Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1899-08-30

with such an armed force within can
non range of them, and ignore wal
which was going on between the twC
countries represented by the feet II
the harbor and the soldiers on shore
, 1t ought to be clear to the understand
! ing of any child that hostile proceed.
ings were inevitable under the circum-
stances. If Admiral Dewey had been
supported by land forces he would un-
doubtedly have thought 1t his duty tc
capture the city of Manila the day af-
ter destroying the feet, and the whole
world would have condemned him II
he had failed to do so.
ut thus becomes clearly evident that
/ the embarrassing situation in which
the Americans found themselves placed
at Manila was inevitable from the
very hour that war was declared
against Spain. They could not have
done less than they did do, and 1t
Is morally certain that If they had pur-
sued the extraordinary course which
their critics now advocate, and re-
Trained from any hostile proceedings,
the very men who now find fault with
them would probably have been the
first to censure them for their mac
tivity.
"a still more extraordinary ques-
tion is asked, even by men who are
sometimes called statesmen: why did
the United States insist that the Phil
ippine islands should be ceded to the
American government when peace was
made with Spain? Why did they not
leave the islands in charge of Spain
and let her settle her troubles as best
she could?"
"It seems. unreasonable that such an
unreasonable question should be ask
ed by intelligent men, but there are
those-and they are not few in num-
ber-who persist in assuming that the
United States had an option in this
matter.
"The Americans had gone to war to
remedy a grievous state of things in
Cuba, which had it's parallel in the
Philippines, and they would simply
have stultified themselves before the
world, if, while delivering the people
of an island in the West Indies from
unspeakable tyranny and misery, they
had at the same time left much
larger population in the East Indies in
a state of social and political misery
equally deplorable with that which eX-
listed in the west. To have pursued
such a course as is advocated by oppo-
nents of the present war would have
been not only politically inconsistent
and unwise to the last degree, but NOR
ally wrong from every point of view.
The people of the Philippines had as
much claim upon the Americans as
the people of Cuba had, the only differ
ence being that one people were near
at hand and the others removed to the
other side of the globe.
"Still another question is asked:
why not, after expelling the Span
iards from the Philippines, leave the
people of the islands alone in peace
Why meddle with them further? Why
deprive them of the liberty of choice,
which belongs to every people on
earth? In other words, why not let
them organize a government of their
own and live under its protection?
These questions involve several i'm
possibilities. To leave the people of
the Philippine islands to themselves
would be to proclaim general anarchy
for years and generations to come,
and had such an attempt been made,
the confusion which would have re-
suited, with all of its attendant blood
shed and misery, would have created
such spectacle that the whole civ
ilized world would have execrated us.
"a great many extraordinary mis-
takes are made by writer's and speak
ers when discussing this subject, owing
to the very limited knowledge which
the outside world possesses concern
ing the actual status of the people OF
the islands. 1t seems impossible for
many intelligent persons to compre-
hend the fact that there are at least
80 different tribes or races of people
inhabiting the Philippines. The is
lands as a whole have never been sub
jugated by Spain. Her title to many
of the more southern islands has been
only nominal.
THE class of persons known as the
Filipinos belong almost exclusively to
the Island of LuZon. They are by nc
means popular among the other is
lands, nor has Aguinaldo or any Other
man ever succeeded in winning the
confidence of the islanders generally
Like all Mohammedan Malays, the
people inhabiting the southern DOR
tions of the archipelago are treacher-
Gus, warlike and turbulent. In the
more civilized islands inhabited by the
Visaya race, the Filipinos constitute
very small minority, and If the par.
ties were left to themselves in a short
time a bitter enmity would manifest
itself even among the most civilized
portions OF the northern and centra
islands At every hazard and every
cost it becomes the solemn duty of the
American people, a duty from which
the civilized world will never absolvC
them, to put down all warlike oppo
sition and give peace to the island O.
Luzon, and also provide for good gov,
ernment throughout the whole archi
pelago.
"The war in which we are involved
has been great misfortune, but Il
could have hardly been avoided. Aftei