The Elk Mountain pilot., 1900-09-18

way concedlng independence to the
f1lipinos-by what means would Mr..
Bryan break his way again into those
Islands in order TO establish the sta
bic government which he says it
would be his first task to set up?
The Only Practical Way to Grant Inde-
pendence.
Is it not time to come down out of
the clouds of theoretical reasoning
about the inalienable rights of man, in
order to look plainly at the actual sit
uationI We have been fighting in the
Philippines for year and half; and
we must deal with the situation as we
md it in the end, rather than at the
beginning of that period. In contests
of this kind, it is customary for one
side or the other to win. We can ad-
NIT ourselves worn out, and therefore
practically defeated by the Filipino
Insurgents, and in pursuance of such
confession we can acknowledge their
Independence and withdraw exactly
rs the British withdrew from this
country in 1888. In that case, nothing
could be more absurd than to make the
condition that we should stay by, es-
tablish Il stable form of government,
withdraw when we saw fit, keep per-
manent possession of the principal har-
Dor, and then maintain permanent
protectorate. George Washington did
not deal with the British on any such
basis as that. If. indeed, we have
made n huge mistake in the Philip
pines, and if we have no right or bust
ness to be there, and if Aguinaldo is
another George Washington, and if the
Filipinos are eminently capable of self
government, then Mr.. Bryan reasons to
n most unsuitable conclusion. We
should acknowledge our position in the
Philippines to be morally and physical
ly incapable of maintenance, and
should make treaty of peace under
which we should withdraw complete
ly, acknowledging the independence of
the Filipinos, giving them as their due
and proper right the public property
that we took from Spain and claiming
nothing whatever from them in return.
We should leave the Philippines as
Spain has left the West Indies.
The Proprieties OF the Case.
Under those circumstances, to ask
them to give us n harbor and coaling
station would be as impertinent as 1t
would he for them to ask us to give
them Honolulu And it would be still
more impertment for us, after our be-
havior to them and oW inglorious at
to offer to be their sponsor and pro-
tector in the face of the world at large.
The English fought us in the Revolu-
tionary War until they thought the
game was no longer worth the candle,
and then they acknowledged our indie
pendcnce. They had their grave doubts
about our ability to form stable gov
ernment: and they looked on while we
fioundcred through our wretched eN-
pertinent with the articles of confeder-
alton before we established our sound
and stable framework of government
under the constitution of 1iS9. But
they did not propose to establish our
government for us while acknowledge
ing our independence. nor yet to eNer-
else protectorate over us in perpet-
uity. Let us have the manliness to do
the one thing or the other in the Phil
ippines. If the Filipinos have won
their independence and deserve 1t. let
us eschew metaphysics. recognize facts
and come home. If they have moral
title to their Independence, backed up
by military prowess and the evidence
of political capacity. then 1t follows
that we are the last people in the
whole world TO have a right to take
from them a port or a coaling station.
And it would be ridiculous in the ex-
treme for us to introduce the new sister
into the international family.
The Other Alternative.
That is one straightforward alterna-
tive; and we for our part should ad-
vocate with all our might If we
thought the facts justified II. But we
do not believe Aguinaldo Is Il George
Washington. or that there exists any
such thing as a great and promising
Filipino nation moved by the spirit OF
political progress and fighting intelli-
gently for Independence and n place in
the family of nations. What we do be
lieve is that there is large population
in the Philippine islands that needs
now stand, the only outlook they can
possible have for those ordinary condi-
tions that make life worth living lies
in the suppression of the warfare main
tanned by guerrilla bands of Tagals.
and a chance for American administra-
ton to show what ii can do. We have
gone so far in this effort that true
economy of human blood, effort, and
treasure lies in our going little farth-
er and completing our work. The best
way out of the woods is to press
straight on to the other border which
does not seem so very far distant If
there ever is TO ne an independent anu
sovereign Philippine nation. 1t can rest
only upon the basis of considerable
historical period of experience in self
government with limited sovereignty
under strict American auspices. Two
or three centuries of Spanish colonial
methods have not fitted the Philippine
islands for immediate emergence as n
sovereign political entity. Perhaps fif-
ty or n hundred years of American tu-
telage may complete the work of evolu-
tion-and, in that case. it will be en-
trely safe to trust the Americans who
will be on hand fifty or hundred
wears hence to deal with the question
of Philippine independence as the facts
and circumstances may Justify. Mr..
Bryan's program does not seem to us