Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-08
TIE rAr ro RrSroRE nRnrR.

TIE WAY TO RESTORE ORDER.
The opinion expressed by some scna-
tors that the ratification Of the peace
treaty will restore order in the Philip
pines seems to us TO be unsound. We
think that on the contrary the effect
will be to aggrayate the situation ami
strengthen the purpose of the Filipnos
to continue the struggle for indie
pendcnCe. 1t is 10 be presumed that
there Is no one now who doubts the
carnestness of that purpose. Those who
assumed that the Filipinos, in establish.
ing government with written cOneti-
tuition, organizing and equipping an
army and declaring their intention not
to submit to a foreign soN ereignty, were
only shammng, must have been coli
vinced by the events of the last three
days that the assumption was fallaci-
Gus. The Tilipinos are showing that
they are determined to secure inde-
pendcnce, if possible, at whatever cost
or sacrifice. They will fight for liberty,
If 1t Is denied them, as long as they
are able to and they are sufficiently nu-
merous TO maintain conflict for q long
time, perhaps for several years.
We believe that if congress had
adopted before ratifying the treaty,
some one of the several resolutions that
were introduced in the senate giving
assurance to the Filipnos that they
would ultimately be permitted to es-
tabllsh their own government, there
would be no fighting now at Manila.
We have no doubt that the passage OF
any of these resolutions would have
averted hostilities. But while the
senate failed to take this conciliatory
course. which would have reassured and
satisfied the Filipinos, the government
was engaged in hurrying to Manila
military and naval reinforcements,
thereby stimulating Filipino apprehen-
sion and distrust. Hostllities resulted
and while the Eilipnos begun them,
truthful and impartial history will not
acQuit us of all responsibility.
The action which we believe would
have averted hostilities we think would
now put stop to them. Let congress
declare, in explicit terms, that 1t is not
the intention of the United States to
permanently hold the Philippines or to
force its authority upon the people of
those islands, but that it proposes TO
allow the Filipinos, whenever cOndi-
tlons make such a proceeding hopeful
of success, to establish their own gov.
ernment, and we have 10 doubt these
people would accept such assurance in
good faith. We can see no valid Obiec-
ton to taking this course, while there
are sound reasons in favor of it. There
would be no surrender of any right and
no sacrifice of honor in adopting it,
we would avoid an expenditure of
money and a loss of life which if hos.
tilities are prolonged may be very
great. No spirit of pride or self-cOnfi-
dence should be allowed to influence
us in this matter. The world knows
that we have the power and the re-
sources to subjugate the Filipinos.
Why, therefore, make the sacrifices
that would be involved in demOnstrat-
ing this? There could be no discredit
to this great republic in pacifying and
making friends of the natives of the
Philippines by recognizing their right
to independence and assuring them Of
our aid and protection in establishing
for themselves a stable government.
We can win no glory or honor by fore
ing them to submit to our authority and
rule.
The way to put a stop to bloodshed
in the Philippines and establish friendly
relations between the natives and
Americans is, it seems to us, perfectly
plain and its adoption we believe to be