The sun., 1904-08-29
PAxxER AND THE PHILEPPlNEs.


Great Interest In His Demand fer VIM
dpawsI From tho Islands.
To TIM EpIroR OF THE sUN--Sir: II lmay
he permitted, l should like 10 say few words
In your columns regarding the utteranses
OF the st, Louis platform. reiterated py 1uuso
Parker, demanding an immediate promise
of future independence for the Phhippine
Islands. As Judge Parker states ". ne s III
hearty accord with that plank OF the Demo
cratic platform which advocates treating INC
Filipiuos precisely an we did the Cuoans'
and also favor making the promise 10 them
now to take such action as soon as II can Dc
prudenuy done" u,, l..
Now, the question inevitably arises. Who is
to make such q promise as that and where
In the Constitution will Judge Parker ma
warrant for declaring any part OF ths Verr'-
tory OF the United States independently
II the Philippines can be declared ihae,
pendent. so can New Mexico. Oklahoma
or the District OF Columbia-whe Ia the
warrant for 1t? II the Philippines oan pe
alienated, New Mexico can be sold 70 the
Emperor OF Germany OF the Mormon Cnutch
can be allowed to erect an Independent anen
government in Oklahoma, viii Judge Parker
stand for any such doctrine as THAR Yet
the power to do ono oarries with " aoso-
lutely the power to do the other
In one OF two papers In the August num-
ber of the North American Reriew. DISCUSSING
the question Can Congress constitutionaiIy
grant independence to the Filipinos?' nave
set forth reasons for believing IT cannot
at much greater length than is possible here'
but briefly, the Affirmative argument rests on
the clause in the Constitution giving the Con-
gress power TO dispose Of territory" and on
the claim that Congress may exercise Inc
sovereignty Of the nation to get rid OF terri
tory as we'll as to acquire 1t. The answer is.
that the prime meaning Of the word dispose
ia not to get rid Of or to sell. but to set IN Or
der" and specifically to set In right order,
as the dictionary will show; that Congress
may exercise the sovereignty OF the nation
only where the power il specihoally gwen
by the Constitution. and that the power TO
ALLEVIATE territory or citizens is not so granted
nor to be inferred from any grant made,
When the Constitution was framed the only
territory owned by the nation was the North
west Territory, out OF which the states OF
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wis
consin were created and no one can suppose
the trainers of the Constitution ever intended
to give the United states Government power
to cede that territory to Spain or Great Brit
ain or to allow an independent alien power TO
be set UP there, as Wilkinson tried TO do in
Kentucky and Tennessee. And II there was
no power under the Constitution to ALLEVIATE
the Northwest Territory, there is no power
now 70 ALLEVIATE the Philippines.
The comparison OF the Philippines with
tho case Of Cuba is confusing and misleading.
So far from the status as regards their reia-
ton to the United States being on all fours.
1t was at the close OF the Spanish war and
ever since essentially and widely different
IN the one case from the other. II Judge
Parker will refer to the treaty Of Paris OF 1893
he will see that, while the Philippines were
ceded to US absolutely, Cuba was not ceded
at all. but was placed on very diferent foot
ing, Under that treaty and under the Con-
stitution it was entirely competent for the
United States to hep the Cubans set UP a
republic OF their own, S'nce Cuba was never In
any sense territory 81 the United States
but with the Philippines the case is alto
gether unlike. The United States own them
by precisely the same kind Of title, and one
equally as strong, as that by which they hold
New Mexico; and have no more right TO alien
ate one than the other. and no more right To
alienate either than in the case OF the North
west Territory.
II the Democratic party proposes to dc
this it must at the least abandon all Its tradi-
tions of strict constitutional Interpretation
and must invest Congress with power to break
up the country piecemeal. It would be in
teresting TO have Judge Parker's views on
this question, although perhaps too much
to expect 1t.
There Is one thing more that might be said.
Since New Mexico has been governed by
the power Of Congress for more than half q
century, without immediate prospect OF
Statehood even now. and since some parts OF
the Louisiana purchase were 30 governed for
an even longer time. there docs not seem to
be any great necessity for haste about the
Philippines. They can 60 on being governed
by Congress for the next fifty years or longer.
Just as New Mexico has done. and with no
greater hardship. j. H. G.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 27.