Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-18
TIE pOLlcY OF nr1r

Those were strong and significant
words that were uttered by President
Mckinley at Milwaukee when he said:
The greatest policy in this world for
men or nations is duty and whenever
that calls we should follow No fair
minded man can doubt that the preSi-
dent is animated by profound sense of
duty, that what he has done and is do
ing he conscientiously believes the i'm
pcrativc requirement of his constitu-
tional obligations. ON another occasion
Mr.. Mckinley said that "thc sovcr-
eighty of the United States in the Phil
ippines cannot be given away by a pres
ident," yet there are some who evidently
think 1t can be and who beratc the pres
ident because he does not give 1t away.
There has rarely been in our history
anything more unfair and unreasonable
than the assaults made upon the prcSi-
dent which affirm or imply that he has
acted in disregard OF duty, and the peo-
pie who are doing this, there can be no
doubt, would be equally Jealous In do
nouncing the president had he taken n
different course.
The sovereignty of the Philippines,
said Mr.. Mckinley, belongs to the peo-
pie and the president of the United
States has but one duty to perform and
that is to maintain and establish the au-
thority of the United States in those
islands. 'Iic could not do less and per
form his duty" Whoever will give this
fair and candid consideration must APP
prove It, The president is acting for the
people, aS required by the representa-
tiVcs of the people in congress. He is
proceeding strictly within the limits of
his constitutional authority and the duty
devolvcd upon him by congress. When
congress ratified the treaty of peace it
accepted, for the American people, the
sovereignty of the Philippines ceded by
Spain and whatever may be thought of
the wisdom of this action it unquestion-
ably imposed upon the president the
duty, as imperative as any dovOlvCd
upon him by his oath to faithfully ex-
ecute the laws, of maintaining that SOW
ereisnty. The whole matter was de-
termined by congress and let 1t not be
forgotten that some of those who now
decry and denounce the president be-
cause he is faithfully performing his
duty were in large measure responsible
for the war with Spain. They persist
emily endeavored to plunge the country
into hostilitcs while the president was
employing all the resources of diplo-
macy to obtain justice for Cuba without
recourse to war. 1t required all the in
hucnce of the administration to defeat
the efforts of popocratic jingoes to pre-
ciptate war in the midst of Diplomatic
negotiations and when the country was
utterly unprcpared for war.
1t is obviously to no purpose now to
urge that different policy should have
been adopted in respect to the Philip
pines. What We are now called upon
to do is to deal with the actual condi-
tions that exist there and the president.
as commander-in-chief of the army and
navy, is simply performing the duty re-
quired of him by the action of the peo-
pies representatives. He cannot give
away the sovereignty of the Philippines
accepted by congress. He cannot alter
single condition or rclnquish single
responsibility created by the treaty of
peace with Spain. From the moment
that treaty was ratified it became as
binding upon the executive as any other
act of congress and he has given it no
construction not authorized by its terms.
AS upon congress rests the responsibility
for having accepted sovereignty in the
Philippines, so with congress is the duty
of determining what shall be the future
policy regarding those islands. Pending
that decision the president must con-
tinue to assert American sovereignty
there and do his utmost to maintain it.