The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-08-25
IMPERIALISM.

The preamble 10 The Constitution
of the United States declares: "Wc
the people Of the United States, il
order to form a more perfect Union
establish justice. insure domestic
tranquility. provide for the common
defence, promote the genera, wei
fare, and secure the blessings OF
liberty to ourselves and our poster.
it,. do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States OF
America"
If YOU will examine the practical
workings Of Imperialism, you will
find that it fultiIIs none Of the oh
jecis and purposes for which this
government WAS founded. TO 60
among the Fllipinos, at fi:s! calling
them allies and treating them as
such and then To turn upon them
and in IN evil hour make war upon
them and kill and STAY them is Ger
tain!y IA modern, if not novel mode
of forming "a more perfect Union.
\ house divided agains, itself will
fall.
We claim t!.at no man gets jas
tice in the world unless he enjoys
Iiberly-that is the sine qua non
No liberty, no justice. Yet, dis
avowing this doctrine and disregard
ing the purpose Of the Constitution
10 establish justice" we now seem
To fall On Tie new faith, that justice
to ourselves demands injustice to
others; that the way TO establish
justice in the PHILIPPINES il to 90
among the islands and >Iay the in
hahi,ants. \ new and strange doe
irinc is this.
We have taken HE Filipinos into
our house; they are now a part Of
Cur domestic circles and to insure
drm site tranquility among and be
1wix, ourselves ard the FilipiEos,
we send to the PHILIPPINE islands
transports loaded down with soldiers,
Krag-Jorgcsens, gatANg guns, can
mons and all the implements and
armamcnts of war. We send there
also mighty vessels of war to Lover,
great monsters Of destruction, about
their seaport towns. All this to
''ihsure domestic tranquility" We
land Uur soldiers. hunt down the
FiI;pinos wherever he may seek re-
fuee from oppression and kill him
when he is found; a few turns Of
The propeller and the man-of-war
has ueared The coast, her long-barrcl
big guns pointing shoIcwar'l, click,
an EXPLOSION aud Il timed shell is on
lis way I" ''insurc domestic tran
guilty" TO :he Fiipinos.
We answer their ely for liberty
by the lannon's roar, the crack Of
tie musquctry and Tie bullets
dca,hly ping. They pleaded for
bread, We gave them stone.
II we wanted 10 'provile for the
common defence of Louisiana,
would We 90 among our brave
brethren Of the Northern part Of the
State and levy useless war against
them? Would we not rather, being
sensible men, seek every mean to
ante and strengthen the bounds of
friendship? 1t certainly seems SO.
Yet to ''providc for the common
Gcfence" of the United States, we
levy useless war upon the Filipinos.
One wOrd---freedom - could stop
that war. We refuse to utter that
Moid.
Ii VIC wished 10 ''promote the etncr-
al welfare" Of Louisiana we would
hardly 90 about shooting each other
ana burning each others houses.
causing heart-burnings that ten
generations will not erase; yet this 9
$ exactly what we are now doing in
he PHILIPPINES to ''promo,e the gen
raj welfare" of our common coun-
ry. This is now our practical in !;
Of The language of the : :
Did our fathers meet /,
D Constitutional Convention TO in i,
uiGc in i,ony, mccAery and sar- !,
asm? Or were they faithful honest I;
,eE. ii times Of great distress, gov O
ard actual, trying to solve 5
IL problem of promoting the com Il
on welfare Of mankind? II
The Constitution was also ordained a
'.srcure the blessings Of liberty "
ourselves ard our POsTE9ITY." Il
.der the plea Of destiny or any pI
her plea which the wise or the II
lavish can invent, the Filipinos are