New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1899-05-06


or admit his paltry and hypocrital plea o
self defense
II is idle to say the islands are ours, be
cause we half conquered, half bought then
from Spain. They were not Spain eth
er to give or to sell. The robher has II
right to his booty-either to retain or t.
transfer. AT the best, our title was mere
ly that of a receiver of stolen goods
This timsy pretension, even if il avalet
in law, would be worthless in morals. bu
that it has no validity even in law wa
months ago expressly admitted by tha
blind but honest leader of the blind tn,
Rev, Lyman Abbott
Pitiable, too, is the pretext that WI
intend to give the natives good govern
ment 1t is in truth easy enough t,
govern eorpses, and we arc rapidly swell
ing our list of such obedient subjects, but
there is no reason to suppose that we could
even il we would, govern well the living
population. Our government of ourselves
| in the commercial focus of our own cour-
| try is an intoerable stencil in the nostrils
Of civilization our hundred year guard
ianship of our Indian wards has been n
Century of dishonor." Even the human
est rule of the inferior by the superior is
always in the interest-the commercial
interest-of the ruler, and is always op-
preston to which no self-respecting peo-
pie will submit, except at the persuasion
of necessity. But even if it were other
wise even if we could always supply them
with model governors with pure self
sacrificing phlanthropists like the meek
and molluscan Mckinley, or his artifex
Hanna, not to say Eagan and Alger, or
Quay and Platt and Croker, yet it is the
ground principle of our political theory
that even such paragons of virtue are
not quite virtuous enough to govern any
people, even their own people, much less
an alien people, without the latter's con
sent. TO abandon, to repudiate, to spurn
with contempt this axiom of democracy is
certainly not to protect, but to profane the
national honor to annul the faith of the
fathers, and to make the name of the re-
public a byword and kissing.
No There is one, and only one course
fol the sinner who sees his sin, and that
is to repent and turn to cease to do evil
and learn to do well, and that without any
delay not to put it off and wait till con
venient season, when reformation will be
cheap and pleasant and profitable, but to
reform now and here, even though refor
nation be hard and painful and humiliat
ing. If we have sinned before heaven
and In the sight of men, ms beyond qltes-
tion we have, then it is natural and it is
right for us to suffer, and the sooner we
do penance the better. It is vain and
foolish to try to evade the consequences
of error by continuing to err we laugh at
the silly liar, who must tell two lies to
hide one. Nemesis will surely overtake
us, ii not in this generation, then still
more terribly in the next. Justice may
follow with leaden foot, but she smites
with an iron hand.
Lastly, it is idle to plead that universal
human interests demand that we hold the
islands in trust for civilization and to
protect the resident foreigners and foreign
commerce. 1t is not for moment neces-
sary to annex or govern the islands, in
order to bear all this white mans burden
of guilty greed and ungodly gain. What
is the objection to the plan outlined by the
Malay connoisseur, Dr. Alfred Russell
WallaceY What honest American claim
what honorable Caucasian interest would
suffer If we openly turned back upon our
track u Are and blood II ~ slsIserely@
renounced all purpose to subdue the
islands and impose our highly developed
bossocracy upon the natives If we con-
tented ourselves with coaling station and
a fleet strong enough to warn off European
intrudersf Surely, living Filipino is
better than dead Tagal, at least to buy
Waterbury watches and paste diamonds.
Mr.. Editor, indorse in it's most literal
acceptation, and with the utmost earnest
ness, the classical sentiment "Sweet to
die for fatherland.' | have beguiled
many lonely moment with the incom
parable "Dirge" of Collins 'How sleep
The brave who sink to rest = account
most glorious the doom, and beautiful the
lot of him who falls beneath the flag of
honor the army and navy of
The United States, under whatever hard |
ship; | rejoice and exult in the prowess of |
he American soldier and sailor, even
when he executes nefarious orders but |
can never be persuaded that sthe
national honor requires us to persist in |
crime and disgrace, or that it is more |
to perpetuate heinous wrong |
am an old foggy, and not up to date, but |
ng that righteousness exalteth nation,
1ut sin is reproach to any people,"
Il is impossible that the Picayune
,hould not be of accord In this faith, and
ct us hope that hereafter 1t may lend not
wen slight seeming support to the
ambitious designs Of an INSCRIPTIONS
controlled by an avarici
,ns syndicate.
WILLIAM BENJAMIN SMITH.
Tulane University, April 20, 1899.