The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-01-13
On the Philippine Annexation Question
Reached in the Senate.
A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT
il These
Permanent Sovereignty Over the Philippines.
of FourC o PresdentHe
sued the OneR Requiring Temporary Posses
Islands.

only the power to acquire territory for
constitutional purposes and as to what
those constitutional purposes are, the
senator from Massachusetts, shall be
the sole and exclusive judge.
Senator Forakers remarks brought
Senator Hoar out for a further expla-
nation of his position. Rising and in
terrupting the Ohio senator he said:
IF we thonght it necessary for our
national defense to annex an outlying
territory, and if the people of that ter
ritory objected to our acquisition of it
I should consider the subjugation of it
as a great national crime to be repudis
ated and condemned and / should say
the United States would better go down
beneath the waters of the Pacific in
honor rather than disgrace itself by
such action"
Senator Foraker maintained that the
government of the United States had
ample power to acquire territory by
treaty.
"The trouble, Mr.. President" con-
tinued the senator, ''is that senators
are talking about a theory instead Of a
practical condition. What have the
senators who have discussed these
theories proposed? Nothing. You all
know the precedence of the condition
we face. We have made war and its
fortune has carried us to the Philip
pines. When the end came these is
lands were in our possession. What
was to be done? Four possibilities ex-
listed. We might return the islands to
Spain; allow some other country to
seiZe or gobble them up; the people
, of the islands might be left to them
selves and the anarchy that existed
there, or we ourselves might take pos
session of them. The unanimous voice
of the country was opposed to the re-
- ;cIo 70 fhn fxyrso y,,,io ioot
government of Spain. In many Of the
state conventions declarations against
such d course were adopted ana one
, of these was the convention OF the
state of the senator from Massachu
setts.' CMr. Hoar)
Il wrote it myself" announced Sena-
| tor Hoar.
posed to that course" remarked Sena-
! tor Foraker amid laughter.
"The return of the islands to Spain,
resumed Senator Foraker, was, there
| fore, not to be considered Were they
then to be left to themselves? About
! the time this question was confronting
us I saw repeated newspaper state
| ments from Aguinaldo and his associ-
ates among the insurgents to. the eff
feet that all the countries of Europe
would be on their backs before break
fast if the United States deserted them
at that juncture. We could not leave
the islands to the mercy of other
! countries. Such a course would have
been cruel. We wisely decided against
| both these courses. We decided to
! take possession ourselves for the pres
! ent at least, until the people of those
: islands are ready and capable of self
government"
The assertion Of the temporary char
acter of our possession of the Philip
| pines created a stir in the chamber.
| Senator Foraker reiterated it. 1--WE
| could not desert the people Of the is
| lands" he said, land subject them to
| the risks of disorder. anarchy, mis-
rule and mob rule while they might be
still unfit for self-government. But
| our occupation was not to be perma-
| nent. I do not understand that any
| one desires anything but the ultimate
| independence of the people of the Phil
| ippines,' said he emphatically, neither
| the president nor any one in this cham
ber."
I But was about our right if we
| choose to hold them permanently with
| no thought of their ultimate independ-
| ence?" inquired Senator Hoar.
| 1--WE have an unquestioned right to
] do So" replied Senator Foraker. Il
/ speak particularly of our legal right"
| Mr.. Bacon, Of Georgia, at this juno
ture asked what difference there was
| between our relations to Cuba and our
relations to the Philippines, why we
| could not deal with the latter on the
same basis as the former simply hold
| them now with the declared purpose
of giving them self-governnent as soon
| as possible
| THE case of Cuba" replied Senator
| Foraker, speaking with great delibera-
| ton, was a simple one, involving only
our relations with Spain and the Gu
| bans themselves. In the case of the
| Philippines there were other complica-
| tions which cannot be spoken of here
| but OF w"ich senators will hear in ex-
| ecutiN ession, which justified the
presidents course in the most ample
| manner and vindieates most completely
everything he has done. In fact, no
other course is safe. in view of the OBJ
Ject We naturally sought to attain
justice, not only to ourselves, but to
| the people of those islands,
What of the e>statement about haul
ing down the American flag 2" inter-
jected Senator Hoar
NO one desires to retain the Philip
pines indefinitely reiterated Senator
Foraker again. The PRESIDENT Is as
much a lover of liberty and justi &c as
is the senator from Massachusetts,. and
MS love of liberty goes out to the Ileo-
pie OF the Philippines as unerringly as
his"
Then We are to understand thS
statement that the American flag is not
60 be hauled down. said Senator Hoar.
docs not mean that we are to hold
perpetual domain. If the people of the
Philippines believe their interests can
be best secured by self-government