The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-09-01

" eno PhoNoiiuB issucS Is III
merit OF the issues He who assumes 1
this country that the politicians polio
alone governs his opponent is likely {
live in FOOLS paradise, until he
) rudely awakened by the returns OF
election day. No man can win out il
the game of politics whose course |
dictated wholly or mainly by considera
lions OF personal or party gain. HI
must favor those things which tn,
majority OF his fellow-countrymen re
gard as best for them. Now it happen
that Mr.. Mckinley is so constituted b,
nature, and by that environment of tn,
Middle West, which is the nursery O
optimists, that he is in favor of an,
policy, any course of action, that, il
his opinion, will make America bigger
better, and richer. He believes thai
protective tariffs have increased the
wealth of the country, and that the ter,
ritory which in his opinion has come
to us by the fortunes of war will be
profitable to us in the uses of peace
lou may call 1t exuberance, or fatalism,
OF rlotous imagination, or fantasy, what
you Will, the mental characteristic OF
Mr.. Mckinley is confidence in his in
buttons, and firm faith that whatever
america does deliberately is likely to
De right, and there are so many Ameri-
cans like him, especially in that part of
The country whence he comes, that
have called him typical American
ana ms community a .typical American
community.
There is, OF course, something to be
said concerning the ethical value of the
national commercial spirit, and of it's
tendencies, but the spirit is widespread,
and have notathe space in this article
to go into question which is essentially
philosophical. l must content myself
with explaining Mr.. Mckinley and his
views, and in doing so point out his
profound faith in the country, in its
capacity to be world power, and in its
fate to remain wherever it's power and
its flag have been placed as the result
of the war.
Feeling the certainty that do as to
Mr.. McKinley's mental characteristics,
and the trend of his sentiments and his
sympathies, l am sure of the conclu.
sions that l have drawn as to his
opinions on the subjects which are of
most Importance to the country.
HE WOULD KEEP THE PHILIPPINES.
The Philippines naturally present
themselves first. The President is con.
WINGED that only part of the Philip
pines people are in revolt; in fact, that
the Tagals alone are doing the fighting.
he intends to put down this insurrec
ton, and to put it down speedily, and
with much convincing energy-in time,
fancy, to permit Senator Burrows to
vote for him for President next year.
This much has been limited at and
openly said in the news of the day, but
repeat it because the President ex.
pressed his confidence with so much
vigor that am inclined to believe that
he is well assured that the wretched war
is near its end The war over the
question naturally is as to the future,
and our own future relations with the
islands, our attitude towards them,
and the character of our control over
them. Coupling what the President
said to me with his characteristics.
which | have briefly set forth, ! con-
clude-a safe conclusion, | think
that the President believes that we shall |
keep the islands, Congress of course.
being the determining factor. This, to
him, is the inevitable outcome of the
He does not conceive it
possible that we should go away, and /
do not believe that he wants us to 90
away. He thinks that we should be
thereby not only abandoning our re-
sponsibilities, but that our action would
be a confession of weakness, which
would make us an object of derision
among Europeans, and would assure
the Oriental peoples that we are ma.
ton quite unworthy of their serious
And it is doubtless a
desire OF the administration to increase
our commerce in the East. The Phil.
ippines so far as mere commerce is
concerned, are not the great figure in
the Pacific at which the President and
his advisers are looking. The trade Of
China is an object for which American
craftsmanship is to struggle. such a
dream as this appeals very strongly to
the typical republican mind, notwith-
its apparent antagonism to the
logic OF protection, and appeals to no
one more than to the President. I'm
aginations are fired by the conception
Of the United States as strong factor
in Asia. These considerations lead
me to say that the President believes
that we shall retain the Philippines,
keeping troops along the sea coast of
the larger islands and not retaining