The record-union., 1899-07-03
PARTISAN ASSAULT.


eral popping of Democratic guns along
the line of Democratic journalism
against the war in the Philippines,
against the Administration, and
against any further attempt to make
our title to the archipelago one of pos
session as we'll as of right.
These assaults descend to the level
of the mean and the unpatriotic and ara
largely OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES out
of the whole cloth One of the fore
most of these assailants is a leading
journal of the State and INDUCES itself
in wofu1 pictures of 700 lives .sacri
feed in the Philippines in the effort
to rob the Filipinos of their. lib
erty"
Does the Stockton MALI reflect that
its figures are wrong? The exact loss
of life in the Philippines on our side
has been 664 out of over 2S,000. Now
in the ordinary processes of nature
some men out of SO large group would
have died had they remained at home.
Ordinarily the loss would have been not
less than Is in 1000. But grant that
these We're selected lives sent out to
the Philippines, and that as few as 10
out of the 600 would have died in
the ordinary course of nature, and then
the loss Of life is reduced by $50.
AS to "robbing" the Filipinos of their
liberty" that is mere exclamation, and
as the charge is SO general along the
Democratic line, it may be assumed to
be partisan, very much below the level
of the patriotic. The Filipinos had
not their liberty. Under the American
flag they would have had it, have en-
joyed a larger measure of freedom than
their most vivid irnaginings have ever
conjured up. 1t was the Filipinos, not
the Americans, who brought on the
strife. They, and they alone, are re-
sponsible for the present conditions
operating upon them. But the Filipino
poulation is by no means at war with
us, but only beggerly portion of il,
and that the class which has always
kept Luzon in trouble.
However, not all Democratic journals
have Joined in the unpatriotic hue and
cry. The San Jose Herald" and the
Vacaville Reporter" are examples, the
Democracy of which is not to be chal-
lenged. and they have the courage to
say to- their Democratic contempor-
aries that the Philippine question is
not partisan one The Herald" says:
II General Otis speaks by the card
some of our citizens have a great deal
to learn about dealing with half civil
lied peoples and those people have
great deal to learn about American
politics.
The persons and papers, of whatever
political creed, in the United States
that are engaged in denouncing the
war in the Philippines and the policy
OF expansion, do not, as a rule, recog-
nize the fact that they are giving aid
and comfort to the enemy and helping
to kill off American soldiers. They
hardly realize that their fool talk is
taken up by Filipino agents and con-
strued as advocacy of the insurgent
cause and hostility to the policy of the
Government to the extent of reversing
all its action. They are so much in
the habit of shooting their mouths off,
in local political contests and having
their talk taken for only what 1t IS
really worth. that. they do not under
stand how much damage it may do in
the management of our foreign acqui-
sitions. On the other hand the Fill
pino insurgents accept this talk as
something serious and to the point
They do not understand that it is mere
~ the old, stock American political
claptrap. They really believe that if
political change should put these talk
ers IN power, American rights and
power in the Philippines would be sur
rendered and the Tagals left to carry
out their own ideas of running the ISL
ands. They do not comprehend that
as soon as these opponents of the pres
ent Administration got into power
they would find a thousand reasons for
doing just what that administration
Is doing SO far as maintaining control
in the islands is concerned. The pres.
ent opposition to The policy of subduing
the insurgents and retaining control
Of the islands is made by a few well
meaning but impracticable persons of
all shades Of political opinion and by