Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1898-11-05
UNCLE SAM WILL TAKE
ALL the PHILIPPINES
President Mckinley Has Made Up
His Mind to That
Effect.
MAY ASSUME PART OF THE DEBT
Exact Amount Is Not Known, blu
1t Is Estimated to Be
SAC, 900, 900.
MAY ASSUME PART OF THE DEBT
WILL BUILD NICARAGUA CANAL
Intention Of the Government 10
Take UP the Construction OF
tho Waterway Across
the lsthmus.

New York, Oct. 31.-The Herald's
Washington special correspondent
says; President Mckinley is coz
vinced that there is no way in which
the United States can escape the re-
sponsibility OF taking all of the Phil
ippines. He has arrived at this con
clusion after mature deliberation.
He first favored xccpirg nothing
more than a military and naval base
and thought the United States should
in no event retain more than the is
land of Luzon. When the American
peace commissioners left for Paris il
was not contemplated that they
should demand from Spain more than
absolute cession Of this one island TO
the United States, and a revisionary
interest in the other parts of the
group. IL then found, however, there
were many practical difficulties in the
way of such a solution, not the least
IF them being the evident impossible
lty of SPANS re-establishing authority
over the remaining islands without a
prolonged and bloody struggle with
the insurgent forces.
The information, coupled with the
opinion of military and naval com
manders familiar with the Philippine
situation, led the president to believe
that Dewey's destruction of the Span
jsh fleet in Manila bay, and General
MerTitt's capture of Manila, annihilat-
I'd Spanish sovereignty in the islands,
md it became the duty Of the United
States TO establish a better govern
ment than the one which is destroyed
by American arms.
President Dciuged with Letters.
The president is deluged with letters
from al parts of the United States
and with resolutions from commercial
and religious bodies, urging that the
American sovereignty should be main
tanned wherever the flag has been
planted. In this same line the presi-
DENTS recent western trip was a reve-
lation to him and the members OF his
cabinet who accompanied him. The
further he went west the stronger he
found the sentiment in favor of hold
ing all the Philippines and establish
ing an American government over
them.
Secretary Gage, who went west be-
fore the president, and who went as
far as Denver, found the sentiment
there even stronger than i'm Omaha.
In all meetings of the cabinet before
the peace commissioners left for
Paris, Gage was the most conservative
of all the presidents advisers. He
doubted the wisdom of taking ever as
much as the island of Luzon, and
would have been glad if a way had
been found for relinquishing all of the
Philippines. Since his return from
the west, however, he advocates hold
ing all the islands.
Although it may be finally deter.
mined the Philippines will be retained,
the peace commissioners may give
considerable latitude as to the terms
on which they will be retained.
May Assume the Debt.
The Philippines are regarded as
standing on n different basis from
Cuba and Puerto Rico, and some mem
bers of the administration believe II
all the islands arc taken Spain should
be given some measure of compensa-
ton for them, especially as the Philip
pines have been by far the most yalu-
able of all her colonies. II can be said
il is quite probable the American COM
missioners will be authorized to go so
far as TO offer to pledge the United
States to assume the Philippine debt,
or at least such a portion of it as has
been expended in public works in the
islands. The exact amount of the
debt that could properly be charged
10 the United States under such an
arrangement could not be accurately
stated without n fuller analysis of this
debt that has yet been made, but it is
believed it will be less than $4,000 0 900.
A high official of the administration
has said it might he decided that the
Spanish government should receive
actual cash payment for the Philip
pines in addition to the assumption of
the debt or a part of it by the United