Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1898-11-11
THE TAKING OF
 THE PHILIPPINES.
An Interest Discussion on This Subject at Meeting of the Contempo-
 rary Club at Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, Nov 11.-"The effect of territorial expansion upon our do mestic relations" was the subject of discussion au meeting of the Oontem. porary ciub Inc speakers being John Bach McMaster. the historian; Thomas G. Shearman of New York, and Former Senator Edmunds. The first speaker favored and the others opposed the ac- quisition of territory not contiguous to the United States.
 Dr. McMaster gave q history of the policy pursued by the United States i'll It's acquisition of foreign territory and it's method of governing 1t, to show that the proposed taking of the Philippines would be in line with previous acts. He said he believed there wns no reason why we should not govern these islands as acceptably as the great west, which was acquired by several purchases.
 Referring 10 the declaration of inde- pendence and its enumeration of the several rights of the government, quoted by opponents of a colonial system, Dr. McMaster said the principles there stat ed had never been literally incorporated into the governmental system of the United States, or Of any state Jeffer- son, who wrote the declaration of inde- pendence, negotiated the purchase of Louisiana, and Federalists of that day urged the same objections in force to- day-that we would be compelled to ad- init to citizenship on equal terms, the creoles, the Spanish, tho French, the negroes and nll other persons inhabiting this large territory.
 It was their claim that the Mississippi was the natural boundary of the United States and later that providence had erected the Rocky mountains as proper boundary of our Union. He quoted from Daniel Webster that the conslitu- ton could not be stretched 10 cover @ l territory.
 It related only to states. X territory was simply owned by the United States as man would own horse. He showed also that from the beginning of our acquisition of territory, the presi. dent had been the supreme authority, appointing governor and council, and that territories were admitted as states, not as Q matter of right, out of expedi- ency.
 Former Senator George Edmunds said in part:
 "Onr sons and daughters cannot live in the tropics. Look at the case of l Great Britain and her hundreds of years of Indian mastery. Everybody knows that there has never been an English settlement within the tropici ], but civil ians that go there 9 out of 10 die before they are 60 wars old and the loss of tho battalions that go there is greater than that of our sons and brothers who went to Santiago and Camp Niger.
 Referring to the Philippines MT. Ed munds said:
 I've now have from these islands all 1 the commodities they produce on the same terms that other nations do. Sup I pose we rake them and adopt the British colonial policy and make them q close colony and allow no one to trade with them except ourselves. How scon would the other nations meet us by saying We will treat vou tne same way i'll oul colonies, ami then the haiance of com mercial gain would bankrupt the Unit ed States in ten years.
 "We told Spain,and told the world, by solemn declaration of our congress when we began this war against Spain, that we rejected the idea of territorial aggrandizemenr Was that lie, 6 sham or false pretence? And we stand upon the face o; the woild and say Yes, we have been lying.