The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-12
CANNOT PUT THE
PHILIPPINES ASIDE

E This is as true now as four years ago.
/ We did not take the Philippines at will,
and We carnot put them aside at will.
Any abandonment of the. policy which
we have steadily pursued in the islands
( would be fraught with dishonor and dis
aster; and to such dishonor and disaster
l do not believe that the American peo-
pie will &C nserit
AlarRa has been professed lest the Fill
guaranteed to our people at home by the
fourteenth amendment of the constitii-
ton. As a matter of fact, the F'ilipinos
have already secured the substance of
these benefits. This government has been
, true to the spirit of the fourteenth
amendment in the Philippines. Car our
principles of the fourteenth and fifteenth
amendments have been in effect EuIli-
fed? In this. as in many other matters,
we at home can well profit by .he exam
pie of those responsible for the actual
management of affairs in the Philip
pines. In our several commonwealth
now face the complex problem of secur-
ing fair treatment to each man regard
less of race or color. We can do so
only. if we approach the problem III the
high minded devotion to the right, which
has enabled Coy. Taft, Gov. Wright, and
their associates; to do SO. noble a work
benefit of the true principles of Amer
lean liberty.
Our appeal is made to all good citi-
of the nation close to their hearts. The
great issues which are at stake, and
upon which | have touched. are more
than mere partisan issues. for they in
volve much that comes home to the in
dividual pride and individual weli-being
of our people. Under conditions as they
actually are, good Americans Should re-
fuse, for the sake of the welfare of the
nation. to change the national policy.
We. who are responsible for tie admii:is-
tration and legislation under which this
fryy
grown so greatly in well-5eing ct home
and in honorable repute among the ma
tions of the earth abroad. do not stand
inertly upon this record. do not use this
record as an excuse for failure of effort
to meet new conditions. On the con-
trary we treat the record of what we
do even better in the future. We believe
that the progress that we have made nay
we shall continue to make if the people
again erltrustzthe government of the
ton to our hands
We do not stand still We press stead
ily forward toward the goal of moral and
material well being for our own people. of
just and fearless dealings toward all other
peoples in the interest not merely of this
country, but of mankind. There is not
policy, foreign or domestic, which we are
now carrying out which it would not be
disastrous to, reverse or abandon Ii our
opponents should come IN and should not
reverse our policies, then they would be
branded with the brand of broken faith, of
false promise, of inSincerity in word and
deed; ard no man can work to the adj
vantage of the nation with such a brand
clinging ohm. If. on the other hand.
they should come in and reverse any or
all of our policies by just SO much would
the nation as whole be damaged. Alike
as lawmakers and as administrators Of
the law we have ei1deayored TO do our
duty in the interest of the people as
whole. We make our appeal to no class
and to no section, but to all good citi-
zens. in whatever part of the land they
dwell, and whatever may be their occu
patton or worldly condition. We have
stl.iycn both for civic Righteousness and
for national greatness; and we have faith
to believe that our hands will be upheld
by all who feel love of country and trust
in the uplifting of mankind. We stand
fos enforcement of the law and for
obedience to the law; our government is
a government OF orderly liberty equally
alien to tyranny and to anarchy; and its
Foundation stone is the observance of the
law. alike by the people and by the public
! SERVANTS. We hold ever before us as the
All important end Of policy and admins,
strltion the reign of peace at home and
throughout the world of peace. which
comes only by doing Justice Faithfully
yours sssss : sys Z Z. .sss..s..
Theodore Roosevelt.