New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-08-26
THE SULU AGREEMENT.

The news that an agreement has been made
with the Sultan and chief men OF the Sulu ISL
ands, by which American sovereignty over
that part of the Philippine archipelago is peace
fully recognized. is to be received with sincere
satisfaction The full text Of the agreement
Is not yet disclosed, but its salient points have
BEEN and these appear to be, on the whole. In
accord with American principles and with
sound statesmanship Briefly stated. Ameri-
| can sovereignty is to be recognized, American
protection is to be accorded to the islands, re-
liglous freedom is to prevail, piracy Is to be
suppressed. the introduction Of firearms among
the natives is to be prohibited, the United
States is to occupy such parts Of the islands as
II may need to do. American courts are to
have Jurisdiction except between natives any
person is to be free to purchase land with the
Sultan's consent, and the Sutans subsidy Is
to be continued. To not one Of the conditions
ia exception to be taken on any ground Of
equity or reason
In order to understand why such an agree
ment should be made with the Sultan Of Suu
and his domains thus be treated differently
from Iuzon and other islands. few facts from
history should be recalled. The Sutanate Of Sulu
which comprises Mindanao. the second largest
rather more than one-third of all the Philip
pines-had never surrendered its independence
to Spain In any such sense as the other islands
were compelled TO do. 1t remained in the con-
dition of an allied or perhaps vassal State
with It's own sovereign and laws. The Span
ish never occupied more than dozen towns,
and those were all on the coast. They did not
even explore the interior. When they trans
| .zIn 49, livx
with that Sultanate, therefore, this country
found at the head of the State native sover-
elgn Of unchalenged legitimacy. He was not
the leader of a small faction as was Aguinaldo
in Luzon, but was the Loyalty accepted head
of the whole people 1t was the part Of wis
dom and of justice. therefore. to respect his
local sovereignty and to maintain 1t, subject
to the superior sovereignty Of the United States.
That IL precisely what has now been agreed
upon II establishes in those islands a politi-
cal order similar TO that established by the
British Government In some parts Of India and
In the protected Malay States. The natives
are protected from alien oppression, they are
made to conform with the general principles
OF intercourse between civilized States. and
they are educated and assisted toward higher
| planes of civilization: but In all other respects
| they are left to their own manners and laws.
For example, piracy is to be suppressed. The
Suu Islanders have down to this time ever
ranked as the most lawess. daring and savage
rovers of the sea- Within the last few years
they have made themselves a terror to thy
Spanish in all the Philippines, even to Manila
itself The abolition Of that piracy will be
Of inestimable advantage to the world, and it
| is to be observed that II is TO be done not by
| forcible suppression. which indeed would have
been justlfable, but by the easier though not
less effective means of peaceful agreement. The
prohibition of the introduction Of firearms too,
will be appreciated by all who have observed
the hideous effects of such introduction In
Africa, In Samoa and elsewhere. On the other
hand, there is TO be no interference with the
| religion OF the natives, which Is Mahometan,
and all other religions are to have equal free
dom there. That is, assuredly, good consttu-
tional American doctrine and practice The
natives are also to continue their own courts
OF justice for all matters of disputes among
themselves all cases i'm which Americans or
other foreigners are concerned being reserved
for the courts which the United States will es-
tablish. That is simply an extension of the
| well founded principles of our dealings with
subordinate Powers
This agreement with the SuItanate Of Sulu
| is Of happiest omen for the future government
| Of that important part Of the archipelago. It
may be regretted that similar one could not
have been made In each Of the other grand
divisions Of the group. That however. was
| impossible, because the conditions existing
there and the terms Of our assumption OF
| sovereignty were entirely different There was