Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1900-08-18

Imperialism would be profitable TO the
army Contractors, II would be prohtanle
T. the shipowners WI would carry live
soldiers 10 the Philippines and bring dead
tpldters back, it would be prontable 10
those who would seize upon the tranchses,
and it would be profitable TO the Ofhcldls
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 engaged in other occupations, II
would bring expenditure without return
and risk without reward.
Farmers and laborinG men have, as
rule, small incomes, and, under systems
which place the tax upon all consumption,
pay more than their fair share OF the eX-
penses of government. Thus the very peQ-
pie who receive least benefit from i'm
perialism will be injured most by the mil
itary burdens which accompany it.
In addition to the evils which he and the
farmer share In common, the laboring man
will be the first to suffer If oriental subjects
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
and Japan the first to suffer from the
violence which the military spirit arouses,
and the first to suffer when the methods
Of Imperialism are applied to our own
government
1t is not strange, therefore, that the labor
organizations have been quick to note the
approach of these dangers and prompt to
protest against both militarism and i'm
periaiSm.
The pecuniary argument, though more
effective with certain classes, is not likely
to be used so often or presented with SO
much emphasis as the religious argument.
If what has been termed the 'gunpowder
gospel were urged against the Filpinos
that a majority of the Filipinos are now
members of one branch of the Christian
church; but the principle involved is one
of much wider application and challenges
serious consideration.
The religious argument varies In positive
ness from a passive belief that Providence
delivered the FiliplnOs into our hands, for
their good and our glory, to the eXultation
of the minister who said that we ought to
thrash the natives (Fillpinos) until they
understand who we are" and that "eVery
bullet sent every cannon shot and every
flag waved means Righteousness.
No Calling Gossip.
We cannot approve of this doctrine In
one place unless we are willing to apply
it everywhere. If there is poison in the
blood of the hand 1t will ultimately reach
the heart 1t is equally true that forcible
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 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 a
special dispensation. The command, GO
ye into all the world and preach the Gospel
to every creature" has no Gatling gun at
taChment 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 re-
buked them, and said: "Ye know not what
manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son Of
] Nav &c fNEef
but to save them Suppose He had said:
1--WE will thrash them until they under
| stand who We are" ," how different would
| have been the history of Christianity!
! Cnmp9re, If you will, the staggering bH-
| lying brutal doctrine of imperialism with
the Golden Rule and the commandment,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy
self"
Love not force, was the weapon of the
| NaZartnei sacrifice for others, not the eX-
| ploitatou of them, was His method of
| reaching the human heart. missionary
| recently told me that the stars and stripes
| once saved his life because his assailant
recognized our flag as a 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 conquering
| armies, they are going forth to help and
| to uplft, having their loins girt about with
| truth and their feet shod with the prepara-
| tiOn Cf the Gospel of Peace, wearing the
| breastplate of righteousness and carrying
| the sword of the Spirit, let ii be known that
| they are the citizens of a nation which
| respects the rights of the citizens of other
| nations as carefully as it protects the rights
of its own citizens, and the welcome given
| to our missionaries will be more cordial
| than the welcome extended to the mission
| aries Of any other nation.
| The argument, made by some, that 1t
| was unfortunate for the nation that II
| had anything TO do with the Philippine
islands but that the naval victory at Ma
| Mia made the permanent acquisition of
! those Islands necessary is also unsound,
| We won a victory at Santiago but that
| did not compel us to hold Cuba The shed
| ding of American blood in the Philippine
| islands does not make it imperative that
| we should retain possession forever, Amer
| iCau blood was shed at San Juan hill and El
| Caney, and yet the president has prom
| ised the Cubans Independence The fact
| that the American flag floats over Manila
| does not compel us to exercise perpetual
| sovereignty over the islands, that flag
| waves over Havana to-day but the pres
| ident 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 a
| flag representing the idea of self-govern-
ment than that the flag of this republic
should become the flag of an empire.
An Honorable solution.
There Is an easy, honest, honorable solu-
| tiOn of the Philippine question. 1t Is set
| forth in the democratic platform and it is
| submitted with confidence to the Amerl-
| can people. This plan | unreserVedly in
| dOrSc, If elected, | shall convene congress
in extraordinary session as soon as l am
| inaugurated and recommend an imme-
| diate declaration of the nations purpose,
| first, to establish a stable form of gov
| ernment in the Philippine islands, just as
| we are now establishing stable form of
government in the island of Cuba sec
ond, to give independence to the Filipinos,
| just as we have promised to give inde-
| pendenCe to the Cubans: third, to protect
| the FilipinoS from outside interference
while they work out their destiny, just
as We have protected 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 adyan-
! tage of our strength, without making 1t
| the victim of our greed. For three-quar-
| ters of a century the Monroe doctrine has
been a shield to neighboring republics
and yet 1t has imposed no pecuniary bur
den upon us. After the FilipinoS had aid
ed 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 de-
signs of the European nations and since
we do not desire to make them a part of
us, or to hold them as subjects we pro-
pose the only alternative, namely to give
them independence and guard them
against molestation from without.
When our opponents are unable to de-
! fend their position by argument they fall
back upon the assertion that 1t is destiny,
and insist that we must submit to II, no
matter how much II violates moral pre-
cepts and our principles of government.
This is complacent philosophy. 1t OBJ
literates the distinction between right and
wrong and makes individuals and nations
the helpless victims of circumstances.
Destiny is the subterfuge of the in
vertebrate, who, lacking the courage to
oppose error, seeks some plausible excuse
for supporting il, Washington said that the
destiny of the republican form OF gov
ernment was deeply, If not finally, staked
on the experiment intrusted to the Amer
lean people. How different Washington S
definition of destiny from the republican
definition. The republicans say that this
nation is in the hands of destiny; Wash
ington believed that not only the destiny
Of our own nation, but the destiny of the
republican form Of government through
out the world was intrusted to American
hands. Washington was right. The
destiny of this republic is in the hands of
its own people, upon the success of the
experiment here rests the hope of human
ity. No exterior force can disturb this
republic, and no foreign influence should
be permitted to change Its course. What
the future has in store for this nation no
one has authority to declare, but each in
dividual has his own idea of the nation S
mission and he owes 1t to his country as
i we'll as to himself to contribute as best he
may to the fulfillment of that mission.
Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the
Committees can never fully discharge the
debt OF gratitude which ] owe TO my coun-
trymen for the honors which they have so
generously bestowed upon me, but sirs,
whether 1t be my lot to occupy the high