The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1904-10-17
SET FILIPINOS FREE
Parker's Second Speech OF
the Campaign.
CLUBS RECEPTION AT ESOPUS.
Presidential Candidate Takes Issue
With Ex-Governor Taft ON the
Subject of Our Island
Colony.

| ESOPUS, n. Y, Oct. 17.-,Judge Par
ker addressed two visiting delegations
on the political issue, making his second
| speech of the campaign since accepting
the Democratic nomination for the
| presidency. The delegations represent
ed the Parker Independent club and
| the Avon Beach Regular Democratic
club of Long Island.
When Judge Parker stepped from
the house he was greeted with hand
cIapping. Colonel Charles II. Goldman
| of Boston and Professor Henry w
| Harden of New York made extended
speeches. Both speakers confined their
remarks to the Philippine Islands ques-
ton and discussion of the attitude of
the Republican administration Oh that
question.
Professor Harden followed with Il
chapter in the early diplomatic history
Of the United States. together with
review of speeches in congress on the
Philippine question and their bearing
on the various treaties respecting the
islands.
Judge Parker spoke in part as fol
lows:
Il greatly appreciate the compliment
of your presence and the assurance of
the support of yourselves and those
you represent The Importance of the
issue to which you refer cannot be
overestimated. 1t is attracting the at
tentiop of the thoughtful, patriotic
men all over the country. Permit me
10 call your attention to the portion of
the Democratic platform relating TO it.
No government has a right to make
one set of laws for those at home and
another and different set of laws alb
solute in their character for those in
the colonies Wherever there may eX-
list n people incapable of being gov
erned under American laws in conso-
nance with the American constitution
that people ought not to be part of the
American domain. We insist that we
ought 10 do for the Filipinos what we
have done already for the Cubans and
that II is our duty to make that prom
Use now and upon suitable guarantee OF
protection to citizens of our own and
other countries resident there at the
time Of our withdrawal, set the Fiji
pino people upon their feet, free and
Independent, to work ont their own
destiny The Declaration of Independ-
ence, born in the brain Of the fnther of
Democracy, says the same thing in ef-
feet, for 1t declares that governments
derive their just powers from the con.
sent of the governed
81 have before said that we may not
disregard the responsibility imposed by
possession Of the Philippines. and that
responsibility will be best subserved
by preparing the islanders as rapidly
as possible for self government and
giving TO them the assurance that il
will come as soon as they are reason.
ably prepared for it This means in
dependence for the Filipnos in the full
est sense Of the word. When prepared
they may govern themselves. as the
CubanS do unasssted unless asking
help; undirected unless asking advice.
untrammeled by our politics, unincum
bered by our politicians and uncon
trolled by us.
Secretary Taft has said: A promise
to give ultimate independence will be
construed by the more violent element.
disposed to agitation, to be promise
to grant independence in the near fu-
ture and during the present genera
ton. The success of the experiment
we are making in the Philippines de-
ponds on having the Filipinos under
stand that we are there for their bene- |
fit but that we expect TO stay there |
indefinitely in working out the good |
we propose to do them Here we have |
the issue clearly defined. The Repub- |
lican party stands for the subjugation |
of defenseless foreign peoples. Democ- |
racy stands for freedom. We relieved |
Spain of this thorn in her flesh. the |
Philippines. TO plunge ii into our own. |
We paid, and are paying, enormously |
for the privilege of performing the OPP |
Grafton. Spain had been trying to con
quer the islands since the early de- |
had never quite succeeded. That is not |
Every true American
would despise a man who would not
fight to the last gasp for the land of
his fireside and the birthplace of his
babes Did not our illustrious ances-
tors in the Revolution do so? For
what does civilized man revere the
memory of Washington Are not the
Irish still chatting under the English
yoke? VIII the Boer sympathizer re-
fuse his sympathy to the Filipino
patriot defending his hearthstone
against the Spanish spoiler and ty-
rantf Do we not honor every man who
has sacrificed at freedoms holy altar?
When the battleships of our great re-
public destroyed the Spanish war yes
sells the Filipinos hoped the freedom
for which they had struggled so long
was finally approaching. Our history
raamad m uuorantpa TINT our amhi- |