The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-01-19

Had 1T not been for the foresight and
shrewd craftsmanship of that great and
good man, William j. Bryan, it is
doubtful whether our people would have
foreseen or even surmised it's approach
until it had actually come upon us.
Following the warning sounded in a
speech made by him in Nebraska,
there was general alarm on the part of
the promoters of this policy, and a
rather slow but certain awakening of
the people of the country to the dam
ger that what had indeed been a war
for humanity's sake might be converted
into a means of inflicting upon this
republic a policy both foreign and de-
| plorable.
BY the assurance from the admins
| tration the people were, however, kept
in a state of inacti, ,ty sufficiently long
to enable the imperialists to so far ad-
vance their purposes that 1t has now
become difficult to defeat the ends they
would attain.
An attempt to draw a parallel be-
tween the adding of the Philippine
islands and the acquiring of the Louisi-
ana territory, or any of the contiguous
| territory that has heretofore from
time to time been annexed to the
United States, is utterly nonsensical.
In the first place the conditions are
not the same, and the objects sought
to be attained and the interests are
vastly different.
Notwithstanding claims to the con-
trary the acquiring of the Philippine
| islands and the establishment of au-
thority by the United States over
them, is contrary to good business
| sense as well as to all law.
In the first place no good man would
pay more for thing than it is reason
ably worth, or can, under ordinary
circumstances be sold for. It is claimed
by friends of the administration that
great profit will accrue from the possess
sion of these islands. That great profit
will be made to accrue to a special and
very few, we admit, but that there will
be any profit at all to either the govern
ment or our people in general, we deny
Great stress is laid upon the claim
that these islands are necessary in
order that we may extend the COM
merce of the country; that we may en-
large the markets for American pro-
ducts; that American manufacturer
will reap great advantages from the
purchase and manufacture of the pro-
ducts of the islands.
Perhaps the most strange thing about
all this is that those claims are now
made by men who only a few years ago
were talking with equal vigor about
home markets for home products; home
consumption of home grown or home
manufactured articles; home employ
ment for home labor.
In fact, the acme of national patrio-
itsm and prosperity was supposed to be
embodied in that ringing cry. "Ameri-
ca for Americans
Now it is variously estimated that IL
our supremacy is once esta ablished in the
Philippines it will cost us 500, ,O00, 900 a
year to maintain it. The total exports
from the Philippines in 1892 to all coun-
tries were as l have stated only $685.
O3,569.OO Suppose that we got all of
this landed on our shores without one
cent of cost in price or transportation.
its total exports for that year would
be but little more than One-third the
cost of maintaining our supremacy for
one year. In 1897 the exports to the
United States We're $4,3S3,74O Suppose
we got this without cost of price, or
transportation, we would have received
then less than One-twentieth the cost of
maintaining our supremacy for a year.
AS business proposition, affecting
the government and the people in gen.
eraI, it is worse than ineXcusable. 1t
is an outrage against human justice.
and transgresion of moral and civil
law, both as to the people of the
United States and inhabitants of the
islands.
AS a legal proposition I maintain
that the administration cannot establish
a lawful right to ownership or control
over these islands. 1t is claimed by the
friends Of Imperialism that under the
recent treaty between Spain and the
United States, that the United States
the title to, and therefore the |
sovereignty over these islands.
Can this be? 1t is proposition
without need of demonstration that
no man can convey to another a greater |
or better title to property than he him |
self possesses. This proposition applies
with equal force to nations. If a mans |
title is in dispute, in litigation in the
courts, for instance, it then develops
upon him to establish his right. and |
have the title decreed in him before he
can convey to another full and complete |
title.
IlO" was II III Lne case OF the Philip |
pines? You say Spain claimed title to |
those islands. Grant that she did. The |
fact that she claimed title does not in |
itself establish it. The truth is her title |
for more than two centuries has been |
by the inhabitants of those |
islands, and in all the centuries of her
alleged sovereignty over those islands
she was never able to establish more
than local or provincial government,
and this she had to constantly maintain
by force of arms.
Therefore, since Spain had no title
without cloud, no knowledge or
recognized title to those islands, how
could she possibly convey a clear and
complete title to the United States?
say to you, sirs, that for the 20,000,-
900 we paid to Spain we acquired no
title to the Philippines. She possessed
none, consequently could convey none.
The friends of imperialism claim that
the Philippine republic has no defacto
t1tA