The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-09-17
An Exact Parallel.

into the territories
An Exact Parallel.
The parallel between what jefferson did with
Louisiana and what is now being done in the
Philippines is exact. jefferson, the author Of the
Declaration Of independence, and OF the "con
sent Of the governed" doctrine, saw no incon.
gruiiy between this and the establishment of
u government on common sense grounds in the
rev territory; and he rallied a, the stckltts for
an impossible application Of his principle, saying,
IN language which at the present day applies
to the situation IN the Philippines without the
change Of word, though it is Acknowledged
that our new fellow citizens are as yet as incsp.
able of self.goyernmcnt children, yet some
cannot bring themselves to suspend its principles
for a single moment" lie intended that ult.
mately selfgovernmCnt should be introduced
throughout the territory, but only the different
parts became fit for it, and no sooner. This is
Just the policy that has been pursued In no
part of the Louisiana purchase was complete self
government introduced for a number of years;
in one part Of it, the Indian territory, it has not
yet been introduced although nearly century
has elapsed. Over enormous tracts Of 1t, inClud'
ing the various Indian reservations, with ter.
ritory in the aggregate as large as that of the
Philippines, the constitution has never yet ''fol.
lowed the flag; the army officer and the civilian
agent still exercise authority, without asking the
'consent Of the governed" We must proceed in
the Philippines with the same wise caution,
taking each successive step as it becomes desir-
able, and accommodating the details Of
policy to the peculiar needs Of the situation.
But the present revolt is put down
and order established, it will undoubtedly bc
possible to give to the islands larger measure
Of selfgovcrnment that jefferson originally gave
louisiana
other Precedents.
The next great step in expansion was the ac.
quistion of Florida. This was partly acquired
hN. and Ia h,s AnH
jackson being the most prominent figure in the
acquisition. II was taken under President Mon.
| roe, the aftertime President John Quincy Adams
being active in securing the purchase. As in
| the of the Philippines, Florida was acquired
| hy purchase from Spain. and in Florida the
| Seminoles, who had not been consulted in the
| sale, rehelled and wagcd war exactly as some
Of the Tagals have rebclled and waged war in
| the PHILIPPINES. The Seminole war lasted for
| many years, but Presidents Monroe, Adams and
| jackson declined for a moment to consider the
| question of abandoning Florida to the Semi.
| noles, or to treat their non.consent to the gov
ernment of the United States valid reason
| for turning over the territory TO them.
| Our next acquisition of territory was that Of
Texas, secured by treaty after it had been wrest-
| ed from the MeNicans by the Texans themselves.
| Then came the acquisition OF California, New
| Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Colorado
| and Utah the result Of the Mexican war, sup.
pementcd five years later by the Gadsden pur-
| chase.
The next acquisition was that Of Alaska, Sc.
| cured from Russia by treaty and purchase. Alaska
was full of natives some of whom had advanced
| well beyond the stage OF savagely and were
| Christians. They were not consulted about the
| purchase nor was their acquescence required
| The purchase was made by the men who had
| just put through triumphant war to restore
| the union and free the slave; but none Of them
| deemed it necessary to push the doctrine of the
/ pF fI,a YNptl' n lgipn co
| fantastic as to ncccssitate the turning Of
| Alaska to its original owners the Indian and
| the Alcut For thirty years the United States
| authorities, military and civil, exercised the
| supreme authority in tract OF land many times
| larger than the Philippines. in which it did not
| seem likely that there would be any consid.
| Nearly thirty years passed before the next in.
| stance Of expansion occurred, which over the
| island OF Hawaii An effort was made at the
| end Of President Harrison's administration to
| secure the annexation of Hawaii The effort was
| unsuccessful. In n debate in congress on Feb >,
| 1894, one of the leaders in opposing the annexa-
| ton of the islands, stated: "These islands are
| more than two thousand miles distant from our
| extreme western boundary We have serious
| race problem now in our country and am not in
| favor Of adding TO our domestic fabric mongrel
| population (of this character) Our constitution
| makes provisions for colonial establishment.
| Any territorial government might establish
| would necessarily, because of the population, be
| an oigarchy, which would have to he supported
| by armed soldiers" Yet Hawaii has now been
| annexed and her delegates have sat in the ma.
| tional conventions Of the two great parties The
fears then expressed in relation to an "oigarchy"
| and EARNED soldiers are not now seriously en-.
| tcrtainel by any human being; yet they are
| precisely the objections urged against the acqusi-
tion Of the Philippines at this very moment.
| We making no new departure. We are not
| taking a single step which in any way affects
lIi
the beginning We have given widely varying do.
grees Of sclf.goycrnmcnt to the different terri
tories. according 70 their needs.
Words of No Meaning.
Tho simple truth is that there is nothing even
remotely resembling imperialism or mill
tarisn" involved in the present development ot
that policy Of expansion which has been part
of the history of America from the day when she
became nation. The words mean absolutely
nothing applied TO our present policy in the
Philippines; for this policy is only imperialisiC
in the sense that Jefferson's policy in Louisiana
was inpcrialistic; only military in the that
JaCkSons policy toward the Seminoles or Gus
tcr's toward the Sioux embodied militarism; and
there is more danger of its producing evil
results at home now than there of its inter
fcring with freedom under jefferson Jackson
or in the days Of the Indian wars on the plains
Our army is relatively not large as it was in
the days Of Wayne; have not one regular fol-
every thousand inhabitants. There is no more
danger Of a draft that there is Of the rc-intro
duction Of slavery.
when we expanded over New Mexico and Cali
fornia we secured free government to these terri
tories and prevented their falling under the mill
tarsm" Of a dictatorship like that Of Santa Anna
or the "imperalism' of a real empire in tho
DAYS of Maximillian We put a stop to imperial
| ism in Mexico soon as the Civil war closed
| We made a great anti.impcrialistic stride whCr
| grt. Df.tg and
Philippines and thereby made ready the grounC
IN these islands for that gradually increasing
| measure Of eclfgovernmont for which their popu
lationS are scvcmlly Gttod. Cuba is being hclpcC
! along the path to independence as rapidly as he
! own citizens are content that she should CO. q
course, the presence Of tro rs in the Philippine
diving the Tagal nslrrcction has no more to d
with miitarism or Imperialism than had thci
presence i'm the Dakotas, Minnesota and Nyo
, ming during the many years which elapsed bcior
the final outbreaks ot the Suoy were dcfnitel.
, put down There Is no more miltarism or i'm
, IeraIism in gauisoniug IMzon until order is re
stored than there was imperialism in scndnl
, soldiers to South Dakota in 1880, during tn
OgaalIa outbreak The reasoning which iustife
, our having made against Sitting Bull ais
, justifcs our having checked the outbreaks o
Aguinaldo and his followers, directed, as the
were, against Filipino and American alike.
How to Beget "Militarism."
The only certain way Of rendering il necesSar
for our republic 10 enter on career OF mill
tarism" would he to abandon the Philippine
; 10 their own tribes. and at the same time cithc
10 guarantee a stable government among thcs
tribes OF TO guarantee them against outside inter
| ference. far larger army would he requiro
, to carry out any such policy than will be re
| quired to secure order under the American flag
while the presence Of this flag on the islands
| really the only possible security against outsid
| .l..1.. nr.4