Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-02-20

party ia the islands. sigued bF 200.
900 Of the more prominent citizens.
requesting that the islands BE- made
an integr al part Of the United States
and given q territorial form Of gov
ernment This, Of COURSE. il not at
all in line with the republican de-
signs but il has produced consider
able effect on the more conser vafive
members OF the party y no are be-
ginning to realize that Il cir colonial
policy is impractical and that lnless
they accord tie Filipinos territorial
rights a I'd holi out % the N the pros
pect Of ultim ate either ship. they
are likely-to have 9 con tinuous In
surrection on their hands ard Que
that viii incrs ase rather than dimin-
ish. With Senator Fora ger urging
"a reduction Of IS per cent Of the
Dingley tariff rates and Senator
Mitchell demanding reduc' ion Of
30 per cent, the outcome OF tn pres
ent bill IS han to Dredi 4 but what
ever the rept blicans d. term ne up
on they have the ssreng b to carry.
A more serious contest will he pre-
cipitated, however, when the Philip
pine government comes up for con-
sideration.
1t is something Of a comm entary
on repu olican diplomacy that, while
the administration is sndes voring
to establish cordial re ations with
the Filipinos and insp re in them
respect for American institutions,
Governor TAFT is testify ngin Wash
ington that they are "a any indolent
people incapable Of performing jury
duty" or determining quest ons Of
justice. OF course, the press of the
islands publishes these statements
and doubtless the people will be
flattered into an imme late appre-
citation Of the American sense of JUS
tice, quicknass OF per seption and
keenness Of judgment
To close observer, he Il end q
the governmp mt toward colonialisLn
entangling alliances With foreiea
powers and the attenda 1T na yal ard
military development is nect ssarily
source ofan xiety. Tie sen iments
oppressed in the senate obbi6s when
the news OF the Anglo Japanese ALI
ance was made known were more
than st-aws in their indics ton OF
the dire ction in which the country
is drifting. The military strength
OF the country, already weakened
by the distant possessions whio b
must be protected in time Of war,
must now be augmented and the
country placed on the highway to-
wards standing army and q navy
that can compete with the European
nations into rivalry with which we
have entered in the new struggle
for neutrality-suspicious. and aggran-
dizment. As is well known, the ef-
forts of our delegates to the Pan
American Congress were hampered
by the belief of South American
countries that this government re-
garded them with a covetous eye.
The fear was ridiculed by the press
but on Friday member of the Sen
ate Committee on fnteruceanic Ca
nails stated that permanent owner
ship of the land through which the
Panama Canal might be built was
unimportant, as long before the 200
year lease would have expired this
country would "own all that terrific
ry.
Opposition to this tendency found
voice in the House on Friday when
Mr.. Wheeler Of Kentucky made a
violent attack upon the administra-
ton for its policy in regard to for
eign nations and royalty. Had the
gentleman speech been a little
more carefully prepared and had he
omitted some expressions to which
he was doubtless led by the excess
OF his feelings, the address would
have proved more effective. Under
lying the somewhat extravagant Ian
guage he used was the stratum of a
great truth.
Since the passage of the majority
Interchangeable bill by the House.
that body has been engaged in the
consideration of private bills doing
odd jobs as one of the members
expressed it when / asked him what
was going on inside Today the
Ways and Means Committee will
consider the Cuban reciprocity ques-
tion, not because il wants to but be-
cause the unpalatable truth has
been forced upon the Committee
that, in the words Of member,
it must,-or the Senate will. - 1t
is probable the Committee will re-
port some measure of relief to Cuba.
What its terms will be cannot be
foretold but, whatever they are,
they will be made TO conform to the
well-known views of the President
when the measure is taken up in the