, 1900-09-27

norance of the Americans. their char
acter and system of government; n
fear of A~guinaldo, his junta and armed
followers. Is it not plain to any I'M
biased mind, after studying the record
of Aguinaldo and his junta ever since
the insurrection OF 1896. that 1t is as
much our moral duty to relieve the
Filipino people from the incubus and
tyranny of this military oligarchy as
of Spanish rule? 1t would be a greater
misfortune and greater calamity to
hand the Filipino people over to the
mercies of such a government than to
have left them in the hands of the
Spaniards. Is 1t not our moral as
well as our legal duty to suppress. first
of all. this insurrection. started under
such false ~pretenses. with such treach-
cry and under such auspices and lead
ership as this Tagal rebellion in Luz
zon?
Bryan Indorsed Administrations.
We acquired the islands fairly by
conquest, ratified and confirmed by a
treaty. which had the Endorsement of
Mr.. Bryan. He was at Washington on
Az ' u iNo anu ia c liio
party to join in r~atifying the treaty.
The instruction of 1898 would never
have had an inception nor lourished
but for the fact hat our flag was in
the islands. and permitted Aguinaldo
and his chiefs to land.
Coming into the islands under our
flag. our protection. and our assist
ance, as they did, Aguinaldo and his
chiefs had no more legal or moral
right to set up a claim or title hostile
to the United States than a tenant,
coming into possession by the permits
sion of his landlord, has the right to
question or set up a hostile title to the
latter. We acquired, by conquest and
treaty, as complete a title to the Phil
ippine islands as to Porto Rico, and we
have taken no more steps to obtain
the consent of the Porto Ricans than
of the Filipinos. The government we
have established for the Porto Ricans
is a government we have given them,
n not a government they have given
themselves.
Merely n TagaI Affair
According to the most conservative
hoNdB Al hiAlPpliC SIoup tLlDTdCt du
area of about 100 900 square miles and
a population of 1000 900. Luzon has a
little more than one-third of this ares
and a little less than one-half of his
population. There are three different
races and over eighty different tribes.
of various degrees of civilization, in
the group. Most of the people belong
to the Malayan race; less than one-half
million belong to the other two races.
The principal tribe is the Visayas. oc-
cupying the Visaya group of islands,
situate between LuZon on the north
n Mindanao or the south. The Wis
ayas occupy IN area of 2S, 900 square
miles. number about 1900, 900 and are
as civilized n intelligent as the Ia
gals. The next Tribe. in numbers, is
the Tagals. who occupy Luzon, and
number 1864, 000-about one-half of
the population of this island.
The Instruction is a Tagal insur-
rection, and the insurrectionary gov
ernmen is a Tagal government. The
other tribes and the people of the other
stands had no voice and were not rem
resented in the formation or manage
ment of this government. The Tagal
government of Aguinaldo in Luzon
originated in and rests wholly upon
military force. n has not, even in
Luzon, to say nothing about the many
other important Islands. come into ex-
istence 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-
rnniad nv ftc arpnnl harl- o-I l..l
ments in Luzon. The consent of the
governed is neither asked. sought nor
expected. The great mass of the peo-
pie are as helpless and where within
reach Of the Tagal government under
as abjest subjugation under Aguinal-
dos military oligarchy as they ever
were under the Spaniards in the years
that are past.
Bryan Would Haul Down Old Glory.
1t is to such an instruction and to
such a government that our adversa-
ries would lay us lay down our arms
and surrender our control and author
ity. 1t is this instruction and this
government that we should have en-
couraged and set VI as a permanent
establishment and have made our
selves the protectors of. 1t is to this
government of Aguinaldo's that we
should retrocede the title and authority
we acquired from Spain.
When we ratified the treaty we
should have given assurance of all
this, and then all would have been
well. 1t is because we nave failed to
do all this and because we are sup
pressing the instruction. bringing or
der out of chaos and attempting to
give the Filipinos a just, safe and lib
eral ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to any
they have yer had or possibly could
acquire through Aguinaldo and his
chiefs-that we are guilty OF imperi-
alism and guilty of threatening the
liberties of our own people by an in
creased standing army.
Brvan's Imperialism.