The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-09-19
HOT SHOT
AND SHE'LL.
CONTINUED from page 6.)

10 IOrm more perfect OHlOH WI |
states), to establish justice lat home, |
not abroad), insure domestic (not for |
eign) tranquility, provide for the COM
mon defense (of the states), promote |
the general welfare (of our own peo-
ple), and secure the blessings of lib.
efty to ourselves and our posterity.,
4 Again, congress has power to lay and
collect taxes, duties, imposts and ex-
cises." What for? The constitution
\ tells us "to provide for the common
defense and general welfare OF the
United States" not of Cuba, Porto
Rico or the Philippines. VIII any
4 sane man claim that the war now pro
crossing in the Philippines is for the
common defense and general welfare
OF the United States" l think not.
Imperialists, Answer.
But It is said that whether right or
wrong, the fact remains that we now
hold the Philippines and we are asked
what shall be done with them? In the
first place, 1t may be answered that we
do not possess the Philippines and
y never did. 1t is true, however, that
awe now occupy a few square miles
Fnear the shore line Of two or three
Rout of the 1000 or more islands, and
that we are doing this by force and
against the will of the people of that
country, and | think against the Will
of the people of this country also. But
waving all this and assuming, for the
sake of argument, what we know to
be untrue, to-wit: that we have full
possession and control of the whole
Philippine territory, and that we have
the physical power and legal right to
do as we please with 1t and its inhab-
itants. Now in this case, what-as
1iberty-loving Americans; as people
who believe in the Declaration OF In
dependence, and adhere to the tradi-
tions of the fathers, and are deter
mined to stand faithfully by our own
political convictions and professions,
what shall we do? Fairness, to say
nothing of magnanimity, would lead
us to say to the Filipinos, 1--WE are
your friends. We do not propose to
right to govern your own country in
your own way-this is our plan at
home, and we desire that 1t should be
yours. Establish your government,
preserve order, protect the lives and
property of your own people, and or
the strangers within your borders, and
we shall stand by you IL you desire us
to do so, to see that outsiders are not
permitted to meddle in your concerns
to your injury. In brief, we do not
seek to be your masters; we simply
come as friends to make you an hon
est tender of services in any time OF
need or peril"
subject, desire to present few para
graphs from the very able article Of
Mr. Samuel P. Butler, in reply to Mr..
Murat Halstead, published in the Gin
cinnati Commercial Tribune, Of
July IL:
. "Mr. Halstead confers an unspeaka-
BILE favor on the anti-imperial move
ment when he tries to measure it in
the pint cup of Aguinaldo's personal
character. Does he think that move
ment would put the Declaration of In
dependence and the constitution in one
scale and balance them with 120
pounds of Malay in the other? Does
as counsel for the present policy of
blood and iron,' that Aguinaldo is the
heart, liver and lungs Of this uprising
against all the doctrines and tradi-
= tions of our government? Does he see
nothing back of all this storm of pro-
tests from one-half the Republican
senate and an army of Independent
citizens in the Republican party, and
many of the brainiest leaders of
thought all over the country, but a
little brown soldier 10000 miles away?
Why, they might kill AguinalLo and
bury him tomorrow, but this move
ment would not disband when it read
to the bedrock of American principle
and chartered power; its life is nour-
ished by the springs of our national
vitality, and these will flow and fruc.
tify our plant of self-government when
Aguinaldo is dust. And if the presi-
dents policy of foreign conquest has
no stronger rock to stand on than the
flaws in Aguinaldos character, is it
not time to change the standards of
American craftsmanship. =
Aguinaldo and his personal cabinet
may be brbe takers; Washington and
Jefferson and Lincoln were not. Their
principles and practices, their gospel
of liberty and morals are the beacons
of government for this country to fol-
low. Be Aguinaldo what he may, we
have no charter to ram our brand of
liberty down the throats of any people
Have We a Moral Right?
1t will be conceded, think, Llat the
foreign policy Of the Mckinley admin
istration, so far as it relates to the
islands OF Asia, proposes substan-
tally
/. To hold the Philippine archipel-
ago, and require I'D 100000 of in
our own making.
!. 2. To deny to it admission as a
Z state, or states, of the American
Union, and-as a sequence to the fore
going-deny to it's people representa-
tion in the United States congress and
the electoral college.
If these propositions embody a fair
statement Of the purposes of the ad-
ministration, and the party it repre-
sents, we may pertinently ask
a. Have we a moral right to do
what the administration seeks to ac-
rcomplish?
(2.) Have we the legal right?
(3.) Would it be for the best inter-
ests of the American people?
a. Would 1t be consistent with
the principles of the Republican party I?
AS to the first query. we may say
that when we entered upon the war
against Spain we professed to do so
for the sole purpose of liberating an
oppressed people-that people being
the inhabitants of the island of Cuba
This was the extent of our design and
the only thought moving us to action
". Cizn 10 M thnt