The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-09-22

nancing the shedding of blood in aspira-
tion to those blessings of liberty and
| Justice which are the root and founda-
tion of national life of the United
| States, to abandon the simple people Of
the Philippines to fate which to COM
prehend is to shudder at?" OF course
America does not know. How can shei
But it is right and fair to say, from an
absolutely impartial and unbiased point
of view--if there be bias at all IL is in
| the direction of desire to vindicate
American honor and reputation for
| justice-that, whatever the cause Of
the Cubans be worth, that of the Fl.
lipinos, from the poignancy of their suf.
ferings and the bopelessness of their
sighs for the barest rights of humanity,
deserves ON infinitely deeper and more
practical sympathy. Their spiritual
rulers-we do not refer to the simple
village secular priesthood, most of them
true Filipinos-have been practically
so many Torquemadas to them. Every
body should know and understand what
that means. If, then, the joint commits.
sion is to imply the smallest reassertion
Of Spanish authority over the Philip.
pines-and the temptation to accord il
is no small one-the American people,
or their mandatories, will be RESPONSE
BILE for the beginning of an interminable
civil war in the Philippines, where
now, within the jurisdiction Of Agui-
naldo and his civil magistrates, all is
peace; life and property, even of Span
iards, respected; revenue peacefully col.
leoted and applied to public purposes,
and all the dooenoies of good govern.
ment and justice faithfully and impair
TALLY observed. Is that to be undone
forever, with all the bitterness Of disap-
pointment and despair such a result will
entail? America must answer the ques-
ton; she alone
But it is more than civil war that
! President Mckinley will bring in sight
| if he sanctions so obviously risky n
thing as this joint commission, with all
its inevitable programme of compromise
and concession to Spain, unthinking of
all that that may mean to hapless mil
lions who have burned their bridges be-
hind them and gone hand in hand with
American soldiers and sailors to the
! liberation of their country from a rule
that has proved itself Chinese in its
| barbarous indifference to the miseries
of the ruled. We cannot believe it. If
in America they could realize the facts
of the situation in the Philippinesl But
by the fact Of the creation of this COM
mission they too clearly know not what
| they do.
Then, again, is 1t not easy to see that,
once grant Spain the most nominal re-
covery of her authority over the Phil
ippines, or even a portion of the Philip
pines, the way to external intrigue on
the part Of foreign nations, whom it is
needless to specify, is thrown thereby
wide open. Spain has been beaten in
the war. Does America think that Spain
will forget this or forgive it? What
will be the inevitable weapon of re-
venge? A foreign combination certainly.
And how can that best be promoted?
Obviously by the opening up of way
for foreign intervention in the Philip
pines which will be Of such character
as to challenge and to break up any ar
rangement that joint commission may
come to which recognizes any concur
rent status of Spain and the United
States in the Philippines and any Of the
dependencies thereof.
To the thoughtful and impartial OBJ
server there is but one way-only one.
The United States must so act as at
once to secure the permanent happiness
and liberties OF the hitherto oppressed
Filipino nation and to preserve the is
lands from becoming the theater of ex-
ternal intrigues, connived at by Spain,
which shall have for their object the
extinction of the newly exerted and al
together benefcent influence Of Ameri
ca in the far east and the disturbance
Of political power in such manner as
to paralyze the action of the peace low
ing and commerce promoting nationali-
ties already well established on the
shores of the Pacific-Britain, Japan
and the United States. The collective
interests, political and commercial, Of
these powers are Of an absolutely over
whelming character, and the less the
chance Of conspiracy to disturb those
interests the better for humanity at
large.
Does America deliberately mean to
abandon in the far east its present mag
nifcent opportunity Of usefulness to
civilization We refuse to believe it,
The joint commission idea, even with a
Filipino representation thrown in to
give genuine evidence and see fair play
is peril to the interests of the United
States and TO the general interest Of all
pacific nations-that, too, even If 1t
were held at Manila, as it would need
10 be. The only solution is an American
protectorate, ostensibly temporary, pos
sibly, over the Philippines, thus at once
furnishing a lever for the Liberation
and elevation of long oppressed and
much enduring people and a security
against the intrusion Of disturbing in
fiuences permanently unfriendly to the
United States and to the nations whose
sympathies and aspirations in the Pa
oific ocean are thoroughly oonsonant
with her own.-Singapore Free Press.
----
The Oregon Would DO Nicely.
If there's going to be any trouble
over getting a yacht to sail for the