Washington sentinel., 1900-06-02
In the Court of Conscience.

In the Court of Conscience.
There are many signs that tn
whole case for and against the nev
policies initiated by Mr.. Mckinley
and his party in dealing with th'
countries and peoples that have
come under our control as a result
Of the war with Spain is now being
carried into the court oil con-
science.
The President himself. by his
emphatic instructions to Mr.. Bris-
tow to make his investigation OF
the Cuban postofice scandal
thorough and complete, and to
vigorously prosecute all the guilty
parties and bring them to "con-
dign punishment" has sho IN his
appreciation OF the fact that there
is such thing as national con-
science to be reskoned with. In
saying this we do not question the
sincerity OF his indignation at the
betrayal of trust by his own Cuban
appointees. No doubt he is
shocked and grieved at what has
taken place in Havana, and he is
to be heartily commended and up
held in his purpose to stop the
looting and bring the looters to
justice. None the less is his ac-
ton an evidence OF his perception
Of what the public conscience
sternly demands.
Senator Hale's recent brave de-
nunciation OF the movement, not as
yet openly avowed, but all the
time being covertlY and quietly de.
veloped by powerful influenses,"
largely speculative and connected
with money making enterprises,
to break the pledged faith OF the
nation to Cuba and annex that ISL
and is another symptom OF con-
science protesting against the sor-
did program OF commercialism and
carpet-baggerY. The outspoken
opposition OF many Republican
members oil Congress and of many
Republican newspapers against
the Porto Rican tariff juggle, and
the quibblinP pretense that Porto
Rico is neither wholly in nor
wholly out Of the United States,
was still another indication that the
imperial policies are at length dis
turbing and distressing conscien-
tious men to the point where even
party lines will not restrain them
from making protest.
The almost painful efforts OF the
Administration to have it under
stood and believed that the war in
the Philippines is all over, and that
we are in tact now in peaceful pos
session of the islands, except for
occasional encounters here and
there between our soldiers and
some scattered bands OF mere
"guerillas" and bandits" furnish
further proof of the Administra-
tion's desire 70 calm the conscience
OF the nation. If Mr.. Mckinley
and his advisers were not keenly
conscious that the continued
slaughter Of "the little brown men"
is not a spectacle that Americans
generally view with pleasure, we
should not have been treated to
those puerile proclamatlons by
General Otis, assuring us that the
war was at an end. Since the last
manifesto of that kind vas issued
the cable has brought US news OF
many severe conflicts between the
"rebels" and our troops, in which
many hundreds of the former are
reported to have been killed. Still
the Administration and its mouth
pieces cling to the Otis fiction that
we are on piece footing in the
Philippines.
Could there possibly be any
stronger evidence than this OF the
Administrations tear OF the "still
small voice2" it believed that
the heart and conscience of the
American people were with it in
its a static career OF conquest, why
should it be anxious to turn at
tention from the sanguinarY en-
gagements with the Filipinos that
have been Of late repor.ed1
The court OF conscience is in
session, and the Mckinley policies
are to be tried there, with nothing
to prevent a Judgment in favor Of
the old Republic against the new
Empire.