The Topeka state journal., 1900-09-17
territorfes. according Id thefr needs.

territories, according to their needs.
Tne simple t-s.th is that there is nothing
or. "militarisna'' involved in the present de-
TeiopuenC OF that policy of expansion
America from the day when she became
a nation The words mean absolutely
nothing as applied to our present policy
imperialistic In the sense that Jefferson
policy in louisiana was imperialistic; only
military in the sense that JacksOn's policy
toward the SeninoIes or Clusters toward
the Sioux embodied miIitarism; and there
is no more danger OF its producing evil
results at home now than there was of
its interfering with freedom under Jeffer-
dian wars on the plains Our army is
relatively not as large as it was in the
for every 1000 inhabitants. There IS no
more danger of draft than there is of
the reintroduction of slavery
EXPANSION OPPOSES IMPERIALISM
When we expanded over New Mexico
and California We secured free govern
tIi ~ sa anu prsEsntso
dictatorship ike that of Santa Ana, or the
Imperialism" of a real empire in the days
OF Max1miltan- We put a stop TO imperial
ism in Mexico as soon as the civil war
closed We made great anti-imperialistic
Porto Rico and the Philippines and there
by made ready the ground in these islands
self-government 6Dr which their popuIa-
tions are severaily fitted Cuba IS being
rapidly her own citizens are content
that she should go. OF course the presence
Of troops in the Philippines during the
TagaI insurrection had no more to do with
mflitarism or imperialism than had their
presence IN the Dakotas, Minnesota and
wyoming during the many years which
elapsed before th= final outbreaks Of the
Sioux were definitely put down There is
risoning Luzo1i uf1ti order IS restored than
there was Imperialism in sending soldiers
70 South Dakota IN 1850, during the Oga1-
lalla outbreak The reasoning which JUS
t1fies our having made war against Sit
tlng Bu4 also Just1fies our having checked
the outbreaks of Aguinaldo and his fol-
lowers, directed. as they were, against
Filipino and American alike.
The only certain way Of rendering it
necessary for our republic to enter on a
career of .mfItarism'' would be to aban-
and at the same time either to guarantee
stable government among these tribes
ference A far larger army would be re-
quired to carry out any such policy than
American flag while the presence of this
nag on the Islands IS really the only pos
The whole argument against President
McKinley'S policy in the Philippines be-
comes ABSURD WnSn II 4 CONCEDED tnal we
should to quote the language of the kan
saS City platform, give to the Philippines
first a stable form of government" If
they are now entitled to independence.
they are also entitled to decide for them
selves whether their government shall be
stable or unstable, civilized or savage OF
whether they shall have any government
at all while it is. of course. equally evil
dent that under such conditions we have
right whatever to guarantee them
against outside interference any more
than we have to make such guarantee
in the case of the boxers 1who are merely
the Chinese ana1ogueS of Agufnaldo's fol-
Iowers)- If we have a right to establish
a stable government in the islands it nee
esSarily follows that 1t is not only our
rlgnt, put our quty 70 support that gov
fit to sustain it themselves How else will
it be stable? The minute We leave it, it
n hz al
SHALL WE CONTRACT?
Properly speaking. the question is now
not whether we shall expand-for we have
already expanded-but whether we shall
contract The Philippines are now part Of
American territory. To surrender them
They must. of course. be governed prima-
rily in the interests Of their own citizens.
Our first care must be for the people of
the islands which have come under our
guardianship as a result Of the most right
eous foreign war that has been waged
within the memory of the present genera
ton They must be administered in the
interests of their Inhabitants, and that
personal or partisan politics in their ad-
mfnistration must be entirely eliminated. I
affairs in the different islands such men /
as General Wood Governor Allen and /
thing that we are able to Illustrate what |
ought to be done In the way Of sending I
tua1ly has been done The minor places in |
their administration. where it IS impos- I
by the Str1ctest application of the merit I
system 1t is very important that in our 4
own home administration the merely min 4
ister1al and administrative offices. where Il
the duties are entirely non-political- shall Il
be filed absolutely without reference TO i
partisan affiliations; but this IS many
times more important in the newly ac-
qufred islands The merit system IS in its Il
essence as democratic as our common Il
school system. for It simply means equal Il
chances and fair play for all
WHAT OF AGUINALDO2
1t must be remembered always that gov
erutng these islands in the interest Of the 4
inhabitants may not necessarily be to gov
ern them as the Inhabitants at the mo-
nent prefer. To grant self-goverument to
Luzon under Aguinaldo would be like
granting self-governmeut to an Apache
under some local chief: and
this is more altered by the fact that {
the FIlipfnos fought the Spanfards. than It
ong been trained and employed in the
United States army and have rendered
signal service therein; Just as the Pawnees
lid under the administration Of President
lid IN the days Of General Washington, |
and the friendly tribes Of the Six Nations
n the days Of President Madison
There are now in the United States COM
nunftfes of Indians which have advanced
20 far that it has been possible to en-
EN- all the members of the tribe becorn-
ng United States citizens There are
1ther communities where the bulk Of the
ribe are still too wild for it to be pos
ifviduals among the Apaehes. Pawnees.
roQuois- Sioux and other tribes who are
low United States citizens. and who are
untitled TO stand and to stand on an abso-
white blood Men OF Indian blood are now
erying IN the army and navy and IN con-