The Savannah morning news., 1904-10-02

The President, it seems. would like
to put a stop to the discussion of the
question of imperialism. The Wash
ington dispatches say that he has
given out a letter from Hon. Luke
Wright, Governor of the Philippines,
in which that official says that the
| discussion of the question as to
whether or not the Filipinos should
have their independence as soon as
they are prepared for it, and be in
formed that such is the policy of this
country. is having the effect of making
the Filipinos restless and hard to
| govern.
Why did the President give out this
| letter? There can be only one answer
to this question. and that is that the
| President would like to put a stop to
the discussion of the Republican pol
| icy of Imperialism, because he is find
! ing that it is having a damaging ef-
| feet upon his chances of being elected.
| There are thousands of Republicans
who do not agree with the Philippine
! policy of their party, and some of
them have openly said they couldn't
support their party in the present
campaign on account of it. The Presi-
| dent is afraid that it is going to cause
him to lose a great many votes, more
than he can spare in the doubtful
| states.
! The method ne has taken to stop
the discussion is having an effect al
| together different from that which he
| hoped for. Instead OF stopping it the
discussion is becoming more intense
than at any time in the cam
paign The people are beginning to
realize the danger there is in the Re-
publican party's Philippine policy to
our institutions. They are beginning
to see that what Judge Parker said
that "a free people cannot withhold
freedom from another people and re-
main free" is true.
The President must have queer idea
of the American people If he thinks
they are going to stop discussing a
matter in which they are so profoundly
interested until it is finally set
tied one way or the other. AS a mat
ter of fact, some of the prominent
members of his own party are dis
cussing it. Mr.. Justice Brewer of the
| Supreme Court, for instance, at the
| International Congress of Lawyers and
| Jurists at St Louis last week, said:
You can see twenty acres of Philip
pine life al the Worlds Fair, but you
cannot see a square rod of the con-
stitution Perhaps 1t is because it has
been judiciously declared that there is
no connection between the two
The remarks of the distinguished
speaker were received with great ap-
plause, showing that the issue of inn
perialism is one that has a strong hold
upon the people. 1t is the issue to
which Judge Parker gave more at
tention than any other in his letter
of acceptance and 1t is playing an i'm
portant part in the campaign. Gov.
Wright may complain that the dis
| cussion of it is making the Filipinos
restless and the President may give
his letters to the newspapers, but the
discussion will go on. The President
cannot stop it, 1t cannot be stopped
AS a matter of fact the Filipinos
have no love for US. They are no
more reconciled to our rule now than
they were the day we established our
authority in their islands. A few who
have been given offices may pretend
they are satisfied to be a dependency
of the United States, but the great
body of the people are on the lookout
all the time for opportunities to rebel
against our authority, Army officers
in the Philippines who, in letters to
friends, tell the true state of affairs,
express the opinion that the only good
Filipinos are dead Filipinos. If, there
fore, we continue to hold the islands
as a possession the chances are that
there will be a situation bordering on
war pretty much all the time What
will be the effect upon this country?
That is the question the people are
discussing.