The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-09
COL WILLIAM jennings bryan SOUNDS IHE keynote Of THE RIGHT

is our duty to avoid stealing. no mare
Whetner the thing to be stolen is of great
S or nttle value 1t is our duty to avoid
killing human being. no matter where
the human being lives or to what race ar
class he belongs Every one recognfzes
the obligatio imposed upon indlviduals
to observe both human and moral law
put, as some deny the application Of those
laws TO nations. 1t may not be out ~
place to quote the opinions OF others.
political authority, said:
know OF but one code of morality
for men, whether acting s;ngly or col
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and
virtue are part of the priceless legacy
bequeathed to us from the Revolutionary
days, expressed the same idea in even
stronger language when he said:
Justice is as strictly due between
ne1ghDor nations as between neighbor cit
izens. A highwayman Is as much a rob
Der when he plumbers in a gang as wher
singly, and the nation that makes an IN
just war IS only a great gang"
FORCE CREATES NO RIGHT.
Men may dare TO do in crowds what
they would not dare to do as fndivid-
uaIs out the moral character Of an act
Is not determined by the number of those
who join in 1T. Force can defend a right,
but force has never yet created a right
II it was true, as declared in the resolu-
ton or intervention, that the Cubans ''are
and OF right ought to be free and indie
pendent Language taken from the Dec
iaration of Independence). 1t is equally
true that the Filtpinos ARE and of right
ought to be free and independent" The
right or the Cubans to freedom was not
passed upon their proximity to the United
states, nor upon the language which they
spoke nor yet upon the race or races to
which they belonged. Congress by a
practically unanimous vote declared that
the principles enunclated at Philadelphia
In ITS were still alive and applicable to
the Cubans.
Who will draw a line between the nat
ural rights of the Cubans and the Fiji
pinos? Who will say that the former have
right to liberty and the latter have no
rights which we are bound to respect2
And, If the Fflipinos are and of right
ought to be free and independent" what
right have We to force our government
upon them without their consent? Before
our duty can be asceTtained and when
their rights are once determined, it Is as
as 1T was the duty Of Spain to
respect the rights of the peo-
pie of Cuba. or the duty Of England to
respect the rights Of the American col
ontsts. Rights never conflict; duties never
clash. Can 1t be our duty to usurp polit-
ical rights which belong to others? Can
1t be our duty to kill those who, following
the example of our fOrefathers. love lib
erty well enough to fight for it2
Some poet has described the terror
which overcame a soldier who, in the
midst Of battle, discovered that ne had
slain his brother. 1t Is written. "All We
are brethren" Let US hope for the COM
ing of the day when human life-which.
when once destroyed cannot be restored
will be 80 sacred that II will never be
taken except when necessary to punish
crime already committed or to prevent
crime about to be committed.
NATIONS HIGHEST OBLIGATION.
If 1t is said that we have assumed be-
fore the world obligations which make II
necessary for US to permanently main
tain a government in the Philippine ISL
ands. 1 reply, first, that the highest obli
cation OF this nation is to be true to
itself. No obligation to any particular
nation. or to all nations combined, can
require the abandonment of our theory
Of government and the substitution OF
doctrines against which our whole ma
tional life has been protest. And sec
ond. that our obligations to the FIlipnos.
who inhabit the Islands, are greater than
any obligation which we can owe to for
eigners who have a temporary residence
in the Philippines or desire to trade there.
1t is argued by some that the Fi&pinos
are incapable Of self-government, and
that therefore we owe 1t to the world
to take control Of them. Admiral Dewey.
in an official report to the navy depart
ment, declared the FiiipinOs more capa-
BILE Of self-government than the Cubans.
and said that he based his opinion upon
knowledge of both races But / will
not rest the case upon the relative ad-
Vancement of the FflipinOs Henry Clay.
in defending the rights of the people OF
South America to self-goVernment. said:
1T is the doctrine of thrones that man
Is too ignorant to govern himself Their
partiSanS assert his incapacity in refer
ence to all nations; If they command
universal assent to the proposition, Ii Is
then remanded to particular nations; and
our pride and our presumption too often
make converts OF us. l contend that II
Is to arraign the disposition Of PrOvi-
denCe Himself to suppose that He has
created beings incapable Of governing
themselves, and to be trampled on by
kings. Self-government IS the natural
government of man..
AGREES WITH CLAY.
Clay was right There are degrees OF
proficiency In the art Of f-gOvernment,
but 1t is a reflection upon the Creator
to say that He denied to any people the
capacity Of lf-government. Once admit
that some people are capable of self.
government and that others are not, and
that the capable people have a right 10
seize upon and govern the incapable, and
you make force-brute force-the only
foundation of government and invite the
reign of the despOt. I am willing to be.
lleVe that reign Of the despOt. / am not
willing to believe that an all-wiye and
ALLOWING God created the Filipinos and
then left them thousands OF years help
less until the Islands attracted the at
tenttOn of European nations.
THE FLAG AND THE DEAD.
Republicans ask. Shall we haul down
Philippines?" The same question might
have been asked when the American
flag floated over Chapultepec and waved
over the dead who fell there; but the
tourist who visits the City Of Mexico
finds there a national cemetery owned
by the United States and cared for b.
an American citizen. Our flag still floats
over the dead, but when the treaty with
Mexico was signed Amer< an authority
withdrew to the Rio Grande, and / ven
ture the opinion that dJSing the last
fifty years the people of Mexico have
made more progress under the stimulus
CT independence and 5elf-goVernment
than they would have made under a car
petbag government held In place by bay
onets. The United States and Mexico.
friendly republics, are each stronger and
happier than they would have been had
the former been cursed and the latter
crushed by an imperialistlc policy dis
guised as benevolent assimilation"
Can we not govern cOlOniesT' we are
asked. The question Is not what we
do. but what we ought to do. This Id
ton can do whatever 1t desires to do
but it must accept responsibility for what
1t does If the constitution stands in he
way the people can amend the cSSStttu-
ton. l repeat, the nation can do what
ever 1t desires to do, but 1t cannot avoid
the natural and legitimate results Of its
own conduct. The young man, upon
reaching his majority. can do what he
pleases. He can disregard the teach
ings of his parents; he can trample upon
all that he has been taught to consider
sacred; he can disObey the laws Of the
state. the laws of society and the laws
of God. He
CAN STAMP FAILURE
upon his life and make his very exist
ence a curse to his fellOwmen and ne
can bring his father and mother in sOr-
row to the grave; but he CANNOT annu
the sentence, THE wages of sin -
DEATH" And so with this nation II
is of age, and 1t can do what It ple2ses;
1T can spurn~ the traditions of the past:
it can repudiate the principles upon
which the nation rests: 1t can employ
force instead of reason; It can substi-
tute might for right; 1t can conquer
weaker people; it can exploit their lands
arrlrnrnril te their nrnnartN. anL klLL Lh--LL-