The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-04-28
MIR. McKINLEY's WAR IN THE
PHILIPPINES.

American forces have been worsted.
Several were killed and many more
were wounded, and still the conflict
goes on.
The Nashville American, that
great and good Democratic paper
with gold-bug owners and anti
Bryan tendencies and imperial,stic
persuasions, discussing the engage
ment in which the Americans were
defeated, says: 1.-THE killing of Col.
Stotsenburg, Of the Nebraska regi-
ment, together with number of his
men, and the wounding of about
forty others, again demonstrates the
fact that the best way to conquer
the bLoodthirSty Filipino, is by send
ing over enough troops to crush him,
once for ALL" The italics are our
own.
Now we did not know until the
American told us, that it was Mr..
McKinley's purpose to conquer the
Filipinos. 1t was not so stated by
his Spokesman on the floor Of Con-
gress, and has been particularly
denied by himself. 1t was mere
accident, according to his state
ment, that first landed him there,
and his purpose in staying was to
protect, not to conquer them. In the
beginning of this war for conquest,
which we are now told by an eX-
panslonist organ that it is, these
"half savage, half child peoples"
were severely censured for not be-
lievil.g in and accepting without
question, the platonic love and
friendship of Mr.. Mckinley. They
suspected that he was merely trying
to slip up on the credulous and ignor-
ant side of them with sweet prom
Uses; and that after he had scattered
his men over their island, and raised
his flag here and there, he would
play them false, as Spain had so
often done, and would undertake to
rule over them; and rather than that,
half savage though they are, some.
how they had caught the true spirit
of patriotism, so they raised the cry
"sink or swim, live or die, survive
or perish, we are for liberty" and
they literally burned the bridges
behind them; and putting the torch
to their own houses they accepted
the friendly cover of the jungle tC
protect them against odds, and from
there to shoot and fall and live oil
die for freedoms sake.
And it begins to appear that thei>
suspicious were well founded, anC
that Mr.. McKinley's purpose is no
to protect, but to conquer them; no
to save them from the tyranny o
Spain, but to establish a tyranny o
his own over them.
And for this the American call
them bloodthirsty. Were our fore
fathers bloodthirsty when they sho
down King Georges men? Wa
> George Washington bloodthlrst!
when he ordered his little revolu
tionary band to make targets of tn
! red coats of England's best soldiery
y You see we must unlearn all thes
5 things before we bring ourselves t
subscribe to the bloodthirstiness Q
!. the patriots of the Philippin
= Islands.
Il 1.-The flag of the United States,
;. says the American, was planted i
u the Philippine Archipelago by fore
Il of circumstance" Very true.
u was a coaling circumstance, Tha
. circumstance no longer exists. VIII
II not furl the flag and bring it home
e 1t is freeman's flag! Shall it b
. dishonored by being made to wav
y Ger serfs and slaves in foreig
y, land!
II "In the meantime those publ
> speak and writers in this countr
20 who are criticising the Unite
u States Government for it's course tt
20 ward these Malays, are encouragin
i the shedding of American blood,
% says this Administration organ, an
III "their words and acts are almo
10 reasonable" Indeed! And that
u to be the cry, is it! Treason again
10 who or what? Treason against tt
d Father of our Country, or the Art
IN cles of Confederation! TreasC
% against Thomas Jefferson, or tn
~ Declaration of independence,
le Treason, perchance, against Villa,
d Mckinley and his plutocratic cab
DIV net. Ifso, the word has no terror f,
" those who love freedom for fire.
~ dom's sake, and who will accord
NJ even the poorest Malay the rigl
90 and privilege to worship God accor
SO ing to the dictates of his own CO
SO science.
III "Fine-spun theories" continu
es this same authority, "of what Il
w forefathers intended, are not gOil