The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-09-19
STARK COUNTY DENIOCRAT TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1899.

amigos, have been reluctantly corn
PEELED to believe that the NFllipinC
masses are loyal to Aguinaldo and the
government which he heads.
Neither by threats, promises offers Of
reward, nor by assurances of safety.
can l pursuade one of these amigos
to talk against the insurgent cause.
They tell me they are our friends.
. And no art that we are master
of will get any information from them.
At first / thought this reticence was
due to fear of Aguinaldo's vengeance.
II can not be that, for the most stupid
OF these natives within our lines must
now realize that Aguinaldo can never
hope to take Manila
Two Wars Contrasted.
6. The assumption that those who
supported the government during the
civil war must, to be consistent, now
favor the subjugation of the Filipinos,
is not only false but foolish. The
struggle on this continent was for the
preservation of union originally es-
tablished by consent of all the states,
for the enforcement Of laws enacted
by the representatives of the whole
people, and finally for the emancipa-
ton of a race which had been held
in bondage for more than a century.
1t was war for self-preservation, not
for the acquisition of new territory;
for the enforcement of our own laws
in our own country, not abroad-not
10000 miles away; for the freedom
and enfranchisement of native-born
Americans, not for the political en-
slavement Of foreign people. In
other words, rebellion inaugurated
and carried on against the will of the
great majority, in violation of a con-
stitution which all helped to frame,
In disregard of laws which the repre-
sentatives of all took part in making,
is quite a different thing from war
to repel a foreign invader who goes
armed to the teeth to subjugate and
possess. The supremacy of the will
of the majority of those to be gov
erned is the true American doctrine,
and this constitutes self-government.
z. 1t has been said that the inhab-
itants of the Philippine islands are
barbarians, and hence not qualified to
govern themselves The truth is a
large proportion of the people of these
islands are Christians. The Philip
pine archipelago has altogether over
1000 schools for the instruction of
children and many universities for the
higher education Of youth. The col
lege of st. Joseph in Manila was
founded over 300 years ago; the uni
lege of San Jean de Latrin in 1920. A
larger percentage of the population Of
LuZon are able to read and write than
of the population of Alabama, Louis
lana, Mississippi, Cuba, Porto Rico, or
the South American republics. Ad-
miral Dewey affirmed that "the Fill
ipinos are far superior in their intel
ligence and more capable of self-gov-
ernment that the natives of Cuba"
81 am" he says, familiar with both
races" General Charles King, re-
Gently from Manila, states that the
capability Of the Filipinos for self
government can not be doubted, and if
given fair start they could look out
for themselves infinitely better than
our people imagine" Our counsel
general at Hongkong tells us that
"Aguinaldo, Agoncillo and Sandico
are all men who would be leaders in
their separate departments in any
country" John Sherman, George f.
Edmunds, George S. Boutwell, and
other eminent American statesmen,
say that a parliament of the islands, |
organized by representatives elected |
by 1856 towns and provinces, framed a
defining the |
powers and duties of the separate de- |
partments Of the government with re-
markable clearness and ability" Mr.. |
Barrett, formerly our minister at |
Siam, as already quoted, said that he |
repeatedly attended the sessions of the |
Filipino congress- and that the men, |
bers of it conducted themselves with |
great decorum, and showed a knowl- |
edge Of debate and of parliamentary |
law that would not compare unfavora-
bly, with the Japanese parliament"