The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-09-29
lish and the Scotch, or the branches Of
tho Scandinavian rooo

the SCANDINAVIAN race.
1t is absurd to speak of them as a
conglomeration of eighty or more
tribes as it would be to speak of the
inhabitants of this country as being
made up of forty or more tribes, be,
cause there are some fifty-odd tribes
of red Indians scattered Throughout,
our country.
Let it be noted that we are fighting
the civilized Christian Malays and
that our only allies are from the
mountain heather.
AS to their capability for independ-
ent self-government, Professor Blu
mentritt says: "The excuse that the
Filipinos are not ripe for self-govern-
ment is not founded on facts" This
he proves by comparisons with peo-
pies of central Europe and Central
and South America. 1t is certain that
the ideals and aspirations of the Fill
pinos are European. Unlike the Chi
nese they have no antipathy to for.
eigners. Their civilization is occiden-
tai, not oriental, and in this respect
they are superior even to the Japan
ese. They only need freedom and n
stable government to become the yam
KEGS of the orient.
That the Filipinos meant to loot and
M nr to mi 7ysA1 hi
They did not do it at lloilo, where
they had full sway, and had estab-
lished a well-ordered government be-
fore the arrival of General Miller.
They did not STAY their Spanish pris-
oners. In his first proclamation issued
from Hongkong before the departure
of Dewey's fleet for Manila Aguinaldo
said Il quote from Foremans book:
Divine Providence is about to place
independence within our reach in a
manner worthy of a free and liberty
loving people. An American
squadron is at this moment preparing
to sail for the Philippines. We fear
you may be induced to fire on the
Americans. No, brothers, never make
that mistake. Rather blow out your
brains than treat with enmity those
who are your liberators. ;"
Wherever you see an American flag
there flock in numbers. They are our
redeemers.'
Alas, poor Filipinos! How they
have had to change their opinion Of
their ''redeemers." But even in the
very proclamation referred. to by the
president the one, namely, in which
Aguinnldo instructed his followers i'll
Manila how to surprise and capture
the city, the following sentences oc-
cur: II charge and order that the
persons and goods of all foreigners
shall be respected and that the Amerl-
can prisoners shall be well treated"
THE chiefs are charged to see that
the officers and soldiers respect the
consulates, the banks and commercial
houses and even the Spanish banks
and commercial houses, taking care
that they be not seduced by the hope
OF plumber" II charge that you will
not forget the promises made by me
to the civilized nations, whom l have
assured that we Filipinos are not saw
ages or thieves or assassins, nor are
we cruel, but, on the contrary, tina,
we are men of culture and patriotism,
honorable and humane"
Finally the president proves too
much, for if these insurgents are such
u small fraction of the population AND
il the vast majority are loyal to us the
American people must wonder why i,
took 10000 soldiers so long a time to
conquer them.
In this connection two other points
may be noted. In his instruction to
the peace commission (Oct. %, 1888,
the president says that the decision to
hold the archipelago was influenced
by the light of information com
municatcd to the commission and to
the president since their departure"
The nature Of this information has
never been made known to the Amer
lean people and Mr.. Mckinley possip-
ly has political reasons for concealins
it at this time. 1t has been surmised
that the information was to the effect
that Germany might acquire the. is
lands. 1t would not hurt us Americans
if Germany had acquired them. 1t
would not have made the lot OF the Fill
lpinos any worse, for they would have
had to fight the Germans instead OF
lis. But it would have hurt England
very much, as it would have given her
commercial rival II great advantage
This suspicion that the administration
acted as n cats paw for England Is
very irritating to Americans.
Furthermore, Mr.. Mckinley says:
imperialism has no place in the creed
or conduct of the administration"
That depends on what is meant by
Imperialism. If with the "Encyclo-
pedia Britannica" we take it to be
IAN overlordship over other peoples"
this administration is certainly imperl-
alistic and the more fagrantly so be-
cause the other people are fighting to
the death against that overlordship.