The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-12

We have given them more self-gov- 1 ernment than they have ever before had; we are taking steps to increase 1t | still further by providing them with an l elected legislative assembly; and surely we had better await the results of this experfment-for 1t is a wholly new ex- pertinent 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 asserted without fear of successful contradiction that nowhere else in recent years has there been as | fine an example of constructive states | manship and wise and upright Adminis- tration as has been given by the civil ! authorities. aided by the army. in tho | Philippine Islands.
 We have administered them in the
 interest of their own people: and the | Filipinos themselves have profited l most by our presence in the islands;
 but they have also been of very great advantage to us as nation.
 | Just the Reverse is True So far from having ''sapped the foun- 1 dattons" of free popular government at home by the course taken in the Philippines. we have been spreading Its l knowledge, and teaching It's practices among peoples in whom 1t had never before been more than an empty name. .OuI dCtfOu represents a great StEtuo kOE- ward in spreading the principles of 1 orderly liberty throughout the world. Our flag has not lost its gift of bene- diction in it's world d-wide journey to l their shores" We have treated tho power we have gained as a solemn obli-s gation. and nave used 1t in the interest of mankind; and the peoples of the world and especially the weaker peoples of the world, are better off because of the position we have assumed. To re- trace our steps would be to give proof | of an infirm and unstable national pur- pose Four years ago. in his speech of ac- ceptance President Mckinley said: Quotes President Mckinley. We have been moving in untried paths but our steps have been guided by honor and duty. TheYe will be no turning aside. no wavering, no retreat. No blow has been struck except for liberty and humanity, and none will be. We will perform without fear every l national and international obligation.
 The Republican party was dedi- cated to freedom forty-fou years ago. It has been the party of liberty and emancipation from that hour; not of profession, but of performance It broke the shackles of four million slaves. and made them free, and to the party of Lincoln has come another su- preme opportunity which 1t has brave-
 iy met in the liberation of ten millions of the human family from the yoke I of imperialism. In its solution of great problems, in it's performance of high duties. it has had the support of | members of all parties in the past. and
 1t confidently invokes their co-opera- | tion fin the future"
 This is as true now as four years ago. We did not take the Philippines nnd Nnyn
 at will. Any abandonment of the poll icy which we have steadily pursued in | the islands would be fraught with dis honor and disaster; and to such dis
 honor and disaster I do not believe
 that the American people will consent. Alarm has been professed lest the
 Filipinos should not receive all the
 benefits guaranteed to our people at
 home by the Fourteenth Amendment
 to the Constitution. As a matter of
 fact. the Filipinos have already se-
 cured the substance of these benefits.
 This government has been true to the spirit of the fourteenth amendment in
 the Philippines.
 The 14th and 18th Amendment. Can our opponents deny that here at
 home the principles of the fourteenth
 and fifteenth amendments have been in effect nullified? In this, as in many
 other matters. we at home can well
 profit by the example of those respon- sible for the actual management of affairs In the Philippines.
 In our several commohweaIths here in the United States we as a people now face the complex problem of se-
 curing fair treatment to each man re-
 gardless of his race or color We can
 do go only If we approach the problem
 in the spirit of courage common sense. highminded devotion to the right. which has enabled Governor Taft, Governor Wright and their associates, (COntInued on Page Eight.)