Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-02-22
PLAIN TALK BY THE PRESIDENT
Declares that Until Congress Shall Direct Otherwise His Duty Po
/ sess and Hold the Philippines.

life and property. That treaty new com
mits the free and enfranchiser Filiplnos to
the guiding hand and the liberalizlng inhu-
ences. the generous sympathies. the uplift-
Ing education. not of their American mas
ters, but OF their American emancipators
No one can tell to-day what Is best for
them or for us. know no one at this hour
VINO Is wise enough or sufficiently Informed
TO det~rmine what form of government will
best suDserye their interests and our inter
ests their and our well-being
III we knew everything by intuition-and I
sometimes think there are those who be-
lieve that If we do not they dow. shonld
not need information, but unfort ,ns tely
most OF us are not In that happy state. The
whole subject is now with Congress, and
Congress Is the voice, the conscience and the
Judgment of the American people. Upon
their judgment and conscience can we not
rely? ! believe in them, | trust them.
know of no better or safer human tribunal
than the people.
Until Congress shall direct otherwise 1t
will be the duty of the Executive to possess
and hold the Philippines. giving TO the peo-
pie thereof peace and benefcent govern
ment, affording them every opportunity to
prosecute their lawful pursuits, encour-
aging them In thrift and industry, making
them feel and know We are their friends,
not their enemies, tha their good is our aim,
that their welfare Is our welfare, but that
neither their aspirations nor ours can be
realized until our authority is acknowledged
ahi lnugesffaned.
That the Inhabitants of the Philippines
Will be benefited by this republic Is my un-
shaken belief. That they will have a kind
Her government under our guidance and that
they will be aided in every possible way to
be self-respeeting and self-governing people
is as true as that the American people love
liberty and have an abiding faith In their
own government and their own institutions.
No imperial designs lurk In the American
mind. They are alien to American senti-
thnu~hf and Our nrirpiaaS
principles undergo no change under trop-
| ical sun.
They are wrought in every one of its
sacred folds and are inextinguishable in
| their shining stars. They go with the fiat:
why read ye not the changeless truth,
The free can conquer but to saver"
If we can benefit these remote peoples
who will object? II In the years of the
future they are established In government
| under law and liberty, who viii regret our
perils and sacrifices, who will not rejoice In
our heroism and humanityP Always perils
and always after them safety; always dark
ness and clouds, but always shining through
them the light and the sunshine; always
cost and sacrifice, but always after them
the fruition of liberty, education and CIV
| iiZation.
l have no light or knowledge not common
| to my countrymen. / do not prophesy. The
present is al-absorbing to me, but ! cannot
bound my vision by the blood-stained
trenches around Manila, where every red
drop, whether from the veins of an Ameri-
can soldier or misguided Filipino, Is an
guish to my heart. but by the broad range
| of future years, when the group of islands,
under the rp nulse of the year just past, shall
| have become the gems and glories of those
tropical seas, a land of plenty and of In
ereasng possibilities a people redeemed
! from savage Incidence and habits, devoted
| to the arts of peace, in touch with the com
merce and trade of all nations, enjoying the
| blessings of freedom, of civil and religious
| liberty, of education and of homes, and
/ whose children and children's children shall
| for ages hence bless the American republic
beca lse it emancipated and redeemed theiI
| fatherland and set them In the pathway OF
| the worlds best civilization.