Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1899-02-16


we are taking all these islands because
we think they will be profitable, and that
we would not take them il We thought
they would be Improbable.
Even now race troubles are raging in
the south. The negroes brought by our
forefathers from Africa to toll upon Amer
lean plantations have cost more in blood
and treasure to the people Of the United
States than they would have cost if every
black man, woman and child had been
manumitted, their freedom purchased for
coin, and themselves shipped back to
Africa first-class on luxurious steamships.
Let us be warned by the example OF our
forefathers, and stop lodging the truth,
Quibbling with the eternal verities. and
telling smooth and pretty lies. Let us
tell the truth and -hame the devil, il
we can.
Let us admit that all men are not born
free and equal. Let us admit that the
blacks, even here, are not our equals. Let
us admit that we are Selling these lands
without consulting the wishes of their
inhabitants. Let us admit that all gov
eminent does not repose upon the con-
sent of the governed. Let us admit that
we are taxing these colonies because we
hope that they will pay. And then let
us 60 to work and make them pay.
The only way in which these colonies
can be made profitable to the United
States is to treat them as plantations, and
govern them with an iron hand. Let us
take the negroes with whom our southern
fellow-ctizens have Sd much trouble, arm
them. drill them, send them as colonial
garrisons to our new colonies, and let
them there mix with the natives, and
thus gradually Americanize them. Let
us force the natives there to work ,wheth-
err they will or no. Let us follow the eX-
ample of Holland in governing Java, and
make the natives work so many hours Il
day and so many days week These
colonies include some of the richest spots
of earth upon the globe. If we attempt
to carry out o II sentimental ideas Of self
government, the natives will do as ma
tives in the tropics have done for countless
ages They will sit down and let Mother
Nature drop food into their mouths. We
must make them work, and We must
rule them with rod of iron.
Any half-hearted or mealy.mouihed
measures in dealing with these colonial
problems will result only in disaster. We
must lule tropical natives as England
rules them if we would be successful We
must rule Malays as Holland rules them
| if we would be successful. And we must
stop throwing dust into our own eyes and
! telling each other sentimental lies a.out
duty and destiny and war for hu-
mainly
1t is folly to hope that Porto Rico, the
Philippines, or even Hawaii can ever
make American states. 1t is folly to talk
OF these tropical peoples ever becoming
American citizens. II there are any en-
pansionists who cherish such ideas they
may as we'll lay them aside here and
now. Some OF the Americans who fought
to conquer these territories would fight
more determinedly to prevent their ever
becoming states. These lands may be-
come our property, their inhabitants
may become our servants. but they shall
never become our equals.
Let MS take all these colonies and keep
them. Let us take them from their native
owners, and make their former owners
work for us. Brutal people call that con-
quest. Squeamish people may call il
robbery. Perhaps it is, and perhaps it is
not. But if it is, in the name Of all that
is decent, let us not open the robbery
with prayer.