The age-herald., 1900-08-09

| lTdultlOnS or the past, can repud1ate the | principles upon which the nation rests; it | can employ force instead of reason; it l can substitute might for right; 1t can con- | quer weaker people; it can exploit their 1 lands, appropriate their property and kill their people; but it cannot repeal the mor- | al law or escape the punishment decreed | for the violation of human rights. Would we tread the paths of tyranny. Nor reckon the tyrants cost? l Who taketh another's liberty, His freedom is also lost. l Would win as the strong have ever won
 Make ready to pay the debt, 1 For the God who reigned over Babylon Is the God who is reigning yet" Better Education | Some argue that American rule in the l Philippine Islands will result in the bet 1 ter education of the Filipinos. Be not de- 1 ceived. If we expect to maintain a colo | nial policy, shall not find it to our ad- l vantage to educate the people. The edu- | cated Filipinos are now in revolt against | us, and the most ignorant ones have made l the least resistance to our domina ton. If | we are to govern them without their con | sent and give them voice in determin- l ing the taxes which they must pay | dare not educate them, lest they learn to read the Declaration of Independence and l the Constitution of the United States and | mock us for our inconsistency. The principal arguments, however, ad- vanced by those who enter upon defense | of imperialism are:
 First That we must improve the present | opportunity to become a world power and l enter into international politics. Second, That our commercial interests in | the Philippine Islands and in the Orient make 1t necessary for us to hold the islands permanently.
 Third, That the spread of the Christian | religion will be facilitated by a colonial policy.
 I Fourth That there is no honorable re- treat from the position which the nation has taken.
 The first argument is addressed to the | nations pride and the second to the | tion's pocketbook. The third is intended | for the church member and the fourth for | the partisan.
 Has Been q World Power 1 It is a sufficient answer to the first ar- 1 gument to say that for more than a cen tury this nation has been a world power. For ten decades it has been the most po- tent influence in the world. Not only has it been a world power but it has done more to affect the politics of the human race than all the other nations of the world combined. Because our Declaration of Independence was promulgated others have been promulgated; because the pat riots of 1776 fought for liberty, others have fought for it; because our Constitution was adopted, other constitutions have been adopted. The growth of the principles of self-government, planted American sol has been the over-shadowing political fact of the nineteenth century. It has made this nation conspicuous among the nations and given it q place in history such as no other nation has eyer enjoyed. Nothing has been able to check the onward march of this idea. l not willing that this nation shall cast aside the omnipotent weapon of truth to seize again the weapon of physical warfare I would not exchange the glory of this republic for the glory of all the empires that have risen and fallen since time began.
 The permanent chairman of the last Re-
 publican National Convention presented
 the pecuniary argument in all its badness
 when he said
 ''We make no hypocritical pretense of be-
 ing interested in the Philippines solely
 account of others. While we regard the
 welfare of the American people first, we
 see our duty to ourselves as we'll as to
 others. We believe in trade expansion. By
 every legitimate means within the province of government and constitution we mean to stimulate the expansion of our trade and open new markets" Commercial Argument This Is the commercial argument. It Is based upon the theory that can be
 right Iy waged for pecuniary advantages.
 and that it Is profitable to purchase trade
 by force and violence. Franklin denied
 both of these propositions. When Lord
 Howe asserted that the acts of Parliament.
 which brought on the revolution, were nec-
 essary to prevent American trade from
 passing into foreign channels, Franklin
 replied:
 ''To me it seems that neither the obtain
 ing nor retaining of any trade, how valua-
 bIe soever, is an object for which men may
 justly spill each others blood; that the true
 and sure means of extending and securing
 commerce are the goodness and cheapneSS
 of commodities, and that the profits of
 trade can ever be equal to the expense of
 compelling it and holding 1t by fleets and
 armies. I consider this war against us,
 therefore, as both unjust and unwise'
 place the philosophy of Franklin against
 the sordid doctrine of those who would
 put price upon the head of an American
 soldier and justify a war of conquest upon
 the ground that 1t will pay. The Demo-
 cratic party is in favor of the expansion of
 trade. It would extend our trade by every
 legitimate and peaceful means; but It is not
 willing to make merchandise of human
 blood.
 But war of conquest s as unwse as it
 is unrighteous. A harbor and coaling sta
 tion in the Philippines would answer every
 trade and military necessity, and such a concession could have been secured at any
 time without difficulty.
 1t is not necessary to own people in order to trade with them. We carry on trade to- day with every part or the world, and our commerce has expanded more rapidly than
 the commerce of any European empire. We
 do not own Japan or China, but we trade
 with their people. We have not absorbed
 the republics of Central and South Ameri-
 ca. but we trade with them. It has not
 been necessary to have any political con
 nection with Canada or the nations Of Flu
 rope in order to trade with them. Tr2.de
 cannot be permanently profitable unless st
 is voluntary. W hen trade is secured bg
 force the cost of securing 1t and retaining
 1t must be taken out of the profits, and the
 profits are never large enough 10 cover the
 oxnense Such a system would never be
 A,fnr dod h,,t fnr the f.cf lhai iha ss.l. -a