The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1900-08-15

UP in one sentence. In a monarchy the
king gives 10 the people what he believes
TO be good government; In a republic
they believe to be a good government.
The republican party has accepted the Eu-
ropean idea and planted itself upon the.
ruler who distrusts the capacity of the
people for seif-government or denies them
voice In their own Affairs.
The Presidents VIII the Only Law.
The republican platform promises that
given TO the Filipinos BY law; but. even
this pledge is not fulfilled. Nearly 1s
months elapsed after the ratihcation OF the
treaty before the adjournment OF congress
last June, and yet no law was passed deal
ing with the Philippine situation. The will
Of the the has oRy s S
American authority extends. Why does
the republican party hesitate to legislate
upon 1ns IaSca
from history and precedent contemplated
by those who control the republican party.
Pn ne Rcnn 81 b was an ndcatton of wb bae
may be expected when the American peo-
pie are brought face to face with legfsla-
ton upon this subject. IL the Porto Ricans,
who welcome annexation, are to be de-
MED the guarantees OF our constitution,
what Is to be the lot Of the Filipinos, who
ences could compel disregard Of our plain
duty toward friendly people, living near
our shores, what treatment will those same
influences provide for unfriendly people
200 miles away? IL, in this country where
the people have the right to vote, repub-
lican leaders dare not take the side of the
people against the great monopolies which
have grown up within the last few years,
how can they be trusted TO protect the
Filipinos from the corporations which are
waiting to exploit the Islands?
Is the sunlight of full citizenship to be
enjoyed by the people of the United States,
and the twilight Of sePpl tao pS en-
the thick darkness of perpetual vassalage
covers the Philippines? The Porto Rico
operation of the constitution is confined
to the As states. The democratic party dis
putes this doctrine and denounces 1t as
repugnant to both the letter and spirit of
our organic law. There is no place in our
system of government for the deposit of
arbitrary and irresponsible power. That
the leaders of a great party should claim
for any president or congress the right to
treat millions of people as mere posses
sions'' and deal with them unrestrained
by the constitution or the bill OF rights
shows how far we have already departed
from the ancient landmarks, and indicates
what may be expected IL this nation de-
The territorial form of government is tenn
porary and preparatory, and the chief
security citizen of territory has is found
in the fact that he enjoys the same con-
stitutional guarantees and is subject to
the same general laws as a citizen of
state. Take away this security and his
rights will be violated and his interest
sacrificed at the demand of those whohave
political influence. This is the evil Of the
colonial system, no matter by what nation
1t Is applied.
Title to the Philippines.
What is our title to the Philippine is
lands? Do we hold them by treaty or by
conquest? Did We buy them or did we
take them? Did, we purchase the peo-
in with the land? VIII the repub-
licans say that inanimate earth has value,
and when that earth is nodded by the
Divine hand and stamped with the like
ness of the Creator it becomes fixture
and passes with the soil? If governments
sent of the governed. it is impossible to
secure title to people, either by force or
by purchase. We could extinguish SPANS
title by treaty, but IL we hold title We
with our ideas of government When we
made allies of the Filipinos and armed
spains title II we buy SPANS title we
are not innocent purchasers. But even
II we had not disputed SPANS title, she
could transfer no greater title than she
had, and her title was based on force
alone. We cannot defend such title. but
as Spain gave us quit claim deed, we
can honorably turn the property over to
the party in possession. Whether any
American official gave the Filipinos for
NAL assurance of independence Is not
material. There can be no doubt that we
Filipinos, and that when we did so we had
full knowledge that they were fighting
for their own independence, and | submit
that history furnishes no example Of
turpitude baser than ours IL we now sub
stItute our yoke for the Spanish yoke.
Let us consider briefly the reasons
which. have been given in support of an
our duty to hold the Philippine islands.
But duty is not an argument; 1t Is con-
clusion. To ascertain what our duty Is,
settled and generally accepted principles.
1t is our duty to avoid stealing, no matter
whether the thing to be stolen is of great
or little value. 1t is our duty to avoid
killing a human being, no matter where
the human being lives or to what race
or class he belongs. Everyone recognizes
the obligation imposed upon individuals to
observe both the human and moral laws,
but, as some deny the application of those
laws to nations, it may not be out OF
place to quote the opinion of others. JEFF
ferson, than whom there Is no higher po-
litical authority said
II know of but one code of morality for
men, whether acting singly or collec-
lively"
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and
virtue are a part of the priceless legacy
bequeathed to us from the revolutionary
days, expressed the same idea in even
stronger language when he said:
Justice is as strictly due between
neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A hghwayman is as much a
robber when he plumbers in gang as
when singly; and the nation that makes
an unjust war is only great gang.
Force Creates No Right.
Men may dare to do in crowds what they
the moral character OF an act is not &C.
termined by the number of those who join
in it. Force can defend right, but force
has never yet created right If i was
true, as declared in the resolutions of in
PREVENTION, that the Cubans ARE and of
right ought to be free and Independent"
INDEPENDENCE, it is equally true that the
Filipinos "are and of right ought to be free
and independent" The right of the Cubans
to freedom was not based upon their prox-
unity to the United States, nor upon the
language which they spoke, nor yet upon
the race or races to which they belonged
declared that the principles enumerated at
Philadelphia in 1776 were still alive and
applicable to the Cubans.
Who will draw a line between the natural
rights of the Cubans and the Filipinos?
Who will say that the former has right
to liberty and that the latter has no rights
Filipinos ARE and of right ought to be
free and independent" what right have We
to force our government upon them with
out their consent? Before our duty can be
mined, and when their rights are once de-
termined, it is as much our duty to respect
those rights as IL was the DUTY OF spain
to respect the rights of the people of Cuba
or the duty of England to respect the
rights of the American colonists. Rights
never conflict; duties never clash. Can
it be our duty to usurp political rights
which belong to others? Can 1t be our duty
to kill those who, following the example
of our forefathers. love liberty we'll enough
to fight for it.
Some poet has described the terror which
overcame a soldier who, in the midst of
battle, discovered that he had slain his
brother. 1t is written: IAN We are breth-
rem" Let us hope for the coming of the
day when human life-which, when once
destroyed. cannot be restored-will be so
sacred that it will never be taken except
when necessary to punish a crime already
committed, or to prevent crime about
to be committed.
If ii Is said that we have assumed before
the world obligations which make it neces-
sary for us to permanently maintain a
government in the Philippine islands, /
reply, first, that the highest obligation Of
this nation Is to be true to itself No oblf-
cation to any particular nation, or TO all
nations combined, can require the abandon
ment of our theory of government and the
substitution of doctrines against which
our whole national life has been a protest
And. second, that our obligations to the
Filipinos, who inhabit the islands, are
tor hap ol.1i