The Elk Mountain pilot., 1900-09-18
His Arguments in Platform and Speech
Taken up in Light Of Reason.
THEY ARE FULL OF SELF F-CONTRADICTION
An Able and Exhaustive Analysis of Democratic Proposals
and Policies by Conservative Editor of ,he Amer>
can Monthly Review of Reviews

| lSlunuS. II is our opinion. from an we
can learn that there has been even n
| little too much eagernesS to thrust
home rule upon the Filipino communi-
ties in advance of their preparation to
govern themselves efficiently. After all,
government is as much II means as 1t is
an end in itself. Safety. good order,
justice between man and man; the op-
portunity to worship in ones own way;
the right and the chance to give suit
able education to ones children; free
dom to work and to enjoy, without fear
or danger. the fruits of ones toll
these are the things that government
ought to accomplish. Where races of
men have capacity for progress, there
must come time in their evolution
when the best government for them is
essentially popular and Democratic.
But when communities, for reasons
/ either temporary or of more perma-
nent nature, could not possibly manage
successfully to gain for themselves the
! true ends of government by democratic
means. it would be both stupid and
cruel to turn them loose upon them
selves. Thus Mr.. Bryan is right in his
first proposition that it is somebody
else's business, and not that of the
| Filipnos, at the outset, to stablish in
the Philippine islands stable form of
government This is exactly what every
practical statesman, If in power, would
| feel that he was compelled to attempt;
and Mr. Bryan. i'll power. would doubt
| less act like practical statesman. But
all his preambles as to the right of the
! Filipinos to stablish their own kind of
government. stable or unstable, good,
bad or indiff erent, would have gone
glimmering.
What Does Philippine Independence Mean?
Mr.. Bryan's second proposition is to
| give independence to the Filipinos-
But this does not really mean any
thing, because it is sandwiched in be-
tween two other propositions, both of
which are of the nature of radical linn
itations upon independence. To begin
with. Mr.. Bryan's independence Is not
| to be accorded until stable govern
ment has been created. He preScribes
no time for the accomplishment of this
| task and there is no reason to suppose
| that he could possibly achieve 1t in
| four years term. He would. therefore.
have to turn 1t over to his successor in
| office; and thus the realization of Phil
ippine independence might be indenn-
itely postponed. like the English evac-
uation of Egypt. The second and great-
est limitation upon Philippine indie
pendence. however. lies in Mr.. Bryan's
third practical proposal; namely. Ito
protect the Filipinos from outside In
| reference while they work out their
/ destiny" This. of course, means n per
petual protectorate, and II means the
assumption by us of entire response
bility for good government in the
| Philippine islands toward all other ma
/ tions of the world. For the Philippines
are open to international commerce,
and to the residence of well behaved
] -. 4 81. 1. If
Bryans program, be held responsible
under all circumstances for the con
/ duct of people whom. paradoNically,
we ourselves had recognized as an in
dependent and sovereign member of
the family of nations. Mr. Bryan's
program. then. would have us take
| coaling station to Keep for our own,
with the understanding that stable
government that we ourselves had es-
| tablished there-presumably by force,
\ for in no other way would an outside
nation establish Il stable government
in those would. under moral
duress. consent to the permanent loss
| of an important harbor.
some Logical Conclusions.
If we have the right to establish
permanent government in the Philip
pines, it obviously devolves upon us to
decide what constitutes such govern
ment and the right to establish 1t un-
uuestionably would involve the right
| of subsequent interference for Its
maintenance. This right of subsequent
| interference moreover. is unquesuon-
ably involved in the duty we should
assume to protect the Philippines
against all outside interference; for II
protracted misgoyernment oranarchical
conditions should prevail in the Islands
1T. L. lao 80
likely under Mr.. Bryan's program-the
moral sentiment of the whole civilized
world would compel us to Interfere
and restore order. or else to abandon
our pretense of protecting the Philip
pines from the interference of others.
In short. by Mr.. Bryan's program, our
policy in the Philippines is the mainte-
nance on our part of perpetual respon-
sibility toward the world at large. The
Republicans, on the other hand. would
say that we have to deal only with the
present and early future. In the pres
/ ent they are doing just what Mr.. Bry
an advocates: namely, trying their best
to establish stable government. As
for the second proposition, which Mr..
Bryan calls the granting of independ-
ence, the Republicans would claim that
they are aiming to give the Flllpinos
local autonomy, or self government. i'll
their own affairs, without endeavoring
to set the islands adrift without chart
or compass as a new ship of state.
Some Close Distinctions.
1t is hard to see what difference there
is. for really practical purposes, be
tween that higher authority over the
Philippines that Mr.. Bryan would ex-
ercise under the guise of Il protectorlte
and that responsibility which we
should more openly and directly as
sumo under me theory that, for pur-
poses of international recognition, the
Sovereignty of the Philippines and ad-
! ia car+ ,..n tnl.s 1Nns uuler the SturS and