Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-03-02
PHILIPPINES RIGHTFULLY HELD.
AqutiOn" United Remarkable
Growth Policy" by Richard OIney,
Secretary of State.

nlJnerJO pursued towards II; and by the
tremendous drain on our resources which
the civil and military administration of the
islands will inevitably entail"
Nevertheless, however bad the blunder,
the possession of sufficient legal power TO
commit us on the part of those in charge
of the government for the time being must
be conceded.
at goes without saying that the United
States cannot play the part in the worlds
affairs it has just assumed without equip
ping itself for the part with all the instru-
mentalities necessary to make its will felt,
either through pacific intercourse and ne
gotiation or through force. Its diplomatic
agencies must, therefore, be greatly en-
larged, strengthened and improved while
powerful navy, up-to-date in all points
OF construction, armament, general eff
ficiency and readiness for instant service,
becomes of equal necessity. Our Philip
pine possessions will not merely empha-
size the urgent occasion for such innova-
tions. They will make innovations greater
and more burdensome, while at the same
time compelling others which we could not
have done without. The Philippines in
evitabiy make our navy larger than it
would have to be without them-they in
evltably enhance the extent and the quail
ny ahu IlC tOst VI the ulplOmdJlC bSLdD-
lishment With which we must provide our
selves.
But, besides aggravating the weight and
the expense of the necessary burdens in
VOWED in our assuming our true place
among the nations, the Philippines add
burdens of their own. There will be no
respectable government of the islands I'M
Til they are furnished with a large force of
highly-educated and trained administrators
Further, as already observed were it not
for the Philippines, we might have es-
capped the curse of any very large addition
to our regular standing army. But the
equipment required for our new inter-
national role need not be discussed at any
length. We must have 1.-THE need will
be forced upon us By facts the logic of
which will be irresistible-and however
slow to move or indisposed to face the
facts, the national government must,
sooner or later provide it,
The United States, Mr.. Olney insists,
must, in the future as in the past, abstain
from interference in changes of dynasty,
forms Of government, alterations of boun-
diaries and social and domestic institutions
of European nations.
Mr.. OlneY speaks OF the possibilities of
entanglements through our dependencies
heretofore our general policy must be and
will be nOn-interference in the internal
affairs OF European states-hereafter as
heretofore We shall claim paramountcy in
things purely American-and hereafter as
heretofore we shall antagoniZe any attempt
by an European Power to forcibly plant
its flag on the American continents
Mr. Olney says we cannot assert our
! selves as power whose interests and
sympathes are as wide as the world with
out assuming obligations corresponding to
the claim. Mr.. Olney recognizes as the
first duty of every nation the promotion
and conservation of its own interests.
There is no reason why the United
States should not act for the relief of suf-
| fering humanity and for the advancement
| of civilization wherever and whenever
such action would be timely and effective.
| Should there, for example, be a recurrence
of the Turkish massacres of Armenian
| Christians, not to stop them alone or in
| concert with others, could we do so with
out imperiling our own substantial in
terests, would be unworthy of us and in
consistent with our claims and aspirations
as great Power. We certainly could no
longer shelter ourselves behind the time
honored excuse that we are an American
Power exclusively, without concern with
the affairs of the world at large,
Our theory and practice has been, how
ever, TO refrain from all alliances peremp-
torily, and the United States, were it not
for the Philippines, might have persisted
for longer or shorter period in that pol
icy.
Except for Great Britains counte-
nance" says Mr.. Olney, 1--WE should never
have got the ippines-except for her
continued support, our hold upon them
would be likely to prove precarious, per-
haps altogether unstable. 1t follows
that we now find ourselves actually caught
in an entangling alliance, forced there not
by any treaty, or compact of any sort, for
NAL or informal, but by the stress of mex
orable facts of the situation. 1t is an al
lance that entangles because we might be
and should be friends with all the world,
and because our necessary intimacy with
and dependence upon one of them is GER
tain to excite the suspicion and ill-will of
other nations"
Mr.. Olney finds consolation in the fact,
however, that in singing out England the
United States has made an uneXceptionable
choice, because she is most formidable as
foe and most effective as friend.
In the momentous change which the
new policy brings about, Mr.. Olney fore
sees no decline in the patriotism of Ameri-
cans, but an awakening of interest in
world problems, the abatement of racial
preiudces and the enlarged mental and
moral vision such as was ascribed to the
citizens of ancient Rome.