The age-herald., 1901-02-13

ing the war to close. The letter fol- lows:
 The Arlington, Washington, D. C..
 January %, 1901. Robert Treat Paine, Esq. President of
 the American Peace Society. Boston;
 Dear Mir. Paine-r have to thank you for your most interesting and sympathet- ic letter, which reached me via Chicago and Philadelphia, and I now hasten to reply.
 I fear that you have misunderstood my statement of the terms upon which the Filipinos would be prepared to end this most deplorable war. The Fiiipinos will never accept American sovereignty in the sense in which that word Is generally un-t derstood. Whether they would accept suzerainty would also depend upon the definition of the word and the powers which it implied But let me now briefly state what intended to convey to you on January l.
 The administration Is demanding cer- tain rights in the Philippines. These are, 50 far as I can discover:
 1. The right and the means to fulfill certain (unspecifed) obligations to other nations.
 2 The right and the means to protect life and property-foreign and native.
 3. A basis of trade and military opera tions for the far east.
 A. Coaling stations
 B. The right or the desire to raise us-- by process called ''benevolent assimila- tion"-out of a condition of savasery which does not exist in our country.
 In order to obtain these rights the ad- ministration demands that our people shall surrender internationally and sub init to American sovereignty.
 Demand Independence.
 The Fthpinos. on the other hand, de- mand one ''nalienable right" namely, independence, or the right to institute" a government deriving Its just powers from the consent" not of any foreign nation. but 'of the governed" It is only by the exercise of this right that the Filipinos will be able to secure equitable laws, insure just administration and pre- vent the exploitation of their country and its resourceA
 But while firm in this demand, the Fill pinos are prep&red to yield te the United States everything included or implied in the above list from to 4 inclusive. In addition to this. they are prepared to re- pay. in whole or in part the twenty millions of dollars paid to Spain if the demand, be made by the United States.
 AS to paragraph $. the Filipinos do not want and will not accept anything in the form of benevolence or charity from any nation in the world. But if any American citizen or citizens desire to embark In missionary enterprise and If they really think there are those in the Philippines who need special enlightenment, they would be at liberty to spend their mis- saonary zeal without let or hindrance. The Filipinos would only reserve the right to recommend that such missionary zeal be expended on Spain. or Turkey, or Russia, or the East End of London, or perhaps in some parts of America, where education and enlightenment are more urgently needed than in the Philippines. It will, threfore, be seen that every de- mand that the Administration is mak- Ing, with the exception of that denied to George III, will be granted by the Phil- ipinos. The Condition. Now, therefore, If the Administration will say to the Filipinos. We will not deny you the one right which you claim and which you enjoy. We will grant you your independence, but we reserve the right to take such steps as are necessary to enable us to fulfill our obligations and conserve our rights-the Fllipinos will lay down their arms at once
 If the acceptance of this offer entailed some definitely defined form of sue- iptx fr-f raroSrctfptpd i0int antfxr1 in foreign affairs, the retention of Amer ican troops, or the appointment of cus- toms commissioner, the Filipinos would raise no objection provided that these conditions were not to be made perpet- uAl These and all such questions are matters of detail, and could be included in a treaty.
 do not think could more clearly de- fine the nature and degree of independ- ence demaned by the FiNpinos. As to whether this definition would mean "ab- solute independence" or Nmited inde- pendence" is a mere matter of terndnol- ogy The Filipinos are interested in the fact, not in the name Nevertheless, since words are the symbols of things, there should be no shrinking from the fact that the Filipinos do demand inde- pendence as defined above And there can be no hope of ending this war until that fndepenOence IS granted to tnSfl The Filipinos ardently desire peace, and they are prepared ito sacrifice much in order to obtain 1t. But they win allow no man or nation, however powerful, to take from them their unalienable right. A powerful na ton may take their life But they hold that 1t Is better to have death with honor than to bow the head at tho expense of legitimate pride and self-rcspect. This determination and sen timent is shared by practically the whole population of the archipelago with the partial exception of Central Mindano and the Sulus.
 Forces are Stronger.
 But let there be no misapprehension. It must not be thoughat that our desire and our plea for peace are due to any inabil- ity to carry on the war. Our forces are in stronger position today than they ever were before. They are gaining in strength and in experience every day. The rigors of military rule and the new methods of deportation bind our people in the deathless determination never to submit to a nation which indulges in such practices. There will be no dificulty In initiating the American patriots of 1776, and in carrying on the war for eight Of even eighteen years-
 For men betrayed are mighty
 And great are the wrongfully dead.
 We plead for peace, but the plea is in