The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-10-15
People who are dishonest, or rnsh,
or stupid, Will inevitably suffer 'ne
penalties of dishonesty, or rash-
ness. or stupidity.-Hcrbcrt spcn-
THE PHILIPPINES.

THE PAILlPIlNE.S.
The first Philippine Assembly opens
1hf. week. and Secretary TAFT is pres
emit to help inaugurate home rule Tor
The Filipinos. The spirit of democracy
seems to predominate. for at the eau
ms motion to open the Assembly
with prayer was defeated. on ,ne
ground that church and state shou1u
be kept distinct. The Nationalist nave
large majority in the Assembly, anu
the radicals among them those de-
handing Immediate independence, arc
in the ascendancy, while the United
States Philippine Commission, the up
per house of the Philippine Legisla-
ture, is controlled by the opponents
of evolutionary princlples-four Amer
Jeans and three Filipinos. The lower
house represents the prevailing senti-
nent of the Filipino people; the upper
house the government OF the United
States and its policy for the time be-
ing The two branches of the Legis-
lature are controlled, therefore, by men
who stand for principles fundamen-
tally and radically different.
So says a Batapgas writer in the
South Atlantic Quarterly, and he makes
an earnest plea to Americans for his
country 1t is humiliat!ng that SO many
Americans look upon the Philippine
Islands merely as SO much public land,
to be disposed of whenever the prop
erty can be sold to advantage. Thus
costly. and hence the cry from various
sources: Sell the Philippines!" But
1t must be remembered that the islands
are inhabited by some 100000 men,
women and children, and that we
cannot sell the land without selling the
inhabitants as whole. 1t is brutal
proposition and unworthy of any ma
ton that processes Christian civiliza-
ton The Fiipincs fell into our hands
through no fault of their own. Dewey
sailed into Manila Bay, destroyed the
Spanish ships and took possession of
the archipelago. without once saying
to the natives, by your leave" In the
final settlement with Spain we allowed
her s20000,000 a s a consolation prize,
and we Thought tbs islands cheap at
the price Soon after the capture we
rather boosted that we We're going. to
do the part of an affectlonate guardian
by the Filipinos, and our policy of be-
neyolent assimilation began.
We have done them some good, but
that we have also done them much
harm is attested by Bishop Brent. who
has lived and worked among the Fill
ipinos. and who has come home to de-
rnand justice for them-to demand that
they shall not be further degraded By
American iaterlopers. and that they
shall not be further plundered by
American corporations. We cannot as
an honorable nation treat the Fi!ipinos
and their Islands as goods and chat
tells. to be exploited for gain and to be
sold off TO the highest bidder when
We have tired of them.
Among the best sons OF free Amer
Lea" says the Batangas writer above
quoted, 1T seems TO us that the ques.
ton is not whether the possession OF
the Philippines will pay, but rathe,
tice to the Filipino people. The one
ID involves the element Of naterlalism
TN and wherever it exists negation OF lib.
erty is present. Wherever IL Is presenr
liberty is absent. The other contain:
the element of righteousness, the i'm
mutable basis OF tho best, the happles
Hi and the closest relations. not onl,
among men but among the nations o
the earth
We must consider the Phllippln,
question from our standpoint OF homo
and Righteousness. We must dea. Wit
the Filipinos Justly and righteously
not for their sake alone. but for on
8 own. We cannot do then. wrong with
out injurng this nation more seriousl
than we injure the Philippines. i
.ss inhicting injury action and reactio
are not equal for reaction is greater