New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-05-31

usages of civilized war;: of subjecting women
and children to banishment, imprisonment ana
death; of murder" of ''rapine, of outrages
on women" Of ''lawless cruelty, OF perpe-
'trating atrocities which would be disgraceful 70
savages' and Abraham Lincoln was singled CUT
for especial attack because of his spirit OF par
barous ferocity."
The Presidents policy cOntemplates the vigor-
Gus prosecution of the war, with the use OF all
lawful means necessary 10 that end, and the
punishment of all abuses, even though the most
extreme suffering provoked them. When peace
is restored he is prepared to give the F1lipinos
civil government and liberty. THE military
power is used to secure peace" and not until
that is established will 1t be possible TO reach
any just opinion as to the future status of the
Philippines How can it be? Nobody knows the
Tagal capacity for sef-government. Promises of
independence now might mean making nest OF
pirates and a new Dahomey in the China Sea.
The future can only be decided by events as
they may develop. The country does not yet
know what will be wise, and the President has
no power TO do anything but uphold American
sovereignty. He exactly meets the situation
when he says:
We believe that rapidly teach the peo-
pie of the Philippine Islands not only how to
enjoy but how to make good of their free
dom; and with their growing knowledge their
growth in selfgOvernment shall keep steady
pace. When they have thus shown their ca
government, then, and not till then, will ii be
possible to decide whether they to exist indie
pendently OF be knit TO us by ties of COM
friendship and interest. When that day
will come ii is not in human wisdom now to fore
tell All that we can say with certainty is
that IL would be put back an Unreasonable dis
lance if we should yield TO the counsels of I'M
manly weakness and turn loose the islands, TO
see victorious foes butcher with revolving
cruelty our betrayed friends and shed the blood
of the most humane, the most enlightened the
peaceful, the wisest and the best of their
own number-for these are the classes who have
already learned TO welcome our rule.
We can see this declaration hailed as a con-
cessiOn to the opposition, but it is just what the
Republican party has stood for from the begin
ming 1t is just what the anti-imperialsts in
effect protested against when they demanded
American citizenship under the constitution for
the Filpinos and denounced a policy which
held them at arms length and refused TO put
them the road 10 Statehood. At every stage
the Republicans have kept the ultimate dispo-
siton of the islands open question. Ulti-
mate independence may be the solution, but no.
body can say that is the wise solution till peace
is established and the capacity for independence
tested. 1t is not a thing to he promised blindly.
even to disarm enemies. 1t is not thing TO be
made party shibboeth and turned to the
enlargement of those enemies to persist in
till they can eXtOrt the independence which
have. First must come peace, bringing TO the
Filipinos civil government and personal free
dom according TO our Bill of Rights. Then
government and the Filipinos can consider how
best their happiness can be subserved.