Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1904-08-04

the peace Of the world. our steady
growth In power has gone hand In hand
with strengthening disposition to USE
this power with strict regard for The
rights of others. and for the cause OF In.
ternational justice and goodwill
We earnestly desire friendship with all
the nations OF the new and old worlds;
and we endeavor to place our relations
with them upon basis OF reciprocal adj
vantage instead OF hostility. We hold
that the prosperity of each nation is an
aid and not a hindrance to the prosperity
OF other nations. We seek interna-
tional amity for the same reasons
that make us believe in peace within our
because we are afraid or unready but be-
cause We think that peace is right as
well as advantageous.
American interests in the Pacific have
rapidly grown American enterprise has
laid a cable across this, the greatest OF
oceans. We have proved in effective
fashion that we wish the Chinese empire
well and desire It's integrity and inde-
pendence
The Philippine Question.
Our foothold in the Philippines greatly
strengthens our position in the compSa
tition for the trade OF the east: but we
are governing the Philippines in the in
terest of the Philippine people them
selves. We have already given them a
large share In their government, and our
purpose Is to increase this share as rap
idly as they give evidence of increasing
fitness for the task
The great majority of the officials
of the islands. whether elective or APP
pointive. are already native Filipinos.
We are now providing for a legislative
assembly. This is the first step to be
taken in the future, and 1t would be emil
nently unwise 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 al
ready gone In giving the islanders con-
stantly increasing measure of self-gov-
eminent would have been disastrous At
the present moment to give political in
dependence to the islands would result
in the immediate loss of civil rights, per-
sonal liberty and public order as regards
the mass of the FiliDinos. for the ma
iority OF the islanders have been given
these great boons by US, and only keep
them because we vigilantly safeguard
and guarantee them.
To withdraw our government from the
islands at this time would mean to tho
average native the loss Of his barely-woni
civil freedom. We have established I'M
the islands a government by Americans,
assisted by Filipinos. We are steadily
striving to transform this into self-gov-l
eminent by the FiliDinos, assisted by
Americans.
Stands on His Record.
The principles which we uphold should
appeal to all our countrymen In all por-
lions 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 striving to do our
work In the spirit with which Lincoln
approached his.
During the seven years that have Just
passed there is no duty domestic or for
eign, which we have shirked: no neces-
sary task which we have feared to under
take. or which we have not performed
with reasonable efficiency. We have
sought refuge in criticism and complaint
instead of action.
We face the future with our past and
our present as guarantors of our prom
ises and we are content to stand or to-
fall by the record which we have made
and are making.