Evening star., 1902-05-30

| these are precisely the objects for which
| our soldiers fighting in the Philippines
When there is talk of the cruelties committed
| in the Philippines remember always that
| by far the greater proportion Of these cruel
| ties have been committed by the insur-
gents against their own people-as well as
| against our soldiers-and that not only the
surest but the only effectual way of
| stopping them is by the progress OF the
| American arms.
+, The victories of the American army have
! been the really effective means of putting
/ a stop to cruelty in the Philippines
| Wherever these victories have been COM
plete-and such is now the case throughout
! the greater part of the islands-all cruelties
have ceased, and the native is secure in his
| life, his liberty and his pursuit of happi-
ness. Where the insurrection still smol-
| ders there is always a chance for cruelty
! to show itself.
Our soldiers conquer; and what is the OBJ
| ject for which they conquer? To establish
a military government? No. The laws
are now endeavoring to enact for the gov
ernment of the Philippines are to increase
the power and domain of the civil at the
expense of the military authorities, and to
render even more difficult than in the past
the chance Of oppression. The military power
is used to secure peace. in order that it
may itself be supplanted by the civil gov
ernment. The progress of the American
arms means the abolition Of cruelty. the
bringing of peace, and the rule OF law and
order under the civil government. Other
nations have conquered to create irrespon-
sible military rules We conquer to bring
just and responsible civil government to the
conquered.
But our armies do more than bring peace,
do more than bring order. They bring
freedom. Remember always that the inde-
pendence Of a tribe or a community may,
and often does. have nothing whatever to
do with the freedom of the individual In
that tribe or community. There are now
in Asia and Africa scores OF despotic mon
aonh 20 rxrt,f f-ta fc nd daraf md
in no one of which is there the slightest
vestige of freedom for the individual man.
Scant indeed is the gain to mankind from
the independence of blood-stained ty-
rant who rules over abject and brutalized
slaves. But great is the gain to humanity
which followed the steady though slow In
PRODUCTION Of the orderly liberty, the law
abiding freedom OF the individual, Whlch
is the only sure foundation upon which ma
tcnal independence can be built. Wherever
in the Philippines the insurrection has been
definitely and finally put down. there the
individual Filipino already enjoys sueh
freedom, such personal liberty, under oGr
rule. as he could never even dream or uf-
der the rule of an independent Aguinal-
dian oligarchy.
The slowly learned and difficult art of
self-government, an art which our people
have taught themselves by the labor OF
thousand years. cannot be grasped IN
day by a people only just emerging from
conditions of life which our ancestors left =.
behind them in the dim years before his
tory dawned. We belleNe that We can rap
idly teach the people of the Philippine Is
lands not only how to enjoy, but how to
make good use of their freedom; and with
their growing knowledge their growth in
self-government shall keep. steady pace
When they have thus shown their capacity ..
for real freedom by their power of self
government then, and not TIL then, will II
be possible to decide whether they are to
exist independently of us or be knit to US
by ties of common friendship and interest.
When that day will come II is not in hu-
man wisdom now to fortell-, All that we =
Continued on Eleventh Page)