The Elk Mountain pilot., 1900-09-11
SELF GOVERNMENT
WHO ARE ENTITLED to- 1T. AND
WHO ARE NOT,
An Able Analysis of Mr.. Bryan's Theoreti-
cal Doctrines, and Practical Proposals.
by the Editor of the American Monthly
Review of Reviews.
ADoctrine Pushed to Extremes.

the states rights doctrines entertained
by the most extreme of the Calhoun
and Jefferson Davis school before the
war. For Mr.. Bryan's dotcrine would
allow any group of men, whether in
county, in town, or in school district
to set themselves up as an Independent
government. The states rights men at
least understood the fact that sover-
eighty had to reside somewhere, If
there was to be any government at all;
and they went no farther back in their
analysis than the states which were
the constituent members of the Fed
eral Union. 1t does not seem to us nee
people into contending camps over the
mere metaphysics of the inherent
rights of man. When one takes indi-
| viduals and cross-eXamines them, one
finds that there is not shade OF diff
ference between Republicans and Dem
ocrats on the theoretical question of
the desirability of intelligent self-gov-
ernment everywhere. 1t just happens,
however, that at the present moment
Mr.. Bryan's friends throughout the
South are engaged in the practical task
of depriving of government nearly
half of the entire Southern population,
on the ground that participation in gov
ernment is not, in fact, an inherent
human right, but that the object of
government is the high and true well
20 81, hot
those people should participate in tue
tasks of government who are suffi-
GENTLY intelligent and responsible. 1t
does not seem to us that the real qnes-
ton at stake in the Philippines is met,
or even approached, by eloquent expo
sitions based upon glittering general
tiles about the inalienable rights of
man.
As to Getting a Philippine Harbor.
The real and practical question Is
What is best to do, for everybody con-
cerned, in a serious and critical situa-
ton? Mr.. Bryan devotes many col
umns to abstract and lofty argument,
with impressive quotations from Amer
lean statesmen Of an earlier day and
from the holy Scriptures. he gives
only n few lines to telling us what he
would really have done in the Philip
pine matter If he had been in author
ity. In the first place, he says. "A
harbor and coaling station in the Phil
ippines would answer every trade and
military necessity; and such conces-
sion could have been secured, at any
time, without difficulty" This could
hardly mean anything except the har-
Dor of Manila, the one important cen
ter of Philippine trade. If we could,
without difficulty" have secured this
from the Filipinos, it surely would not
have been because the Filipinos were
at heart willing to give away their
best possession. If they We're to be
allowed a real freedom of action as an
Independent government, who is there
that supposes for moment that they
would have given us the harbor of
Manila? MIR. Bryan in this speech, as
well as in others, constantly likens the
attitude of the American people to-
ward the Filipinos to that of a high
wayman committing robbery with vio-
lence. But his descent from the ideal
to the practical is not altogether felicit-
Gus. His suggestion is, to quote his
exact words, that "a war of conquest
Is as unwise as 1t is unrighteous." The
unwisdom lies in the fact that we do
not need the whole thing, and that we
ss-l.& III
which is all we need for commercial
and naval purposes, without entering
upon a war of conquest. In other
words, the wise highwayman would
make gentlemanly compromise with
his grateful victim by accepting his
gold watch as present, and would al
low the traveller to pass on with his
horse, his pocketbook and his loose
change. If Mr.. Bryan's suggestion
means anything at all, it would seem to
mean this and nothing else.
Mr.. Bryan's Solution.
Toward the end of his speech Mr.
Bryan comes to what he calls ian easy,
honest, honorable solution of the Phil
ippine question" 1t involves three
points:
First, to establish a stable form of
government in the Philippine islands.
Second, to give independence to the
Filipinos.
Third, to protect the Filipinos from
outside interference while they work
out their destiny"
The first of these propositions gees
fatty counter to the elaborate theoret-
ical argument which occupies nearly all
the sna cn of Mr. Rryan's Snanch IL