Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-18

enamored of the decision of Chief Justice
fancy in the bred Scott case. II this de-
cision was correct, then you gentlemen of
Boston who raised money to arm John
Brown and send him to Kansas We're vo-
lators of the Constitution and the laws of
your country. We have been extending
and acquiring territory after territory from
the founding of our government to the
present day, and in every instance the
Constitution and laws OF the United States
have been extended to a territory by an
act of Congress, and in no other way. That
question has been forever settled.
Settled by the Peace Treaty.
and even If it was an open question
with regard to the new possessions, article
TX of the Paris treaty declares TO the eff
feet that The civil rights and political
status of the native Inhabitants of the ter
ritory hereby ceded to the United States
shall be determined by Congress- and as
the Constitution makes a treaty the su-
preme law of the land, the power of Con-
gress to make rules and regulations for the
government of Cuba, Porto Rico and the
Philippines in unquestioned The Constitu-
ton has wisely provided that the Congress
shall nave the power to dispose of and
make ali needful rules respecting the ter
ritory or other property belonging to the
United States. Under this provision, laws
which may be needful for Porto Rico may
not be applicable to the Philippines, and
the widest latitude is conferred by this
provision of the Constitution and by the
uniform practice of our government from
the beginning to the present day. Nor is
1t the intention of our lawmakers, as has
been clearly demonstrated by the debates
in both houses of Congress and by the
McEnery resolution recently passed, to
admit these newly acquired territories into
system of states
Mr.. Proctor replied to the statement that
the Filipinos would have the right to flock
to this country by citing the case of Alaska,
where such privilege was specially confer
red, arguing that unless it is so conferred
1t does not inhere in newly acquired terri
tory
1tory, he said the revenues from the islands
should pay all costs of administration
The Standing Army BugabOo.
On the bugaboo of a standing army he
said:
These gentlemen attempt to brighten the
workingmen by the dread of vast standing
army. 1t is the purpose of our people to
give to these islands as soon as possible
the advantages of local self-government,
and not govern them Spain has in the
hundreds of years past, TOR the exclusive
benefit of the home government; and it is
the experience of the great coloniZing coun
tries that standing armies are not necessary
except where oppression has been practiced.
England has colonies scattered all over the
world and yet her standing army is less than
that of some of the sccond-rate powers of
Europe with no colonial possessions. There
is only one British soldier in India to every
3S00 natives. and the same proportion of
American soldiers in the Philippines would
require the enormous force of Zoo men,
The Effect on Trade.
Continuing. Mr.. Proctor said: The cur
tain is rising in the far east upon the
greatest drama ever enacted in the worlds
history. The great empire of China, with
its 4O0.000,0Do of people, will either be oc-
cupied by Russia or will be divided up into
zCnes between Russia, Great Britain, Ger
many and France, or its integrity will be
maintained through the combined infiu-
ence of Great Britain, the United States
and Japan. If the policy of isolation which
you gentlemen of Boston advocate is car
ried into effect, medieval autocracy, rep
resented 10y Russia will extend over the
eastern world. and the old Roman, Span
ish and Russian method of acquiring colo
MES and closing their ports to the COM
merCe of the world for the exclusive bene-
fit of the home country will be carried into
effect. This country has the greatest po-
tential interest in the vast commerce which
will be opened in China-an interest which
ultimately will be paramount to that of
Great Britain. Already the trade of the
United States and Great Britain with China
amounts to six times as much as that of
France. Russia and Germany combined
with that empire. and it is a commerce
which must grow rapidly IN the future.
Great Britain is yet our best customer.
She and her colonies take over go per cent
of all we sell abroad. If Russia absorbs
China will not only lose the great trade
of that empire, but England, in losing her
great eastern trade will be deprived of
her ability to buy our products. and will
thus be forced by the necessities of the sit
uation into a customs union with the Brit
ish empire. Then the markets of this
country will be limited to South America.
Mr.. Atkinson has shown in one of his
publications that the English people Of
Canada purchase cur products to the ex
tent of ST. head, while in the most pro-
gressive states in the Spanish colonies they
purchase less than s. per head. There can
be misunderstanding about the policy
of Russia the policy of France in their
colonial extensions. 1t means the closed
door to our products, because neither
France nor Russia can compete in open
market with the United States