The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-09

llduttSs ii plauieu uuueI
the American flag in the far-away
Orient. will sooner or later be trans
planted upon American soil. II true
Christianity consists of carrying cut in
our daily lives the teachings of Christ,
who will say that we are command
ed to civilize with dynamite and proselyte
with the sword? He who would declare the
Divine will must prove his authority either
by Holy Writ or by evidence of special
dispensation. The command Go ye into
| all the world and preach the gospel to
| every creature has no Calling gun attach
ment
when Jesus visited village OF Samaria
and the people refused TO receive Him,
some of the disciples suggested that fire
I should be called down from Heaven to
/ avenge the insult; but the Master rebuked
! them. and said: 'Ye know not what man
ner OF spirit ye are of; for the Son of Man
| is not come to destroy mems lives, but to
save them Suppose be had said: We
will thrash them until they understand
who we are. how different would have been
the history of Christianity, Compare, il
you Will. the staggering, bullying, brutal
I doctrine OF imperialism with the Golden
/ Rule and the commandment, Thou shalt
| love thy neighbor as myself
Love. not force. was the weapon OF the
Nazarene; sacrifice for others, not the ex-
Z
reaching the human heart. A missionary
recently told me that the Stars and Stripes
| once saved his life because his assailant
! recognized our flag as flag that had no
blooG upon it. Let 1t be known that our
( missionaries are seeking souls instead of
sovereignty; let il be known that instead
! of being the advance guard OF conquering
armies they are going forth TO help and
! to uplift. having their loins grit about
. til lofr
/ preparation OF the Gospel of Peace, wearing
/ the breastplate of righteousness, and car
/ rying ths sword Of the Spirit; let it be
known that they are the citizens o. ma
| ton which respects the rights Of the citi-
4 zens Of other nations as carefully as it pro-
tects the rights OF its own citizens, and the
welcome given to our missionaries will be
more cordial than the welcome extended to
the missionaries Of any other nation.
THE argument, made by some. that it
/ was unfortunate for the nation that it had
anything 10 do with the Philippine Islands,
but that the naval victory at Manila made
the permanent acquisition Of those islands
1 necessary, is also unsound. We won a
/ naval victory at Santiago, but that did rot
compel us 10 hold Cuba. The shedding of
American blood in the Philippine Islands
does not make IT imperative that we
should retain possession forever; American
blood was shed at San Juan Hill and Ell
Caney, and yet the President has prom
ised the Cubans independence.
1.-The fact that the American flag floats
over Manila does not compel us to exer-
else perpetual sovereignty over the ISL
1 ands; that flag waves over Havana today
but the President has promised 10 haul it
down when the flag of the Cuban Republic
is ready TO rise in its place. Better a
| thousand times that our flag in the Orient
give way to flag representing the idea OF
self-government than that the flag OF this
Republic should become the flag OF an en-
pire.
An Easy, Honorable Solution.
There is an easy, honest. honorable So
luton Of the Philippine question. It is set
forth in the Democratic platform and it is
submitted with confidence to the American
people. This plan ] unreservedly endorse
II elected, I shall convene Congress in ex-
traordinary session as soon as | am inau-
gurated and recommend immediate
declaration of the nations purpose: first.
10 establish a stable form OF government
In the Philippine Islands, just as We are
now establishing a stable form of govern
ment In the Island of Cuba; second, 10 give
independence to the Fiipinos, just as we
have promised to give independence 10 the
Cubans; third, to protect the flilpinos
from outside interference while they work
out their destiny, just as we have pro.
teeted the Republics of Central and South
America. and are. by the Monroe Doctrine,
pledged to protect Cuba.
AN European protectorate often results
in the exploitation OF the ward by the
guardian An American protectorate gives
TO the nation protected the advantage OF
our strength, without making 1t the VIC
tim Of our greed. For three-quarters OF a
century the Monroe Doctrine has been a
shield 10 neighboring republics and yet 1t
has imposed no pecuniary burden upon US.
After the Filipinos had aided us IN the
war against Spain. we could not honorably
turn them over TO their former masters;
we could not leave them to be the victims
Of the ambitious designs of the European
nations, and since we do not desire to
make them part of US. OF TO hold them
as subjects, we propose that the only al
tentative is namely: To give them indie
pendence and guard them against moles-
tation from without.