Omaha daily bee., 1899-03-10

Springfield CMassD Republican.
The expense Of Philippine occupation to
the United states government is now at the
rate Of from 10000 900 to $4,000 600 a year
and is increasing; while the Agricultural
department has just issued a report showing
| that the total import trade of the islands for
| a dozen years past has averaged only about
! $l7,000,O 600 a year. If We should get the
whole trade, and If it were all net profit the
\ present bargain could not be considered a
highly profitable one in view of all the risks
/ involved. II we should get the whole trade
and make the handsome profit of 20 per cent
on it, the gain of $3,4OO 900 would cost an
expenditure of four times that amount. But
we should not, of course, get the whole
trade under the open door or any other pol
| icy short of absolute prohibition Of imports
| from other nations.
How far is our present course in the is
| lands calculated to create a market for Amer
ican wares outside of the powder and bullets
we are paying for ourselves? This is what
Clay MacCauley, the missionary, wrote from
Hong Kong on the subject before the present
outbreak, and in clear sighted anticipation
of such an outcome of an attempt on our
part to annex the islands:
Then, should such war be undertaken, it
destruction of the present industries and
commerce of the Philippines, so far unin-
jured, would be an incalcuable disaster to
the United States, in the permanent embit-
terment of the people of the islands against
us, in the loss of the good will of our
friends among the worlds nations, and in
the final effacement of our own national
ideal of human freedom and of each man S
rights in the pursuit of happiness. Need
more be said to show the faulty of the pro-
posed annexation of these islands of the far
east to the United States?'
And true to this prediction, we are now
proceeding to shoot out of existence what
little market existed as the result OF the
great $2OOOOOOO bargain.
We hear very little nowadays of this
phase of the question. Secretary Gage is
not saying much at present about phil
anthropy and 8 per cent" He and Sec
retary Wilson and other spokesmen for the
money side of the grab are not now telling
the people how we shall keep our mills 60
ing selling beds for Filipinos to sleep in
and woolens for them to wear and wheat
flour and dressed beef for them to eat. No.
The cry now is that I'VE could not help it"
We never wanted the islands-providence
destiny or something else forced them on
to us.
Nevertheless, we should not miss what so
ardent lingo as Lord Charles Beresford
said, during his recent stay in the United
States, of the trade value of political pos
sessions, Egypt in particular:
Save for its strategic advantages, Egypt
has not been worth shilling to England
Great Britain has sacrificed lives and money
to make Egypt safe and secure and it has
put the Egyptian army and police in order.
1t has gained no financial advantage"
And to the same conclusion spoke John
Morley recently to his Montrose constitu-
ents:
I'VE have had practical dominion in Egypt
for now something like seventeen years.
Speaking broadly, our occupation of Egypt,
whatever else it has done, has not improved
in any appreciable degree the Egyptian
market for our goods, and while our i'm
ports into Egypt go up extremely slowly, the
importations from such countries as Belgium
and Germany have gone up very rapidly
Which adds a mite to the mass of fact that
is crushing down the trade argument of
jingoism into everlasting ridicule.
But if markets cannot necessarily be
grabbed by grabbing territory, least of all
can they be built up by shooting down the
people who are to constitute such markets.