The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-08-30


dory government administered under
the restraint of American institutions.
American dominion in the Philippines
VIII destroy none of the ends OF gov
ernment will disregard no one OF the
inalienable rights Of r1an; VIII sane,
tifY no abuse or usurpation, but VIII
terminate the despotiTm under which
their people have lived for more than
three hundred years
CONSENT OF GOVERNEp.
The United states did not ask the
consent OF the inhabitants of Bouisi-
ana, or Florida or New Mexico, or
Upper California, to the cessions made
Ivy France and Spain and the republic
of Mexico, nor was II understood, When
we assumed sovereign jurisdiction over
those peoples, that we were violating
the principle that governments derive
their just powers from the consent or
the governed. Orderly government
faithfully administered in the interests
| of the governed superinduces consent.
| New Mexico and Arizona have been
governed as territories more than 1tty
| years. Congress has governed the DlS-
| trict of Columbia more than hundreu
| years, yet the Declaration OF lndepen-
| denCe is neither dead nor sleeping. IL
remains the thought and spirit of the
Constitution and continues to command
| the reverence Of all our people.
| The right to withdraw consent, ana
| to form independent national relations
| was put to the test by the seceulng
states in 1861. The effort was support
| ed by armies such as the world had
never seen. by statesmanship, general
| shin, heroism. courage and devotion
which challenged universal admiration;
| but the exneriment failed because the
| majority of the people of the Unlted
| States did not concede the proposition
| that consent can be withdrawn except
! for sufficient cause, and denied the eN-
| istence of any such cause to the states
| of the South
Secession was the free act of the
people of the seeding states, the OFF,
| spring of their free and unforced Will.
| 1t was the formal withdrawal OF cor
| sent to the authority of Il general
government, manifested in the most
unmistakable way; yet the deliberate
| judgment of the dominant majority OF
| the people of the United States was,
that their brethren of the South could
! be lawfully constrained by force to
| submit to Federal authority, and that
| they could be so restrained within the
| reasonable application of the maxim
| that the just powers of the government
| spring from the consent of the gov
| erned.
| The Filipinos have never bean free.
years they have lived under the arbit-
| rary control of the Spanish crown. In
submitting to the authority OF the
| United States they surrender no PRIV
| ilege or immunity. 1t cannot be that
| their right to a government to when
| they give their consent is more sacred
| than was the like right to the people
| Of the seeding states. The war against
| the armies of the South was fought TO
a successful conclusion because the
| majority believed it more important TO
| preserve that Union than to accede to
the literal application of an abstract
| principle, which, however correct, log
ically led to its dissolution.
| NOT AN ABSTRACTION.
| Government is not an abstraction.
| 1t is the reasonable application of cor
| rect principles to conditions which,
| though they cannot be wholly over
! come, may be so nodded as to better
| subserve the interest of justice, peace
| and order.
| BY the exercise of political reason our
| Constitution was ordained and more
| perfect Union established. In the light
| of political reason our affairs have been
administered in the past, and political
| reason, if we patiently follow its die
tates, will enable us to solve the prob
| lens now before u.s. in harmony with
| the limitations of the Constitution and
| in practical accord with the great prin-
| ciples set forth in the Declaration of
| Independence.
| 1t may be admitted that we ought
| not permanently to annex country
! whose inhabitants are incapable of at
| tanning capacity for Self-goVernment
| and the climate of which fOrbids the
migration of Americans or Europeans
in numbers sufficient to eventually con-
| troll political and social conditions.
| do not claim that the government of
| the United States is specially adapted
| to colonial policy, or that its methods
of administration qualify it, in any
marked degree, TO hold and govern
| dependencies in any portion of the
| world, prOximate or remote. on the
| contrary, it is of doubtful eXpediency
to hold colonies or dependencies at all
and such holding can only be Justified
| by necessity When, however, duty ad-
mits of no escape without the sacrifice
of national honor or dignity, the ne
cessity then exists.
A DUTY TO BE MET.
We would gladly escape it II escape
| were possible, but recognizing that
| there is no honorable avenue of re-
| treat. we take it up (appreciating all
| it's difficulties and responsibilities with
the fixed purpose of discharging it to
the uttermost. We do this with no de-
sire for indefinite expansion; with no
| design of establishing general colon
ial policy; but with the earnest hope
that after our national authority shall
have been established. and established
1t will be. the people of the Philippines
may show themselves capable of up
building and maintaing a local govern
ment. of their own. If failure attends
our efforts, it will be but another in
stance OF defeated hopes and disap-
pointed expectations But if by hold
ing up the hands of those who aspire TO
orderly and stable institutions, we shall
open the way to home gov
ernment, under which individual rights
will be respected, domestic tranquility
insured and life, liberty and property
protected, by the fixed and regular ad-
administration of Just and equal laws,
we shall give another and striking evil
denCe of mans capacity for self-gov-
ernment and over and above all con-
siderations OF pecuniary or commercial
advantages, however great they may
be, we shall be compensated for the
blood and treasure we have expended
and may eXpend, by the consciousness
Of having secured to the inalienable
rights of man a wider field, and to free
institutions the opportunity to extend
their blessings to the human family
, n a quarter of the world in which des-
potism has had it's undisputed reign
from the earliest period Of recorded
time.
NUBs OF KNOWLEDGE.