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


on by kings. lf-government is the
| natural government of man"
Clay was right There are degrees of
proficiency in the art of self government,
but it is a reflection upon the Creator
to say that He denied to any people the
| capacity of self government. Once adj
nit 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 foundation of government and in
vite the reign of the despot l am will
| ing to believe that an all-wise and an all
lovable God created the Filipinos, and
then left them thousands of years help
less until the islands attracted the at
| tention of European nations.
HAULING DOWN THE FLAG.
Republicans ask: 'Shall we haul down
the flag that floats over our dead in the
| Philippines? The same question might
have been asked when the American flag
| floated 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 Uni
| ted States and cared for by an Ameri-
| can citizen. Our flag still floats over
our dead, but when the treaty with Mex
| leo was signed, American authority with
| drew to the Rio Grande, and | venture
the opinion that during the last fifty
years the people of Mexico have made
| more progress under the stimulus of in
dependence and lf-government than
they would have made under a carget-
bag government held in place by bayo-
nets. The United States and Mexico,
friendly republics, are each stronger and
happier than they would have been had
the former been cursed and the the lat
ter crushed by an imperialistic policy,
disguised as benevolent assimilation
Can we not govern colonies?" we are
asked. The question is not what we can
i do, but what we ought to do. This ma
ton can do whatever it desires to do
but it must accept responsibility for
what it does. If the Constitution stands
in the way, the people can amend the
| Constitution. l repeat, the nation can
| do whatever it desires to do, but it
/ cannot avoid the natural and legitimate
results of it's own conduct The young
man upon reaching his majority can do
what he pleases. He can disregard the
| teachings of his parents; he can tram
pies upon all that he has been taught
| to consider sacred; he can disobey the
laws Of the State, the laws of society
| and the laws of God. He can stamp
| failure upon his life and make his very
existence a curse to his fellowmen, and
he can bring his father and mother in
| sorrow to the grave; but he cannot annul
| the sentence 1.-The wages of sin is
death" And so with this nation. 1t is
| of age and it can do what Ii pleases;
it can spurn the traditions of the past;
it can repudiate the principles upon
| which the nation rests; it can employ
force instead of reason; it can substi
tute might for right; it can conquer
weaker people; it can exploit their
| lands, appropriate their property and kill
their people; but it cannot repeal the
moral law or escape the punishment de-
creed for the violation of human rights,
Would we tread in the paths of tyranny
Nor reckon the tyrant's cost?
Who taketh another's liberty
His freedom is also lost.
Would we win as the strong have ever
won.
Make ready to pay the debt,
For the God who reigned over Babylon
Is the God who is reigning yet"
3 BENEVOLENT ASSIMILATION.
Some argue that American rule in the
Philippine Islands will result in the bet
ter education of the Filipinos. Be not
deceived If we expect to maintain a
colonial policy we shall not find it to our
advantage to educate the people. The
| in
against us, and the most ignorant ones
colonial policy. we shall not find it to our
domination. If we are to govern them
without their consent and give them no
voice in determining the taxes which
they must pay, we dare not educate them,
lest they learn to read the Declaration
Of independence and the Constitution
of the United States and mock us for our
inconsistenc-.
The principal arguments, however, ad-
vanced by those who enter upon the de-
fence of imperialism are:
First: That we must improve the pres
ent opportunity to become a world pow
er and enter into international politics
Second: That our commercial interests
in the Philippine Islands and in the ORR
| ent make it necessary for us TO hold the
|
Third: That the spread Of the Chris
tian religion will be facilitated by a colo
NAL policy.
Fourth: That there is no honorable
retreat from the position which the ma
| ton has taken,
The first argument is addressed to
the nations pride and the second to the
| nations pocket-bo The third is in
tended for the church member and the
fourth for the partisan.
1t is a sufficient answer to the first ar
gument to say that for more than a CEN
fury this nation has been a world power.
For ten decades it has been the most po-
tent influence in the world Not only
has it been a world power, but it has
done more to affect the policies of the
human race than all the other nations
of the world combined. Because our De-
claration of independence was promul-
gated others have been promulgated;
because the patriots of 1916 fought for
liberty, others have fought for it; be-
cause our Constitution was adopted, 9TH
er constitutions have been adopted. The
growth Of the principle of self-govern-
| ment planted on American SOIL has been