The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-02-12
Leads all North Carolina Daies i'm News and Circulation

in the islands by the American authorl-
ties asserting that in not one Of them
could the declaration OF independence
be read and no patriotic speech delivered
In safety.
Mr.. Hoar's remarks called forth a Wig
orous utterance from Mr. Platt, who said
that the American people would regret to
note the "sneers" of the Senator from
at the efforts of the gov
ernment to educate the children of the
Mr.. Platt paid high tribute to Gov
ernor Taft and his assistants on the
Philippine Commission.
That commission had presented, he
said remarkable evidence of the prog
ress toward peace and toward q happy
solution of the situation there. Civil
government had been established in "a
provinces and that Government was be-
Ing operated to the satisfaction OF the
people
Mr.. Hoar interrupted to inquire if Mr.
Platt thought the Filipinos would have
adopted the treason laws enacted by the
Philippine Comission had it been sub
mitted to them.
The Connecticut Senator replied that
he could not say, but Connecticut had a
law which the people of that State never
found inconsistent with their rights and
liberties. He read the law, which proved
to be not dissimilar to that which had
been enacted in the Philippines. He
pointed out as one Of the benehcent re-
suits of American occupation OF the
that schools had been estab-
lished in the islands, and that nearly
one thousand teachers had gone to the
to educate the Filipino chill
dren. 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. Again this effort of the Ameri-
can Government to educate and elevate
the people OF the Philippines. the Senator
from Massachusetts, he said, avs direct
ing his sneers and his denunciations"
Mr.. Platt then read the treason law re-
ferred to by Mr. Hoar to show that it was
directed against the formation of secret
societies, the purpose of which. in whole
or in part, was the promotion of sedition,
rebellion and treason.
1t was a statute, he said, aimed at Sc
cret plotting. such plotting as at time
nearby resulted in inducing, in the city
Of Manila, Il 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
the utterance of patriotic addresses. 1t
prevented simply plotting in the dark.
MIR. Hoar replied to Mr.. Platts discus
sion Of the treason law He maintained
that the Connecticut Senator had not
quoted accurately the statute, because
he had omitted portion of il, which ne
asserted, sustained the position he
(Hoar) had taken and the statements
had made. 1T would have filled man
kind with horror" said he, III this Con-
necticutt statute, or If our statute of
treason of 1890 had been enacted in 16i,
or any time thereafter, and put in force
against Tennessee, Virginia. Kentucky
pr Missouri"
Referring to the elections held in the
upon which Mr.. Platt had
dwelt, Mr.. Hoar said:
II call his attention to the fact that
these elections We're held under law
which sent every man who is in favor of
one side of the question which he says
was settled by them to penitentiary for
saving so. Am I incorrect now?"
Mr. Platt: NO the Senator is infall- !
ible." U4aughter)
In conclusion Mr.. Hoar said
Il have learned to Judge men, even
the greatest and the best men, not by
what they say, but what they do, and
when Governor Taft says that the Fill
pino people want independence and says
at the same time nobody shall express
that desire above his breath, / distrust
the opinion and look for evidence of the
fact. When he says that people are en-
joying American freedom, when he pro-
mulgates a law which at the same time
makes it a penitentiary offense to read
tie eclaration of Independence on the
Fourth OF July, / confess / am very lit
tie impressed by his Judgment and very
profoundly impressed by his edict."
Tho Senate then adjourned