The Advocate and news., 1898-08-31
dOmpers Opposes Annexation.

this country, President GompeTs was in
vited to speak, and in the course Of his
remarks he said:
II have been invited as a wage-earner
and a representative Of labor, to address
this conference upon the subject for
which 1t is called, and 1t Is not unfair to
assume that the reason which prompted
the invitation was the desire to learn as
nearly as possible the view which the
organized wage-earners of the country
hold regarding this, at present all abb
sorbing question.
I'VE have annexed Hawaii and ap-
pointed a committee to determine the
form of Its government. How many OF
our people are aware that of less than
100000 inhabitants Of Hawaii $4,000 are
contract and practically slave labOrers;
that Of these there are 80 per cent. Chi
nese and Japanese, and about 20 per cent.
Portuguese from the Azores islands, and
South Sea Islanders; that the terms Of
these contracts usually run seven years;
that the labOrers have no right to change
their employers or leave their employ
ment; that the contract to labor Is spe-
officially enforceable by law, and that the
resolution adopted by Congress specifi-
cally declares that the laws Of Hawaii
shall govern until the new form Of gov
ernment shall be adopted; that any time
a laborer may serve in prison because Of
his desertion from labor Is added to the
term Of the life of the contract to labor.
"As to the Philippine islands they have
between 100000 and 100000 inhabi-
tants Of semi-barbariC population almost
primitive in their habits and customs,
as unlike the people Of the United States
in thought, sentiment, education, NOR
ais, hopes, aspirations or governmental
forms as night Is to day. What advan>
tage, then, can the possession Of these
islands with such people bring to our
country?
"The nation which dominates the
markets Of the world will surely control
It's destlnies. To make the United States
the workshop of our manifest destiny,
and our duty, and thus, side by side with
other nations in industrial and CONNER
cial rivalry, we basing the consideration
Of the workers upon the highest intelli-
genCe and the most exalted standards
Uf life, no obstacle can be placed in our
way to the attainment Of the highest pin
nacle Of national glory and human prog
Tess. But, to attain this end, is the ac-
Guirement of the Philippines, with their
semi-savage population, necessary?
Surely not Neither its gates, nor those
Of any other Of the globe, can long be
closed against our constantly growing
Industrial supremacy.
1.-THE most reckless advocate Of the an
nexation of the Philippines or any pop
ulous island of the group must admit
that this program involves the govern
ment Of the many by the few, to an
extent and degree never before known
under the American flag. We have COM
PEELED savages against their will in the
process Of our uproOting of Indian tribes,
but never where 1t was not reasonably
certain that their places would soon be
taken by a settled white population
many times as great as that of any will
derness occupied only by nomadic hunt
ers and warriors. In the Philippines,
with its 100000 or S,0O0,OOO in an area
Of less than half of that Of the State
Of Texas, no such change can ever take
place.
The whole moral effect Of the acquisi.
ton Of the Philippines, its semi-savage
population, must be to undo what has
been accomplished by organization and
education, upon the lines of social, eco
nomic, political and moral reform, par
ticularly in raising the standard of liv-
ing for the wage-earners of the United
States. It will tend to breed contempt
for the manual toiler and encourage the
pernicious notion that the strong may
properly exploit the weak, and be used
to furnish the luxuries for an oligar-
chy."