The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1903-04-16

Si"ss, thSy Always DSsuoue the HtCkS U
the people, not that they wanted to d
1t, but because the people were better Of
for being ridden. That is their argu
ment. Turn il whatever way yol
will, whether it come from the moutl
of kings as an excuse for enslaving tn
people OF their country or from tn,
| mouth OF men OF one race as a reasol
for enslaving the men of another race
it is the same old serpent"
The Register aud Leader is il
error when it says that with th,
single exception that statehood wa.
not promised in the treaty witt
Spain, ns it was when terrltor,
was acquired from France and
Mexico, there has not a thing been
done in the Philippines chat the
fathers of the republic have not
established a precedent for from
Jefferson down"
The Register and Leader has
doubtless over looked the fact that
trial by jury is a privilege denied
to the people of the Philippines,
while the enjoyment of that privi-
lege was explicitly provided for in
congressional legislation relating
to our earlier acquisitions.
Congress has passed laws des.
ignating the people of Porto Rico
as citizens of Porto Rico" and
the people of the Philippines as
citizens of the Philippines. "
Can this Republican paper point to
any act Of congress- in the days Of
the fathers which shows that
United States citizenship was
denied to those who came under
our authority!
Is it not true that the inhabi-
tants of the territory acquired in
the fathers time were, if they so
regarded as citizens of the
United Statesi
Did the fathers ever levy tariffs
against these newly acquired terri
toriesi
Is it not true that the property
thus acquired was speedily formed
into territories and that no sug-
gestion of the colonial system per.
tained to iti
For the purposes of this discuss
ion it is not important that Indian
Tern itory and New Mexico are yet
territories even after the lapse Of
nearly century. The important
TACT is that the people OF these ter
rltories are citizens Of the United
States whose every right is pro-
tected by the constitution.
The fathers, while exercising
authority over these sections, did
not deny to the inhabitants thereof
he privilege OF becoming citizens
1f the government under which
hey were required to live and did
not undertake to designate them as
citizens of mythical government.
1t is one thing to delay or with
hold the grant of statehood to Il
.erritOry; it is quite another thing
20 deny to the people of territory
over which we have asserted juris.
fiction the privilege of United
States citizenship.
1t is one thing to maintain ter
'itories, as New Mexico and the
indian territory have been main
aimed, and it is quite another
hing to establish colonies like
Porto Rico and the Philippines.
There is a marked difference be-
.ween the territorial acquisition of
.he fathers and the Imperialism of
The present day.
II the editor of the Register and
Leader desires to read some i'm.
nressive statements defining this
difference he might consult a work
written by Theodore Roosevelt,
now president of the United States.
In The Winning OF the West"
his Republican editor will learn
something to his advantage from
the pen OF the Republican leader.