The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-12

tselyes for moral and material ad. yancement in the present, they would abandon all effort at progress and be- | gin factional intrigues for future pow 1 CT. To promise to give them independ- ence when 1t Is prudent to do so. or when they are 'it" for It., of course implies that they are not fit for 1t now, and that it would be imprudent to give lit to them now. But as we must our selves be the judges as to when they become 'ft," and when 1t would be prudent" to keep such a promise if 1t were made, 1t necessarily follows that to make such a promise now would amount to deception upon the Fih- pfnos.
 It may be that our opponents have no real intention of putting their promise into effect. If this Is the sincere in the promise they make. it Is only necessary to say again that 1t | Is unwise to trust men who are false in one thing to deal with anything. l The mere consciousness of broken faith would hamper them in conttn-
 uing our policy in the islands; and on- ly by continuing unchanged this policy
 can the honor of the country be main
 tained. or the interests of the islands subserved.
 l Would Be Frishtful Calamity.
 If, on the other hand. our opponents came into power and attempted to carry out their promises to the Filipi- nos by giving them independence and withdrawing American control from | the islands, the result would be q frightful calamity to the Filipinos
 themselves. and in it's larger aspect
 would amount to an international crime. Anarchy would follow; and | the most violent anarchic forces would
 be directed partly against the civil government, partly against all forms
 of religious and educational civiliza- ton.
 l Bloody conflicts would inevitably en-
 sue in the archipelago, and just as in- evitably the islapds would become the prey of the first power which in it's
 own selfish interest took up the task we had cravonly abandoned. Of course the practical difficulty in adopt
 ing any such course Of action---s,ich Q
 policy of scuttle," as President Mo-
 Kinley called it--would be found well
 nigh insuperable. If 1t Is morally in- defensible to hold the archipelago as a
 whole under our tute1age In the inter
 est of its own people, then 1t is nor
 ally indefensible to hold any part of it.. l Where Would De the Rights l In such case what right have we to
 keep a coaling station? What right
 to keep control over the Moro peoples7 What right to protect the Igorrotes from their oppressors? What right to
 protect the law-abiding friends of
 America in the islands from treachery.
 robbery and murder? Yet, to abandon the islands completely. without even
 retaining a coaling station, would
 mean to abandon the position in the | competition for the trade of the Orient
 which we have, acquired during the
 last six years: and what Is far moro important, 1t would mean irreparabls
 damage to those who have become the
 wards of the nation.
 To abandon all control over the Mo.
 ros would amount to releasing these Moros to prey upon the Christian FiI-
 pinos, civilized or semi civilized, as
 well as upon the commerce of other
 peoples. The Moros are in large part
 still in the stage of culture where tho occupations of the bandit and the pi. rate are those most highly regarded: l and 1t has not been found practical to give them self-government in the sense
 that we have been giving 1t to tho Christian inhabitants.
 FiiipinOs Like Apaches. | 10 aDandon the Moro country, as our opponents propose in their plat
 form, would be precisely as if twenty
 five years ago we had withdrawn the army and the civil agents from within | and around the Indian reservations in | the West. at time when the Sluux | and the Apache were still the terror of our settlers. It would be criminal absurdity; and yet our opponents have pledged themselves
 thereto. If successful in the coming election they would either have to | break faith. or else do an act which
 would leave an indelible stain upon our national reputation for courage, and for good sense. During the last five years more has been done for the ma terial and moral we'll being of the Fil- l ipinos than ever before since the Is | lans first came within the ken of civil l ized man.
 We have opened before them a vista of orderly development in their own interest. and not policy of exploita~ ton Every effort is being made to fit the islanders for self government. and they have already In large measure received 1t. while for the first time. In their history their personal rights and civil liberties have been guaranteed They are being educated; they have been given schools; they have been given libraries: roads are being built for their use; their health is being cared for; they have been given courts In which they receive justice as absolute as 1t Is in our power to guarantee. FilipinOs' Rights Guarded. Their individual rights to life, lib- l erty and the pursuit of happiness are now by act of Congress jealously safo- guarded under the American flag: and 1 If the protection of the flag were with drawn their rights would be lost. and 1 the islands would be plunged back un- der some form of vicious kNrAnnY