The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1900-08-10


ton aroused in some quarters take this
] occasion 20 rc~fate tive req IONS given at
4 that time. + thought 10 safer to trust the
4 Anne rican people 10 give Independence to
1 the FIiiDinos than 10 trust the accom-
1 plishment OF that purpose to diplomacy
with an unfriendy nation Lincoln en-
bodied an arRtiruenf in the Question. when
| he asked: Can aliens make treaties
easter tnan friends can make laws?"
/ believe that We are now in a better posi-
| ton to wage a successful contest against
| Imperialism than we would have been
had the. treaty been rejected. With the
/ treaty ratified. a clean cut issue Is pre-
scented between a government by consent
| and government by force. and imperial
| lists must bear the responsibility for all
! that happens until the question is settled.
II the treaty had been rejected. the OPP
/ ponents OF Imperialism would have been
4 held responsible for any International
! complica lions which might have arisen
before the ratification OF another treaty.
| But whatever differences of opinion may
have existed a. 20 the best fnethcd of OPP
posing the colonial policy. 80 never was
any difference To the gTs itdportance
of the question and there is no difference
now as TO the course TO be pursued.
Promises to the FfIipinos.
The title of Spain being extinguished.
we were al liberty to deal with the Fill
pinos according to American principles.
The Bacon resolution. introduced a month
before hostilities broke out at Manila.
promised independence TO the Filipinos on
the same terms that IL was promised to
the Cubans. | supported this resolution
and believe that its adoption prior to the
breaking out OF hostilities would have
prevented bloodshed. and that its adop-
ton at any subsequent time would have
ended hostilities.
II the treaty had been rejected. consid-
cradle time would have necessarily
elapsed before a new treaty could have
been agreed upon and ratified. and during
that time the question would have been
agitating the public mind. If the Bacon
resolution had been adopted by the senate
and carried out by the president either
at the time of the ratification of the
treaty or at any time afterwards. IL would
have taken the question OF Imperialism
out of politics and left the American peo-
pie free to deal with their domestic prob
lens. But the resolution was defeated by
the vote OF the republican vice president
and from that time to this republican
congress has refused to take any action
whatever in the matter.
CowardIy Accusations.
When hostilities broke out at Manila.
republican speakers and republican edit
ors at once sought to lay the blame upon
those who had delayed the ratification of
the war, the same republicans have ac-
cused the opponents of imperialism of Civ
ing encouragement 10 the Filipinos. This
is a cowardly evasion of responsibility
If IL is right for the United States to
hold the Philippine islands permanently
and initiate European empires in the gov
eminent of colonies, the republican party
ought to state its position and defend IL,
but 1t must expect the subject races to
protest against such policy and to resist
to the extent of their ability. The E'ilipinos
do not need any encouragement from Amer
leans now living. Our whole history has
been an encouragement, not only to the
Filipinos but to all who are denied a voice
in their own government If the republic
ans are prepared to censure all who have
used language calculated to make the
Filipinos hate foreign domination. let them
condemn the speech of Patrick Henry.
When he uttered that passionate appeal:
Give me liberty give me death" he
expressed a sentiment which still echoes
in the hearts of men. Let them censure
Jefferson; of all the statesmen of history,
none have used words Offensive to those
who would hold their fellows in political
bondage. Let them cenSure Washington,
who declared that the colonists must
choose between liberty and slavery. Or
II the statute of limitations has run against
the sins OF Henry and jefferson and Wash
ington. let them censure Lincoln, whose
tense OF popular government when the
present advocates of force and conquest
are forgotten.
Some one has said that a truth once
spoken can never be recalled 1t is true
1t goes on and on, and no one can set
limit To its ever widening influence. But
III III were possible to obliterate every word
written or spoken in defense of the prin-
clples set forth. in the declaration of in
dependence, war OF conquest would still
leave its legacy of perpetual hatred, for
1t was God Himself who placed in every
human heart the love OF liberty. He never
made race OF people so low in the scale
OF civilization or intelligence that it would
welcome foreign master
Lincoln said that the safety of this nation
was not in its fleets, its armies or It's forts
put IN the spirit which prizes liberty and
the heritage of all men. in all lands, every
where; and he warned his countrymen that
they could not destroy this spirit without
planting the seeds of despotism at their
| own doors -
Those who would have this nation en-
| ter upon career of empire must consider
not only the effect of imperialism on the
| Fllipinos, but they must also calculate its
effect upon our own nation We cannot
repudiate the principle of self-govern-
| ment in the Philippines without weaken
| ing that principle here.
ParaIyxing ImperiaIism
Even now we are beginning to see the
| paralyzing influence of Imperialism. Here
| tofore, this nation has been prompt to ex-
press Its sympathy with those who were
! fighting for civil liberty. While our sphere
| of activity has been limited to the west
ern hemisphere, our sympathies have not
been bounded by the seas. We have felt
| II due to ourselves and to the world, as
we'll as to those who were struggling for
the right to govern themselves, to pro-
claim the interest which our people have.
| from the date of their own independence.
| felt In every contest between human
| rights and arbitrary power. Three-quar-
| tiers of a century ago, when our nation
| was small, the struggles of Greece
| aroused our people, and Webster and Clay
gave eloquent expression to the universal
| desire for Grecian independence. In 1896,
all parties manifested lively interest
| in the success of the Cubans but now
\ when a war is in progress in South Afri-
ca, which must result in the extension of
| the monarchial idea or In the triumph OF
republic. the advocates of imperialism
| In this country dare not say word in
| behalf OF the Beers Sympathy for the
! Beers does not arise from any unfriend-
| illness toward England; the American peo-
pie are not unfriendly toward the people