Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-06-05

fties. You have the same right to admins
ter the water torture or to hang men by the
thumbs to eXtort confession in one case as
in the other. You have the same right to
do it in Cleveland or Pittsburg or at Colo
RADIO Springs as you have to DO 1t Wlthln the
Philippine islands.
1.-THE senator from Ohio, in his very brill
liant and forcible speech, which / heard
with delight and instruction, said that We
were bound to restore order in the Philip
pine islands, and we canEo leave them till
that should be done. He said we were bound
to, keep the faith we pledged to Spain in the
treaty, and tina we were bound, before we
left. to see that secured. He said we
were bound, especially, to look out
for the safety of the Filipinos who had
been our friends, and that we could not, in
honor. depart until that should be made
secure.
War Is for Sovereignty.
.All that, Mr.. President, is true. So far
ssJ know no man has doubted 1t. But these
things are not what we are fighting for; not
one of them. There never was a time when,
II we had declared that We only were there
to keep faith with Spain, and that We only
were there to restore order, that we were
only there to see that no friend OF ours
should suffer at the hands of any enemy of
o,1rs. that the war would not have ended in
that moment.
"You are fighting for sovereignty. You
are fighting for the principle of eternal do
minion over that people, and that IS the
only question in issue in the conflict. we
said In the case of Cuba that she had a
right to be free and independent. SO we
only demanded in the treaty that Spain
should hereafter let her alone. If you had
done to Cuba as you have done to the Phil
ppine islands, which had exactly the same
right. YOU would be at this m In Cuba
lust where Spain was when she excited the
indignation of the civilized world and we
compelled her to let go. And If you had
done in the Philippines as you did In CUBA
you would be to-day or would soon De IN
those islands as you are in CUBA.
but you made a totally different declara-
ton about the Philippine islands. You un-
dertook in the treaty to acquire sovereignty
over her for yourself, which that people de-
MED. You declared not only in the treaty
but in many public utterancesin this cham
Der and elsewhere that you had a right to
buy sovereignty with money or to treat 1t
as the spoils of wal or the booty of battle.
The moment you made that declaration the
Filipino people gave you notice that they
treated 1t as a declaration OF war. So your
generals reported, and so Aguinaldo ex-
pressly declared. So you deliberately made
I'D the issue for a fight for dominion on one
side and a fight for liberty on the other.
"Ther when you had ratified the treaty
YOU voted down the resolution in the senate,
known as the Bacon resolution, declaring
the right of that people to independence,
and you passed the McEnery resolution,
which declared that you meant to dispose
of those islands as should be for the inter-
est of the United States. That was the
origin of the war, If it be war. That Is what
the war is all about. If it be war.
Fixes Responsibility.
'Now, Mr.. President, when you deter
mineL to resort to force for that purpose
YOU took upon yourself every natural con-
sequence of that condition. The natural re-
suit of a conflict of arms between a people
coming out of subsection and a highly civ
ilized people-one weak and the other
strong, with all the powers and resources
Of civilization-is inevitably, as everybody
knows, that there will be cruelty on one side
and retaliation by cruelty on the other.
You knew 1t even before 1t happened, as
well as you know 1t now that 1t has hap
pened, and the responsibility is yours.
1--WE cannot get rid of this one fact, we
cannot escape 1t, and we cannot finch from
It. You chose war instead Of peace. You
chose force instead OF Cancellation, with full
notice that everything that has happened
since would happen as a consequence Of
your decision. Had vow made a declaration
to AguInaldo that you would respect their
title to independence, and that all you de-
sired was. to fulfill the treaty and protect
your friends, you would have disarmed that
people in a moment 1 believe there never
has been a time since when a like declara-
ton made by this chamber alone, but GER
tainly made by this chamber and the other
house, with the approval of the president,
would not rave ended this conflict and pre-
vented all these horrors.
INSTEAD Of that, gentlemen talked of the
wealth of the Philippine islands and about
the advantage to our trade. They sought to
dazzle our eyes with nuggets Of other mems
gold. Senator's declared in the senate cham
Der and on the hustings that the flag never
shall be hauled down IN the Philippine is
lands, and those of you who think other
wise keep silent and enter no disclaimer