The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-11-23
OH THE SHAME OF 1T!

1t may be that though President
roosevelt be personally disposed tc
give expression in some form, either in
MS message to congress or otherwise
TO American sympathy with the Beers
he may feel himself precluded from
doing so by the fact that his own ad-
mlnistration is engaged in pro-
gramme in the Philippine islands not
! very different from that in South Af-
ilca, which such sympathy would by
! implication condemn. To any Ameri-
can declaration of nature to be so
interpreted the tn guogue retort would
be only too obvious to the English.
Ihey would say, look to yourself. Take
the beam out of your own eye before
you concern yourselves about the mote
in ours.
Thls, of course, would be the British
answer to any word of sympathy from
US with the great struggle for freedom
In South Africa. Professor Charles
Eliot Norton recognized the difficulty
of the situation in his speech last week
at the anti-imperialist meeting in Bos-
ton. I'VE should like" said he, 'to
sympathize with the Beers for we feel
that they are right, but we are doing
such things in the Philippines that
We are hindered."
What a shame and pity that the
country of Washington and Jefferson
and Lincolnthe country whose consti-
tuition is based on the principles of the
immortal Declaration Of Independence
should be placed in such a position.
The defense or excuse that the Fill
plnos ARE not fit to rule themselves
is, needless to say, hardly worthy of
serious discussion. The great majority
of them are Christians, and if Chris
tianity does not civilize men and fit
them for orderly social life, what will
do it. An American congressman-Mr
Shafroth of Colorado-who speaks
from knowledge obtained personally in
the islands, thus gives evidence in ref
erence to the absurd suggestion of the
native population being "savages":
When I am told that they alone
make the observations and intricate
calculations at the Manila observatory
and that prior to the insurrection there !
were 210 schools In the islands and !
5000 students in attendance at the Ma |
Mia university; when | find the better |
class living in good, substantial and |
elegant houses, and many |
Of them pursuing professional occupa-
tons, [ cannot but conclude that it is a
base slander to compare these people
TO the Apaches or other American In
lians: Even the civilizing test of
christianity is in their favor, as a
greater proportion are members of the
Jhurch than among our own people
Of the 100000 of inhabitants. Mr.
sawyer, in his work on the Philippine
Stands, asserts that 5,S69, 900 are Chris
ian natives
If such people are not qualified to
ule themselves, what are the qualifica-
ions for fitness? There ought to be an
nswer|to this question. Down in the
,arollnas there are thousands of voting
itlzens who never heard the name of
,hrfst, or at least, know nothing
bout Him. So it was reported recent
at Baptist or Methodist confer
nee. Are those heathens fit for self |
oVernment; and, if they are, what {
Qualifications have they to make them !
D which the Filipinos have not? There
re people in Georgia called Crack !.
rs, who are much nearer to the type ;
savage than any element in the
hilippine population. In Kentucky
here are people in many sections who
Or generations have recognized no
wv or order except the bullets of their \
fies. How are they more civilized a
IAN the 100000 Christians in the t
Z
Until these questions are satisfactor- .
Y answered the argument as to the
ilipinos of unfitness for self-govern- I
ent has not leg to stand on and so
ng as we force our rule upon them
Y guns and bayonets, so will we be
the shameful situation of being hin
cred from uttering a word of sympa-
" with any struggle for freedom in
ly land in the world.