The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1899-05-11
The End Nowhere In Sight.

could shoot to hit something? The
Filipino might hit barn door two
hundred yards off on dead level, but
we don't know. Not that anybody in
this country wanted him to hit any
thing, but that the supposition he
might do SO accidentally had some
thing to do with our estimate of the
immediate danger to us Of the Philip
pine war.
The Fill pino, however, is hardly to
blame; he and his ancestors for some
hundreds and odd years have not put
in most Of their time shooting 'bars"
and Indians. Skill in shooting to kill,
like skill in music and picking cotton,
comes only of early and long practice
and inherited instincts.
Another thing the Filipino has failed
to master is the fact that the only pos
sible defense for a people without the
improved equipments of modern war
fare is bush-whacking. Those of our
people who claim there is no danger to
70, 100000 people from an army of a
hundred or two thousand regulars fail
to master the same fact-no matter
what the comparative numbers we could
stand out against them anywhere out
side the "bush." That Aguinaldo has
not digested this fact, but has made a
railroad and water line defence, leav-
ing the road behind him intact for the
enemy to bring up supplies and run af-
ter him in armed cars, has lowered the
"Washingtonian" estimate almost to
the dead level Of Philippine markham
ship. Indeed, we fail to understand his
tactics altoe ether, and perhaps he does
not now appraise them very high him
self.
But, as imperialist editors and speak
ers have already informed the people,
anti-expanslonists have been and are,
in the main, governed by selfshness.
True, they haye felt and do now feel
that it is little tough especially for a
nominally free people to kill another
people because they want to he free.
But our chief concern is that in the act
we sacrifice our democratic principles
preparatory to sacrificing our demo-
cratic government later on, beside the
expense and sticking our nose into Eu-
ropean offairs with very fair prospect
of having it more or less knocked of
, and little or nothing to show for it.
Anti-expansionists have felt that it is a
poor business any way you look at il
and all the way through from beginning
to end, II ever it has an end.
, The surrender OF Aguinaldo and his
army would go very little way toward
the end. Indeed it is question wheth.
, er an early collapse would not put the
end further off by encouraging Other
efforts at expansion and SO add to oul
present inordinate Imitation" that We
will go into war with Germany or 9th
| er power of larger equipment and O.
equal shooting" geuius with ourselves
: Indeed we may conclude to join Eng
: land and thrash out the world, feeling
that it would be only breakfast spell
after what we have done for the Span
lard, and for the "savage" in this coun
{ try and the Philippines.
Q But we are told Mckinley won't g
r any farther than the Philippines in tn
9 direction Of expansion. Aguinaldo ha
4 given him such scare that he will stol
It right ''thar" all the same as if he ha,
: not gone that far. Very often, howev
er, the trouble is in stopping when one
t you have got a-going. One step call
It for another beyond; all the while "hor
j. or" beckons on, and it would be ''cow
ardice" to turn back, or even stop. Ii
It deed, if its q good thing that far, VIII
II not good thing on through.
r There is no shorter cut to know
edge Of what will follow this first slip
expansion than by watching the Bri
isher whose sole concern in the matte
3. is to draw us into an alliance againi
continental Europe which on more o.
Q. casions than one has talked of 'isola
ing" her. He is little afraid he wi
be lonesome in his isolation unless /
r. has the American for company. HenC
the Britisher's extreme solicitude th'
we take and hold the Philippines, know
o. ing we can't stop there, but must go G
until Of necessity we will form an En-
lish alliance against the enmities il
ly Cured. And it is pertinent to inqui
b. what better off will we be in an En-
r lish alliance against the world than
TX our own isolation behind the Monr,
ut doctrine? Why should We, who unt
at we started into the expansion busine
Id had no enemies and no need for gre
is armies and navies, go alf-and-'alf wi
in England in hers-all for little territ
Ir- ry for the exploiters to exploit al
d. which will not be worth hill of bea
to the great majority Of the people?
ITS Samoa furnishes an object lesson,
n our own present experience, of the !
nd suits Of expansion and how it leads
to "entangling alliances" and of HI
England avails herself OF it oil to fl
isl ther her own ends regardless of the
to terests Of this or any other COUNT
OF The only condition on which Engla
N will let Germany and the United Sta