The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1902-02-21


The debate in the United States /
senate on the Philippine tariff has
shown that We went TO the Philippines /
as an incident of the war with Spain; /
that wesought and obtained the friend |
ship and assistance Of the Filipinos;
that we led them to believe by implica- /
ton, if not by written promise, that
our sole purpose was to deliver them
from the tyranny Of Spain; that we
now treat them as a conquered cOun-
try; that we have put into effect laws
which would cause an instant rising Of
the people of the United States if they
were sought to be enforced here; that
we deny trial by jury; that a mother is
required to testify against her son and
son against the mother if either knows
Of alleged treason coEAitted - con-
templated- by the other; that o,+ganiz-
alton Of or membership in secret
society "for the pfomulgatio5 Of any
political opinion or policy" is made
crime, and that it is a crime to advo-
cate by word or writing or printing
the expediency or justice Of indepen-
dence for the islands.
In a word we are following exactly
the same methods employed by every
predatory nation since the world be
gan-methOds which are in violation
Of and directly contrary to the Ian
guage and spirit of the declaration Of
independence and the constitution Of
the United States. This nation was
built on the right of men to liberty and
self-government. We deny liberty and
seIf-gOvernment to others. We have
not the poor excuse that there is mon
ey in our imperialism. 1t has been
shown that the possession Of the Phil
ippines is a waste Of money and that
Great Britain, which is troubled with
no qualms of conscience about the
rights of peoples, knew what it was
about from a commercial point of
view when it coded Manila back to
Spain more than 100 years ago.
The debate also has brought to light
the curious methods Of the admins
tration in dealing with the Filipinos.
The administration has. given every
encouragement to the so-eaIled federal
party, which may be called the Ameri-
can party in the politics of the islands.
The commission pays more than one
compliment to the services of the fed
eral party.
The official addresses of the federal
party to the people Of the Philippines
are found practically to promise that
statehood will be given in the near fu-
ture. At the same time, while the ad-
ministration party is holding out false
promises to the Filipinos, the leaders
Of the republican party in this country
declare that statehood will never be
given to the Philippines. 1t would
seem that the men at the head Of af-
fairs now are trying to bunco the Fill
ipino into the belief that they will be
given statehood. We are continuing
the campaign of false pretenses which
began when we told the Filipino that
we had come to their islands to help
them chase away the Spaniards.
This editorial is simply a plain state
ment Of the situation in the Philip
pines. If it were printed in a news
paper published in Manila it would be
treason punishable with death. No
wonder that there is not a single Amer
lean newspaper printed in Manila. The
American newspapers there have pass
ed into the hands Of Englishmen--
Rocky Mountain News.