The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-12-09

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that Z self-rsspscting. Just ana fas.eosin0
nation should on the one hand endsAvor,
81 every means 20 aid IN the dsyelopnenes
OF tho various movements which tend 20
provide substitutes for Waf, which tAnd %,
render nations in their actions toward one
another, and indeed toward their own peo-s
pies, more responsive TO the general senti-
ment Of humane and civilized mankind;
and on the ether hand, that 1t should keep
prepared. while scrupulously avoiding
wrongdoing itself to repel any wrong. and
In exceptional cases to take action Which
in a more advanced stage of international
relations would come under the head Of the
exercise Of the International police. A
great free people owes 1t to itself and to all
mankind not to sink into helplessness be-
fore the powers Of evil. .,a, sag4 \.
Second Hague Conference. 4
We are in every way endeavoring to help
on, with cordial good will. every movement
which will tend to bring US into more friend
ly relations with the rest Of mankind. In
pursuance of this policy shall shortly lay
before the senate treaties of arbitration
with all powers which are willing to enter
into these treaties with us. 1t Is not pcs
sible at this period of the worlds develop
ment to agree to arbitrate all matters. but
there are 1uNNy AudllcIb Va pOoSAbAS =
ence between US and other nations which
can be thus arbitrated. Furthermore. at
the request of the Interparliamentaryi
! union, an emin ent body composed OF prac-
teal statesmen from all countries. have
| asked the powers to Join with this govern
| ment in a second Hague conference. at
| which 1t is hoped that the work already SO
| happily begun at The Hague may be car
| ried some steps further toward completioni
| This carries out the desire expressed BY
the first Hague conference itself.
The Monroe Doctrine.
In asserting the Monroe Doctrine, in talk
! ing such steps as We have taken In regard to
| Cuba, Venezuela and Panama. and in en-.
| deavoring to circumscribe the theater, OF
| war in the far east, and to secure the open
door in China, we have acted in our own
| interest as we'll as In the interest OF human
| ity at large. There are however, cases In
! which, while our own interests are not
greatly involved. strong appeal is made to
our sympathies. Ordinarily It Is very much
! wiser and more useful for us to concern
| ourselves with striving for our own moral
and material betterment here at home than
! to concern ourselves with trying to better
J the condition OF things in other nations.
| We have plenty Of sins of our own to war
against, and under ordinary circumstances
| we can do more for the general uplifting Of
| humanity by striving with heart and soul
| to put stop to civic corruption, to brutal
| lawlessness and violent race prejudices
| here at home than by passing resolutions
| about wrongdoing elsewhere. Neverthe-
/ less there are occasional crimes committed
! on so vast scale and of such peculiar hor-
| ror as to make us doubt whether it is not
| our manifest duty to endeavor at least to
| show our disapproval Of the deed and our
| sympathy with those who have suffered by
| it. The cases must be extreme in which
| such a course is justifiable. There must be
mr. off noT IN q M
, our brothers eye If we refuse to remove
| the beam from our own. But In extreme
cases action may be justihable and proper.
! What form the action shall take must de-
! pend upon the circumstances of the case:
| that is. upon the degree of the atroclty and
, upon our power to remedy 1t. The cases
=, in which we could interfere by force of
arms as We interfered to put q stop to in
| tolerable conditions in Cuba are neces-
| sarily very few. Yet 1t Is not to be expected
! that people like ours which in spite Of
| certain very obvious shortcomings. never
| theless as whole shows by its consistent
practice its belief in the principles of civil
| and religious liberty and of orderly free
i dom, people among whom even the worst
crime. like the crime Of lynching, is rover
more than sporadic, SO that individuals and
not classes are molested in their funda-
mental rights-it Is Inevitable that such
nation should desire eagerly to give express
sion to Its horror on an occasion like that
; Of the massacre Of the Jews in Kishinen, or
when 1t witnesses such Systematic and
the cruelty and oppression Of which the
Armenians have been the victims. and
which have won for them the indignant
pity Of the civilized world.
The Philippines.
In the Philippine islands there has been
during the past year a continuation OF
the steady progress which has obtained
ever since our troops definitely got the
upper hand Of the insurgents. The Phil
ippine people. or. to speak more accur-
ately the many tribes, and even races,
sundered from one another more or less
| sharply, who go to make up the people
of the Philippine islands, contain many
elements Of good. and some elements
which we have right to hope stand for
progress. At present they are utterly
incapable Of existing in independence at
all or Of building up civilization of
their own. I firmly believe that we can
! help them to rise higher and higher in
| the scale Of civilization and of capacity
for self-government, and I most earnest
! ly hope that in the end they will be able
| to stand, II not entirely alone, yet in
some such relation to the United States
AZ Cuba now stands. This end Is not yet
| in sight, and it may be indefinitely post
poned il our people are foolish enough to
| turn the attention Of the Filipinos away
| from the problems Of achieving moral
and material prosperity. Of working for
| a stable, orderly and just government.
and toward foolish and dangerous in
| trigues for complete independence for
! which they are as yet totally unfit.
| On the other hand our people must
keep steadily before their minds the fact
that the justification for our stay in the
Philippines must ultimately rest chiefly
upon the good we are able to do in the
islands I do not overlook the fact that
in the development of our interests in
the Pacific ocean and along its coasts.
the Philippines have played and will play
| an important part and that our interests
| have been served in more than one way
! by the possession Of the islands. But our
chief reason for continuing to hold them
! must be that we ought In good faith
| to try to do our share Of the worlds
work, and this particular piece of work
| has been imposed upon us by the results
| OF the WARMTH Spain.
For Elective Government.
Within two years we shall be trying
the experiment Of an elective lower
house In the Philippine legislature. II