The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-07-01

teachers has been organized and established
all over the island. Roads have been graded
and built in the interior and remote portions
of the island. where only precarious. bride
paths existed before. The people have re-
covered from the effects of the tornado and
storms which devastated their island in 1898,
and under good government and free trade
with the states, have. entered upon an era
of prosperity most promising and encourag-
ings for both them and ourselves A million
of people oppressed and in state OF vas
salage have been regenerated and born to q.
new life under the stars and stripes. The
very thought of it. f1ils every patriotic Ameri-
can heart with thankfuIness and pride. ;: :
What We Did for. Cuba. =.
And what have NJ not done for poor,
bleeding Cuba? The ten year insurrection
beyond all endurance, the poor people had
again taken up arms for their Independence
and had brayely struggled against great odds
with but slight prospects of success. And 1T
was then that our nation came to their re-
lief and sinote their oppressor a blow. swift,
sure and decisive, which forever extinguished
the rule of Spain in the western hemisphere.
,. But the people of Cuba stood in great need
of our further assistance before they could
fairly come to their own, before they could
secure stable government and all the bless
ings which flow from It,. And this assistance
we have given them with a most intelligent
and generous hand. They had no means no
stable government, no law or order: Their
lands and their farms were devastated, dis
mantled and a waste, and their cities were
reeking with poverty, filth and pestilence.
The mass of the people were pauperized,
helpless ,aimless and many of them mourn.
ers for the dead Of their war. First OF all,
we had to clothe and feed them, then estabt
:lish law and order, then aid them to embark
in a self-sustaining existence, then cleanse;
purify and render immune from pestllence
their cities and towns, and then, last OF ALL
aid them to- establish safe and stable Re-
publican form of government. -~,-:.
ALL this I'VE have done and accomplished
with patience and great skill, in, full measure
and we have launched among the repupllcs
of the world sister republic, hopeful, buoy
ant and full of life. Three years. Of tutelage
under the stars and stripes have. given the
people of Cuba training n ser goYernmenIl
most valuable and. blissful. Never was mother
kinder to her daughter than America has been
to Cuba Who now doubt the wisdom
the: unselishiness- and the magn animlty q
the great, republic ~. ,a,:.: :7..:r-.c E,.::
- The; Philippines Problem.:@. -.
Cuba and Porto Rico are both most happy
in a, new existence and "a new life: And
what we, have accomplished for them we shall
in some form, though less rapidly; because
the conditions are different accomplish for
the Philippine islands:
We entered upon the Spanish war to free
Cuba, but when it was over. and we found our
selves In occupation Of Porto Rico and the
Philippine islands. our sense of duty and our
sense of justice forbade us to return them TO
the clutches of Spanish tyranny and oppres-
sion. - =
The problem was even more. pressing and
unavoidable in the: case of the Philippine
islands than Porto Rico. Spanish rule in the
former had been even more brutal and cruel
than in Cuba, more. brutal and cruel because
the people were not Of the same race, were
emily in part ciyilized, were composed OF
several races and many - fribes-from the
savage Moros and fmbecife and :dwartish
Negritoes to the 'Taga1s' and cunning Ch1-
nese Mestizoes-a very babel Of humanity,
lacking all cohesion, all the elements OF ma
tionality and all experience in, self govern
ment, or indeed any government at ALL save
the despotism Of Spain. ' 49,. = -
TO abandon these un tutored and heterogen-
eous masses to the further rule of Spanish
brutality seemed rather cruel and shocking
to our sense Of right, and Justice: To aban1
don, them absolutely In their then condition
and. helplessness, to themselves seemed
even more reckless and UNJUST both to them
and, to us, for 1t would have led them lire
sistibly into dire confusion, chaos; and self
destruction, and ultimately and swiftly to
their seizure and exploitation byTone or more
of the great rpowers of. Europe. Strong fleets
of foreign powers were there ready to move
in the moment we moved out: -
- A Dutyxto Perform. :: g..
A great ma ton can 10 more afford TO evade or
shirk a great moral Responsibility than an in
dividual. And the conscience of a. republic,
such az ours, is 7but the counterpart Of the
conscience Of the people. incarnate and IN
furnished. There was but one honorable,
manly and just course, under the stress OF the
facts, to take. And that was to accept a cess
sion of the islands, pacify them, civilize them,
and establish law and ORDER and good gov
eminent for them, President Mckinley was
at first loath to insist or a cession; but when
the great moral problem, In all Its length ana
breadth, dawned upon hi and he fully com
pretended 1T, the path Of Justice and duty
seemed plain to him. He was no moral cow
ard, no evader Of responsibility and ne rep
resented a. people who never falter; never
shirk and never trim. ~ @-'s -
We owed it to ourselves, to the people OF the
Philippine islands and to the entire civilized
world to do just what we did do. To have
done otherwise would have rendered our ma
ton moral imbecile among the enlightened
nations of the world. !
AT the time Dewey entered Manila Bay,
Spain was in undisputed possession and con
troll of the islands. The insurrection which
Aguinaldo and some Of his associates had
started in 1896 they hadcompromsed and aban7
doned for money Consideration in 1897 and
had taken themselves to China where they
were living when Dewey steamed into the
Bay of Manila. There was at that time no
Philippine government OF any kind. Under
the promise, which turned out to be mere
pretence, Of helping our forces to. expel the
Spaniards, Aguinaldo and some Of his assoA
ciates, with the permission of; Dewey, re-
turned to Luzon and were furnished with
arms and ammunition But no sooner had
they landed and. secured arms than they
proceeded to organize an army and Set up a
military government, all in hostility to our
government rather than Spain. They were
even ready at one time to join and cooper
ate with the Spaniards. This fnsurrection,
| thus started and fed by the ignorant and
savage lawlessness of the people, we have
suppressed. Most Of it. except in a. few iso-
| lated parts and in case OF a few barbarous
and savage tribess and bands Of >1adrones OF
robbers we suppressed more than a year ago
go Pacifcation,- Accomplished,
! year ago our army in the islands mum:
| bered $4,000; we have but 80 900 there new
| and by next fall expect to reduce our force
| to $4,000 men. year ago the number Of
| towns in which troops were stationed wat
469; at this time the number is only 245; ant
| deducting from this the stations in Sanal
and Batangas there are but 100 left; ''ant
these would be greatly reduced If more Eek
| tensive quarters were found for the troops
in the larger towns. In the meantime, under
I the Taft, commission, we have successful.
established civil government, with, law: ant
j order, in most of the provinces In thirty
Ave provinces civil governments are estab
| 1;shed and working most successfully chief