The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-11-09
Report Of the Philippine Commission.
The Norfolk Landmark ssys:

=
at is not surpri-ing that the pre-
llmlnsry report Of the Pulppln,
Commission, just submitted to th'
President, IS practically n brief in
favor Of the administration policy.
/ is probable that more detailed
report will be only 3 more elsborale G
srgument sloug the same lire: and,
so far as tho people are concerned, it
had as well not be published At ell
Its contents are already discounted
Every member Of the Philippine
Commission. We urderstsnd, is al
advocate OF retaining the Philippines
NJ. Schurmap, the President OF the
commission, executed c0mplrt,
somersault, az be had expressed him
self some mouths before his appoint.
ment as being seriously apprehen
i've Of the result of a colonial policy
BY the time Mr. Schurman reached
the Philippines he had become an or
dent advocate Of the very thing be
feared. He seems able now TO
swallow any pill that the sdminisira.
tIon may prepare, judging from his
defense of the treaty with the poly
gsmists of Sulu
We doubt II very many person 8
will succeed in wsdIng through th,
whole or even the preliminary report
i Is so monotonously ono sided
that It soon grows uninterestiDg. II
we are to accept all its state ments,
this country's treatment of the Flip.
mos has been angelic. We never
led them 10 expect their iude-
pendence; We never even infer
ferentially allied ourselves with
Aguinald. there was never ....
aly combined movement by the Uni.
led States and Filipino against the
SpSnisrds, The F,lipinos are eL-
urely incapable Of self goveremen,;
AguiusldO Is bad egg; most Of the
islanders sincerely yesrn for the sup
preston Of the 'insurrection' and
The permanent establishment OF
American sovereignty. War with
the natives was absolutely unavoid
able; Agulnaldo made common talk
of bis intention to attack tho Amer
leans before the Paris treaty was
negotiated; the FIlippiuos have not
10 made any sincere movement owards
peaceful settlement of the trouble.
whereas we have done everything
thai is possible to placAte them; and
so on, and so on,snd 80 on.
The main facts, which the Com
% ssion does not consider and was
not appointed 10 consider, are thai
we are refusing to grant freedom to
people who would have won it for
themselves # we bad let them alone !;
that we are grossly inconsistent
when we say that the people of Cuba
are, sDd Of right ought to be free;
snd it dependent, while in the same
breath We declare the contrary Of the
F.lipiuos, who Admiral Dewey asserts
10 be much superior to the Cubans,
that Admiral Dewey, under instruct
IONS, no doubt, from the Washington
authorities, invited Aguinaldo to go
to the Philippines and organize 80
nsu'recton, and on leaving Hong
Kong with the American feet tele
grspbed Aguinsldo to make haste
Did not the Filipnos have every
reason to expect our soquieseence iu
their demand for freedom, in the
light C.f our course towards Cubaf
And did we make any statement
csculated TO remove such an m.
preston. Ii iss waste of time to
ask anything more about the pre-
llminary report Of the Philippine
Commission. except perhaps, that it
is fred suspiciously near the close of
the Ohio campaign"