purchase or the acquisition nj
California, will make no reason with tn, n,
o why We should acquire, at enormous cost,
: some tropical islands, sInl largely savage
I eish, thousand miles away from the near
n est point OF our present domain. Tha, w
= hold New Mexico as territory for IN,
: time being. awaiting the Cay when it will
o be proper and desirable TO admit it as 4
q State. makes no reason why We should
Il suhiugate and hold in subsection ten o,
|. eleven millions OF people ON the other sid,
r of the globe. who, as Gen. Grout tells us
e can never become citizens OF the Unite,
e States. II under the Providence OF God
: it has become our especial duty to try I,
clvimze those harbarlans, it Is a dut,
e which can better be performed by sending
/ them teachers and missionaries than h,
IL hunting them in their iungles and noun
l. tain Businesses with rifles and gatlm.
r guns.
l. No. giving candid consideration TO III,
he facts and fancies presented by the Repre-
N sentative of the Second District. he fail
10 To satisfy us that the Philippines ar
oil worth the price that must I've paid 10
y, them. We think OF some things he seem
le to have not thought OF sufficient conse
ne quence to be taken into the account-,h
III long years or decades of warfare hefor
'e the islands can be overrun and conQuere-
Id by us; the great armies We must kee
ne there; the fleets of transports that mus
be maintained to carry suppnes and IN
ne reinforcements which must be continual
Sc " sent: the levies OF troops by draft
~ when volunteers are not forthcoming: III
at three consuls for every Philippine por
ne one on the ground. one on the way thithel
rs and one In his comm. on the way bach
90 the thousands OF lives that viii be sacr
he feed; the probable complications With oths
on powers; the inevitable and enormous IL
Sc crease of national expenses and cons,
TO- airily brush aside these and similar prof
IT. abilities. as do most OF the advocates {