La Junta tribune., 1900-09-29


LAY DOWN A PROGRAM OF HIS
OWN HE IS LESS ELUSIVE. LESS
STARTLING. AND APPROACHES
REPUBLICAN GROUND NEARER
THAN HE APPREHENDS.
In his Philippine program he would.
drst, establish . stable form OF gov
srnment- That Is exactly What the
Republican party aims to do. But
this implies that there IL NO such gov
srnment there now. not even Agui-
naldo's government. What Mr.. Bryan
admits BY Implication We assert
~ . positive fact. and We further as
sert that the first step m the establish
ment Of . stable form Of government
Is to suppress the existing insurrec-
tion and insurrectionary government.
and that stable form Of government
can not we'll be established before
this is done.
Dinersat In Gaze of Ceha-
Even this Mr. Bryan admits by
Implication. for he ssys We should do
as we have done In Cuba. And what
have We done there? When our forces
went to Cuba there was Cuban re-
public and a Cuban army. There was
no Filipino government nor Filipino
army when Dewey entered Manila bay.
In Cuba. through our efforts, and aid
ed by the good sense of Gomez and his
chiefs. the Cuban republic has been
permitted to expire and the Cuban
army has long ago been disbanded.
and by the aid and cooperation OF the
Cubans We are engaged In the enort
OF establishing de novo stable gov
ernment there. Had Aguinaldo and
his chiefs followed the example OF
Gomez aud his chiefs we should before
this have been long on the way to-
wards establishing q stable govern
ment in the Philippines. Under the
circumstances we have not. ~ Mr..
Bryan contends, been dilatory In es-
tablishing such government. In
1886 our armed forces took possession
of California. and continued to hold 1t
pending the Mexican war. the rAtinca-
tion OF the treaty OF peace. and until
1t became a state In 1850. California
never had a territorial form OF gov
ernment. but remained under the com
troll of the amy from 1886 until Il be-
came q state. There was no insurrec-
tion In California, and yet.for upwards
Of two years after the treaty Of peace,
1t was governed through the military
department Of the government. and
this was held by our supreme court
to be = valid and constitutional gov
ernment, nor were we accused 0f BE-
ing dilatory ID giving California .
state government. But II Is asserted
that the Filipinos are entitled to abso-
Lutte independence. and that We have
NO right to govern them without their
consent
Our Dsty . saered Ons.
II this is true. what right have NE
to imposee any form Of government
upon them?
They may insist that they have the
right to establish Just such form Of
government as they see nt and that
It In not our business 70 establish any
form for them. What then? Are we
to abandon the scheme or are we to
watch, wait and pray for their con-
sent, or are We to 30 on regardless OF
It. And in case we do 60 on to estab-
lish stable government without their
consent, and they see at to resist and
to 90 into an insurrection-as they
are now doing-agalnst our present
efforts to establish stable govern
ment. and We resort to arms to repress
such resistance and insurrection-as
they are now doihg-against our pres
ent Efforts to establish stable gov
ernment, and we resort to arms to
repress such resistance and insurree-
tion and insist upon establishing
stable government at the point Of the
bayonet. will not this bring US back
into the slough of imperialism with
the ghost Of standing army in the
background? There IL only one sure
escape from such q gloomy outcome.
II ID to leave It to the Filipinos to say
what constitutes q stable form of gov
ernment. But II we do that there II
really no occasion for our giving any
consideration at all to their form
OF government. There Is no need of
giving them any form Of government
at all. That should be left wholly to
themselves.
A. - . .Protseto-ss.
Having given the Filipinos stable
form Of government, Mr.. Bryan would
give them their absolute Independence
and then protect them from the inter-
ference Of other nations. II It 10 our
duty to estabiish stable form Of gov
ernment. It follows that 1t u our
duty to zee that auch form Of gov
ernment Il maintained, for without
II, We cannot AFFORD them adequate
protection against other nations. II
ws assume . protectorate over the
islands. foreign governments would