Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-18
THE PRESIDENTS BosroN SPEECH

THE PIbNIDENIN y BUS 1bN SFtEtt
! The speech of President Mckinley at
! the annual banquet Of the Home Market
! club of Boston is characteristic IN it's
candor Of statement, its high ideals, its
patriotic tone and its evident sincerity.
| II is not to he doubted that Mr., McKu-
! ley profoundly believes all that he said
/ in regard to the responsibility and the
/ duty Of the United States respecting the
| Philippines. He is conscientiously con
vinced, unqucstionably, that humanity
and civilization require of this govern
ment the extension Of its authority over
the islands ceded by Spain and that we
must do this at whatever sacrifice to
ourselves and regardless of the wishes
of the people of those islands. TO him it
is perfectly plain that we should not re-
cedc in the least from the position we
have taken, that we are bound by Il
moral obligation to keep the course, to
give peace and order to the Philippines
and to lead the peoples there forward to
.bcttcr political, moral and social condi-
tions. lie has absolute faith that under
American protection and guidance the
l'ilipinOs will advance and he looks for
ward to the time when they shall have
become a people redeemed from savage
Incidence and habits, devoted to the arts
of peace, in touch with the commerce
and trade of all nations, enjoying the
blessings of freedom of civil and relig
ious liberty, of education and of homes"
who will in future.generatiOns bless the
American republic because it enamel
pated and redeemed their fatherland,
and set them i'll the pathway of the
worlds best civilization"
All Americans who believe in the be-
neficent influence of American institu-
tons will agree that If these could be
pcaceably extended over the Philippines,
that If the people of the islands were
willing to accept them, the results which
the president eloquently portrayed would
undoubtedly be attained. But the Fill
pinos do not desire our rule and are re-
sisting the effort to establish it. They
demand the right to create their own po-
litical system, to make their own inst-
tutions and to govern themselves. What
is the reply we are making to this?
That they are not capable OF self-gov
ernment, that they do not really know
what they want, that they are savages
who must not be left to themselves, lest
they fall into anarchy and become the
prey of others. Therefore we must in
the name of humanity, liberty and civil
lization use our military power to coerce
,In nd
policy We must "whip them to DEATH"
as a United States senator declared, IL
they will not otherwise accept our au-
thority. Is this the proper course for
the foremost republic Of the world,
which in declaring its independence pro-
claimed the doctrine, eternally right,
that governments derive their just pow
ers from the consent of the governed?
Mr.. Mckinley says that we cannot now
ask the consent of the people upon whom
we are attempting to force our rule that
this cannot be done until there is peace
and order. To what purpose, then, has
he sent a commission to these people?
In disclaiming imperial designs Pres
ident Mckinley said that they are alien
to American sentiment, thought and pur-
pose and we have no doubt that he him
self has no such designs, yet it is I'M
questionable that the policy which is be-
ing pursued is distinctly imperialistic
in its tendency. dt is useless to deny
that much of American thought in re-
gard to this matter has undergone a
radical change since the victory of
Dewey and we are constrained to think
that the presidents speech in Boston
will not diminish the influence Of the
imperialistic ideal