Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-08-14

'' with t. ih The and sr WIN they Ike t lsSSS
leans say that inanimate earth has value,
ana ana, when that earth is nodded by the
nlSlne C hand and stamped with the like
and passes with the soil? If governments
derive their Just powers from the con.
sen1 OF ne governed 1t Is impossible to
by purchase. We could extinguish Spain s
title by treaty, but If we hold title We
must MUS d hold LIT 1T by some method consistent
made allies of the FiiipInos and armed
them to fight against Spain, we disputed
spans ute. II we buy Spain's title We
II we had not disputed Spain's title, she
could transfer no greater title than she
mad mad and md her title was based on force
can honorably turn the property over to
Raa1y o n Mheher
material. There can be no doubt that we
aas}E;ePted and utilized the services OF the
fun knowledge that they were fighting
for their own Independence, and Submit
t tnat history furnishes no example of
stitute our yoke for the Spanish yoke
Let us consider briefly the rea
, WHICH nave nave; been given in support of an
our our. duty to hold the Philippine Islands.
But duty Is not an argument; ii is a con-
cluslon. To ascertain what our duty Is,
IN any emergency. we must apply we'll
Settled and generally accepted principles.
1t Is our duty to avoid stealing no matter
whether the thing to be stolen is of great
5 or little value: It 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 obliga ton imposed upon individuals >
n ht1rr nj l.,
but as some deny the application of those
laws to nations, 1t may not be out of
place to quo quote the opinion of others JET
litical authority. said:
Il know of but one code of morality for
men, whether acting singly or collec-
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and
virtue are a part of the priceless legacy
6equeathed 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 neiehbor
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
would not dare to do as individuals. but
the MOI; moral character Of an act is not DE.
in 1t. Force can defend right, but force
has never yet created right. II U was
e9S as tnat IN the Of In
right ought to be free and independent"
Language taken from the declaration OF
1fnn,d1;ep;endeneel, 1t Is equally true that the
and Independent" The right q the e. cu ~ la
TO freedom was not based upon their prox.
language which they spoke nor yet upon
the race or races to which they belonaed.
Congress. py a practically unanimous vote
Philadelphia in l7f6 were still alive isa and ai
applicable to the Cubans.
,, VINO WIN draW line between the natural
Who will say that the former has a right
to liberty and that the latter has no rights
which VIII we are bound to respect? And. ii the
free and independent" what right have we
out their consent? Before our duty , can mi' be
mined, and when their rights are once de-
ttermned. It is as much our duty to respect
t tn rgh is It was the duty Of Spain
or the duty of England to respect the
rights of the American colonists. Rights
never conflict; duties never clash. Can
which belong to others? Can it be our duty
to kill those who, following the example
OF our iorefathers, love liberty well enough
to fight for it?
Some poet has described the terror which
overcame soldier who, in the midst Of
b1other T is Wfte ha hs had slain his
rem" Let us hope for the coming of the
dda as,, when human life-which, when once
sacred that it will never be taken EXCEPT
when necessary to punish crime already
committed, or to prevent a crime about
TO be committed.
the world obligations which make it neces-
$780, sars ior us to permnaln3ently maintain
fepY rsf that IN the the PPhilppine islands
ms nation Is to be true to itself. No obIi-
gation 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 protest
Filipinos. who inhabt the islands are
greater than any obligations which we can
owe to foreigners who have a temporary
residence In the Philippines or desire to
trade there. w
Capacity of self-Government,
1t is argued by some that the Filipinos
that therefore we owe it to the world 10
take control Of them. Admiral Dewey, in an
oInclai report to the navy department de-
CARED the FillpinoS more capable of self
government than the Cubans, and said
that ne based his opinion upon a knowl-
t thg ce OF both 9th RACES But l will not rest
OF the Filipinos Henry Clay, in defend
ing the rights of the people of South
<AiASilCd W SelI-ROVernment, said.
IT is the doctrine of thrones that man
IS TOO ignorant to govern himself. Their
partisans assert his incapacity in refer
ence to all nations; if they cannot com
1t Is then remanded to particular nations:
and our pride and our presumption too
OFTEN make converts of us: I contend
providence Himself, to suppose that He
has created beings incapable of govern
LIZ nige shemsefves and to be trampled on by
government of man.
Clay was right. There are degrees
Oh pro h;t IN the art of self-goyern-
to say that He dened upon to anR the peog
the capacity of government. Once
admit that some people are capable of
self government, and that others are not,
to seize upon and govern the incapable,
and you make force-brute force-the onls.
f foundation .s Of government and invite the
sali-loying God created the Fiiipinos. and
then left them thousands of years helpless
until the islands attracted the attention
of European nations
Republicans ask: Shall we haul down
the flag that h9a eats over our dead in the
have been asked when the American flag
foated over Chapultepec and waved over
the dead who fell there: but the tourist
who visits the City of Mexico finds there
a national cemetery owned by the United
States and cared for by an American
citizen; Our, flag still floats over our
dead. but when the treaty with Mexico
was signed American authority withdrew
to the Rio Grande, and venture the
opinion that during the last SO years the
under the stimulus of Independence and
sef-government than they would have
made under Ter Sarpetbag held
and Mexico. friendly republics, are each
stronger and happier than they would
have been had the former been cursed and
the latter crushed by an imperialistic pol
icy, disguised as benevolent assimiia-