Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-07-26

HE4E
combat his sterling logic, or to ind any
| that will hold water in administration
organs. he is compelled to borrow from
| the editorial columns Of that apostate
Democrat, gold bug and imperialist, the
Louisville Courier-Journal, which at
tempts to answer Mr.. Bryan's Philip
pines argument as follows:
I'm other words, while setting up these
| SavageS in Independent government, we
| are to be responsible for that government.
| though having no hand in it. We must
give them freedom to do as they please,
| and must protect them in that freedom,
but If we dare to take part in their gov
eminent, in order to see that it is conduct
ed on civilized lines, we are outraging the
| sacred consent of the governed
This. from Henry Watterson, is en-
ough to draw the salt tears to the eyes
| OF those who remember the nee bril-
liant editor when he was a great and
trusted and true advocate of pure Amer
lean Democracy. Such senile argument
as that we quote at second hand from
Mr.. Bryan's faultless logic in favor of
treating the Filipinos as we treat the
Cubans, is really pitiful and demon
strates more effectually than probably
anything else the utter weakness of the
imperialist cause, for that cause has no
better equipped advocate than Henry
Watterson.
If it is wrong for Mr.. Bryan to advo-
cate a stoppage of the useless sacrifice
of American life and treasure in the
effort to subjugate the Filipinos, by
granting them their independence upon
the establishment of a stable govern
mem in the islands. it was equally
wrong for William Mckinley to sign
the declaration that the people of Cuba
ARE AND OF RIGHT OUGHT TO
BE FREE AND INDEPENDENT"
The Filipinos are not ~"savages," and
that they are better equipped for self
government than the Cubans we have
the testimony of many men Intimately
acquainted with both people, among
them Admiral Dewey.
Why should Mr.. Mckinley make fish
OF n people n flesh of another?
And what did he mean by stating in
his message to Congress on December
6, 1897, and repeating the statement
in his message of April II, 1898, that:
Il SPEAK NOT OF FORCIBLE AN
NEXATION, FOR THAT CANNOT BE
THOUGHT OF. THAT. BY OUR
CODE OF MORALITY, WOULD BE
CRIMINAL AGGRESSION"
What in the name of plain English
did Mr.. Mckinley mean by that blunt
and simple statement? What can it
mean now except that the very policy
of conquest in the Philippines he has
been forced into by Wall street mil
lionaire spectators and campaign con-
tributions, is "BY OUR CODE OF
MORALITY, CRIMINAL AGGRES-
SION!"
Mr.. Watterson's plea for imperialism
is unworthy of him. The Filipinos, as
we have said. are no more "~savages"
than the Cubans. to whom we have
guaranteed independence on precisely
the lines on which MI. Bryan asks that
it be guaranteed to the Filipinos in the
name of peace and to stop a bloody,
costly and unAmerican war of onuue
that otherwise must go on Indefinitely.
We have not yet heard Of Mr.. Wat
terson using his trechant pen in op-
position to the administrations policy
in Cuba, yet that policy cannot be
right in Cuba without being also right
in the Philippines.
We fear that the Kentucky editors
hostility to Mr.. Bryan has lead him to
caste aside the lovely Star-Eyed God
dess of Eternal Truth for a worthless
and deceiving jade.