Omaha daily bee., 1898-12-21

lutions with reference to Cuba, he believed,
might have been made applicable to the
people OF all the acquired possessions.
III this government will say to the people
OF this acquired territory. We will give
you self-government,' we will not need an
army Of so, 900 men IN Cuba; 20, 900 In Porto
Rico and 80, 900 in the Philippines To say
this to those people is the only way to es-
cape a great standing army.
Must Keep Possessions.
II am not one" he said. further on. ITO
turn these possessions back to Spain, but /
do believe that we ought to give them the
opportunity to govern themselves. I must
say no one wants these possessions made into
states now. No public man is in favor of
such a plan SO far as l am aware, yet In
course of time we may take them in"
SO far as possible, Mr.. Teller believed
that the Inhabitants of Cuba should be
given self-government, but he did not be-
lieve that the United States should leave
the infant power thus established as a prey
OF any other nation, either through con-
quest or treaty. He believed it folly to talk
OF Imperialism" as applied to this coun-
try.
No man or set OF men had any intention
OF establishing in this country the Euro
pean policy of Imperialism and none would
champion such a course.
n colonial system, such as had been
established years ago In India, will ever
be established under the stars and stripes
declared Mr.. Teller. "Our flag will always
float over liberty and happiness, which are
insured to all the people beneath it's fold,
though all Of them may not be accorded the
fulles. rights Of American citizenship, the
flag will float as an emblem Of good gov
eminent and protection to them, as it does
to us. . There is no favor we can
confer upon the Filipinos like that of CIV
ing them the benefits and protection Of the
American flag. The great question is Are
we lettering their conditions? No intelli-
gent man among them, l think, will dis
pute the statement that we are.
Natives May he Managed Easily.
Mr.. Teller said he knew that the Fill
pinos were incapable OF establishing a gov
eminent equal to the governments Of our
states, and that he would encourage COM
mittees among them to establish the best
governments they were capable OF. He
would not go to war with the people Of the
Philippines in order to force our %institu-
tions upon them. He would consult them
40 Y IL vi SoNtI uLutul duu ne Z
lieved that by pursuing this course we
should avoid the necessity Of war with the
natives. Their government might be as
perfect as ours, but all accounts agreed
that the natives were tractable, intelligent
and capable OF progress.
Mr.. Proctor here interrupted Mr.. Teller
to read an extract from a letter from Ad-
miral Dewey concerning the character of the
Filipinos, as follows:
These people can be governed without
the slightest difficulty. They readily give
In to reason, and l have not had the slight
est difficulty In dealing with them"
Continuing, Mr.. Teller expressed the
opinion that the natives could not be gov
erned from Washington. They were sus-
ceptible to Just and liberal treatment, and
there was no reason why, II they were capa-
BILE of approaching them, our benefcent
institutions should not be extended to them.
He would give them all the liberty in
this respect that they were capable Of en-
Toying and II in time they Manifested ca
pacity to perform the duties Of statehood
he would not be among those who would
deny them that boon.
Elkins Calls Up His Ship Bill.
Several private pension bills were dis
posed Of, after which Mr.. Elkins called up
the bill relating to the registry of foreign
built vessels wrecked in this country. Mr..
Elkins asserted that we pay 81, 600, 900 a
day to foreign built ships. The balance OF
trade appeared to have been 5000, 900, 900 In
our favor for the last year, but, as a matter
OF fact, 1t was only about half that, as so
large a portion Of 1t went to foreign ships.
Mr.. Tillman asked: IF we annex the
Philippines where will our coast trade end ?"
Mr.. Elkins replied that he hoped 1t would
end in the Philippines, but that was an ex-
traneous question and he did not want to
raise 1t,
At 2 o'clock the Nicaraguan canal bill
and the unfinished business were taken up,
to the displacement Of the registry measure.
Mr.. Caffery spoke In opposition to the canal
bill. He said the proposition to connect
the two oceans by means Of a canal was
so attractive to the imagination as to cause
many people to accept 1t as a wise enter
prise. regardless Of appeal to reason en- its
merits. He deprecated the personal at
tacks upon the members Of the Maritime Ca
nal company, but indicated his belief that
the bill was an attack on the treasury Of
the United States. He declared the enter
prise under the bill was in violation Of the
Clayton-Bulwer treaty in contravention OF
the Concession from the Isthmian countries
and in opposition to our constitution.
These propositions he undertook to nia,n-
tain by an analysis OF the bill by sections.
While Mr.. Caffery was speaking a mes
sage was received from the house of repre-
sentatives announcing that an amendment of
the senate-the final question-in contro-
versy to the navy and war deficiency
bill, had been agreed to. This passes the
measure and as soon as reported 1t will 20
to the president.
Without having concluded his remarks
Mr.. Caffery at 4:1O p. m. yielded to Mr..
Galllnger and on his motion the senate went
into executive session.
At $40 p. m. the senate adjourned.
MISTAKE TO TRY THE NEW rEsr