The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-02-13

by merely majority vote of one in tn senate, this government can be irrevo
 cably committed to the policy of ac
 qulring foreign territory, or of rulin,
 foreign dependencies without submis
 sion of such a grave and importan
 matter to the people, without publi
 discussion, without the formation o
 public opinion, without any expressio,
 of the opinion of the people in part,
 platform, as is our custom In importan
 matters which concern themselves, ant
 without instruction from their constit
 uencies on the part of representation
 then government by the people has be
 come with us, name and not a roy.
 atty.
 But it is of the reasons given fol
 such acquisition of territory in an in
 herent right of nationality But the ac,
 quisition of territory already peopleG
 and populous has commonly been not
 an expression of an inherent right but
 the active aggression of wilful wrong
 Simply to quote custom and to follow
 the example of other nations is to de-
 part from the inquiry of the principles
 of absolute justice and to follow in the
 pathway of injustice which has mark
 ed the course of great nations.
 But we are told that we shall take
 our rank among the great world-pow- CTS. By this Is meant, not that we shall
 have world-power of influence which
 we have already possessed but that we
 shall have the power of armies and of
 might and the glory thereof. If so we
 must pay the price. The people of the
 world-powers are burdened and groan
 under the weight of their vast standing
 armies Boastful and bombastic speeches in public places, a public posi- ton for office seekers, and military ti-
 ties and insignia for officers will repre- sent the glory and the gaunt, sallow faces and fever-stricken bodies of sold iers, such as we recently saw in our | hospitals and on the streets and bur- cen of taxation expressing the poor and, perhaps, harassing the rich will | represent the cost of such glory. | Again, it is said, that the interests of trade will be subserved. But the basis of trade is the production of that which other people want and exchanging with them for their products which you want. If people must be taken and controlled to get their trade then jus tice is sacrificed to gain, and wealth gained by such injustice will at last eat like canker and burn as fire un- til it destroys.
 But it Is said we propose to give them government The people of the world have been cursed by the effort of other people to give them government Our theory Is that governments are of the people, an outgrowth and not an im- position, and, also, that they derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. A departure from these principles will be a denial of the fun damental principles upon which our government rests Our own govern ment, as to its spirits, is rooted in Christianity and in the strong indlvid- uality and independence of the Teu- tonic people and, as to it's form, it is rooted to the town meeting of the Sax ons. It has been wrought out by ag- gression, by concession by discussion by experiment and it has required cen- turies to bring it to its present degree of perfection. To assume that our form of government is suited to all people is folly. To attempt to give it to other pCUplC VIII pt lO uiSCpFeIST lIldl gov ernment is not a manufactured article which can be put on a nation as ready-made coat can be put on man.
 Again. it is said, expansion will open the doors to Christian missions. There are more doors open now than there are missionaries ready to enter and more missionaries ready to go than the peo- pie are willing to send and to support. When the disciples proposed to assist Jesus with the sword he declined it's aid and said, "They who take the sword shall perish by the sword" Doors opened to mission by cannon balls would only give access to men whose ears are deaf to the gospel message and whose hearts are hardened against Christian love-
 To announce to the world, as our president and congress did last spring that an apparently interminable war in a neighboring territory must cease and that, if necessary, we would take up arms to make 1t cease but having ceas- ed we would take no territory seemed a noble and benevolent declara tion; but to terminate that war by claiming all the territory we can get, except one island, seems like the denial of our own published prosposition.
 What now are the facts, so far as we at present know them, from the stand point of the Philippines? On the fifth 1f last June delegation of Philippines delivered an addresss to Consul Gen. eral Pratt at Singapore. In that ad- dress they said: Our warmest thanks are especially due to you sir, personal y for having been the first to cultivate relations with General Aguinaldo and arrange for cooperation with Admiral Dewey and supporting our aspirations" In his reply, MT. Pratt said: When six weeks ago, I learned that General Aguinaldo had arrived incognito in Singapore, I immediately sought him ,ut. An hours interview convinced me hat he was the man for the occasion, md having communicated with Ad- niral Dewey I accordingly, arranged with him to join the latter, which he lid at Cavite." It is true that Secre- ary Day did not assume responsibility or MT. Pratt's utterance. But I am ndeavoring to get look at the mat CT from the Philippine standpoint. An ficial of the United States sought out guinaldo, introduced him to Admiral Dewey and arranged for his co-opera- ion. As matter of fact so far as I