Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-08-13
What Bryan Would Do.

| puTpoSs ISL " cStdOilSn Il stable IoTII
OF government in the Philippine
! Islands. just as we are now establish.
ing stable form Of government in the
Island of Cuba; second, to give indie
pendence to the Filipinos, just as we
have promised independence 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 -
l-Bryan's speech of acceptance.
Sounds simple and easy, doesn't it?
egotism, Inconsistencies and flamboy-
ant nonsense this declaration of pur-
poses proves to be as we examine it.
What a mere trihe the whole great
Philippine problem appears to the
rhetoric juggler of the Platte who talks
now about imperialism" "militarism,'
| empire" independence of the Phil
| ippines," stable government" "protec-
ton of Filipinos against outside inter-
| IeTtnce, etc-. with all the Jaunty as
surance with which he elaborated.
four years ago, upon the awful menace
of the gold standard and the unfailing
affinity of silver and wheat.
| Bryan proclaims that his first act,
| if he is elected-O, mighty 'ff''-will be
to give independence to the Philip
pines. with stable form of govern
| ment." How will he create this gov
eminent. and what will it be? Doesn't
he realize that the necessary prelm-
| mary to such a task must be the estab-
| lishment of order in the archipelago?
| be placed on a firm basis in the islands
| before any form of government can be
given the Philippines, and it is not
| easy to see how Bryan, if confronted
with the actual problem of carrying
out his first pledge, could proceed
| otherwise than the present administra-
ton has proceeded
The comparison between giving
stable government to the Philippines
and one to Cuba is utterly napt In
Cuba the people are homogeneous and
have been united in a long struggle for
freedom, making the task relatively
simple one. In the Philippines there
are a score of races and hundreds of
tribes. most of them mortal enemies
who would never submit to the rule of
than oil and water. To which race or
| tribe would Bryan give the ruling
power? To the Macabbes, our loyal
allies, or would he hand this tribe over
! to the tender mercies of Aguinaldo and
his Tagals? How would he settle mat
| ters between the Visayans and the
! Moros, deadly enemies for generations.
o. that stable self-government in the
Philippines would be a picnic for the
Nebraska statesman.
Our large standing army of s., 600
men, half the size of that maintained
by little Switzerland. frightens Bryan
with vision of "militarism," and he
would hasten to disband it. Is he too
blind to realize that it would take an
army of many times $1,000 men to
| maintain Aguinaldo or any other ma
| tive in power over those warning
| tribes? Also. where would the "cOn-
| sent Of the governed" come in? Per-
haps there would be as much of it,
| however. as there is in North Carolina.
| Bryan argues that the Filipinos are
| not fit for American citizenship and
that they endanger our civilization. If
this be true, how then can they be
| given independence without endanger-
ing their own civilization? If they are
not fit to be governed by us, how are
they fit for Independent seifg0vern-
ment? The Republican platform
pledges them the largest measure of
| government consistent with their
welfare and our duties" which is safe,
| wise and statesmanlke. The uncon-
ditional pledge of independence given
by Bryan has none of these qualities
The talk about extending the Monroe
| doctrine to the Filipino republic which.
he proposes to establish, is the widest
flight of all. There is no parallel be-
tween the Central and South Ameri-
can states and the Philippines. Those
| republics had won their freedom from
Spain, developed some degree of civ
| iliZation and shown the world they
| could stand alone, before the Monroe
| doctrine. was promulgated. Moreover,
they are on this hemisphere. at our
doors. To protect Filipino republic
against the greed of Europe would re-
quire an army and navy that would
be "militarism" in truth rather than
in fancy. 1t would be an even more
stupendous task than to protect it
| against itself.
1 If Bryan is elected President he will
find that dealing with the Philippine
| problem is a different matter than it
| seems when he turns loose his ex-