The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-07-28

tation between us and any other nation
 was removed by the settlement of the
 Alaskan boundary.
 Tn the Caribbean sea we have made
 good our promises Of independence to
 Cuba, and have proved our assertion
 that our mission in the island was one 1 of justice and not Of self-aggrandize-
 ment; and thereby no less than by our
 action in VenezeuIa and Panama We have shown that the Monroe doctrine
 is living reality, designed for the hurt of no nation, but for the protection of civilization on the western continent, l and for the peace of the world. Our isteady growth in power has gone hand I in hand with strengthening disposi- tion to use this power with strict re-
 gard for the rights of others, and for
 the cause of international justice and goodwill.
 We earnestly desire friendship With all the nations of the new and old
 worlds; and we endeayor to place our ldrelations with them upon a basis of reciprocal advantage instead of hostil- 1 ity. We hold that the prosperity Of each nation is an aid and not a hin-
 drance to the prosperity of other na- tions. We seek international amity for the same reasons that make us believe in peace within our own borders: and we seek. this peace not because we are afraid or unready, but because we think that peace is right as we'll as ad- vantageous. ... | American interests in the Pacific
 have rapidly grown. American enter
 prise has laid cable across this, the greatest of oceans. We have proved in effective fashion that we wish the Chinese empire well and desire its in Itegrity and independence.
 Our foothold in the Philippines great ly strengthens our position in the com
 petition for the trade of the east; but
 we are governing the Philippines in the interest of the Philippine people them
 selves. We have already given them
 large share in their government, and
 our. purpose is to increase this share as
 rapidly as they give evidence of in ereasing fitness for the tast. The great majority of the officials of the islands, whether elective or appointive. are al- ready native Filipinos. We are now
 providing for legislative assembly. This is the first step to be taken in the future; and it would be eminently un- wise to declare what our next step will be until this first step has been taken and the results are manifest. To have gone faster than we have already gone in giving the islanders q constantly increasing measure of self-government would have been disastrous. At the present moment to give political inde- pendence to the islands would result in the immediate loss of civil rights, per sonal liberty and public order, as re- gards the mass ofthe Filipinos, for the majority of the islanders have been given these great boons by us, and only keep them because We vigilantly safe guard and guarantee them. To with draw our government from the islands at this time would mean to the average native the loss of his barely-won civil freedom. We have established in the islands government by Americans as \ sisted by Filipinos. We are steadily striving to transform this into self ny lAACE ' lAAPAlApo ehosletSS by Americans.
 The principles which we uphold should appeal to all our countrymen, in all portions of our country. Above all they should give us strength with the men and women who are the spiritual heirs of those who upheld the hands of Abraham Lincoln: for we are striv- ing to do our work in the spirit with which Lincoln approached his. During the seven years that have ust passed there is no duty, domestic or foreign, which we have feared to undertake, or which we have not performed with req sonable efficiency. We have never pleaded impotence. We have never sought refuge in criticism and com plaint instead of action. We face the future with our past and our present as guarantors of our promises; and we are content to stand or to fall by the record which we have made and are making,