Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-09-10
PHILIPPINE POLICIES CONTRASTED.
mat Of the Administration and that Proposed
by Vim. J. Bryan.


The falIacies and dangers Of Bryan ;
proposed policy toward the islands
We give below that par; If his master
~ address:
How came NV III the Philippines
Tn" Spanish war placed Us there. with
responsibilities which could not be cs-
capped. and the treaty of Paris of TSP"
save W. as complete ana perfect tue
10 the Philippines ~ the other treaty
OF Paris in 1905 gave us Louisiana.
From that agreement the President
had but one possible course before MIN.
il was his solemn ana constitutional
duty to assert and maintain the newly
established sovereignty nj the United
States. II WAS az much his duty a- ID
would be to sustain that sDvcrcignty jill
Arizona and in New Mexico. Not only
was il common law. nut the law n
mankind, ana the world upheld ID.
Spanish sovereignty had been eNtin-
Guished. We could MT leave the is
lands to anarchy. We could not cast
them away W float as derclicts On the
ocean. On til" currents BY the world.
We could not leave them 10 be fought
over by foreign powers. Our peace was
the title. ana our duty tp mankind az
Wei as duty u ourselves compelled the
maintenance If that sovereignty.
And when the Instruction famed
out il was just as much The duty Of the
President % suppress the Instruction
as it would be to suppress an insur-
IectiOn in Arizona OF New Mexico. But
while he carried the sceptre Of cur
authority IN one hand, ne carried the
bic sings and the benefit Of our liberty
and our civilization with the other.
He sent commission Of eminent
men. headed by President Schurman Of
Cornell University, t. examine into the
conditions and To assure the people of
our good purpose, 10 inquire into the
requirements ana the necessities Of
civil! government. When they made
heir report ana finished their work.
they convinced every fair minded man
uf our Jpd purpose in the Philippines.
Then the President appointed another
commission TO enter directly upon the
work Of civil organization. a commits
sion NJ equally wise ana trustworthy
men That commission Is now there.
ana what do We see? Only six months
have passed, the work has only Just
begun, ana W. SEE that in spite If the
embcrs va Instruction. the ~ pIe of
the Philippine islands are enjoying a
degree of freedom and justice and
progress which they have never en-
jpyed before.
We are establishing a reign Of law
and order. We are protecting the peO-
ple in their rights ana in their various
we are establishing
system If revenues. and applying them
to their purpose Of government more
rhan has ever been done be-
furp
7 speak what l know from evidence
which is coming from there in an au-
thoruve way, ana not many days
riI have elapsed before all the c1un-
try viii han. that evidence. upon au-
thor,y which is unimpeachable, and
which Will be conclusive with every
man.
And Vet WE are tlld that We al not
give them freedom because We do not
gran, absolute independence. Does any
body deny that the people of Porto
Rico enjoy freedom? They are prepar-
ing a. elect at this very moment their
own Legislature. They are % make
their oWn laws. ana they are to estab-
H-h their own system uf education
They VIII have their own courts. They
Will ordaiu their own system Of taxa
ton.
Lat any man ten me i'll what single
respect of home rule or local freedom
they are not entirely equal to the peo-
bic Nj any one NJ the territories Of the
United States.
Indeed, they enjoy larger degree
# liberty that the people of Arizona
M New Mexico, because they 40 not
ray single cent NJ federal taxation.
Ana yet we are told that. although they
enjoy this degree of local rule and self
government, they are not free simply
ana solely because the stars and
stripes noat over them.
Does any man venture 10 say before
the American people that. with this
degree IF autonomy ana home rule
thus clearly shown and established.
they do not possess freedom simply AMI
solely because the symbol Of ,ur Amer
lean sovereignty floats there.
There is in the island II Porto Rico
n larger degree of freedom even than
exists in our western territories. and
when the Instruction shall be quened.
when the srditious utterances iii the
United States shall be rebuked and sill
enced BY American people when our
laws shall be extended as they then
will be extended. the same degree Of
freedom. of liberty, of justice Of en-
liehtened progress will extend over the
Philippines,
To recognize the independence Of the
Filipinos as nation is to recognize
them as independent as nation, with
all the rights Of a nation. They are
in no position to assume such a re-
sponsibility. There is no single leader
of any tribe whose authority will be
recognized throughout these islands. To
recognize Aguinaldo ana his insurgents
would be to precipitate a conflict with
the other tribes. and to plunge these
islands into chaos.
If we exercise a prOtectorate as Mr.
Bryan proposes, we should then be
compelled to intervene in the interests
Of peace and humanity; We should be
just where we are now except that we
should have lost all the advantages
that we have gained in respect to the
position We have acquired with those
people. We should come in after the
catastrophe Of a general and bloody