Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-03-06
VIII the Philippines Pay?

SENATOR A. o. BACON.

1
tives and reasons assigned therefor. Some
there are who base their advocacy upon
| the very high ground that, in wrestling
| these islands from the dominion Of Spain,
] we assumed a responsibility, permanent
| In duration, for the maintenance of order
| ~ government in the same, and with 1t
an obligation. mandatory and not to be
| avoided, to lift these ten millions Of Asiat-
| les through educational processes, moral.
J religious, industrial and political, to
plane of civilization which shall approx
mate at least that which we have our
| selves attained. Those of this mind rec
ognize that this responsibility and this
| obligation must be met and discharged
without hinching-even though they in
volve, for several generations, IL not for
an indefinite period, an annual expendt-
ture of seventy-hve or hundred millions
/ of dollars by the United States. Those of
| this heroically philanthropic view are not
appalled, either by such consideration or
J by that of the no less certain consequence
| of the loss of the lives of many officers
and soldiers of the American army, to say
nothing of the sacrifices of the vast host
who will return year after year broken in
health, thereafter necessarily dependent
upon the public for support.
The large majority, however, base their
| advocacy upon the less philanthropic and
| more practical proposition that the pos
session of these islands will pay in dollars
and cents. The suggestion is not without
reasonable foundation, that even those
who compose the minority first mentioned
are deceiving themselves in their concep-
ton of their unselfish and philanthropic
| impulses and that, though perhaps not
| fully recognized by themselves, they snare
with others the anttcipattons of golden
gains, the hope of which is so candidly
expressed by those of the majority.
A Glance at the Debit Side of the
Ledger.
1t is low plane upon which to base the
judgment of the American people in re-
gard to that which is really the weight
Test and most overshadowing question of
the day--whether the United States shall
be permanently committed to the policy
and the task Of possessing and dominating
rans-Pacifc colonies Of many millions OF
Asiatics in a vast and difficult territory
And yet ii is difficult for one who weighs
the, utterances of men in everyday inter
course as well as much o. the outgivings
of the press, to rid himself of the convic-
ton that the most potent factor in de-
termining this most pregnant question is
the answer which shall be rendered to the
inquiry, "Will it pay?' If the final con-
clusion in the public mind is that the pos
session of these islands will pay, and that
their retention under our domination will
result in profitable money return, there is
reason to apprehend that sthe political
ideals Of the past hundred years will make
but slow progress in the effort to secure
the transfer of these islands to the DO
minion of their own people. These politi-
cal ideals will continue to be revered in
theory. but many eyes will be blind to
the fact that the preservation or practical
overthrow of these ideals is involved in
the question.
1t is a remark very frequently heard,
1--WE have got the islands and there is no
A Il II rot FsfN
of them" That remark is generally made
by the inconsiderate or uniformed, or
by those who for other reasons are I'M
willing to give them up. Whenever in
the lapse Of time it is shown conclusively
that the continued possession of these
islands will not pay from a pecuniary
or business standpoint, but that on the
contrary. for an INDEFINITE period-a pc
Rod the limit Of which no man can fix
with any reasonable probability--their re-
tention will, under the most favorable
conditions, entail annually a net loss of
many tens of millions Of dollars, thus
adding every year a vast sum to the
more than $500, 100000 already lost by the
United States on this account, there will
speedily be found a way through which
the connection will be sundered without
dishonor to the American people. This
will have a most speedyi practical dem
onstration If such conclusion be reach
1
sion and OF stringency or panic in the
money market-a period the recurrence
of which in the not remote future our re-
peated, experiences in the past leaves us
! little room to doubt.
What the Philippines Have Already
Cost.
Indeed a less weighty influence would
accomplish such result, for it will be
recalled that, before the decision of the
made in dominant circles that, If the
supreme court should hold that no tariff
could be imposed upon the products of
the Philippine Islands when brought to
the United States, we would get rid of the
Archipelago. 1t was in the confidence
that such action would promptly follow
such a decision. as well as in the mainte-
nance Of what they believed to be the cor
rect constitutional construction, that ma
ny were most anxious that the supreme
court should so decide.
If the same care is exercised as that at
which is observed by men in the deter
minatfon and management of their pri-
vate business, the people of the United
States should be able satisfactorily to
answer the inquiry "Will the Philippines
pay?"
1t is necessary to consider two sides
of an account in order to determine where
the balance shall be placed There may be
/
exceeds it, the balance must be on the
debt side
BY many 1t is confidently estimated that
we have already expended more than
| $500 100000 on account of the Philippine
Islands. There can be no doubt that the
I expenditure has exceeded $500. 900 O00
What has been the full expenditure on
this account 1t is difficult to determine
with accuracy, but it is not difficult to
determine a minimum beyond which il
has certainly gone. If all the expendi-
lures, both directly and indirectly. due to
our connection with the Philippines-in-
| Guiding in this way all the expenditures
! which would not have been made If we
had not this connection-could be accu-
rately ascertained the amount would far
exceed that which appears as directly
! chargeable to that account.
| For instance. it would appear at first
| glance that only the expenditures on ac-
count of the army actually in the Philip
| pines should be charged against that ac
count. But the fact is that the same sol
diers cannot be kept all the time in that
climate and. in consequence, a large re-
serve must be kept at home with which to
replace the troops which. at the end of
I certain periods, must be brought home
| for recuperation. In consequence, even If
| that reserve does not exceed the number
! Of troops which would otherwise be re-
quired in the United States, the annual
| transportation of many thousands of
troops to and from the Philippines in