The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1900-03-01
Sophistry.

DeruLes the OndEl6SCOn news ana COu-
rier (the best newspaper in the South,
the Baltimore Sun, Hon. W.. Bryan,
Hon. William Sulzer and others for
their opposition to the seizure of the
Philippine islands by this country,
gratuitously insulting all who disagree
with the editor in regard to wars of
conquest, incidentally opposing the
Beers and citing the act OF the early
white settlers of America in dispos-
sessing the native Indians Of their
lands, as precedent for territorial ex-
pansion without the consent Of the
owners OF the domains appropriated,
alleging oraeularly that ''Boers and
Filipinos alike failed to keep step with
the advancing parts of the human race
and they must get out of the way"
There is no analogy whatever between
the attempted subjugation of the Fill
pinos and Beers respectively by the
governments of the United States and
OF Great Britain, and the acquisition of
the territory now in the United States,
by the original white emigrants to
America. In the first and most i'm
portant place our ancestors took up
their abodes in the new world with the
consent of the natives, whom they paid
fair price for the lands which were
acquired, circumstance not true of
either the Beers or Filipinos. Second
ly, the North American Indians were
abject barbarians; they were totally
unacquainted with the arts and sci
ences, not even knowing the art of
writing; they had no well defined gov
ernments and laws or in fact any
thing characteristic of civilized COM
munities. This cannot be said OF those
brave peoples who are now fighting for
their liberties. The Filipinos are much
lower than the Beers and are of a diff
ferent race, but they both have we'll
established and we'll administered gov
ernments, the arts and sciences are
well known and practiced; education
among the Filipinos is about as general
as it is in Spain, and among the Beers
it is quite prevalent. Both have rail-
roads, telegraphs, manufacturing es-
adjustments, schools, colleges and
christian churches. The christian re-
ligion is more prevalent in the Trans
vaal than it is in South Carolina. The
Filipinos have been declared by the
Philippine Commission to be capable Of
self government. l am willing to ad-
nit that savages have no rights when
they conflict with the interests of civ
ilized and christian people, but it can
not be allowed that either the Beers or
the Filipinos are savsges. In their own
way, though it may not be strictly
up-to~date, they are subduing the
earth ana keeping it in obedience to
Divine commands. 1t was really a
mercy to the Indians that the white
man came to these shores for they were
killing each other by thousands and
in few centuries they would have
been extinct. Not so with the others.
Thirdly, the necessities existing with
the British settlers of America for
leaving their European homes, do not
apply in the cases of the United States
and Great Britain in their efforts to
seize the Philippines and the Trans
vaal. Every we'll informed person
knows that the bulk of the English set
tiers of the American colonies came to
these shores for religions and political
reasons, that they might be free to be-
lieve and to think as they liked. As
they could not perfectly enjoy these
conditions anywhere in Europe, they
were compelled to seek other lands
Their motives were the furthest re-
moved possible from those involved in
wars of conquest.
There are three classes of persons in
the United States who advocate the
permanent retention of the Philippine
islands, The first are those well
meaning but misguided members Of
churches who imagine that with thai
territory annexed to our country
protestant christianity will soon take
the place of Romanism, Islamism anC
heathenism prevailing in the former
The second are those who are inflated
with the idea that immensely of ter
ritory and population included under (
government with its supposedly conse
quent strength, is the highest ideal tt
be sought in national life. The third
class, to which the News confessedly
belongs, of which also all the other
newspapers and individual expansion
lists of the South are members, base
their reasons upon the sordid and mer-
cenary consideration that the owner
ship of these distant islands would re-
dound to the benefit principally of the
cotton factories of this section Ac-
cording to the views of these patriots
for revenue, an unoffending people must