The Portland daily press., 1898-12-22
England later would be exceedingly un
wise and impru dent
THE REAL QUESTIONS.

The discussion of the constitutional
power of the United States to acquire ter
ritory for any purpose except for making
states of the Union is not likely to serve
any more useful purpose than to give the
Senators a chance to show their skill at
verbal fencing. Nobody is likely to be
deferred from voting for the ratification
of the treaty which cedes to us the Philip
pines because of any doubt of the consti-
nationality of accepting territory without
accompanying that acceptance with a
solemn declaration that it is our inten-
ton ultimately to make it into states
with the same rights and privileges that
existing states enjoy. Doubt OF con-
stitutionality seldom deters Congress
from doing thing which it wants to dc.
But in this case the supporters of the
affirmative side of, the proposition seem
TO have on the whole the better of the ar
eument When the power Was given to
the government to declare war and make
treaties of peace it must have been in
tended to give the right to acquire terri
tory, for the acquisition of territory has
always been one of the most freque Mt
results of treaties of pence following
successful war.
Furthermore we have already acquired
territory by treaty without giving any
guarantee that the statehood should ever
be conferred upon it. Alaska is an ex-
ample of this kind. Self defence
might compel us to acquire territory in
habited by races so utterly incapable oil
self government as to negative any proba-
bilIty or even possibility of its erection
into a state and surely the constitution
has conferred upon us all the rights and
powers necessary for our own protection.
The real question confronting us now
is, not whether we have the constitutional
right to acquire the Philippine islands
with out some sort of a declaration or
guarantee that ultimately we shall admit
them as states, but whether it is expedient
for us to dc so with or without a guarari-
tee, OF even with declaration that they
shall never be admitted as states 1t Is
simply, or it ought TO be simply, a ques-
tion OF whether the. interests Of the people
OF the United States to promote whose
welfare our constitution was formed and
our government erected upon 1t,
will be subserved by taking
upon ourselves the responsibility for and
| the government of seven million OF
Malays. living on islands 10 900 miles
away from our coast; whether it is for
the interests of our people to tax Them
selves to maintain large army and navy
for the government and defence of these
islands, whether we are really serving
humanity when we expose our young
men to the climatic danger of the tropics
aud to the oorrupting influences of
the.but half civilized people whoinhabit
these islands; whether by departing
| from the fundamental principles of our
government that all government derives
| its Just powers from the consent OF the
governed, and becoming the despotic
ruler of subject races we shall not infiict
a serious blow to popular government and
set an example SO completely in conflict
with our precepts that we can no longer
with any sort of consistency hold oul
government up as an example.of govern
ment that rests upon the will OF the
| people. These and cognate questions are
the ones really involved in the annexa
| tion of the Philippines. These are the
ones that the people hope to hear dis
cussed before we are finally and irrevoca-
bly, computed to the government of alien
races in the Asiatic archipelago.
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