The Washington times., 1902-02-22
Mr.. SPOONER DEFENDS
THE ADMINISTRATION

u
the initial service of an oath found Sc
cret society in the Philippines known as
the Katapunan. which made assassination
the order of the day. so to terrorize
those Filipinos and to prevent their ac-
ceptance OF American sovereignty; and he
mentioned it as an odd thing that the
cabalistic symbol of that oath-bound as
ISOLATION was X. X. K.--the same as the
Ku Klux Khan
Referring to the statement made by n
soldier and quoted on the other side. that
he had seen a large number of water
cure" tortures applied TO natives, by or
der of General Funston. Mr.. SpoOner read
q letter from General Funston brand
ing the statement as ar atrocious lie
and saying that he had never seen the
water cure torture applied in single in
stance.
Mckinley EuIcGizcd.
After an eloquent eulosy OF President
Mckinley. Mr.. Spooner asked with grave
solemnity of manner whether anybody
could believe that William Mckinley in
tended the ensIavement OF the F'ilipinos.
No state paper, he declared. was more
lofty than the paper of instructions
which the President issued 30 the Taft
Commission
No Senator on the other side, Mr..
Spooner declared. had said one word in
commentator of the army, or recoS-
nized a simple praiseworthy act on the
part of the United States in the Philip
pine Islands. Among other things the
commission had abolished the ecclesiasti-
cal court which had jurisdiction of every
offence committed by friar; and now
every man living there of every tribe
and of every religion had an equal posi-
ton before the Law. Senators had fail
ed to observe that.
Speaking of the question of schools in
the islands. Mr. Patterson asked Mr.
Spooner whether or not those who were
compelled to pay the teachers should not
he consulted as to what should be taught.
IF the Filipino father and mother, Mr..
Spooner replied. like to send their chill
dren TO American schools to be taught
the English language the Senator from
Colorado ought to be content. daughter
IF the Filipino people are content.
said Mr. Patterson, Il am content. But
the people are given no choice. This IS
crammed into them and forced into them
Education Without Consent.
Now" Mr. Spooner exclaimed sar-
castically, we have government without
consent. and education without consent
WHAT next ELaughter.l The people
there know what they want, but they do
not know what the Senator from Colorado
wants them to want" tLaughter.l
Criticising the substitute proposed by
the minority of the Philippines commit
tee, Mr.. Snooner asked why should the
dogma of future independence be project
ed into the question.
And now said he. instead of leaving
that people to co-operatee with the Taft
comm ission in de. eloping the industries
and increasing the prosperity of the
islands, and affording free education and
eliminating las we will do the title OF
the friars to land there. what do you pro-
pose 10 do with the minority bill? You
would give away the sovereignty of the
UnitedSStates over the islands and leave
Us there as tenants at will or on suffer
ance.
Tho minority BILL he exclaimed with
great force OF manner. lis a bill to raise
hell in the Philippine archipelago. 1t is a
bill which has no merit whatever in it. l
do not believe in our permanent dominion
on the islands. At the same time | do
not EXPECT the flag Of the United States
to denart from the archipelago"
Mr.. Hoar Queries.
Mr. Hoar asked Mr.. Spooner whether he
contended that the United States was the
rightful owner of the Philippine people for
all time.
Mr.. Spooner expressed his regret that
he had not been able to make his position
understood by the Senator from Massa-
chusetts. He went on with his speech,
and said:
Pull down your flag. Leave your sta
BILE government in the Philippine Islands
to a people who never have participated
in government. Then what? Civil war.
Internal strife. Resumption OF ancient
grudges between different tribes. Cor
ruption. Weakness Inefficiency Foreign
seizure Of the archipelago.
'No; Mr.. President. Let us trust the
people. Let us go along as President Nc
Kinley did-as President Roosevelt pro-
poses to do. He is an idealist. He is a
lover of liberty. He dared more for lib
erty in the Spanish American war than
any of us. He offered his life for the
freedom of Cuba.
Let us trust him. Let us not hold up
his hands. Let us hLp the Taft Com
mission. And then, when that time comes,
hope that shall have liberated Cuba,
made her independent; made Porto Rico
happy prosperous, anu our dlu
and guidance, shall have built up the
Philippine Republic, and the isles of the
Pacific. with their flag flying alongside
of ours" [Applause.l
Mr.. Spooner'S speech occupied about four
hours. 1t attracted interest on both
sides OF the chamber. and in the galleries.
which were crowded with spectators He
spoke without notes, and with great force
and feeling.
Mr.. TilIman Speaks.
Mr.. Tillman Dem., S. c. was the next
speaker. He denounced the bill as pro-
posing fundamental change in the policy
of the United States Government and as
a subversion of all the principles of the |
He characterized the mo-
tive assumed for the bill as subterfuge
and humSug. The hypocrisy involved in |
the whole transaction was damnabIe
The first thing, he said. which the |
carpet bag vermin in the Philippine Is |
lands would do as they had done in Cuba, |
was to get their hands into the pockets |
of the people and steal all they could. He |
expected that Governor Taft had already !
some of the scoundrels. But it |
would not be a good thing to ventilate in |
the United States now.
Without finishing his speech Mr.. Till |
man, at 5:35. yielded to a motion to ad
journ, and the Senate adjourned until
today at II o'clock. ]