Gloucester County Democrat., 1904-08-04
When Doctors Disagree.

appendix TO 4 DeIateQ speech.
When Doctors Disagree.
The Washington Post and the Chi
cago Inter Ocean both yaunt them
selves as "expansionists.' But "expan-
sionists," like stars, differ from each
other in glory.
Recently the Inter Ocean contained
this paragraph:
The Democrats do not contend that the
Philippines are less important to Amer
lean progress than is Porto Rico. They
know that these islands are more inn
portant in every way; that this group is
as an empire compared with Porto Rico;
that the people are as deserving of our
care as are those of Porto Rico and that
the American flag went to the Philippines
far more gloriously and irrevocably than
it went into any West Indian island.
Commenting on that the Post says
editorially:
We clip that paragraph from a lead
ing editorial suggested by the admission
of Porto Rican delegates and the exelu-
sion of the delegates from the Philippines
by the St. Louis national convention. We
that it says of the Importance of the
Philippines to American progress. Had
the treaty by which we acquired SOW
ereignty over something more than
thousand of Spain's islands been amended
so as to give us a good naval station in
the Philippines, leaving the sovereignty
of every other foot of the archipelago in
the hands of Spain, who can doubt that
it would have been an inestimable bless
ing to this republic? Probably it would
have been bad for the Filipinos and not
beneficial to Spain, but our first duty as
a nation in all cases is to ourselves In
other words, our government. like every
other human government, is bound to
make the interests of its own people its
first consideration.
Many thousands of lives and hundreds
of millions of money have been expended
in the Philippines since we took the SOW
ereignty of them. The Sz0,000,000 we paid
to Spain is a mere bagatelle in the grand
aggregate. And the outlay goes on, with
little prospect of any other reward than
that which we hope may be derived from
the consciousness of having put the Fiji
pinos on a higher plane, intellectually
morally and materially.
We have no doubt that if the events of
the near future had been foreseen when
the treaty was under consideration in
Paris or in the senate it would have left
Inc t4lllpplIlt sovereignty Will SPAIN,
accepting only a naval base. And we be-
lieve that there has been no time since
the insurrection broke out that very
great majority of our people have not re-
GREETED our acquisition of the islands. Our
government has discharged q very difficult
duty in creditable manner and, in the
main, in a nonpartisan spirit but there
are few citizens who feel that we ought
to have been placed on the other side of
the globe, ruling unwilling people at great
cost of life and treasure. Being there, and
having no honorable way Of exit, we have
done and shall do our duty, but it is not
true that we needed the islands or that
our people are glad we took them.
On the other hand, we did and do need
Porto Rico. 1t is so near our continental
domain that we would not have permitted
it to pass into the control Of any other
foreign power if Spain had wished to
transfer it. 1t is a totally different prob
lem from that of the Philippines. If the
war Of 1898 had left no islands on our
hands except Cuba and Porto Rico it
would have been far better for the coun-
try.
The Post editorial comes very near
stating the whole case for common
sense Americans. All Of us are expan-
sionists. | have stated that over and
over again in congress and out, but
sensible Americans wish to expand only
where it will do US good; unwise Ameri-
cans want to expand every whittier,
We needed the Louisiana purchase and
we got it. We needed the Floridas and
we got them. We needed Texas. New
Mexico, Arizona, California, etc, and
we got them, but we did not need the
Philippines except, as the Post states,
for a coaling station or stations and for
a naval base or bases. As for the rest
they are a nuisance and a perpetual
worry, costing much in treasure and
in blood, and utterly useless to us