Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09


being held as colonists. He has expressed
himself in the Declaration of Independence.
But we do not know what he thought of
americans holding other people colonists.
such as some claim the Filipinos are today.
Next to the promotion of the cause of
ligfous freedom his greatest service to man
kind consisted in. showing how the COM
munftles In the western country could be
governed until they were capable of gov
erning themselves. But these communities
were territories, and to call them colonies
is uncandid. territory in Jeffersons
vocabulary was a community which had en-
tered upon what he styled the first grade
OF government, and which was on the
straight road to statehood We cannot tell
whether he would be for holding the Phil
ippines or for letting them go.
That he would never have consented to
the acquisition Of the Philippines is almost
certain. His rule of expansion this:
Nothing should ever be accepted which
would require navy to defend It" When
a region, however was once brought unde-
the control of the United States. he was
for governing ii with strong hand. He
would, therefore. be In harmony with the
republican policy of giving to the Philip
pines only much of civil liberty as would
seem to be profitable.
What would be Jefferson's
Ane Nesfo solution of the negro prob
Problem. lem? Nobody, not even
President Roosevelt him
self, could have deeper concern for the
negro than Jefferson had. Throughout his
long life the negro was the object of his
solicitude. He abhorred slavery as he loved
liberty. In his youth long before the
Declaration was written, he was trying to
induce Virginia to abolish slavery, and in
his old age, when the Missouri question. like
a fire bell in the night awakened him with
terror" he declared: Il can say with con-
scious truth that there is not a on
| earth who would sacrifice more than 1
would to relieve from this heavy
proach Slavery in any practicable way"
But he could see no practicable way. He
did not think 1t wise to free the slaves and
permit them to remain in the United States.
for he did not believe that it was possible
for free negroes and whites to live together
in peace. In 1872 he wrote the following
cherries and seemingly prophetic words:
1t Will probably be asked why not re-
tain (after emancipation the blacks and
incorporate them into the state, and thus
save the expense of supplying by importa-
ton of white settlers the vacancies they will
leave? Deep-rooted prejudices entertained
by the whites; ten thousand recollections by
the blacks of the injuries they have sus
tanned: new provocations; the real dstinc
tons which nature has made. and many
other circumstances Will divide us into par
ties and produce commissions which will
probably never end but in the determination
of the one or the other race"
To JefferSons way of thinking the only
real solution of the negro problem lay in
the direction of expatriation and deporta
ton.
And where would Jeffer
os " 'ne son stand on the tariff ques-
Tariff. ton? At first he was
free trader Our interest
will be to throw open the doors of our COM
| merce and to knock off all its shackles, CIV
ing perfect freedom to all persons of the
vent of whatever they may choose to bring
into our ports" His free trade notions.
| however soon disappeared in the swirl of
| practical politics. In his second message to
Congress he said: ITO protect the manu-
features adapted to circumstances is
one of the landmarks by which we are to
guide ourselves in all our proceedings"
Jefferson'S tariff record was not, it must
he said, perfectly consistent; 1t was course
| of compromise and veering to the popular
gale. Jefferson could justly be claimed by
any of the parties as far as the tariff Is
concerned. and he could work smoothly
with any of them on this question, for they
are all pretty much alike; they all, when in
power, make the tariff schedules conform
not to the requirements of a theory, but to
rules of eXpediency.
What of the army and
Ane 1AiWy navy? On questions of de-
and Navy. Tense would jefferson be
with the democrats or with
the republicans? In every principle and i'm
plication of his being Jefferson was man
of peace. II love peace" Peace is our pas
sion." Peace, prosperity. liberty and morals
have an intimate connection AS he loved
peace, SO did he hate war and the para
phernalia of war. The embargo and the
non-importation acts were peace measures.
He regarded a regular army as a menace
to freedom. 1T is not conceived needful
safe.'' he said in his first message to Con-
gress. that standing army should be
kept in time of peace for defense against
INVASION On the army question. there
fore, Jefferson would not be with the re-
publicans. Nor could he go far with them
on the navy question. He did not think a
in itself a had thing Onpht
to be given naval power if we mean to
carry on our own commerce" "a naval
force can never endanger our liberty nor
occasion bloodshed; land force would do
both" He was not, however, for naval
establishment of the first magnitude. In
1899 he defined his naval policy follows:
II am for such naval force only as may
protect our coasts and harbors from such
depredations as we have experienced, not
for a navy which, by its own expenses and
the external wars in which it will implicate
us. will grind us with public burdens and
sink US under them"
Thus we learn what a
So"n practical application of JEFF
ism Today. fersonianism to the prob
lens of today would mean.
1t would mean that the state and not the
federal government must handle the trust
question; that the negroes must be deport-
ed; that the regular army must be dis
banded; that the navy must be decreased
and fleets must not be maintained in the
West Indies or in Asiatic waters.
1t would be political honesty to confess
that Jefferson can no longer help US in
solving the practical questions of our time
For quarter of a century during his life
his will and words were supreme in Ameri-
can politics, and for nearly half century
after his death American institutions were
but his heightened shadow. But the sim
pie civilization for which he planned no
longer exists. Steam and electricity are
md lie NOR
his doctrine of decentralization less applica-
be to actual conditions. Yet jefferson still
has a priceless message for the world The
student of politics who wishes to go beyond
the mere forms of government and learn
of its spirit, of the length and breadth and
depth of democracy, will do we'll to spend
days and nights upon Jefferson for upon
the highest themes of government he had
light and Guidance for