The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-09-07

rests wholly upon military force, and has
not even in Luzon, to say nothing about
the many other important islands, come
into existence or continued by the free
choice or voluntary consent of the people
sought to be governed Its scope and
authority is limited to the territory oc-
cupied by its armed bands and detach-
ments in Luzon. The consent of the
governed is neither asked sought or ex-
pected. The great mass of the people
are as helpless and where within reach
of the Tagal government under as abject
subjugation under Aguinaldos military
oligarchy as they ever were under the
Spaniards in the years that are past.
1t il to such an fnsurrection and to
such a government that our adver-
saries would have us-Iay down our
arms and surrender our control and
authority. 1t il this insurrection
and this government that we should
have encouraged and set mp as a
permanent establishment and have
made ourselves the protectors Of
1t is to this government of Agui-
naldo's that we should retrocede the
title and authority we acquired
from Spain.
When we ratified the treaty we should
have given assurances of all this, and
then all would have been we'll. 1t is be-
cause we have failed to do all this and
because we are suppressing this insur-
rection, bringing order out of chaos and
attempting to give the Filipinos just,
safe and liberal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to
any they have ever had or could posi-
bly, acquire through Aguinaldo and his
chiefs-that we are guilty of imperialism
and guilty of threatening the liberties of
our own people by an increased standing
army.
But it is only in his criticisms that
Mr.. Bryan is lofty and scars to i'm
periaI heights. When he comes to
lay down programme of his own
he is less elusive, less startling, and
approaches Republican ground
nearer than he apprehends.
In his Philippine programme he would,
first, establish a stable form of govern
ment. That is exactly what the Republi-
can party aims to do. But this implies
that there is no such government there
now, not even Aguinaldos government.
What Mr.. Bryan admits by implication we
assert as a positive fact, and we further
assert that the first step in the establish
ment of stable form of government is to
suppress the existing insurrection and in
surrectionary government, and that a sta
BILE form of government can not well be
established before this is done. r-.
DIFFERENT IN CASE OF CUBA.
Even this Mr. Bryan admits by implica-
ton, for he says we should do as we have
done in Cuba. And what have we done
there? When our forces went to Cuba
there was Cuban republic and a Cuban
army There was no Filipino govern
ment nor Filipino army when Dewey en-
tered Manila bay. In Cuba, through our
efforts and aided by the good sense of
Gomez and his chiefs, the Cuban republic
has been permitted to expire and the Gu
ban army has long ago been disbanded,
and by the aid and cooperation of the
Cubans we are engaged in the effort Of
establishing de novo a stable government
there. Had Aguinaldo and his chiefs fol-
lowed the example of Gomez and his
chiefs we should before this have been
long on the way towards establishing a
Stable government in the Philippines. I'm
der the circumstances we have not, as
Mr.. Bryan contends, been dilatory in es-
tablishing such a government. In 1886 our
armed forces took possession of California
and continued to hold it pending the Next
can war, the ratification of the treaty of
peace, and until it became a state in 1850
California never had territorial form of
government, but remained under the con-
troll of the army from 1916 until it became
a state. There was no insurrection in
California, and yet, for upwards of two
years after the treaty of peace, it was
governed through the military department
of the government, and this was held
by our supreme court to be valid and
Constitutional government, nor were we
accused of being dilatory in giving Cali
fornia a state government. But it is as
serted that the Filipinos are entitled to
absolute independence and that we have
no right to govern them without their
consent.
If this is true, what right have we
to impose any form, even a stable
form, of government upon them:
They may insist that they have the
right to establish just such a form of
government as they see fit and that it is
not our business to establish any FORM,
even a stable form for them. What
then? Are we to abandon the scheme or
are we to watch, wait and pray for their
consent, or are we to go on regardless Of
it. And in case we do go on to establish
a stable government without their con-
sent, and they see fit to resist and to go
into an insurrection-as they are now do
ing-against our present efforts to estab-
fish stable government, and we resort
to arms to repress such resistance and in
surrection and insist upon establishing a
stable government at the point of the
bayonet, will not this bring us back into
the slough of imperialism with the ghost
of standing army in the back ground
There is only one sure escape from such
a gloomy outcome: 1t is to leave it to
the Filipinos to say what constitutes a
stable form of government. But ii we do
that. there is really no occasion for our
giving any consideration at all to their
form of government There is no need of
giving them any form of government at
all. That should be left wholly TO them
selves.
AS TO PROTECTORATE
Having given the Filipinos stable form
of government, Mr.. Bryan would give
them their absolute independence and
then protect them from the interference
of other nations. If it is our duty to es-
tablish a stable form of government, 1t
follows that it is our duty to see that
such a form of government is main
tanned, for without it. we cannot afford
them adequate protection against other
nations If we assume a protec.orate
over the islands, foreign governments
would expect and require, and would have
the right to expact and require tf at we