The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-06-19

and whom we hope some dsy to welcome
of a sister republic.
We are dealing with Cuba. in a spirit
NOT only OF harness., but of generosity |
ever the inhabitants of that island evince |
ana declare their ability to take over its /
government and control, that day they
shall receive it; and until then we shalll
continue to administer its affairs under a |
RUE sanitary and satisfactory to all good
cltlzens IN Cuba. and creditable to the adj
ministration at Washington, under whose
orders the government is conducted
Had there been no war with Spain fhis
Republic, inclined by principle and in
would have continued the development of
our national resources and character |
within its existing borders, content in the
future, as throughout the century just
ending, with that path of a national duty
We are not a warlike or a quarrelsome
people We have never coveted the pos
sessions of other principalities and land
lust is unknown among US. We would
fight to the death to protect that which is
rightfully ours; to avenge a wrong sought
to be perpetrated upon US, and to guard this
hemisphere from any attempt by foreign
its soil This has been our creed, and we
nave looked forward with hope and with
States, lying between the two oceans.
should lead among the nations of the
earth, not by right of the sword. but be-
cause the character and high intelligence
of our people, and the marvellous re-
sources OF our country, would enable US,
IN the peaceful rivalry of commerce, to
dominate eventually the markets of the
world To that end we had for more than
a hundred years held ourselves aloof from
foreign complications, and sought to
make ourselves strong from within, with
no thought Of colonial conquest.
The future of nations, however. like the
future OF man, is hid from mortal vision,
ana. no more than man may a nation
ended and we faced our victory in all its
completeness, we found eight millions of
livered into. our hands. Abandonment of
them would De confession that while the
oppression by Spain of a million and a
half of Cubans demanded our armed in
reference, greater barbarity and cruelty
to millions of Fiipinos, less able to pro-
tect themselves. was a subject of no con-
Germ to US. No civilized nation in the
world, no Christian nation could have
turned these people back to Spain. Our
commissioners, when they insisted upon
our retention of the Philippines, voiced
the sentiments and wishes of the Ameri-
can people; and this nation has assumed
with open eyes and with full realization
of the difficulties which may be encoun-
tered, the grave responsibilities imposed
upon US by the Treaty of Paris.
We are told that the islands are rich in
wealth, and in the possibilities of their
future development. So much the better
desert, we would have taken them just
the same.
We haven't been there long. but long
enough to reach two conclusions: One is,
that the first thing we intend doing is to
suppress the Tagal instruction and to
establish law and order throughout the
archipelago. That is the first thing we
shall do. And the last, the very last thing
we intend doing. is to consider, even for
q moment. the question of giving I'D or of
abandoning these islands.
We are actually owners of the Philip
pines by an undisputed and indubitable
title We thcre as the necessary and
logical outcome Of our victory over Spain.
There are upwards of a thousand islands
sprinkled upon that southern sea, peopled
by more than eighty tribes of differing
race and language, and having absolutely
nothing IN common with each other Most
of these tribes welcome our coming and
| are grateful for cur protection The Taga1
tribe, hostile not only to US. but to most
of the native tribes, are in Instruction
against orr authority. They have neither
| a government nor the CAPACITY to conduct
| one, and are Waging predatory guerilla
warfare which would be turned against
| the other native tribes if we LET them
| alone. What would the Democracy have
/ US do2 Give them up to rapine and blood
1 she'd and leave the islands as fioteam and
| jetsam on the face of the waters2 There
are parallels in our own history. We
purchased Florida from Spain in 1871,
for five millions of dollars; and other val
liable considerations. The SeminoleS, ma
/ tives of the soil, brave, resolute, having
far greater intelligence and character
! than the Tagals. disputed our possession.
We sent Andrew jackson down TO fight
! them. ana 1t took US twenty-one years to
subdue them and send what was left of
| them west of the Mississippi. If the Anti
eVerythings" had lived then, they would,
/ I suppose. have urged US to turn over
| Florida TO Osceola, the Aguinaldo of the
| Serninoles. Would you after the war
with Mexico and the Gadsden purchase,
/ have given the great area south and west
of the Arkansas to the red Apache? Not
so did our fathers conStrue their duty, and
/ as they built. so shall We, their sons.
| The insurreetion against our legitimate
/ our efforts to establish a government for
4 the Fnipinos, involves US in sacrifice
/ of lives and treasure. The obstacles We
| encounter in the Island of Luzon are
| many, but the chief inspiration and en-
| enlargement of the Tagal insurrectFon
come from the Democratic headquarters
| in the United States. Partisanship has
| proved stronger than patriotism, even
| while our soldiers are being murdered by
| marauding bandits, and if it were not
for the hope held out to Aguinaldo by
| American sympa tli1ers, the instruction
| in the Philippines would long ago have
/ ended.
| The obstacles to the esta blishmerTt of a
! civil government in the islands are many.
| but We shall overcome them Aiista hes
| will undoubtedly be made, but we SHAH
! over that archipelago the aegis of our
protection and OF free government. and
| We shall gradually, but surely, lift up
| of civilization and Christianity Mean
1 while, American enterprise and ingenuity
! and push may be depended upon to de-
| veIot the resources of the islands, and
| make them an added source of wealth
/ to our country. The wise craftsmanship
! of the president and our able secretary Of
! state has already brought from the coun-
| tries of Europe a recognition of our right
! to share in the vast commercial adVant-
/ ages which will follow the opening of the
| Chinese empire to foreign trade; the Mica
/
| Hawaii with its valuable harbor. is ours
] We possess the best of the Samoan Is
| lands, with its magnificent roadway; the
/ Philippines are almost at the door Of
! China and if counsels of fear do not pre-
vail this generation win see the American
nation girding half the globe with its flag,
extending its foreign commerce to the ut
termost parts Of the earth, and taking its
place among the great World-natiOns. 4
power for good, for peace, and for right
eousneSs-
Never since "a when the voters of the
11ead fe
/ whether the efforts of Abraham Lincoln
to preserve the union should be continued
| or whether they should be abandoned and
| other measures attempted, have questions
/ so vital been presented to the American
| people for settlement. Their decision must
determine the maintenance or the degra-
| dalton Of both our national credit and olIl
national honor A Democratic president
| could paTalyZe the operation of the new
L.