The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-05-30

IL behooves us to keep a vigilan
watch to prevent these abuses and e
! punish those who commit them; bu
If because of them we finch from
; finishing the task on which we have
entered we show ourselves cravens
and weaklings, unworthy of the sires
from whose loins we sprang. There
were abuses and to spare in the civi
war. Your false friends then called
Grant a butcher" and spoke oil
you who are listening to me as merce
naries, as "Lincoln's hlrelings.
Your open foes-as in the resolution
passed by the confederate congress
in October, 1S62-accused you, al
great length, and with much particu
larity, of "contemptuous disregard OF
the usages of civilized war;" of sub
jectlng women and children to ban
lshment. Imprisonment and death -
Of murder" of "rapine," of "out
RACES on women" of "lawless cruel
ty," of 'perpetrating atrocities which
would be disgraceful to savages; -
and Abraham Lincoln was singled out
for especial attack because of his
spirit of barbarous ferocity'
Verify, these men who thus foully
slandered you have their heirs today
in those who traduce our armies in
the Philippines, who fix their eyes on
individual deeds of wrong 80 keenly
that at last they become blind to the
great work of peace and freedom that
has already been accomplished.
War for Peace and Liberty.
Peace and freedom-are there two
better objects for which a soldier can
fight? Well, these are precisely the
objects for which our soldiers are
fighting in the Philippines. When
there Is talk of the cruelties commit
ted in the Philippines, remember al
ways that by far the greater proper.
tion of these cruelties have been com
mitted by the insurgents against
their own people-as we'll 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
complete-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
smolders there is always a chance for
cruelty to show itself.
We Conquer for Freedom.
Our soldiers conquer; and what is
the object for which they conquer?
To establish a military government?
No. The laws we are now endeavor.
ing to enact for the government 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 oppres-
sion. The military power is used to
secure peace, in order that 1t may
itself he supplanted by the civil gov
ernment. The progress Of the Amer
lean 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 irresponsl.
BILE military rule. We conquer to
bring just and responsible civil gov.
ernment to the conquered
The Army Restores Order.
But our armies do more than bring
peace, do more than bring order.
They bring freedom, Remember al
ways that the independence of
tribe or 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 monarchies, each OF which
Is Independent and 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 tyrant who rules over abject
and brutalized slaves. But great is
the gain to humanity which follows
the steady though slow introduction
)f the orderly liberty, the law,abiding
freedom of the individual which is
he only sure foundation upon which
national independence can be built.
Wherever in the Philippines the in.
has been definitely and
inally put down, there the individual
Filipino already enjoys such freedom.
'uch personal liberty, under our rule,
IS he could never dream of under the |
ule of an independent" Aguinaldlan |
SMOTHER A COUGH, |