The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-02-25
OUR OWN COMES FIRST.


Order should be restored in the Phil
ippines. The American army should
not be Withdrawn until peace is Sc
cured. No man who is not a blind
partisan doubts that peace could have
been secured long ago if a more deter
mined effort had been made by the adj
ministration. and it is the belief and
the expressed conviction Of 80 per cent
of the returned volunteers that a no.
toriously incompetent man has been
left in control Of insular affairs when a
man of more decision, capacity and
military genius would have ended the
instruction long ago.
But the disposition of these islands
after peace is secured is another and
vital question to every American cit
izen. Upon this point there are many
conflicting opinions. Some say that
God gave US those islands," wherefore
we ought to hold them, and, as Senator
Beveridge says, "chastise the people
for their own good" Others, Secretary
Hay among them. wave the providen-
tial theory to one side and declare
bluntly that we bought these people
for $3.50 per head and have a right to
do whatever We please with them.
Senator Hanna contends that it is our
Christian duty" to the people them
selves to rule them, whether they will
or not
But Secretary Gage. with a curious
mixture of Hypocrisy and candor,
summed the whole situation up when
he said that we took possession Of the
islands in. the name of philanthropy
and per cent"
None of them appears concerned over
the welfare of our own people and
| country, which is the chief concern of
the democratic party.
Senator Hanna's notion Of Christian
duty" backed as it is by bayOnets. may
cover the requirements of the Filipinos
! Certainly Lord North deemed it his
Christian duty to govern the colonies
his government mad opened and set
/ tied. And there was some foundation
for Lord North's contention at least.
But Washington's idea, and it seems
/ to be in order now to explain what the
Father Of his Country would do in the
! present emergency, was very different
: from that entertained by Lord North.
as history clearly demonstrated. And
Washington's idea of Christian duty"
was not Senator Hanna's by any
means George Washington believed
: that his first duty as a patriot was to
/ his country and his countrymen. He
would not sacrifice their ideals or
| jeopardize their liberties by entering
1 Asia, upon whatever pretext, to force
his government upon the people there.
/ nor would he ask the sacrifice of hu-
man lives to aid him in any such work
/ Of alleged philanthropy.
/ So far as the payment Of $40 600. 900
! to Spain for an option on her unfinished
+ conquest is concerned, it were better
/ to give away ten times that amount
/ than TO embark upon a career that be-
/ lies the pretensiOns, defeats the Dur
! poses and saps the very foundation of
this government 1t has already cost
us ten times the amount Of the pur-
/ chase price TO establish our authority
on the archipelago. and military ex-
( perts declare that, other instructions
/ being inevitable, our army will have to
remain there a lifetime to insure a
! government by force. But this official
| declaration that we hold these. people
! because we bought them does away
! forever, it seems, with that plea. OF
tribal bigotry long since discarded by
| civilization. that God gave the colon
/ lists Of Spain into our hands TO hold and
to rule at the expense of our cherished
ideals and utter disregard of our ma
tional traditions.
II this scheme OF colonial govern
ment is abandoned we shall lose the
money we invested in this quit claim
/ title Of old Spain, say the more prac-
| teal and matter Of fact philanthroplsts
who advocate the retention of The
islands. Perish the money! It will
require fron, five to ten times that
amount every year to continue clear
ing up a place in the Orient for our
! syndicates to build a nest. Let them
make the sacrifice, as they expect to
reap the gains.
we may lose the Oriental trade If
we give the islands their independ-
ence." cries another. Nonsense. All
we need is an island or a bay or a de-
pot there. This was all the president
asked for until the sugar kings and
various other syndicates looking for
commercial concessions began to fig
/ ure on cheap coolie labor in the archi-
| pelago- Our greatest conquests of trade
] are not where we have carried the mar
kets by musketry. We are coBquerine
the commerce Of the world without the
use Of shell and shrapnel It is the
! conquest Of peace that wins.
But the danger is here: II this poll
cy Of patterninP after European greed
and force is persisted in. If this gov
eminent is made to adopt and endorse
the policies against which its founders
rebeled. if an administration is to be
permitted to sit in power at Washing