The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-12

1t did not perform. If promised independ- ence they will expect Independence; not in the remote future, for their descend- ants, but immediately for themselves If the promise thus made is not immediate ly fulfilled they will regard it as broken and will not again trust to American faith, and it would be indeed a wicked thing to deceive them in such fashion. Moreover, even if the promise were made to take effect only in the distant future, the Filipinos would be thrown into con- | fusion thereby. Instead of continuing to endeavor to fit themselves for moral and material advancement in the present they would abandon all effort at progress and begin factional intrigues for future power
 To promise to give them independence when 1t is prudent to do so, or when they are "fit' for it, of course implies that they are not fit for 1t now. and that it would be imprudent to give 1t to them now. But as we must ourselves be the judges as to when they become "ft. !" and when 1t would be prudent" to keep such a promise if 1t were made. it nec- essarily follows that to make such a promise now would amount to a decep- ton upon the Fllipinos.
 Attitude is lnsincere.
 It may be well that our opponents have no real intention of putting their promises into effect. If this is the case, If, in other words, they are insincere, In the promise they make, 1t Is cnly necessary to say again that 1t Is unwise to trust men who are false in one thing to deal with anything. The mere consciousness of broken faith would hamper them in continuing our policy in the islands; Ia 4. l.. policy can the honor of the country be malntaincd, or the interests of the is- lands be subserved. If. on the other hand, our opponents came into power and att tempted to carry out their promises in to the Filipinos by giving them indepen- dence, and withdrawing American con trol from the islands the result would be a frightful calamity to the Filipinos themselves. and In it's larger aspect would amount to an international crime. An archy would follow; and the most vio- lent anarchc forces would be directed rartly against the civil government part ly against all forms of religious and edu- cational civilization. Bloody conflicts would inevitably ensue in the archipela- go, and just as inevitably the islands would become the prey of the first power which in its own selfish interest took up the task we had cravenly abandoned. Of course the practical difficulty in adopt ing any such course of action-such a policy of scuttle" as President McKin- ley called it--would be found well nigh insuperable. If it is morally indefensble to hold the archipelago as a whole un- der our tutelage in the interest of its own people. then it is morally indefensible to hold any part of 1t. In such case what right have we to keep coaling station? What right to keep control over the Moro peoples? What right to protect the Igorrotes from their oppressors? What right to protect the law abiding friends of America in the islands from treachery, robbery and murder? Yet to abandon the islands completely, without ever retaining q coaling station would mean to abandon the position in the competition for the trade Of the orient which we have acquired during the last six years and what Is far more impor- tant, it would mean irreparable damage to those who have become the wards of the nation, To abandon all control over the Moros would amout to releasing these Moros to prey upon the Christian Fii- Limos. civilized or semi-ciyilized, as well as upon the commerce of other peo- pies. The Moros are in large part still in the stage of culture where the occu- pations of the bandit and the pirate are those most highly regarded; and it has not been found practical to give them self government in the sense that we have Teen giving t to the Christian inhabi- tants. To abandon the Moro country. as cur opponents propose in their platform, would be precisely as if twenty-five years ago we had withdrawn the army and the civil agents from within and around the Indian reservations in the west, at a time when the Sioux and the Apache were still the terror of our settlers. It would be criminal absurdity; and yet our op- ponents nave pledged themselves there to.
 If successful in the coming election they would either have to break faith, or else to do an act which would leave an indelble stain upon our national rep utation for courage. and for good sense. During the last five years more has been done for the material and moral we'll being of the Filipinos than ever before since the islands first came within the ken of civilized man. We have opened before them a vista of orderly develop ment in their own interest and not a policy of exploitation. Every effort Is being made to fit the islanders for self government, and they have already in large measure received it, while for the first time In their history their personal rights and civil liberties nave been guar anteed. They are being educated they have been given schools they have been given libraries; roads are being built for
 
 they have been given courts in which they receive justice as absolute as 1t is in our power to guarantee. Their indi- vidual rights to life. liberty and the pur- suit of happiness are now by act of con gress jealously safeguarded under the American flag; and If the protection of the flag were withdrawn their rights would be lost. and the islands would be plunged back under some form of vicious tyranny. We nave given them more self-government than they have ever be- fore had we are taking steps to increase it still further by providing them with an elective legislative assembly; and surely we had better await the results of this experimentation it Is wholly new exper- iment in Asia-before we make promises which as nation we might be forced to break, or which they might interpret one way and we In another. It may be as- serted without fear of successful contra diction that nowhere else in recent years has there been as fine an example of con statesmanship and wise and up- right administration as has been given by the civil authorities. aided by the army. | in the Philippine islands. We have ad- mnistered them In the infer of their | own people: and the Filipinos themselves | have profted most Sy our presence In the | islands; but they have also been of very great advantage to us as nation.
 sapped the Foundations.
 So far from having 'sapped the founda- tions" of free popular government at home by the course taken In the Philip pines, we have been spreading It's knowl- e.ce. and teaching it's. practice. among