The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-02-27

York city and a few other little
posts, had no sovereignty to
cede, the French King answered
that he had bought the Ameri-
cans at IS a head, and that if
they refused to submit he would
give them benevolent assimila-
ton" in the shape of bullets.
Can there be any doubt that the
Continental Congress and Gen.
Washington would have retorted
that, no matter what the French
King might have bought, Great
Britain had no sovereignty left
to sell; that least Of all would the
Americans permit themselves to
be sold; that the French, in SO
treating their American allies
after such high-sounding profes-
sions of friendship and generos
ity, were a lot of mean, treach-
erous, contemplate hypocrites,
and that the Americans would
rather die than submit to such
wolves in sleeps clothing. And
will any patriotic American now
deny that. whatever bubbles of
international law about possible
.cessions of a lost sovereignty
might be invented, such conduct
of the French would have simply
been a shame and that the Amer
leans of that time would have
eternally disgraced themselves
if they had failed to resist unto
death ? How, then, can the
same patriotic American demand
that the Filipinos should sur
render and accept American SOW
ereignty under circumstances ex-
actly parallel ? And that par
allel will not be shaken by any
learned international law technic-
alities, which do not touch the
moral element of the subject.
1t is also pretended that, what
ever our rights, the Filipinos
were the original aggressors in
the pending fight, and that our
troops found themselves compel
led to defend their flag against
assault. What are the facts I?
One evening early in February
last some Filipino soldiers enter
ed the American lines without,
however, attacking anybody. An
American sentry fired, killing
one of the Filipinos. Then a
desultory firing began at the out
posts. 1t spread until it assum-
ed the proportions of an extern
sive engagement, in which a
large number of Filipinos were
killed. 1t is a we'll established
fact that this engagement could
not have been premeditated af-
fair on the part of the Filipinos,
as many of their officers, includ-
ing Aguinaldo's private secre-
tary, were at the time in the
theatres and cafes of Manila. 1t
is further well known that the
next day Aguinaldo sent an Off
GER, General Torres, under fac
of truce to General Otis to de-
clare that the fighting had not
been authorized by Aguinaldo,
but had begun accidentally; that
Aguinaldo wished to have it
stopped, and proposed to that
end the establishment of q neut-
raj zone between the two armies.
such as might be agreeable to
General Otis; whereupon Gener-
al Otis CURLY answered that the
fighting, having once begun,
must go on to the grim end. Who
was it that really wanted the
fight ?
But far more important than
all this is the fact that President
McKinleys benevolent assimil-
alton" order, which even before
the ratification of the treaty de-
manded that the Philippine Is
landers should Internationally
surrender to American severe
ignty, in default whereof our
military forces would compel
them, was really the Presidents
declaration of war against the
EIlininOg incicfipn ,,,,o,, ;xl