The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-07-27
,eive the sum UNI OF $500, 600, Of which $780,


600 was actually paid to them, and the
balance was to be paid when certain con-
ditions were complied with. When Dewey
entered Manila bay Aguinaldo and his
chiefs were at Singapore, living on and
quarreling over the proceeds of the price
they had obtained from the Spanish gov
eminent for abandoning the rebellion.
There was then no Tagal government nor
even "a Tagal Instruction, and Aguinaldo
had by contract and for a price expa-
triated himself.
The Title of Spain
was as perfect as it could be. That title
our country acquired by conquest,
through Dewey at that time, and this
title, thus acquired was afterwards duly
confirmed by the treaty of Paris. At the
request of Aguinaldo and by the permits
sion of Dewey, Aguinaldo returned to
Luzon and organized an army of his fol-
lowers to aid in expelling the Spaniards.
And when Manila finally surrendered he
became angry and took umbrage be-
cause he and his army were not permit
ted to enter and loot the city. 1t was at
this time he no doubt became possessed
with the idea of setting up a govern
ment hostile to the United States. The
United States acquired by conquest and
treaty perfect title to Luzon and the
other islands, and the people therein be-
came subject to the authority of our
government, and had no more right to
set up government hostile to the United
States than the people of New Mexico,
Arizona or Alaska. We have never yet,
In all our history, permitted the people
of any of our territorial possessions to
set up government hostile to the Unit
ed States. Nor have we ever permitted
them to set up any government at all
without the express permission of con-
gress, And denying to the Tagals what
we have denied in all other cases can
never afford valid ground for CON-
plant
Does Mr.. Bryan and his party mean
or contend that we should have relin-
pushed our possession and right in the
islands to Aguinaldo and the Tagals as
soon as the treaty of Paris was ratified
Had we done SO absolutely the islands
would at once have been seized by some
of the. great powers of Europe, or, if not
so seized, would have fallen into disin-
tegrdtion, anarchy and chaos, for even
If the Tagals could, after fashion, gov
equal to the task of governing all the is
lands, with so many savage and semi
civilized tribes are there found.
But it is said we should allow the
Tagals to set up a government of their
own, and then exercise a protectorate
over them. To exercise a proper protec-
torate we would have to be responsible
for their peace and good behavior, both at
home and abroad and this would require
an army and navy of ours in that coun-
try, and we would find our task more diff
hcult by reason of the character of the
self-constituted Tagal government. We
can much more easily exercise protector
rate and perform the function of guar
dian by retaining them under our direct
jurisdiction and by giving them such a
government
Under Our Auspices.
as they are capable of digesting and fit to
use and enjoy There can be but three
courses to pursue: Total abandonment
which would lead to foreign seizure or
suicide, and would be dishonorable before
God and man; protectorate, which, be-
cause of the interest and desires of other
nations and the peculiar character and
status of the people of the islands and
their environment, would be more bur
densome and a more difficult task than
having direct charge of the people and
providing them a suitable government
and third, pacifcation and the establish
ment of a suitable government, under the
direct auspices and supervision of the
United States. The latter is the plan anC
purpose of the Republican party One
or the other of the two other plans
abandonment or a protectorate-mustb be
the Democratic plan, if they have any
plan. and this is the gist of their anti
imperialism.
1.-THE Democracy will find it difficult tt
make a hero of Aguinaldo. They car
hardly be serious when they compare him
with George Washington and Simon Boil
var. He stands before the world as g
double traitor. He was a traitor to thu
Spaniards when, after having abandoned
his people and voluntarily expatriatet
himself for a pecuniary consideration, hi
again returned to Manila to join in
war on the Spaniards. He was a traitor
to the United States when, after having
returned to Manila by the permission O.
Dewey to aid in the expulsion Of tn,
Spaniards, he organized an insurrectio,
against the authority of the United
States. It was the presence of Dewe,
and our forces at Manila that made i
possible for him to return and to organic
| his army. He came there under the pro
| lection of the American flag. He was no
| invited by Dewey to foment an insur
rection Or set up hostile government
And what was there of his so-called Philip
pine republic? It was mere mllit ar,
ohgarchy, organized by Aguinaldo and ,
few OF his Tagal chiefs, and such as i
was it has already been scattered to tn
four Winds The instruction has, in tn
main, spent its force and subsidized into
petty guerrilla warfare by small isolate
bands IN remote hills, sWamps and for
ests, who live by plumber, find protec
ton in the rainy season, and fondly hop
for Democratic success
| I'm the meantime our authorities ar
maintaining peace and order, protectin
life and property, and establishing loca
civil governments under the auspices an
direction of the able commission recentl
appointed by the president. And by tn
time the !des Of November roll around
the insurrection will be only saga
mere relic of history. and Jaw and orde
will prevail in Luzon, and the Tagals wi
awake to- the fact-which tkey have bee
slow to realize-that there - IN im