Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-05-01
IT IS UP TO Mr.. ROOT.
Withholding Information Re-
garding Philippine frauds.

After the treaty of Paris had been
signed and tire Philippines thereby
ceded to the United States, the Span
ish prime minister, Senior Sagasta,
said: "Now Spain is avenged" This
was laughed at as a fine bit Of cyni-
cism; but events have established Sa-
gasta as a highly respectable authori-
ty. The gift" has cost us hundreds
of millions and the prediction that the
end is at hand is no more sanguine
than it has been scores of times with
in the last two years. After the task
of establishing peace and quiet in a
broken and scattered territory there
is the problem of protecting it. In the
event of a foreign war we would not
have the comparatively easy work OF
defending a continuous empire. To
attack a compact nationality fighting
for home and country is a very differ
ent proposition and far less inviting
than the Inauguration of a war which
may be forced and fought 1000 miles
from our shores, says the Detroit Free
Press.
That congress appreciates what a
~stupendous menace we nave bought
appears in the fact that it is trying
to make appropriations to fortify the
seaboard cities in towns where the
costly maintenance of garrisons will
be necessary even after the internal
troubles are quoted. For the same
reason the navy must be largely in
creased. There is nothing to do so
long as we cling to the Philippines
but to establish and maintain a large
ly increased fighting equipment both
for the reasons cited and because the
respect formerly had for the Monroe
doctrine is greatly weakened by the
invasion of the other hemisphere.
Some idea of what it would mean to
have to defend our new possessions in
the event of war appears in the fact
that the aggregate land of the Philip
pines is about equal to that in New
Mexico, while the seacoast they have
is almost equal to that of all our
states bordering on the two great
oceans.
Figures of the expenses that we
must carry are overwhelming, and the
most sanguine do not predict that the
generation is yet born that will see
the balance in favor of this country
Yet these considerations are far from
covering the material considerations
involved. Charges of fraud in the
Philippines have been passed over witt
a lightness that invites its repetition
Some of the ugliest stories connected
with modern civilized warfare are un
der investigation. The senate com
mittee is encountering extreme diff
Guilty in getting vital facts as to thu
true situation in the islands. Gen
Taft is charged with the suppression
of important information bearing
upon the military government. Their
is no valid excuse for this, but Their,
is the creditable explanation that he
as the head of the civil government
t shrank from condemning those wit
whom he is allied in control.
Now it is alleged in open senate tina
the secretary of war is w%ithholdini
material information from the CON
y. mittee. If this be true he is withou
+ an apology. He is the power benin
the military government, and to cove
n it's derelictions is to become a part
n to them. If the charges are true NJ
Root has ignored acts for the peopl'
and that it is they who are demant
ing an unabridged and explicit STATE
= ment of conditions in our new posse:
n sions. Conceding the right of militar
y control in the Philippines it does nc
follow that it can be exercised at hon
y in the slightest degree. Congress he
d a right to know everything, and {
u curse will know everything.