The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1900-08-09

last few years, how can they be trusted
TO protect the Filipinos from the corpora
tions which are wa.tlng to exploit the
Islands?
Is the sunlight Of full citizenship to be
enjoyed by the people of the United
states, and the twilight Of semicitizen .
ship endured by he people Of Porto Rico
while the thick darkness Of perpetual vas
saiage covers the Philippines? The Porto
Rico tariff law sserts the doctrine that
the operation of the constitution is con
fined to the forty-fve states. The der,,'.
cratic party disputes this doctrine and
denounces 1t as lepugnant 20 both the let
er and spiri of cur oIganic law. There
is no place in our sS sem Of government
for the deposit OF arbitrary and rrespou-
sble power Thas tie leaders of great
party should ciS' II fer any president or
congress the right to treat millions OF peo
pie as mere "pos.,ssitLs" and deal wi \
them unrestraine1 by the constitution
or the bill o. rights shows how far we
have already depatte from the ancient
landmarks and d'cates what may be
expected if this r.at'or deliberately enters
upon q career Of mpre. The territorial
form Of government is temporary and
rro. tory, and tire chief security cit
izen of a territo.y has Is found in the
fact that he enjoys the same constitution
al guarantees and IS subject TO the same
general laws as TIE citizen "f a state.
Take away this sccu"ty AID his rights
will be vioi'Sel and MS interests sacri-
feed at the demand Of those who have
political iruence. Ths is .he evil Cf the
colonial system no matter Ivy what ma.
tion it is applied
OUR TITLE TO THE PHILIPPINES
What is our title to the Philippine ISL
ands? Do we hold them by treaty or by
conquest? Did we buy them or did we
take them? Did we purchase the people?
If not how did we secure title to them?
Were they thrown in with the land? VIII
the republicans say that inanimate earth
has value, that when that earth is mold
ed by the divine hand and stamped with
the likness of the Creator it becomes a
fixture and passes with the soil? If gov
ernments derive their just powers from
the consent of the governed, it is impos-
sible to secure title to people, either by
force or by purchase. We could extin-
guish Spain's title by treaty, but If we
hold title we must hold it by some meth
cd consistent with our ideas of govern
ment. When we made allies of the Fill
pinos and armed them to fight against
Spain, we disputed Spain's title. If we
buy Spain's title we are not innocent
purchasers. But even If we had disputed
SPANS title, she could transfer no great
er title than she had, and her title was
"
such a title, but as Spain gave US a quit
claim deed, we can honorably turn the
property over to the party in possession.
Whether any American official gave to
LIE Filipinos formal assurance of inde-
pendence is not material. There can be
no doubt that we accepted and utilized
the services of the Filpinos, and that
when we did SO we had full knowledge
that they were fighting for their own in
dependence, and 1 submit history fur
nishes no example of turpltude baser
than ours if we now substitute our yoke
for the Spanish yoke.
Let us consider briefly the reasons
which have been given in support of an
imperialistic policy. Some say that it is
our duty to hold the Philippine Islands
conclusion To ascertain what our duty
is, in any emergency, we must apply well
settled and generally accepted principles.
Tt Is our duty to avoid stealing, no mat
ter whether the thing to be stolen Is Of
great or little value 1t is our duty to
avoid killing human being, no matter
where the human being lives or to what
race or class he belongs. Everyone rec
ognizes the obligation imposed upon indi-
viduals to observe both the human and
the moral law, but as some deny the ap-
plication of those laws to nations, It may
not be out of place to quote the opinion
Of Others Jefferson, than whom there is
no higher political authority said:
81 know of but one code of morality for
men, whether acting singly or collect
lively"
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and
virtues are 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 strictly due between neigh
bor nations as between neighbor citizens.
A highwayman is as much robber when
he plumbers in a gang as when single;
and the nation that makes an unjust war
is only a great gang
Men may dare to do in crowds what
they would not dare to do as individuals,
but the moral character of an act Is
not determined by the number of those
who join it, Force can defend right
but force has never yet created right
If 1t was true as declared in the resolu-
tions of Intervention, that the Cubans
"are and of right ought to be free and in
.depe ndent" language taken from the
L.. ll1r