The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-08-09

likeness
of the Creator it becomes a fixture and
passes with the soil. If governments de-
rive their just powers from the consent
of the governed, it is impossible to secure
title to people, either by force or by
purchase. We could extinguish Spain's
title by treaty. but if we hold title we
must hold it by some method consistent
with our ideas of government. When we
made allies Of the Filipinos and armed
them to fight against Spain, we disputed
Spains title. If we buy SPANS title
we are not innocent purchasers. But
even if we had not disputed SPANS title
she could transfer no greater title than
she had and her title was based on
force alone. We cannot defend 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 the
Filipinos moral assurance OF independ-
ence 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 for their own indie
pendence and l submit that history fur
nishes no example of turpitude baser
than ours if we now substitute our yoke
for the Spanish yoke.
ARGUMENTS FOR IMPERIALISM
Let US consider briefly the reasons
which have been given in support of an
imperialistic policy. They say that it
is our duty to hold the Philippine Islands
But duty is not an argument, it is con-
clusion. To ascertain what our duty is,
in any emergency, we must apply we'll
settled and generally accepted princi-
pies. 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 killing a human being, no
matter where the human being lives Or
to what race or class he belongs. Ev-
cry one recognizes the obligation i'm
posed upon individuals to observe both
the human and moral law, but as some
deny the application OF those laws to ma
tions, it may not be out of place to quote
the opinion OF others. Jefferson, than
whom there is no higher political au-
thority. said:
Il know CT but one code of morality
for men, whether acting singly or collec-
tive'---''
Franklin, whose learning wisdom and
virtue are a 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 as strictly due between
neighbor nations as between neghbor
citizens. A highwayman is as much a
rc5ber when he plumbers in a gang as
when singly; and the nation that makes
an unjust war is only a great gang"
FORCE DOES NOT CREATE RIGHT.
Men may dare to do in crowds what
they would not dare to do as individuals,
net determined by the number OF those
who join in it. Force can defend a
right, but force has never yet created a
right. If it was true, as declared in the
resolution of Intervention, that the Gu
bans 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 independ-
ent. The right OF the Cubans to
freedom was not based upon their prox-
unity to the United States, nor upon the
language which they spoke, nor yet upon
the race or races to which they be-
longed. Congress by a practically unani-
nous vote declared that the principles
enuncated at Philadelphia in 1916 were
still alive and applicable to the Cubans.
Who will draw line between the natu-
raj rights OF the Cubans and the Filpi-
nos? Who will say that the former
have right to liberty and the latter
have no right which we are bound to
respect? And, if the Filipinos ARE and
of right ought to be free and independ-
ent," what right have we to force our
government upon them without their
consent? Before our duty can be ascer-
tanned, and when their rights are once
determined, 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 colo
nists. Rights never conflict; duties new
er 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 OF our forefathers,
love liberty well enough to fight for it?
Some poet has described the terror
which overcame a soldier who, in the
midst Of battle discovered that he had
slain his brother. 1t is written: "All
men are brethren" Let us hope for the
coming of the day when human life
which when once destroyed cannot be
restored, will be so sacred that it will
never be taken EXCEPT when necessary
to punish a crime already committed, or
to prevent a crime about to be com
mitted.
ASSUMING WORLD OBLIGATIONS.
If it is said that we have assumed
before the world obligations which make
it necessary for us to permanently
maintain government in the Philippine
Islands, l reply, first, that the highest
obligation of this nation is to be true
to itself No obligation to any particu-
lar nation, or all nations combined, can
require the abandonment of our theory
of government and the substitution of
doctrine against which our whole ma
tional life has been a protest. And, sec
ond, that our obligations to the Filipinos,
who inhabit the islands, are greater than
any obligation which we can owe to for
eigners who have a temporary residence
in the Philippines or desire to trade