The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1900-10-05


ly as her own citizens are content that
She should so.
or course the presence OF troops in the
Philippines during the Tagal insurrection
has no more to do with mlitarism or i'm
perialism than had their presence in the
Dakotas, Minnesota and Wyoming dur
ing the many years which elapsed before
the final outbreaks of the Sioux were deii-
nitely put down. There Is no more mill
tarism or imperialism in garrisonins Lu-
zon until order is restored than there was
imperialism in sending soldiers to South
Dakota in 1890, during the Ogallalla out
break. The reasoning which justihcs our
having made war against Sitting Bull
also justiiies our having checked the out
breaks Of Agunaldo and his followers, d.
rected, as they were, against Filipino and
American alike.
| No Abandon ment.
The only certain way Of rendering II
necessary for our republic TO enter Oh
career of "militarism" would be TO aban-
don the Philippines to their own tribes,
| and at the same time either to guarantee
a stable government among these tribes
or to guarantee them against outside in
reference. A far larger army would be
required to carry out any such policy
than will be required to secure order
under the American flag; while the pres
ence of this flag on the islands is really
the only possible security against outside
aggression.
The whole argument against President
McKinleys policy in the Philippines be-
comes absurd when it is conceded that we
should, to quote the language of the Kan
sas City platform, "give to the Philip
pines first stable form Of government"
II they are now entitled to independence,
they are also entitled to decide for them
selves whether their government shall be
stable or unstable, civilized or savage, or
whether they shall have any government
at all; while it Is, of course, equally evI-
dent that under such conditions we have
no right whatever to guarantee thcm
against outside interference any more
than we have to make such guaranty IN
the case of the Boxers (who are merely
the Chinese analogues OF Aguinaldo's fol-
lowers).
II we have n right to establish stable
government in the islands it necessarily
|
our duty to support that government I'M
til the natives gradually grow fit 10 sus-
tain it themselves. How else will 1t be
stable? The minute We leave it, it ceases
to be stable.
Now q Question of Contraction.
Properly speaking, the question is now
not whether we shall expand--for we
1 Ill l,.,t .hnth N
shall contract. The Philippines are now
part of American territory. To surren'
der them would be to surrender American
territory. They must, of course, be gov
erned primarily in the interests Of theii
own citizens. Our first care must be fol-
the people Of the islands which have
| come under our guardianship as result
! of the most righteous foreign war thai
| has been waged within the memory Of
| the present generation. They must b
| administered in the interests of their in
| habtants, and that necessarily mean
\ that any question of personal or partisan
! politics in their administration must b.
l entirely eliminated
We must continue to put at the head
of affairs in the different islands sucl
men ms Gen. Wood. Gov. Allen AK
! Judge Taft; and it is a most fortunate
thing that we are able to illustrate wha
| ought to be done in the way of sendin:
officers thither by pointing out what &C
tually has been done. The minor places
| in their administration, where it is i'm
possible to fill them by natives, must b
filled by the strictest application of th'
merit system.
1t is very important that In our owl
| home administration the merely minis
| terial and administrative offices, wher'
| the duties are entirely non-poltical, shal
| be filed absolutely without reference Il
| partisan affiliations; but this is man!
| times more important in the newly ac
ouired islands. The merit system is il
its essence as democratic as our com
mon school system, for it simply means
equal chances and fair play for all
Parallel with Indian Government.
II nuts be remembered always that
governing these islands in the interest OF
the inhabitants may not necessarily be
TO govern them as the inhabitants at the
moment prefer, to grant self-government
TO Iuzon under Aguinaldo would be Ike
granting self-government to an Apache
reservation under some local chief; and
this is no more altered by the fact that
the Filpinos fought the Spaniards than
it would be by the fact that Apacbes
have long been trained and employed in
the United States army and have rem
dered signal service therein; just as the
Pawnees did under the administration Of
President Grant; just as the StockbridgC
Indians did in the days OF Gen. Wash
ington, and the friendly tribes of the SIX
nations in the days Of President Madison
There are now In the United States
communities OF Indians which have ad
| yanced so far that it has been possible
to embody them as whole in our pc
litical system, all the members Of The
tribe becoming United States citizens
There are other communities where the
bulk of the tribe are still too wild for il
to be possible to take such step. There
are individuals among the Apaches, Paw
nees, Iroquois. Sioux and other tribes
who are now United States citizens and
who are entitled to stand, and do stand
on an absolute equality with all our citi
zens of pure white blood. Men of Indian
| =. L.. IL