The age-herald., 1902-02-12

west coast of Vancouver. s~->A%<<%-%~~~>~~ | lands by the American authorities as- | serting that in not one of them could | the Declaration of Independence be read and no patriotic speech delivered In | safety. He hoped that the rosy plans of MT. Platt might obtain very soon in the Senate, but of that he entertained great doubts.
 Speaking of the petitions for independ- ence presented to Congress a year ago to which MT. Hoar had referred, MT Platt said they were paraded here now as they had been at the time of their presentation as positive proof that ali l the Filipinos iunta, either in Hong Kong or in Boston and asserted that they bore on their face evidence of being Machine made
 Mir Platt paid a high tribute to Cover nor Taft and his associates on the Phil | ppine commission and inquired: "Is what these men say about the Philippine
 Islands to be whistled down the wind by our friends on the other side, re-en- forced by the Senator from Massachu- setts?"
 MT. Hoar asked if MT Platt thought the Filipinos would have adopted the treason law enacted by the Philippine commission had 1t been submitted to them.
 The Connecticut Senator replied he could not say, but Connecticut had a law which the people of that State had never found inconsistent with their rights and liberties He pointed out that nearly one thousand American teachers had gone to the archipelago to educate the Filipino children Prior to the arrival of these teachers in the islands. he said. private soldiers from the American army had been detailed as teachers in many of the schools.
 Read the Treason Law.
 MT. Platt then read the treason law re- ferred to by Mir. Hoar to show that it was directed against the formation of se- cret societies, the purpose of which in whole or in part was the promotion of sedition, rebellion and treason.
 It was statute he said aimed at secret plotting, such plotting as at one time nearly resulted in inducing, in the city of Manila massacre of our troops and friends. It did not prevent. he declared. the reading of the Declaration of Inde- pendence in the schools of the islands or in the utterance of patriotic addresses. It prevented simply plotting in the dark.
 If we are a government worthy of the name, said MT. Platt, with great vehem- ence whenever men take up arms against the United States in any district or territory where the sovereignty of the ohted states obtains, we will put that instruction down. No perversion of the glorles or liberty will prevent the Ameri- can people from put ting down rebellion wherever it may rear it's hateful head
 MT. Hoar maintained that MT. Platt had not quoted accurately the Philippine stat ute. Tt would have filled mankind with horror" said he If this Connecticut statute. if our statute of treason of 1790 had been enacted in 1861 or any time thereafter and put in force against Ten nessee, Virginia, Kentucky or Missouri
 Referring to the elections held in the Philippines upon which Mr. Platt had dwelt, MT. Hoar said
 ''I call his attention to the fact that these elections were held under a law which sent every man who is in favor of one side of the question which he says was settled by them to the penitentiary for saying so. Am I incorrect now?"
 MT. Platt: No, the Senator is infalli- ble" daughter)
 In conclusion. Mir. Hoar said:
 T have learned to trust men, even the greatest and the best not by what they say, but by what they do. and when Gov ernor Taft says that the Filipino people want independence and says at the same time nobody shall express that desire above his breath, I distrust the opinion and look for evidence of the fact When he says that people are enjoying Ameri- can freedom, when he promulgates a law which at the same time makes it a peni- tentiary offense to read the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, confess am very little impressed by bis