The age-herald., 1900-08-09

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 army contractors; 1t would be profitable to l the ship owners who would carry live sol- | diers to the Philippines and bring dead so1A | diers back; it would be profitable to those | who would seize upon the franchises, and it , would be profitable to the officials whose | salaries would be fixed here and paid over | there; but to the farmer, to the laboring | man and to the vast majority of those en- | gagged in other occupations 1t would bring l expenditure without return and risk with | out reward.
 | Farmers and laboring men have, as | rule, small incomes, and under systems which place the tax upon consumption, pay 1 more than their fair share of the expenses
 of government. Thus the very people who | receive least benefit from imperialism will | be injured most by the military burdens | which accompany it.
 In addition to the evils which he and the 1 farmer share in common. the laboring man | will be the first to suffer if Oriental sub- | jects seek work in the United States; the | first to suffer if American capital leaves our | shores to employ Oriental labor in the | Philippines to supply the trade of China l and Japan: the first to suffer from the vio- | lence which the military spirit arouses and | the first to suffer when the methods of im- perialism are applied to our own govern- ment.
 It is not strange, therefore, that the labor organizations have been quick 70 note the approach of these dangers and prompt to protest against both militarism and im- perialism.
 The pecuniary argument, though more effective with certain classes, is not likely | to be used so often or presented with so much emphasis the religious argument. l If what has been termed the "gun-powder gospel'' were urged against the E'illpinos only, it would be a sufficient answer to say that a majority of the Filipinos are now members of branch of the Christian church; but the principle involved is one of much wider application and challenges serious consideration.
 The religious argument varies in posi- tiveness from passive belief that Provi- dence delivered the Flipinos into our hands, for their good and our glory, to the eXultation of the minister who said we | ought to thrash the natives (Filipinos) | until they understand who we are, and | that every bullet sent, every cannon shot, l and every flag waved means righte ous- l ness"
 | We cannot approve of this doctrine in l one place unless we willing to arpiy | it everywhere. If there is poison in the blood of the hand it will ultimately reach the heart It is equally true that forced
 Christianity, if planted under the American
 flag in the far-away Orient, will sooner or
 later be transplanted upon American soil.
 If true Christianity consists in carrying out
 in our daily lives the teachings of Christ,
 who will say that we are commanded to
 civiize with dynamite and proselyte with
 the sword. He who would declare the
 divine will must prove his authority, either
 by Holy Writ by evidence of a special
 dispensaton. The command Go ye into all
 the world and preach the gospel to every
 creature has no gattling gun attachment. When Jesus visited a village of Samaria and the people refused to receive Him. some of the disciples suggested that fire should be called down from heaven to avenge the insult; but the Master rebuked them. and said "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of for the Son of Man is not come to destroy mems lives, but to save them.' Suppose he had said: We will
 thrash them until they understand whp
 we are" How different would have been
 the history of Christianity. Compare, if you
 will the swaggering, bullying, brutal doc-
 Urine of imperialism with the Golden Rule and the Commandment, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as myself"
 Love Was tho Weapon
 Love- not force, was the weapon of the
 Nazarene; sacrifice for others, not the ex-
 ploitation of them, His method of reaching the human heart. missionary re-
 gently told me that the Stars and Stripes
 once saved his life because his assaiant
 recognized our flag as flag that had no blood upon it. Let it be known that our missionaries are seeking souls instead of
 sovereignty let it be known that instead
 of being the advance guard Of conquerlng
 armies, they are going forth to help and to
 uplift, having their loins girt about with truth and their feet shod with the prepara- ton of the gospel of peace wearing the breastplate of righteousness and carrying the sword of the spirit; let 1t be known that they are the citizens of nation which respects the rights or the citizens or other ~ nations as carefully as it protects tho rights of its own citizens, and the welcome given to our missionaries will be more cor" dial than the welcome extended to the mis-
 sionaries Of any other nation.
 The argument made by some, that it was unfortunate for the nation that II had
 anything to do with he Philippine Islands,
 but that the naval vicory at Manila maoe
 the permanent acquisition of those islands necessary, is also unsound The victory or
 Santiago did not compel us to hold Cuba.
 The shedding of American blood in the Philippine Islands does not make 1t innpera- tive that we should retain possession 1or- ever: American blood was shed at San Juan Hill and Fl Caney, and yet the President has promised the Cubans independence. The fact that the American flag floats over Manila does not compel us to exercise per petual sovereignty over the islands; that flag waves over Havana today, but the President has promised to haul 1t down when tho flag of the Cuban republic IS ready to rise in its place. Better thou sand times that our flag in the Orient give way to a flag representing the idea o1 self government than that the flag of this re- public should become the flag of an empire.
 An Honorable Solution
 There is an easy honest, honorable soiu- ton of the Philippine question. It is set forth in the Democratic platform and it is submitted with confidence to the American people. This plan I unreservedly fndorses
 If elected 1 shall convene Congress in ex-
 traordiE&ry session as soon as l am ms ausurated. and recommend an immediats declaration of the nations pUrpose-irst, td establish a stable form of government i1 the Philippine Islands, just as we are now establishing stable form of government in the Island of Cuba; second. to give index peneeuce to the Filipinos, just as we hay(