Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1903-07-17
4 EXT An VIEW w;

Me1ico Herald Wbathas happened
In the Philippines9 A Manila letter to
the Philadelp hia Ledger says that ..pro.
.gress Is slow. capital IL shy, and
traders seem discouraged By the delay
In passing tariff laws to admit trade
with the United States IN those
articles that can be produced here.
The islands are now growing better
tobacco than any state In the Union
It is nearly all fit for cigars, not
merely for the pipe, and it is very:
cheap. but the tariff has kept It out
Of the United States
The tariff and always the tariff
The growers Of the acrid and woody
leaf Of the tropical valley Of the Con
necticut must be protected Virginia
and North Carolina. etc., must not
suffer competition. and so the Philip
pine leaf is barred out. Formerly
the island had good trade in cigars
with Spain, but that has gone, aud
the benevolent assimilator in power
at Washington will not give relief
to the "nation g ward" Here imper-
ialieln imps badly. Cuba already
trades go heavy with Europe that the
protectionist journals of the United
States are filling columns with their
complaints ;but reciprocity with Cuba
was defeated by the tobacco interests
and the sugar planters of the United
States. Cuba naturally continues to
trade largely with her old customers.
Thousands Of Americans went early
to Cuba and to the Philippines. be-
lieving that q liberal trade policy
would enable them to make money
fast. But they have been ssdisappoint-
ed. It is related that In Luzon there
are fewer Americans than there were
six months ago. Some of them were
greedy spectators, bat there were
also many hale and intelligent men.
They had not counted on imperialism
on clutches, half-hearted imperial
ism. Prosperity In the Phi lippines
ie hindered by the tariff law of the
country which took over the islands
amid the rejoicing of the blatant
jingoes who have proved to be shallow
and timid statesmen. The net result
Of q war that cost the American tax
payers hundreds Of millions of dol
lars is an inglorious economic rout.
Old Europe and the shrewd mer-
camille Chinese continue to do bust
ness at the old stand.
If there are democratic. orators on
the stump and platform next year in
the United States, they can make
the republican speakers, the SPELL
binders, pass good many uncom.
Portable moments trying to explain
how it is that expansion failed to ex-
pand trade.
Spain governed none too wisely in
her colonies, but at least she kept her
markets open to them Her great
blunders was In not purifying her
civil service. in not giving the
islands honest and efficient govern.
ment: her politicians only saw in
colonial posts chance to plumber.
"Boudoir politics. in Madrid, the
social Influence that obtained: fat
places for the favorites of women in
high place. lost the colonies. Then
too, there was q denial of local self
government, policy inconsistent
with the spirit Of the age. The
United States should give the Fill
pinos wide measure Of political
rights and allow Filipino de puties in
the Congress at Washington where
they could speak for their people.
They would have something to say
of q trade policy, which is quite as
senseless, quite as fatuous, al that
which lost the 10 colonies to the
Britain of King George III.