Mexico Missouri message., 1901-05-16
''MONEY IN IT;" ~
r. "IT'S OUR DUTY"

NVlllliloutI, HuNS his ItSHt'tS w
Vice President Roosevelt. He takes
as his text the Vice Presidents
recent speech before the Home
Market club in Boston. In this
Mr.. Roosevelt said
"For good or evil we now find
ourselves with new duties in the
West Indies and new duties be-
yond the Pacific. We cannot es-
cape the performance of these du-
ties. All we can decide for our
selves is whether we shall do them
well or ill.,"
Commenting on this Mr.. Bryan
says:
The fact that these duties were
self-imposed and are clung to in
spite of the fact that they involve
Il violation of American principles
cuts no figure. 1t is all in the
definition of duty. According to
Republican logic it is very wrong
to steal unless you find something
valuable-then larceny becomes Il
duty. The fact that you may he
compelled to take human life in
order to get the thing desired is
immaterial. Call it duty and sin
becomes virtue.
Business is civilizer; the
FilipinoS need civilizing and we
are nothing if not business-like
Therefore it is to the interest of
the Filipinos that we should de-
velop them for their good. This
is strenuous life and lest some
might be restrained by cOnScien-
tiOus scruples the Nice.Prcsidcnt
felt it necessary to impress upon
his hearers that the first great
fact is the need of development.
The duty to see that the develop
ment takes place under conditions
so carefully guarded that no wrong
may come to the islanders is sim
ply further fact and not the first
great fact and must not bind MS to
the principal thing, the need of
development.
Nowhere does Mr.. Roosevelt
discuss the effect of the new policy
upon our theory of government
nowhere does he attempt to c1-
plain why Il colonial system was
wrong in l77G and right now. Iii,
whole argument can he summed
up as follows: We are in tn,
Philippines islandS-nO matter
, how we got there, we are there;
whether there for good or evil W,
cannot get away; it looks as if i
were prOvidential for thcm-anC
besides there is money in it fo
us"
In another editorial Mr.. Bryan
/ replies with some heat to an arti
Gle in the Louisville Courier-Jour
nal from Colonel Wattcrson's S pen
/ in which the latter said that Mr.
| Bryan was not party leader or
= statesman, but a moral philosO
/ phcr. Mr. Bryan says:
Mr. Wattcrson : definition o
craftsmanship is that il is the ar
= Of detaching ones policies from
; his visions or, to speak more plain
| ly, the art Of ignoring moral prin
: cipleS whenever it is popular 0
. profitable to do so.
Fortunately this definition ha
E never bccn-and let us hope i
never will bc-gcncrally accepted
: The statesman must have ideals
for without them he cannot appca
| to the hearts of men; and he mus
follow his ideals, for unless h
does he cannot long retain the con
: fidenrc of the people. The politi
elan may run with the hare am
hunt with the hounds, but in til
= former ease he is apt to be caught
e aud in the latter he earns the dog
f reputation,
g He admits the correctness q
1 the principles laid down by III
a opponents of Imperialism, but al
CUES that the nation is at libcrt
| to disregard them. The diffcrcnc
- between the honest man and til
f dishonest man is not generally
1 difference i'll principlcs-fOr nearl
i all men admit the truth when it
' stated in the abstract-but the dii
= ference is that the former apple
:. his principles to everyday lif,
n while the latter, in the hour {
temptation, valves them aside t
,. gencralities and then tries to la