Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1904-05-27
1uE FIRST FRUITS or CONQUEST.

ing around the circle III Tic sdIIous
tern states ~partakinG OF banquets and
explaining our manifest duties to our
Filipino wards. In a voice husky with
emotion and rich fare. he comedies
those islanders may be equal TO indie
pendeuce 50 ne lay, but not before they
have been carefully nourished on Uncle
Sans baby bottle for al least two gen.
erations.
Strange to say, our noted specialist
in independence disagrees with himself
in fixing a time when the Filipino child
can be trusted TO walk alone. His first
estimate made only a few weeks ago at
a Cincinnati banquet, named lCO or loo
years as the earliest safe moment to
trust this infant industry on its feet.
This warbl.pg calendar has the one pos
tive merit OF proving to the entire coun-
try that not one Of his shifting esti-
mates is worth the breath that floats 1t.
AS a Philippine expert, he is engaged IN
the commendRhle work OF tearing down,
at one banquet, the purely arbitrary edi-
flee he reared at another. The only cf-
feet OF this will be to create u wide
spread disgust with this whole tyran-
nical and un-American business, just
because people i'll this country who
don't mind being cruel have strong OBJ
j~ections to being treated as fools.
Those OF us who have remained quiet
~ at home and watched the trend OF
ora,,. ,;,ca 1901 .ra cnpriuca6 in daily
increasing numbers, that we must
abandon this Unconstitutional venture
in the orient for "a much weightier reas-
on han independence for the Filipiuos,
II must be done and done quickly, il
we would save our own constitutional
integrity In the United States. 1t is an
everlasting truth, rs Moortield Storey
has declared, that we cannot destroy
the ideals Of this nation; We cannot in
eist that the Declaration OF l%ndepen-
dence is wrong; we cannot govern mill
lions Of men outside the constitution
and hope to preserve, i'll full strength,
that faith in the equal rights Of men,
which is the nations soul. Every man
Nv utiSllLS bilSoC hiIE Ia OSblu ~
lose his belief
We know these words are true be-
cause our:past tive years Of colonial con-
quest in Asia have given US, here at
home, the outward and visible signs OF
an inward political decay. Never, ill all
our history, nave we witnessed i'll the
same span Of time such widespread lie.
bauchery i'll our public morals, such
fatal apathy TO n Wild tartar raid upon
vital popular rights. II we could place
the goddess OF American liberty On the
witness stand, could she testify OF these
five years in other words thar these?
"Since my cons have assaulted the I'M
alienable rights OF man across the sea,
have seen a combined and successful
assault upon the right OF American free
men Mt home. 1t has been the tocsin for
an outburst OF race violence without a
parallel; for duplicating against black
men in America the same barbarious
treatment which my sons have inflicted
upon brown men abroad. Mine eyes
have witnessed no such orSie OF lawlcss
defiance OF the courts, no such whole
sale destruction Of human life by mobs.
Il have seen an unprecedented mas
sing OF the forces OF wealth in arrogant
and hostile array, and | have seen the
rights OF the great, consuming public
broken md crushed on tho torture
wheel OF commercial piracy incorporat-
ed under the name Of trusts. | have
seen the counting rooms OF these trusts
like unto an orgre's den-piled with the
bones OF rivals choked by strangulation;
Uttered with the bleeding fragments OF
legal justice, civic courage and legis.
lative honor. And my people do not
rebel,
Il have seen laws placed by protected
interests into II end OF that automatic
hopper known rs congress, and come
out Mt the other end in n finished shape
to perpetuatc a dy nasty Of m%illionairee.
And my people do not rebel.
Il have seen state legislatures learn
ing the same political machine Glitch
operated by the same automatic power
hhu WORKING gorgeous patterns Of privi-
Icgc and franchise into the rich tapestry
81 corporations. And my people do not
rebel.
81 have seen municipal government
oil over the land, Mt the piratical mer.
cy OF bosses and wealth; public servants
the slaves Of organized greed, the ready
tools OF machine dictatiop, while public
welfare is crucilicJ between twO thieves
the political boss and the business pro.
meter And my people do not rebel.
al have heard scores ri state legislat-
ors confess from their seats that they
cast their votes in defiance OF tho views
OF thoir people, at command OF u poll
cal ring-ciYic conscience dcadcncd and
scrvile ut the crack OF n party whip. |
liRve seen 'betraynl Of trust establish
ed as tho form Of government over the
grave Of government by the people,
And my ons do not rebel.
al have seer our courts OF justice
converted into political slot m%achiuce.
They turn ont corporate decisions with
such mechanical profusion that il seems