The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-07-21
SENATOR PLATT'S MANIFESTO,

q S The Call has repeatedly proved up 10 tliS
I date the administration in its relation 10 the
Philippine situation has required no defenders $
So long as military and naval operations against lne
Filipnos are being conducted 1t is the duty OF inc
Government through its proper depar 'lllell'0' anu
under the control OF the President, who VIRTUE
ofIcii is commander in chief furnish men and sup
plies and to exercise its usual functions Tor the sup
port of the army and OF the navy But these Ildtei
OF routine involve no extraordinary proceedings ana
are so completely within the range OF stereotyped
oficalism as without any deficiency IN average ca
pacity or in the knowledge OF Details 10 invite no
criticism nor even comment
The administration has invited nor required any
support in the Philippine campaign. But the pro-
motors OF Imperialism, among whom Senator Platt
of New York is to be signally included have per-
sisted in attributing President Mckinley and his
Cabinet a policy they have never announced and IN
volunteering d defense based upon imaginary propo-
stions Again and again The Call has attracted pub
lie attention to the fact that in official or personal
declaration, has any representative OF the admins
traton suggested the permanent retention OF the
Philippines, either national territory or as de-
tendency or colony. The entire argument OF the
gambling SPECTATORS the thirsty asplrants tor mill
tary glory and the intoxicated enthusiasts OF the
country has rested upon succession Of assumptions,
OF fa1lacies and of absurdities.
The manifesto of Senator Plat, therefore, published
in Our local columns yesterday, purely volun-
teered President Mckinley needed no vndication at
his hands, whether they be clean unclean. There
has been no facous censure of the military opera
tons in the Philippines except from the hyster1cal
press filled with the virus of fusion There is re-
laton between the New York Senator and the Gov
enmen that authorized him to pose attorney IN
fact or an attorney at law His defense is without
authority and merely presumptuous
On the merits of the manifesto, apart from the
sumptions that produced it, criticism is pos
sble The central objection is that Senator Plat de-
sgnedy internxes the military and political situa
tons, and undertakes to make specous argument,
wholly disconnected from the Government itself, in
favor of Asiatic expansion. He desgnates the Fill
pinos rebels" II they in this attitude toward
the United States what was the attitude of the makers
of this republic toward King George? He attempts
to cauterze the opponents of revolutionary theory
which, inadvertently at least he attributes to the adj
ministration lending aid and comfort to the Fill
pinos, and he unes in the unconstitutional attempt
developed in other quarters to prevent the clear and
honest expression Of opinion by individuals and by
the press. He assumes that the nature and the ea-
lures OF this Government are unknown to the Fill
pinos and that they have been led to believe that the
political and the constitutional discussion of the Phil
ppne question in the United States would operate as
an obstruction to military and naval movements in
Asia.
1t is marvellous that an American Senator should
thus vituperativey assail the constitution of his
country and the fundamental rights OF every citizen it
contains. 1t is equally astonishing that he should
have underestimate the intelligence and the educa-
cation of the Filipino leaders, who in many docu-
ments have shown that they comprehend the dstinc-
ton between military and political questions and the
theory and the detailed organization of our Govern
ment better than the learned and experienced Sena-
tor from New York. There has been no document
published that more perfectly illustrates the necessity
for stern and uncompromising adherence to the prn-
ciples and to the practice of our republican system.