Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-19

and it's other poverty stricken people and
req and clothed them. We organized q
where established law and order. This
mad hrst to be done. Then followed a
compliance of the terms of the treaty.
which gave the Spanish inhabitants until
April IL to determine whether or not they
would register as citizens or preserve
their allegiance to Spain. Meanwhile a
careful census of the island was mace,
Then came the fixing of the qualifca-
lions Tor the right of suffrage, which
divided into municipalities and the regis
tratlon provided for. And on yesterday.
the 18th of June, municipal elections
were held. all through the island. as the
first and preliminary step towards the
establishment of a national government
and the adoption of a constitution.
And in this connection 1t is fitting to
say that the peculations and frauds
committed in Cuba by subordinate off,
with shame, and Until the last of the
guilty men is arrested and convicted and
sentenced that shame will know no
abatement. 1t is no more to be harged
to the party than would a theft by a
trusted employe be charged against the
character of the merchant who employed
him. The party that shields and protects
dishonest officials ~forfeits public conf
dence. not the party that exposes and
Furnishes them. The republican party has
been rarely the victim of misplaced con-
fidence in it's officials. In this instance
the appointments were made with the
greatest care, many of them from the
classified service. Whenever fraud has
been discovered the guilty have been
pursued unsparingly and with the great
est publicity. So has it been wtthZhose
thieving pOstnf1ce officials, so has it been
always. In the vast aggregate of busi-
ness transacted by the government the
dishonest man is rare, and his detection
certain. The great humiliation is that
the thefts were from the people of an ISL
and towards whom we sustain a fdu-
CARY relation, and whose confidence we
ask. nat this government makes good
the loss Is not enough, n perhaps The
lesson has not been in vain If i shall
serve to stimulate us to even greater care
in dealing with these people for whom we
have poured out our blood and treasure.
and whom we hope some day to welcome
on terms of closest friendship as citizens
of a sister republic.
FAIRNESS FOR CUBA.
We are dealing with Cuba in a spirit
not only of fairness but of generosity
and of absolute unseltishness, and when
ever the inhabitants OF that island evince
and declare their ability to take over it's
government and control, tina, day they
shall receive 1t: and until then we shall
continue to administer it's affairs under
a rule salutary and satisfactory to all
good citizens in Cuba. and creditable to
the administration at Washington under
whose orders the government is conducts
ed.
Had there been no war with Spain this
republic, inclined by principle and in
stlnct and tradition to peaceful ways,
would have continued the development
OF our national resources and character
within it's existing bor.ers, content in the
future, as throughout the century Just
ending, with that path of national duty.
We are not Warlike or a quarrelsome peo-
pie.
We have never coveted the possessions
of other ~principalities, and land lust Is
unknown among us. We would fight to
the death to protect that which is right
FULLY ours; to average a wrong sought to
be perpetrated upon us, and IL guard this
hemisphere from any attempt by foreign
powers to further extend their rule over
its soil. This has been our creed. and we
have looked forward with hope and with
confidence to the time when these United
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
nf our people,, and the marvellous re-
sources of our country would enable US.
in the peaceful rivalry Of 10
dominate eventually the markets of the
world. To that end we had, for more
than a hundred years., acid ourselves
aloof from foreign complications, and
sought to make ourselves strong from
/ Will uO luOuSlll u COlOIlld COls
quest.
The future of nations, however, like the
future of man. is hid from mortal vision,
and. no more than man may a nation
choose it's own duties. When this war
ended and we faced our victory in all it's
completeness. we found eight millions OF
people living upon uncounted islands de-
livered into our hands. Abandonment Of
them would be confession that while the
oppression by Spain of a million and a
half nf rnhonS demanded opr a rmal in.
reference. greater barbarity and cruelty
to millions of Filipinos, less able to pros
tect themselves. was a subject of no con-
Germ to us. No civilized nation in the
world. no Christian nation. could nave
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
all the products of the tropics, in mineral
wealth. and in the possibilities OF their
future development. So much the better.
But if they were as barren as the Libyan
desert, we would nave 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 a moment, the question OF giving
up or abandoning these islands.
WE OWN THE PHILIPPINES. i
We are actually owners of the Philip.
pines by an undisputed and indubitable
title. We are there as the necessary and
logical outcome of our victory over
Spain. There are upwards of a thousand
/ icln al SnninLlad ne tho cnilfharn Saa