The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1900-08-17

colonial system, no matter by what natior
1t 10 applied.
Title to the Philippines.
What is our title to the Philippine Is
conquest? Did we buy them or did We
ple7 If not, how. did we secure
in with the" the landY WIN 'n the aSMr repub.
| licans say that inanimate earth has value
ana when that earth is nodded by the
| Divine hand and stamped with the like
/ ness or the Creator it becomes a fixture
and passes with the soil7 If governments
derive their Just powers from the con.
sent of the governed, 1t Is impossible tC
secure title to people, either by force OF
by purchase. We could extingufsh SPANS
must hold 1t by some method consistent
with our ideas of government. When we
made allies of the Filipinos and armed
Spain's title. If we buy Spain's title we
are not innocent purchasers. But even
II we had not disputed Spain's 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
| accepted and utilized the services of the
Filipinos, and that when we did so we had
| full knowledge that they were fighting
| that history furnishes no example OF
| turpitude baser than ours If we now sub
stitute 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 1T is
our duty to hold the Philippine islands.
But duty is not an argument; it is a con-
clusion. To ascertain what our duty is,
in any emergency, we must apply we'll
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
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, 1t may not be out OF
place to quote the opinion of others. JEFF
ferson, than whom there is no higher po-
ntical authority, said:
''I know of but one code of morality for
men, whether acting singly or collec-
Franklin, whose learning, wisdom and
virtue a part of the priceless legacy
days' expressed 9 the same idea in 0s even
stronger language when he said:
Justice is as strictly due between
neighbor nations as between neighbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a
robber when he plumbers in a gang as
when singIy; 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 moral character of an act is not Ge-
termined by the number of those who join
in it. Force can defend a right, but force
has never vet created Alright. If it was
true, as declared in the resolutions of in
tervention, that the Cubans "are and of
right ought to be free and Independent
Language taken from the declaration of
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
the race or races to which they belonged
Congress by a practically unanimous vote
declared that the principles enuRciated at
Philadelphia in 1776 were still alive and
applicable to the CubanS.
Who will draw line between the natural
rights of the Cubans and the Filipinos?
Who Will say that the former has a right
to liberty and that the latter has no rights
which we are bound to respect? And, If the
Filipinos "are and of right ought to be
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 it 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 it be our duty
to kill those who, following the example
TS,
to fight for it?
Some poet has described the terror which
overcame a soldier who, in the midst of
baoer f is na hs had Ye slain his
rem" Let us hope for the coming of the
day. when human life-which, when once
sacred that it will never be taken except
when necessary to punish a crime already
committed; GO nm tied or to prevent a crime about
If it 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 obli-
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
Filipinos, who inhabit 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.
Capacity of SeIf-GOvernment
1t is argued by some that the F'ilfpinos
are incapable of self-government and
that therefore we owe it to the world to
take control of them. Admiral Dewey, in an
ofhc1al report to the navy department, de-
clared the FiliDinos more capable of self
that he based his opinion upon a knowI-
edge of both races. But l will not rest
the case upon the relative advancement
of the FflipinoS. Henry Clay, in defend
ing the rights of the people of South
to self-government, said:
1T is the doctrine of thrones that man
partisans assert his incapacity in refer
ence to all nations; If they cannot com
mand universal assent to the proposition 4
it is then remanded to particular nations;
and our pride and QUE presumption too
often make converts of US. l contend
that 1T is to arraign the disposition of
inns al fN A.
has created beings incapable of govern
ing themselves, and to be trampled on by
government of man."
Clay was right. There are degrees
of proficiency in the art of self-goVern-
ment, but 1T is reflection upon the Crea-
the capacity of self-government once
admit that some people are capable of
self-government, and that others are not,
and that the capable people have a right
to seize upon and govern the incapable.
and you make force-brute force-the only
of government and invite the
ng to believe that an all-wise and an
all-loving God created the Filipinos, and
then left them thousands of years helpless
Of European nations.
Republicans ask: "Shall we haul down
The flag that floats over our dead in the |
nave been asked when the American flag
1oated over Chapultepec and waved over |
the dead who fell there: but the tourist |
who visits the City of Mexico finds there |
1 national cemetery owned by the United |
States and cared for by an American |
citizen. Our flag still floats over our
lead, but when the treaty with Mexico |
was signed American authority withdrew
10 the Rio Grande, and / venture the |
opinion that during the last so years the
people of Mexico have made more progress |
lnder the stimulus of Independence and
than they would have |
made under carpet-bag government held
n place by bayonets. The United States |
md Mexico, friendly republics are each
stronger and happier than they would |
nave been had the former been cursed and |
he latter crushed by an imperialistic pol !
cy. disguised as benevolent assimiIa- |
ion-"