Iron County register., 1899-02-23

negotiations in peace. Spain is now eifrn-
mated from the problem. 1t remains to
ask what We shall do now. l do not in
trude upon the duties of congress or seek
to anticipate or forestall its action. 1 only
say that the treaty of peace, honorably
secured, having been ratified by the Unit
ed States, and, as we confidently expect.
shortly to be ratified m Spain, congress
will have the power, and / am sure, the
purpose, to do what in good morals is
right and just and humane for these peo-
pies in distant seas.
RESPONSIBILITIES MUST BE MET.
1t is sometimes hard to determine what
Is best to do, and the best thing to do ts
oftentimes the hardest. The prophet of
evil would do nothing, becauSeS he flinche1
at sacrifice and effort, and to do nothing
is easiest and involves the least cost On
those who have things to do there rests
responsibility which is not on those who
have no obligations as doors. If the doubt
erS were in the majority there would, 1t
is true, be no labor, no sacrifice, no anX-
iety and no burden raised or carried; no
contribution from our ease and purse and
comfort to the welfare of others, or even
to the extension of our resources to the
welfare of ourselves. There would be ease,
but, alas, there would be nothing done.
But grave problems come in the life OF
a nation, however much a man may seek
to avoid them. They come without our
seeking, why We do not know, and it is
generation on which they are forced can
not avoid the responsibility of honestly
know precisely how to solve them, but we
can make an honest effort to that end,
and if made in conscience. justice and
honor, 1t will not be in vain.
The future of the Philippine islands is
now in the hands OF the American people.
Until the treaty was ratified or rejected
the executive department of this govern
ment could only preserve the peace and
protect life and property. Thai treaty
Filipinos to the guiding hand and the lib
e1alizinS influences, the generous sympa-
thieS, the uplifting education, not of their
American masters but of their emanci-
pators. No one can tell to-day what is
best for them or for US. L know of no one
at this hour who is wise enough or suf-
ficiently informed to determine wha. form
of government will best subserve their in
terests and our interests, their and our
If we knew everything by intuition
and l sometimes think there are those
who believe that if we do not they do
we should not need information; but un-
fortunately, most of us are not in that
happy state. The whole subject is now
with congress, and congress is the voice,
the conscience and the Judgment of the
American people. Upon their Judgment
and conscience can not We rely? believe
in them; trust them. I know of no bet
ter or safer human tribunal than the peo-
pie.
PROMISE TO FILIPINOS
Until congress shall direct otherwise, it
will be the duty, of the executive to pos
sess and hold the Philippines. giving to
the people thereof peace and benefcent
government, affording them every oppor-
encouraging them in thrift and industry,
making them feel and know we are their
friends not their enemies; that their good
Is our aim; that their welfare is our well
fare; but that neither their aspira tions
nor ours can be realized until our authori-
ty is acknowledged and unquestioned.
That the inhabitants of the Philippines
will be benefited by this republic is my
unshaken belief; that they will have
kindlier government under our guidance,
and that they will be aided in every pos
sible way to be self-respecting and self
American people love liberty and have an
abiding faith in their own government
and their own institutions. No imperial
designs lurk in the American mind. They
are alien to American sentiment, thought
and purpose. Our priceless principles un-
dergo no change under tropical sun.
sacred folds and are ineXtinguishable in
their shining stars. They go with the
fiat:
Why read We not the changeless truth,
The free can conquer, but to save?
If We can benefit these remote peoples,
who will object? If in the years of the
future they are established in govern
ment under law and liberty, who will re-
gret our perils and sacrifices; who will
not rejoice in our herOism and humanity?
We always have perils and always pass
them safely Always darkness and clouds
but always shining through them the
light and the sunshine; always cost and
sacrifice, but always after them the
fruition of liberty education and civiliza-
tion.
l have no light or knowledge not COM
mon to my countrymen. do not prophesy.
The present is all-absorbing to me- but
can not bind my vision by the blood
stained trenches around Manila. where
every red drop. whether from the veins
of an American soldier or a misguided
Filipino, is an anguish to my heart: but
by the broad range of future years, when
the group of islands under the impulse of
the year just past shall have become the
gems and glories of those tropical seas, a
land of plenty and of increasing possibili-
ties, people redeemed from savage in
dolence and habits, devoted to the arts of
peace, in touch with the commerce and
trade of all nations, enjoying the bless
ings of freedom. of civil and religious
liberty, of education and of homes, and
whose children and children's children
shall for ages hence bless the American
republic because it emancipated and re-
deemed their fatherland and set them in
the pathway of the worlds best civiliza~
ton,