The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-08-21


livered' Cas our anti.imperiast friends would
say) by the man who penned the Declaration Of
Independence.
GOVERNMENTS ACTION CONFIRMED.
The act OF the federal government in purchas
ing Louisian and in governing 1t arbitrarily was
aiterward confirmed by Chief Justice Marshall IN
le2S in case which concerned the rights OF the
inhabitants Of Florida, who" he saidi
4, DO not participate in political power thsE
become state. In the meantime Florida con
tnues to he territory Of the United states,
governed by virtue Of that clause in the c3nsut9-
u9n which empowers congress TO make an need
tul rules and regulations respecting the territory
Or other property belonging to the United states.
,erhaps the power Of governing terrltoty Pc
longing to the United States which has not, ny
becoming state, acquired the means OF sell.
government, may result necessarily from the TACT
mat II is not within he jurisdiction OF any par
uoular state, and Is within the power and Jurls'
diction OF the United States. The right TO gov
ern may be the inevitable consequence OF the
right to acquire territory. Whichever may be
the source when the power Is derived, the posses
1863.
This point was indeed disputed at a later tim,
by Chief Justice fancy in dictum in the Dren
scott decision. lie affirmed the right OF tne
government to buy Louisiana and to govern II,
but not to govern IL as part OF the OLD teIIlin.y
over which the constitution gave congress unlh'
tied power The inhabitants OF such territory
he said could not be ruled as mere colonists de-
pending on the will Of the general government
weight OF a dictum and not the authority OF law
As the principles OF the Dred Scott decision
were overturned In the civil war which followed
! prefer to believe that the earlier rule announced
by the great chief justice is the true one, ! am
not willing to fee from the logic Of John Mar
shall, and take refuge behind the skirts OF the
Dred Scott decision.
TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR GOVERNMENT.
Having thus acquired Louisiana from France
without the consent of the inhabitants, Jefferson,
special
gress to make temporary provisions for its gov
ernment SO bill was reported by Randolph,
continuing the existing Spanish government,
putting the president in the place of the king
OF Spain, and the territorial Offices in the place
OF the kings offices, and placing the appoint
ment Of these in the president alone, without
reference to the senate. All power, civil and
Judicial, were in the lntendant, and the people
were punished arbitrarily for presumng to med
die with political subjects. There was no mill
tary necessity for this, as there might have
| been for similar provisions in the Philippines,
| ior there had been no war, and there was M
| army Of occupation
The Federaiists objected that the powers
| ferred upon the president by this lill were un.
constitutional. The Democrats replied that the
constitution was made for the states and not for
| territories
The bill passed congress by a party vote, and
was approved by Jefferson, Oct. 81, without de-
lay.
| But this hill being temporary measure was
rather for taking possession Of the territory than
| Tor governing it. On Dee 30, the first terri
| lOTlal nll was reported dlNldlng lne province
| into two districts The Southern district. called
| the Territory of Orleans, included an old cStab
| lished society numbering $4,000 persons adams,
Vol H. p. i2D, only little less than the the
| population Of Delaware and Rhode Island. The
| bll created territorial government in which
the people Of Louisiana had no share. The
governor, secretary, legislative council, and Ju'
| dcial officers were appointed by the president
| The same objections were made to this bill as
| to our government in the Philippines and to the
Porto Rican law: THAT it established a des'
1 m fhaf III gAYfnr oin rio p
| which the inhabitants were entitled even under
| the treaty; that it did not extend to them the
benefits under the federal constitution or declare
| hereafter when they should receive Them"
JEFFERsoN's UrrERANCEs ON EXPANSION.
The bill was supported on the same ground
! that the present administration defends its policy
in tho Philippines; that the people OF Louisiana
| were not yet prepared for full seltgovernment.
| OF this bill Il quote the words Of the Philippine
| Commission, Rep. pp. los. lOO: Jefferson had
| outlined a sketch as early as November, 1oU3,
when he also defended both the appointment OF
Judges for four years, and the idea Of an .,ap.
| pointed Legislature, 'as a thing more familiar
| and pleasing to the French than legisati IN by
Judges which had been the practice in the
| Northwest Territory lie seems TO have felt
| nc ircongruty between the principles OF the Dec
| laration OF independence of the thirteen sefgov.
erning colonies and this scheme of government for
the politically inexperienced inhabitants OF
| Louisiana Indeed he complains with some
bitterness, in December, 1903, when differences
| Of opinion developed as to the manner OF dis
posing of Louisiana, that although it is ac-
| knowledgcd that our new felow.citizens as
yet as incapable Of self-government as children,
yet some cannot bring themselves to suspend its
| principles for single moment Whether the
new territory, organized in the paternal fashion
described above, should always remain a part OF
the Union or eventually become a separate and
independent sovereign state, jefferson seemed not
to care. nor could either solution abate his zeal
Gus and benevolent interest in the inhabitants
| Whether we remain In one confederacy,' he
wrote in January, 1901, or form into Atlantic
and Pacific confederaces, l believe not very i'm
portant to the happiness OF either part. Those
OF the western confederaCy will be as much oul
children and descendants as those of the eastern
and | feel myself as much identified with that
| country in future time with this; and did
now foresee a separation at some future day, ye
should feel the duty and the desire to promot,
the western interests jealousy the eastern
APPLICABLE TO THE PHILIPPINES.
These utterances of jefferson, along with th
Jehcrsonian scheme for the government Of Louis
lana, have been cited on account of the appliCa
bility of their spirit in its entirety, and thei
substance in great part to the problem Of govern
ing the Philippines, which have come into on
| possession as Unexpectedly as Jeherson's ENJOYS
who had very different object, received Louis
lana at the hands Of Bonaparte. As jefferson
says, it is our duty to promote the happiness o
"our new fellow citizens as our own, what
ever their eventual political relation 10 US ma
be; and in planning frame OF government W
cannot do better than follow Jeferson's lea
in adapting it to the condition of the natives
trusting that in the course of development unde
American training they will eventually reac
the goal Of complete local selt.gOyernment; eyc
though at present it may be necessary to som
extent "to suspend its principles" on accoun
, Of their political inexperience, the ignorance o
the masses and the linguistic and social divcrsi
ties OF the tribes and peoples inhabiting tn
archipelago
From the very outset, however, it will be saf
and desirable, in the opinion OF the commission
to extend to the FlipinoS larger liberties Of sell
government than Jefferson approved OF for tn
, | inhabitants of Louisiana.
COMPARATIVE QUESTIONS OF TYRANNY.
The house amended the Louisiana bill and tn
senate disagreed, though it willing to re
duce the term Of the operation of the bill t
one year, just as the term Of the Porto Rico bill
, is now limited. The bill passed and Jetferso
approved it, In Louisiana there was no righ
OF selfgoyernment. So great was the disat
fection that disorders were repeatedly suppresse
at the point Of the bayonet. When Aaron Bur
went to New Orleans every man he met seeme
, to be malcontent, and at the time his proiec
Of Western Empire collapsed 1t was said tha
nearly every one Of the leading citizens was hi
silent accomplice.
The Observation-Disclosures talk today abou
the ntoerable tyranny established by McKinle
in the PHILIPPINES They speak Of the degeu