The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-03
A GREAT DEBATE IN SIGHT.

he speech WHICH oeUdAtI I1UdE AtiAf
| cred at Worcester. Mass. on Tuesday
night makes il clear that the treaty Of
peace which the Paris commission is now
| engaged IN negotiating, whatever it may
contain, is certain to be the subject Of a
great debate in the Senate. 1t is barely
| possible. of course, that the negotiations
viii be broken off, and that no treaty viii
be made. Spain is threatening 10 withdraw
her comnliss Sne1s because of what she
calls the exorbitant demands of the United
States The probabilities are, however.
| that she will not pursue such suicidal
course. She has nothing to gain by break
] ing off the negotiations.
No doubt the President believes that in
/ demanding the whole Of the Philippine
/ group he is doing what the great majority
/ Of the people want done, but does he be-
beye in making that demand he is doing
what IS for the best interest Of the coun-
| Try? It has not been so very long since he
| held the opinion that il would not be advis-
able 10 demand anything more in the Phil
| ippines than a coalng station and certain
trade concessions. Does he think il wise
to follow public sentiment rather than
his own judgment before the people have
had sufficient time to acquaint themselves
with all facts and make up their minds
! deliberately in respect to the matter?
Although a majority of the people may
| think that it is advisable 10 take the entire
group of the Philippines 1t is certain that
some of the ablest of the men in public life
Of both political parties hold a different
view.
The views expressed by Senator Hoar are
held by a steadily growing number of peo-
pie His statement that the nation IS
threatened with a greater danger now than
IL has encountered al any other time in
its history as not too strong. There are
those who laugh at the statement, but If
they viii give the situation the careful
| consideration which It deserves they win
not be inclined to laugh. The danger, as
stated by Senator Hoar, is of being trans
formed from a republic, founded on the
! Declaration of Independence and guided by
| the counsels of Washington into a COM
monplace empire, founded upon physical
| force. And this danger is not so shad-
owy as to be scarcely perceptable. 1t is
| present, and so apparent as to be startling.
| With such new acquisitions as Cuba, Porto
Rico, Hawaii and the Philippines. some of
them being many thousands of miles dis
tant, we shall at cnce need large stand
ing army and a powerful navy. Indeed,
steps have already been taken to enlarge
the army to al least four times the size
it was when the war with Spain began,
and it can be pretty safely stated that the
building of great battleships and cruisers
win not be stopped until we have the
greatest navy IN the world.
What do we want of such an army and
navy unless it be because we are about to
adopt a policy which requires the support
of physical force? The other day a New
| York paper asked Senator Jones, chairman
of the national committee Of the Demo-
cratic party. whether or not he was in ia
vor of paying Spain $4,000. 900 for the Phil
/ ippines. He answered that he wasn't In
| favor of paying that or any other sum
for the islands. The tone of his answer Is
he could have his way he wouldn't accept
the islands as a gift.
1t is probable that the possession of Cuba
and Porto Rico would not have a percept-
able influence on the character of our gov
| eminent, but there is no doubt but that
possession of the Philippines would. We
| cannot possess the Philippines witt, thefr
millions of people and yet maintain a re-
publican form of government In all its pu-
rity. In the beginning our departure from
ancient mornings viii be hardly noticeable,
but in little while the movement away
| from them will be so rapid that they will
have disappeared altogether before we are
aware of It.
If the President had followed his own
! judgment instead Of needing the sentiment
called into life by the thoughtIess state
ment that where our flag goes there il
must stay, he would have rendered the
country an invaluable service Even now
1t is not too late to check the movement
toward imperialism. If he does not at
tempt to do it the attempt will be made In
the Senate when that body is called upor
| to ratify the treaty.