The Holly chieftain., 1902-09-26
PRESIDENTS POLICY
AS TO PHILIPPINES AND CUBA.
Large Measure Of Self Government for
the iipinos.-Reciprocit with
cuba.-Address to Spanish War
Veterans In Detroit.


velts two-day visit to Detroit came to
an end yesterday at the conclusion of
a banquet rendered him in Light Guard
armory by the Spanish war veterans.
the opening of whose third annual re-
union he attended this morning, 1t
was brilliant event. Nearly 500 men
sat at the tables on the floor of the big
srmory, and the galleries We're crowd
ed to their utmost capacity by bril-
liantly gowned women and their es-
corts. The armory was decorated in
green and white maple branches. and
electric lights were everywhere.
When the President arose to begin
his address, which was the first of the
evening. he received an ovation The
men on the floor stood up and cheered
again and again, while the clappng of
hands from the gallery was like the
crackle of musketry. The President,
after speaking of Michigan's important
part in the Spanish war,
said:
THE war itself was an easy one.
The tasks left behind us. though glor-
ious. have been hard. You. the men of
the Spanish war. you and your com
rades in arms who fought in Cuba and
Porto Rico and in the Philippines. won
renown for the country. added to its
moral grandeur and to it's material
prosperity. but you also left duties to
be done by those who came after you.
In Porto Rico the duty has been
merely administrative and it has been
so well done that very little need be
said about it. In the Philippines the
of
But after three years of bitter fighting
peace has been won by the vnlor of our
soldiers and civil government has, been
introduced, so that the islanders have
now greater opportunities for life. lib
erty and the pursuit of happiness than
ever they have enjoyed before during
their recorded history.
Last week ordered taking of the
census of the islaSds and two years
hence. according to The law of Con-
gress. the first steps will be taken in
the direction of giving the Philippine
people a Legislative assembly. No other
Oriental country in the possession of
an alien power-indeed, no Oriental
country at all, save only Japan-has
been given any such measure of self
government and personal freedom us
we have already given to the Filipinos.
''One of the most important recent
measures has been the providing of a
cable for the Philippines. this being
necessary both from commercial and
from a military standpoint.
with Cuba the matter is different.
We pledged ourselves solemnly at the
outbreak of the war with Spain to give
to Cuba independence. The world at
large sneered at the pledge and even
some of our own people scoffed at the
thought that we intended to keep it.
But we have kept 1t In good faith
and with keen regard for the welfare
of the Cubans. We did not turn Cuba
loose to sink into a welter of anarchy.
We first administered the affairs Of the
island until order had been brought
out of chaos. until the cities has been
cleaned, the courts purified. an educa-
tional system started and Il just and eff.
ticient government Introduced. Then
We turned the new republic over to
the hands of those whom its people had
elected as its servants and bade it god.
speed in its journey of Independence
But neither our duty to, nor. our
interest In the island have come to an
end with the establishment of it's inde-
pendence. Cuba's Immediate proxim.
ity to the United States rendered It's
well being of such interest to us that
we We're forced to interfere in its in
terest by force of arms. For the same
reason its future cannot but be mat.
ter of grave concern to us.
I'VE do not desire Cuba to stand to-
ward any other nation IN the same re-
lations of intimate friendship and al
lance that we desire to see it adopt
toward us. It must therefore be in "A
certain sense part Of our interim,
tional political system, and it accepted
this position when 1t accepted the Platt
amendment. But 1t Is out of the ques.
tion for us to expect that 1t will assume
such a position toward us in regard to
international politics without at the
same time sharing somewhat in the
benefits of our economic system.
ut was for this reason that President
Mckinley urged. and that l have since
urged and shall continue to urge the
need of establishing closer relations
with Cuba by reciprocity. We urge re-
ciprocity because 1t Is for our interests
to control the Cuban markets, because
we are bound to place CubanS on pc
culiar standing economically when
they consent to our interests, as well
as their own, to assume a peculiar
status internationally and because it
is fitting for great and generous Re-
public to stretch out helping hand to-
ward her feebler sister Just starting to
tread the path of Independence. The
case stands by itself, and there can be
no other like 1t.
81 do not believe a particle of harm