The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-03

conditions of the Inhabitants of sait
islands, to prepare them Tor local self
government. ana ia due time to maki
such disposition of said islands as vii
best promote the interests Of the citizens
of the United States and of sait
islands
Nearing the conclusion Of his paper
| brought the consent of the governed
argument under review, disposing Of il
in the following style:
But in the exercise of sovereignty
we must have regard, not only TO the
Constitution, but also TO the Declaration
of Independence, and one Of its opening
and most important provisions is that:
we hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal; they are
endowed by therir Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty and the pursuit Of happiness.
| That to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent Of the gov
erned.
But the critic who affirms his superior
devotion to,liberty, under the affirmation
Of anti-imperialism, would. ] suppose, re-
!
moral and political conscience. that bal
lot should be taken by the Filiplnos. IN
| der the latest methods and improved de-
vices of the Australian system, in order
/ to procure their consent TO, or rejection
| Of the exercise of American sovereignty.
Let Us remember with devout rever-
ence for our ancestors, that at the very
time they were erecting the altar of
| American liberty, according to the ritual
| of the Declaration of Independence. on
the 4th Of July, 1916, one-half Of those
who signed Il. including its author. were
the masters of slaves. whom they held in
servitude without their consent and with
out the slightest purpose Of asking for
their consent.
Let US remember that Mr. Lincoln, n
his speech in the debate with Judge
Douglas at Springfield Illinois, on July
Il. 1aIced.S5S edrshrdlu shrdlu -nhrdlun
Il. 1855 declared that: IN the right TO pu.
into his mouth the bread that his own
hands have earned, he (the colOred nam
is the equal of every other man, white or
black and that in the speech in the
same debate, at Ottawa, on August q of
the same year, he declared that: There
IS no reason in the world why the negro
is not entitled to all the natural rights
enumerated in the Declaration Of indie
pendence-the right to life liberty and
the pursuit Of happiness: but that after
his election to the presidency he declared
and afterward in his inaugural address,
in 1861. he reiterated the declaration that:
4 have no purpose, directly or indirectly,
to interfere with the institution Of slav-
cry in the states where it exists. I be-
Teve 7 have no lawful right to do so, and
I have no inclination to GO So and that
in the following summer congress repeat
ed this declaration, that it had no pur-
pose to interfere with slavery.
let US remember that Canada, filed
with French settlers Of the Latin race
alone. were conquered by Great Britain
in 1853, and that the AngIo-Saxon Brit
aims proceeded to govern the population
according to the maxims of English lib
erty. as those maxims were then develop
cd. and that before twenty years had
passed away these French settlers, or
ganzing the militia Of Canada stood
shoulder to shoulder with the regular
troops of Great Britain in resisting the
armies which were fOndly regarded as
the armies Of liberty, under Montgomery
and Arnold, in III. And these French set
tiers has as much to do as the British
soldiers in repelling the invasion of the
American troops Of the American revolu-
ton, adequately satisfied, as they were,
with the equality and consent which |
had been accorded to them by the Brit
ish government.
a, lofa v4Io
eleven states of this republic had under
taken to secede from the union and de-
clare their independence and were over
come in the struggle which was followed |
by all the bitterness ever engendered by |
internecine strife among people Of the |
same strong Anglo-Saxon race, and of |
kindred blood. were yet governed andun- |
der compulsion until they agreed TO re- !
form their constitutions, and, in some in
stances, their codes Of local and munich
pal law, and were. only then, permitted |
to re-enter the union. They were gov
erned at the first under the constant |
presence of military power, and later on, |
under the assurance Of its application /
millions of men of our fellow-citizens. |
many of whom are now mingled here
among us and are among our best neigh
bors and fellow-citizens yielded to the
successful power an unwilling obedience.
They were governed without consent"
Since the very year of our indepen-
dence. we have been habitually ana ever
acquiring new territory. We have ac-
quired it, as in Florida, with Spanish
settlers; we have acquired it. as in the
Louisiana purchase. with French Span
ish and Indian settlers. We have never.
in any instance, attempted to procure
the consent Of the occupants of the
so acquired. I do not mean to
the guarantees Of equality and
liberty The Declaration of Independence
and the constitution of the United
States are monuments and reservoirs Of
our free institutions, but broad political |
congratulations must in practical poll
tics, and in matters Of government be
taken in the general with moderation o.
judgment as the embodiment and express
sion Of an ideal of perfection toward
which We strive.
approximate perfection may be arriv-
ed at in human speech. but not in human
actions least Of all in the affairs of |
great bodies Of men acting either in the
capacity OF corpora lions, tribes. trusts
or nations. We must be satisfied with the
best average which our circums stances
viii admit OF. And cur uniform practice.
which We cannot set rid OF. and which
is not perfection but is better than that
Of any other nation that ever existed in
the world before. has been to take charge
Of the vast reaches % territory whieh
have come under oar jurisdiction ana