Idaho Springs siftings., 1904-09-10
PHILIPPINE PROBLEM
OUR DUTY is PLAIN AkD IT WILL
Be PERFORMED.
United States Will Properly Educate
the Natives of the Archipelago for
Self fGoycrumeu a Responsibility
that Will Not BE shirked.

The problem Of the Philippines Is how
most thoroughly and quickly to teach the
people OF the great archipelago of the
Pacific self government; such seif-gov-
ernn1ent as Americans enjoy. first. in the
territories. and then in the States OF the
Union.
The essayisas and agitators who are
weeping and wailing over our new east
ern possessions are the representatives OF
that self-distrust which weakens individ-
uais and nations.
What are we going TO do with the
Philippines;' - shrieks the sentimentalist
of the arm chair and slippersi
We are going to do as We would be
done by" answers the sturdy spirit OF
American manhood.
But the Philippines should be inde-
pendent moans voice choked with
emotion.
we are teaching them self-govern-
meHt," is the rejolnder.
The American people are not quit
ters." Nor are they subject TO the emo
tional distress and anaemic apprehen-
sions OF hysteriesl or senile persons We
have a plain duty before us in the Phil
ippines NOW. To do our work there to
the best of our present ability is our
task. We can trust the future TO the
sons and daughters OF the American ma
tion.
What IL the Revolutionary fathers had
stopped in the midst Of their war for
independence to debate whether their de-
scendants would worthily acquit them.
selves in the new liberty to be granted
them? What IL the liberators of millions
OF slaves had stayed their Goi-directed
hands TO listen and reply TO arguments as
10 the fitness OF the eolored people for
lives as human individuals?
The great forces which rule the uni
verse work by human means. The in
struments are imperfect. but guided by
great ideals man has accomplished won
ders for his race. The Spanish war
threw upon the great American republic
an unexpected, even unweleome, burden
Of responsibility. A vast country, peo-
pied Ike our own. by inhabitants ranging
from high civilization TO naked sayagery.
came into our possession, and with 1t
came immense responsibility. To shirk
that responsibility is impossibly un-Amer-
lean. We have taken il upon us. and we
shall carry il as bravely and hopefully
as IL 10 our custom to carry ths trusts
laid upon us a nation.
To teach self-goYernmcnt there, as We
understand IL In the United States, Is
our task. We are building and opening
free public schools; teaching sanitary sci
ence and the necessary rules for public
health; showing the way TO complete re-
hgious freedom and liberation: fighting
savage tribes in remote districts. to pro-
tect the lives and property of all who
live within the borders of our national
authority. Such Is our work to-day.
he Of f.h
civilization, in the towns and cities we
are engrafting the new life Of American
ism. Does anyone doubt the ultimate
effects Of such process, after what has
teen done upon our own continent within
the last hundred yearsf
The dealing with the natives Of tie isl
nnds is n serious and puzzling affair, bu;
who Is better fitted than our nation, nour-
ished, Is it is. by great ideals. for such
work? The world has come TO see
that the savage is but man in his child
hood. that like child he must be pro-
tected. taught. borne with and led into
the larger life of maturity. In Ameri-
can life are the elements for the saving
and civilization of the most remote tribes
OF the Pacific islands: LET us trust our
selves. and give ear no longer to the
auEuries and omeus OF those who have
faith neither in God nor man, but who
continually cry out upon all that is done.
or wished OF hoped for By the workers Of
the world
One thing at a time and every day for
its work. is a good rule in government. as
II Is In the life of an individual. The
thing to do with the Philippines 10 to
help them forward in the world-to in
spire. guide and govern them in accord
ance with American ideals and traditions.
As to the future we can trust future
Americans and future Filipino-Ameri-
cans. This is'the full extent of our impe-
rialism there