The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1900-10-04

along the path to independence as rapid
" as her own citizens are content that
She should CO.
OF course the presence of troops in the
Philippines during the Tagal instruction
has no more to do with militarism inn
perialisn 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 deli
nitely put down. There is no more mill
tarism imperialism in garrisoning Luz
zon until order is restored than there was
Dakota in 1890, during the OgaIlalla out
break. The reasoning which justifes our
having made war against Sitting Bull
also justi6es our having checked the out
breaks of Aguinaldo and his followers, di-
rected, they were, against Filipino and
American alike.
No Abandon mcnt.
The only certain way of rendering 1t
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 the Islands is really
the only possible security against outside
aggression
McKinley's policy in the Philippines be-
comes absurd when it is conceded that we
should, to quote the language of the Kan
SaS City 4Gatform, give to the Philip
pines first a stable form of government
If they now entitled to indie pendence,
they also entitled to decide for them
selves whether their government shall be
sta BILE unstable, civilized savage, or
whether they shall have any government
at all; while 1t is, OF course, equally evil
dent that under such conditions we have
right whatever to guarantee them
against outside in reference any more
than we have to make such a guaranty in
the case of the Boxers (who are merely
the Chinese analogues of Aguinaldo's fol-
lowers).
If we have a right to establish stable
government in the islands 1t necessarily
follows that it Is not only right but
our duty to support that government I'M
til the natives gradually grow fit to sus-
tain it themselves. How else Will 1t be
stable? The minute we leave it, it ceases
to be stable.
Now Question of Contraction
Properly speaking, the question is now
not whether we shall expand-for we
have already expanded-but whether we
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 their
the people of the islands which have
come under our guardianship result
of the most righteous foreign war that
has been waged within the memory of
the present generation. They must be
administered in the interests of their in
habitants, and that necessarily means
that any question of personal partisan
politics in their administra ton must be
entirely eliminated.
We must continue to put at the heads
of affairs in the different islands such
Gen Wood. Gov. Allen and
Judge Taft; and it is a most fortunate
thing that bile to illustrate what
ought to be done in the way of sending
officers thither by pointing out what ac-
tually has been done The minor places
in their administration, where it Is inn
possible to Fl IL them by natives, must be
filled by the strictest application of the
merit system.
1t is very important that In our own
home administra ton the merely minis
teria1 and administrative offices, where
the duties are entirely on-political, shall
be filed absolutely without reference to
partisan affiliations; but this is many
times more important IN the newly
CURED islands The merit system is i'll
its essence democratic com
mon school system, for it simply means
equal chances and fair play for all
Parallel with Indian Government.
It nuts be remembered always that
governing these islands in the interest of
the inha bitants may not necessarily be
to govern them the inhabitants at the
moment prefer, to grant elf-government
to Luzon under Aguinaldo would be like
granting self-government TO Apache
reservation under some local chief; and
this is more altered by the fact that
the Filipinos fought the Spaniards than
it would be by the fact that Apaches
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 administra ton of
President Grant; just the Stocllbridge
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-
vanced so far that it has been possible
to enbody them a whole in our DO
Htical system, all the members of the
tribe becoming United States citizens
There other communities where the
bulk of the tribe still too wild for it
to be possible to take such step There
are individuals among the Apaches, Paw
nees, 1roquois, Sioux and other tribes
who United States citizens and
who entitled to stand, and do stand
absolute equality with all our citi-
zens of pure white blood Men of Indian
blood are now serving in the army and
navy and in Congress and occupy high
position both in the business and the DO