The times., 1899-09-01


they are all the more entitled to ask it to
do something not in itself wrong, but right,
to please them.
BY hook or by crook, Dewey's brave
Cinnamon must be allowed to land and par
ticipate in the Admirars triumph.
what American Aid to Asuinaldo
Really Means.
When our Pacific squadron started from
Hongkong at the outbreak of the war with
Spain. to destroy the Spanish naval power
IN Eastern waters, nothing was further
from the minds of the American people
than the acquisition of Oriental territory.
But the guns which sunk Admiral Monto-
io's fleet at Cavite, at the same time an
nounced to the world that the Philippine
archipelago had passed from Spanish con-
troll forever and obviously and necessarily
to that of the United States. That battle
settled the matter for good and all, wheth-
er the result was what we or any other
nation wanted it to be, or not. Suffice it
that Providence. destiny. or whatever one
likes to call ii, hauled down the flag of
Ferdinand and Isabella, and hoisted the
starry banner of the Western Republic
From that time to this there has never
been day on which we could have aban-
doned our position in the Philippines, with
any approach to dignity, decency, or the
remotest regard for the interests of civil
ization or humanity. We rescued the mil
lions of the islands from the political and
religious oppression and robbery of Spain
We we're and are bound to protect those
inhabitants from the evils and horrors
which would have been visited upon them
if we had been false to the trust forced
upon us by the fortunes Of war.
It does not require omniscience to tell
WHAT would have been the consequences of
an evacuation of the Philippines by us.
after Dewey's victory The attitude of
Germany, during the blockade which pre-
eeded the occupation of Manila. was
sufficient warning. and was not the only
one. The moment our forces were with
drawn, it is notorious that the European
game of grab which has been so persist
emily played on the Chinese mainland dur
ing the past few years, would have started
in Luzon and would not have stopped until
the vast, rich, and fertile archipelago. now
forever the grand possession OF the Ameri-
can people. had been fought over and par
celed out among the powers of Europe.
Such movement, while in progress, would
have been accompanied by tribal strifes.
unutterable atrocities. and anarchy In the
islands and, almost certainly, would have
led to a war involving the leading nations
of the Old World.
In view Of such otherwise inevitable
conditions. the United States had nothing
to do but make its hold good. That in
accomplishing this we have been forced
to fight faction of the natives is. in prin-
ciple, an unimportant consideration. Mr..
AASh4AlSs SSAAOS De SCCuSeu VI SURFING
them up TO insurrection, and no one would
think of excusing him if he did not sup
press them after they had rebelled.
But the Boston Filipino Junta. operating
under the auspices of Hoar, schurz, Nor
ton, and persons of that ilk, declares that
this murderous Tagal mutiny is a holy
fight for human liberty. and that Aguinaldo
is its pure and patriotic Washington. The
parallelism between the two characters
sought TO be established. lacks several ele-
ments necessary to its acceptabiIity.
George Washington, for example, fell short
Of that conception OF greatness which
makes a man willing to sell himself, his
cause and his country for price. There
is not a doubt that he had ample oppor-
tunities and temptations TO do so, nor
that-for once like Aguinaldo-he was given
credit for most of the fighting on the
American side in the Revolution Our
native Filipinos regard their Malay Wash
41ELyH dS ulISLNA VI AlG SilAdllOu SO
as the Tagals are concerned, and the
only factor in the equation worth con-
sidering. 1t is he whom they would make
independent, and they must recognize the
truth that his independence would place
him in a most enyiable commercial posi-
ton in relation to, say Germany.
II it is their desire that the American
Government should withdraw from the
Philippines in favor Of Aguinaldo, and
without regard to the wishes. interests.
lives. or liberties of seven million people
who have no connection with him or his
tribe. but hate them more bitterly than
an anti-imperialist of the Boston breed
hates the flag Of his country. they must
also wish for and intend the logical conse-
quenees of such an action. Chief among
them We may mention that, as soon as he
was free from US. Aguinaido, who sold out
his former rebellion and himself to Spain
would not lose any time in turning over