The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-09-12


and the civil agents from within and
around the Indian reservations. in the
Apache were still the terror of our set
tiers 1t would be criminal absurdity,
themselves thereto If Successful in The
coming election they would either have
would leave an indelible stain upon our
national reputation for courage and for
more has been done for the material and
moral well being of the Fflipinos than
within the ken of civilized man. We have
| opened before them a vista of orderly de-
a policy of exploitation. Every effort is
being made to fit the islanders for self
rra ana lhey nave wbl for the
| first time in their history their personal
rights and civil liberties. have been guar guar
| have been given schools; they have been
given libraries; roads are being built Tor
they have been given courts in which
they receive justice absolute as it is
vidual rights to life. liberty and the pur
suit of happiness are now by act of con
American flag and if the protection of the
| flag were withdrawn their rights would be
back under some form of vicious tyranny
We have given them more self-goyern-
ment than they have ever before had;
we are taking steps to increase 1t still
further by providing them with an elected
better await the results of this expert
mentor it is a wholly new experiment
as natog e mieh hta he forced to brea
or which they might interpret one way
and we in another 1t may be asserted
that nowhere else in recent years has
there been as fine an example of con-
right administration as has been given
by the civil authorities, aided by the
administered them in the interest of their
own people; and the Filipinos themselves
Islands; but they have also been of very
great advantage to us as nation.
A Great Stride Forward.
So far from having ,sapped the founda-
home by the course taken in the Philip
pines. We have been spreading its knowl-
peoples to whom it had never before been
more than an empty name Our action
spreading the principles of orderly liberty
throughout the world. Our. flag has not
wide journey to their shores" We have
treated the power we have gained as a
the interest of mankind; and the peoples
of the world and especially the weaker
cause of the position we have assumed.
To retrace our steps would be TO give
proof of an infirm and unstable national
purpose.
Four years ago. in his speech of accept
anee resident MckInley SAID; .,o+hs
but our steps have been guided by honor
and duty. There will be no turning aside,
wavering, retreat. No blow has
been struck except for liberty and hui
manity, and none will be. We will per
ternationaI obligation. The Republican
party was dedicated to freedom "A years
emancipation from that hour; not of pro-
fession, but of performance. 1t broke the
shackles of four million slaves, and made
them free, and to the party of Lincoln
has come another supreme opportunity
which it has bravely met in the liberation
millions human
the yoke of Imperialism. In its solution |
high duties, it has the support of mem |
bers of all parties in the past, and it con- |
fdently invokes their cooperation in the |
future
This is as true as four years ago. We
did not take the Philippines at will, and |
we can not put them aside at will. Any |
lily pursued in the islands would be
to such dishonor and disaster I do not
believe the American people will con- |
sent.
Alarm has been professed lest the Fill |
ipinos should not receive all the benefits |
Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitu-
ton. As a matter of fact the F1hplnos
these benefits. This government has been |
true to the spirit Of the Fourteenth
opponents deny. that here at home the |
principles of the Fourteenth and Fiji |
nuliihed? In this, as in many other mat
tiers. at home can well profit by the /
example of those responsible for the ac- |
tual management of affairs in the Phil |
ippines. In our several commemorative I
here in the United States we as a people |
now face the complex problem of securing |
fair treatment to each man regardless of |
his race or color. We can do so only if
VIC approach the problem in the .pirit of
common sense and high-minded |
devotion to the right. which has enabled
Gov. Taft Gov Wright and their asso-
to the Philippine people the benefit of the
true principles of American liberty.
More Than Partisan Issues.
Our appeal is made to all good citizens
who hold the honor and the interest of
the nation close to their hearts The
which 1 have touched, are more than
mere partisan issues, for they involve
much that comes home to the individual
pride and individual well being of our
people. Under conditions as they actual !
ly are, good Americans should refuse, for
the sake of the welfare of the nation, to
change the national policy. We, who are
legislation under which this country, dur
ing the last seven years, has grown so
greatly in well being at home and in hon
ora HE ren11te among the nations of the
earth abroad, do not stand inertly upon
this record, do not use this record as an
conditions. On the contrary, we treat the
record of what we have done in the past
as Indictment to do even better in the
future. We believe that the progress that
we have made may be taken as meas
make if the people again entrust the gov
of the nation to our hands We
ward toward the goal of moral and ma
terial well being of our own people, Of
Just and fearless dealing toward all 9TH
er people, in the interest not merely of i
this country, but of mankind. There is
not a policy, foreign domestic, which
we are now carrying out, which it would
not be disastrous to reverse or abandon
If our opponents should come in and
should not reverse our policies, then they
would be branded with the brand of
broken faith, or false promise, of insin-
certify in word and deed; and no man can
work to the advantage of the nation with
such a brand clinging to him. If, on the
other hand they should come in and re-
verse any or all of our policies, by just