New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-03
COLONIAL PROBLEMS.
THIS COUNTRY's DIFFICULTIES prcoo(
NTzED, BUT ITS OBLIGATIONS
REAFFIRMED.

MUST BE UNQrEsTIoNED-sTrDY OF OTHER
COLONIAL ADMINISTRATIVE METHODS
COLONIAL CIVIL SERVICE.
To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir; The American people being OF nece..,.
in an expectant attitude toward the PhrInr,,.
question cannot but welcome every thougb,ss
contribution upon the subject.
The two most weghty deliverances then ,ro,,
men of recognized authority. not occupying n,b.
lie positions have undoubtedly been. I'd 70 N.
present time those OF Mr.. Carl schurz and ",
Whit law Reid. the former upon The occasion =,
the Chicago conference and the latter upon r..
ceiving his degree from the University OF Prince.
ton
without touching upon the many other issue.
raised by these two prominent men. there IL a,
least one which deserves most careful consider.
alton Mr. Schurz contends that We must CIV.
the Filipinos self-goyernment. even should ,ha,
| government assume the form Of an Agunado
6ictatorship:-truy n somewhat lame and In
potent conclusion. and yet very refreshing a. An
Acknowledgement Of the actual conditions
Now any one who has oyer been in a troplea,
or subtropical country. Or not having had tina,
fruitful opportunity for personal observation
has brought ordinary intelligence 70 bear uoon
the study Of government in those attitudes well
knows that self governmcnt. as understood BY
civilized communities. is entirely beyond the
range If though, and action of people Of the
clara tor and antecedents Of the Philippine Isl-
andere one cannot bur remark. with great In.
terast that the class in our community most
critical Of our own shortcomings selt-goy.
erniny community are the loudesi In their PRO.
,estations Of the necessity In the interest 0.
Justice and Of peace Of turning over the whole
/ Philippine population to such desno'ism or oil.
earchy as might happen to come out on top as
soon as the strong arm Of the United States 10
Withdrawn.
! BY some curious kink in the intellectual
process by which they arrive az their concu.
! sions they seem 70 forget that self-Government
/ represents Of all forms yet devised by the vi.
! Of man. tho most delicate piece Of machinery
known to the art. certainly by no means ye.
perfected in our country by people unit.
ing natural genius for free institutions with
/ all the inherited advantages from Magma
| Charta down. Of the successful struggle for ID.
erty through centuries Of trial and trbus.oa
! on English soil.
Fairly assuming. then. that the propose.
| despotism Of Mr.. Schurz Of necessity ftful and
uncertain, will he the natural outcome o. his
/ proffered remedy. let us contrast his scheme
Of regeneration with the other
Mr. Reid rightly valves both the scut.l!ig
and embracing methods tfor the first would be
at once impolitc and cowardly and the second
! simply fooshness). and in statesmanlike way
comes right down to the business IN hand That
a conservative people like our own should look
with deep concern, and even with something
! akin to dismay, upon proposition requiring
radical departure from our cherished policy Of
,,,. fybi
! mendabe.
The American people will insist and rightly
insist upon a very careful consideration Of the
momentous questions involved, and II Is only
after full and free discussion of every side Of
the question that they will finally make up Their
minds That the trend of popular sentiment f.
: at present largely In favor of Mr.. Reds theory
! of development as against that OF Mr.. Schurz
J seems evident and that It will gather tUu q
time goes on is my own belief.
What then. does Mr.. Reid propose? Simply
the natural and logical sequence of military
! government SO long as required followed BY a
civil government when conditions authorize the
( change, with such limited self government as
experience shall prove to be advisable in the IN
tcrest Of good order, the administration OF equal
justice and peace. as the logical result OF the
other two. But preceding this peace resulting
from content with improved surroundings must
come peace imposed by war certainly no
thing in the march Of civilization. Though the
superficial conditions are so different. the under.
lying principles are much the same as in the
present South African complications.
In other words, the law of progress particu-
; larry since the sudden shrinkage Of the world as
the result of improved means Of intercommunl-
cation. and therefore increased community OF
+ interest requires each section OF the world
brought within the sphere OF its new surround
ings to accommodate itself to the requirements
of civilization under pain OF forfeiture Of con-
troll.
The failure to appreciate the force OF TINS
! domin ting factor OF modern international HE
certainly creates confusion Of thought aAi
seems to have been overlooked by Mr. CleVeleno
when he asserts that We have no right to CON-
pei acceptance Of our method Of government oy
force Of arms upon an unwilling people. HAD
our forefathers been Of the same opinion ap'
prehend that the Six Nations might still be 10
control Of the affairs OF the State OF New lo1A
had such political entity been possible uhoe'
the Cleveland theory Of development.
AS to the working out OF the details OK the
Reid theory. admit that the gravest difficulties
confront us. the actual. forcible pachcation o.
the islands being certainly the least Fortu'
| nately for us. however. We would enter upo"
no untried field. at least so far as the experience
of other nations might be OF service. careiu'
study of English and Dutch methods must oe
from the business OF those who wou!a
lead both in the discussion and fulalment o.
duties. That We as a Nation. are pio'
foundly ignorant Of how best to accomplish ln'
task suddenly forced upon us by the uncon'
troable current OF events l freely admit l"S'
many blunders grave enough possibly 10 ap'
proach the confines Of crime. may be mace -
equally evident. but at least our stumbling WIZ
lead in the direction Of substantial progress a"'
bring far less misery in its wake than the use
less and ultimately inconsequential stun'ohhs