The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-09

PORTO RICO
TARIFF PLAIN
ROBBERY.

ROBBERY. =
I'VE condemn, the tariff tax p
y alton imposed by a Republican
= congress upon the helpless and
y distressed people OF Porto Rico
= Such egislation-inspired wholly
y by greed-is indeed the harbinger
= of evil to the republic. The at
y tempt TO collect unjust taxes with Z
4 one hand, and with the other, re- =
= turn them in part to a plundered =
= people. is utterly without consti- =
+ tutiOnal warrant or Justification.
= -StevensOn's speech OF accept
= ance.
%A&A&AA+ARA%@+%%%%A
likeness of the creator it becomes a fix
ture and passes with the Soil?
If governments derive their just
powers from the consent of the gov
erned, it is impossible to secure title
to people, either by force or by pur-
chase We could extinguish Spain's
title by treaty, but if we hold title we
must hold it by some method consist
ent with our ideas of government
When we made allies of the Fllipinos
and armed them TO fight against Spain,
we disputed Spain's title. II we buy
SPANS title we are not innocent pur-
chasers- But even if we had not dis
puted SPANS title. she could transfer
no greater title than she had, and her
title was based on force alone We
cannot defend such a title, but as
Spain gave us a tquit-claim deed, we
can hOnorably turn the property over
TO the party in possession. Whether
any American official gave the Fill
ipinOs moral assurance Of indepen-
denee is not material. There can be
no doubt that we accepted and utilized
the services of the FilipinoS. and that
when we did so we had full knowledge
that they were fighting for their own
independence. and / submit that his
tory furnishes no example of turpitude
baser than ours if we now substitute
our yoke for the Spanish yoke
REASONS OF IMPERIALISTS.
Let us consider briefly the reasons
which have been given in support of
an imperialistic policy Some say that
it is our duty to hold the Philippine
islands. But duty is not an argument;
| 1t is a conclusion. To ascertain what our
duty is. in any emergency. we must
apply well-settied and generally accept
ed principles. 1t is our duty to avoid
stealing, no matter whether the thing
to be stolen is of great or little value.
II is our duty to avoid killing a human
being. no matter where the human be-
ing lives or to what race or class he
! belongs. Everyone recognizes the OBJ
legation imposed upon individuals to
observe both the human and moral law.
but. as some deny the application Of
those laws to nations, it may not be
nTuf nf T11n tn hn Nfr1fc Of
others. Jefferson, than whom there is
no higher political authority, said.
I know of but one code Of morali-
ty for MEN, whether acting 'singly or
collectively
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom
and virtue are a part Of the priceless
| legacy beQueathed to us from the revo-
| lutionary days, expressed the same idea
in even stronger language when he
said:
'"'Justice is as strictly due between
neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a
robber when he plumbers in a gang as
when singly; and the nation that makes
an unjust war is only a great gang.
Men may dare to do in crowds what
/ they would not dare to do as individ-
ualS, but the moral character of an
act is not determined by the number
/ of those who join in it. Force can de-
/ fend d right, but force has never vet
/ created a right If it was true, so de-
clared in the resolution of Intervention,
/ that the CubanS are and of right ought
/ to be free and independent Language
! taken from the Declaration of indie
/ pendence), it is equally true that the
! Filipinos are and of right ought to be
| free and Independent The right of the
/ Cubans to freedom was not based 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 enunciated at Phil
adeIphia in 1776 were still alive and ap-
/ plicabIe to the Cubans.
EQUAL RIGHTS TO ALL.
"Who will draw line between the
natural rights Of the Cubans and the
! FilipinOs? Who will say that the for
mer have a right to liberty and the
/ latter have no rights which we are
J bound to respect?
! ''And, if the Filipinos ARE and of
right ought to be free and indepen-
| dent what right have we to force
] our government upon them without
/ their consentP Before our duty can
be ascertained. and when their rights
are once determined, it is as much
our duty to respect those rights as it
was the duty of Spain to respect the
! rights of the American colonists.
Rights never conflict; duties never
| clash
Can it be our duty to usurp poIiti-
| cal rights which belong to Others2 Can
it be our duty to kill those who, fol-
/ lowing the example of our forefathers
love liberty well enough to fight for
/ it?
Some poet has described the terror
which overcame a soldier who, in the
midst of battle discovered that he had
slain his brother. II 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 re-
stored-will be so sacred that it will
never be taken except when necessary
! TO punish a crime already committed
or to prevent a crime about to be com
| mitted.
/ DUTIES OF NATION.
IF it IS said that we have assumed
before the world obligations which
/ make it necessary for us to permanent.
ly maintain a government in the Phil
ippine islands, / reply first, that the
highest obligation of this nation is tC
be true to itself. No obligation to any
particular nations, or TO all the ma
tions combined, can require the aban-
Comment of our theory of government
and the substitution of doctrines
against which our whole national life
has been a protest. And, second, thai
our obligation to the F'ilipinos, who in
habit the islands, is greater than any
obligation which we can owe to for
eigners who have a temporary resi-
dence in the Philippines or desire tC
| trade there.
ut is argued by some that the Fill
| pinos are incapah bic of self government