The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1900-09-28

S4AO0S04&0
from our extreme western BOUNDARY. We
have serious race pr0piem now Al our
country and am not IN FAVOR or adding
TO our domestic Iabllc u lnongrei popula-
ton Cor this character). Our constitu-
lion makes no PROVISIONS for a colonial
establishment. Any territorial governs
menr We might establish Woulu necessarl-
~, because OF the popuiatlor. be an
olgareny, which woulu nave 10 be sup
porlso ny armed soldiers. Yet HAWAII has
now been annexed and her delegates have
sat In the national conventions of the
TWO great parties. The fears thea ex.
pressed IN relation 10 an oligarchy"
and armed soldiers" are not now Sc
Cously entertained by any human being;
yer they are precisely the objections
urged AGAINST the acquisition OF the
phiiippines at TINS very moment, We
are making no new departure. We are
not taking a single step which in any
way aifecls our institutions on our ira
ditionai policies. From the beginning
We have gwen widely varying degrees
ritories. according to their needs.
The simple truth is that there is moth
Ing even remotely resembling 'imperlaI-
lsin OF mintarism invo!ved In the
present development OF that policy OF ex-
pansion which has been part OF the his
tory or America from the day when she
became nation. The words mean aD-
soluteiy nothing as applied 10 our pres
emit policy in the Philippines; Tor this
policy Is only imperiaIisuc IN the sense
that Jsnerson's poiicy In Louisiana was
THAI Jacxscns LA.cy yoWard the Sem
Inoiss or custer toward the Sioux
embodied miiilarism; and there is no
more danger OF It's producing svel results
~ home LOW Than there WAS OK its in
lertsrlng with freedom under Jefferson
or JacAaon. or In the DAYS OF the lndlan
wars on the plains. Our army is relative
~ not as large as 1t was in the DAYS OF
wayne; We have not one regular for
every thousand inhabitants. There Is no
more danger or a draft IMAM there Is OF
of
When We expanded over New Mexico
and California We secured free govern
Insnt 10 these territories and prevented
their falling unoer the "mllltarism'' OF
dictatorship IKE that OF Santa Anna,
or IhS Imperialism or = real empire in
the days or MaXlmillian. We put q stop
to Imperialism III Mexico IA soon as the
civil war closed. We made great anti
lmpert2ltStic stride when we drove the
SpaniardS from Porto kico and the Phil
ippines and thereby made ready the
ground In these islands tor that gradually
increasing measure OF Selt-governrnenr
Tor which their populations are severally
nISed. Cuba is beng helped along the
pain to Independence as rapidly as her
own citizens are content that they snouId
go. or course the presence OF troops in
The philippines during the Tagal lnSur-
tarlsm or Imperialism than had their
presence In the Dakotas, Minnesota and
wyoming during the many years which
elapsed before the final outbreaks OF The
Sioux were definitely put down. There
- no more mlIitariSm or Imperialism
in garrisonin2 Luzon until order is re-
sending soldiers to South Dakota in 1850,
during the OSallaIIa outbreak. The
reasoning which justiies our having
made war against Sitting Bull also JUS
OF AEuinaldO and his folIoWerS directed
a. thsy We're. against Filipino and Amer
lean alike.
The only certain way of rendering it
necessary for our republic to enter on a
career or "MilitariSm" would be To aDan-
uon The Philippines to their own lriprS,
and AT he same time either TO gualan-
ice stable government among Lnuss
TRIBES or TO guarantee Ihem against oulsluo
interference. A Tar larger army WouIu DC
required TO carry out any such poncy
Than Will be required 10 secure order ui4-
der the American nag; While the pres
ence OF this mag on the islands Is rea4iy
The only possible security against GU
side aggression The whole argument
against President McKinIey's poilcy IN
Ile philippines becomes absurd whon IL
Is conceded that we should, to quote The
TO give the Philippines first a stable
form OF government II they are now
entitled to Independence, they are also
entitled to deciue for themselves whern-
unstable. civilized or savage or whether
they shall have any government al. !;
while 1t Is, or course, equally evident
that under such conditions We have no
right whatever 10 guarantee them agaiIsl
outside interference any more than We
have to make such guarantee in tne
Chinese analOgues OF Aguinaido's fol-
lowsrs). II We have u right 10 estabnsn
q stable government in the Islands it ne
cessaruy follows that it is not only our
right but our duty to support that gov
ernmsnt until the natives gradually grow
lit to sustain it themselves. How else
viii 1t be stable? The minute We leave
il, it ceases TO be stable.
PrOperly Spaakip2. tho uueSti0n Is now
not whether we shall expand,-for We
have already expanded,-but whether We
shall contract: The Philippines are now
part OF American territory. To surren-
DER them would be to surrender American
territory. They must, of course, be gov
erned primarily In the interest OF their
own citizens. Our first care must be Tor
the people Of the islands which have come
under our guardianship as a result Of
the most righteous foreign war that has
been waged within the memory OF the
present generation. They must be admin
istered in the interests Of their inhabi-
tants and that necessarily means that
any question Of personal or partisan pol
tiles in their administration must be en-
tirely eliminated. We must continue to
put at the heads Of affairs in the Diff
fersnt islands such men as General Wood
Governor Allen and Judge Taft; and it
is most fortunate thing that we are
able to illustrate what ought to be done
in the way Of sending officers thither by
pointing out what actually has been
done. The minor places in their admin
istration, where 1t is impossible to fill
them by natives, must be filled by the
strictest application OF the merit system.
IT Is very important that in our own home
administration the merely ministerial
and administrative offices, where the
duties are entirely non-political, shall be
filled absolutely without reference to par
tisan affiliations; but this is many times
more important in the newly acquired
islands. The merit system Is In its es-
sence as democratic as our common
school system, for 1t simply means equal
chances and fair play for all.
It must be remembered always that
the inhabitants may not necessarily be
to govern them as the inhabitants at the
moment prefer To grant self-Sovern-
ment to Luzon under Aguinaldo would
be like granting self-government to au
Apache reservation under some local
the fact that the Philippines fought the
Spaniards. than 1t would be by the fact
that Apaches have long been trained and
employed in the United States army and
have rendered signal service therein;
Just as the Pawnees did under the adj
ministration of President Grant; just as
the Stockbridge Indians did in the days
ly tribes Of the Six Nations In the days
Of President Madison.
There are now in the United States
communities of Indians which have adj
vanced so far that 1t has been possible
to embody them as a whole in our polit-
ical system, all the members Of the tribe
becoming United States citizens. There
are other communities where the bulk
of the tribe are still too wild for it to
be possible to take such step. There
are individuals among the Apaches, Paw
neeS, IroQuoiS, Sioux and other tribes