The Topeka state journal., 1909-01-19

4 successful administration
| European blood of thickly populated
region in another continent. 1t IS the
| greatest feat of the kind that has Deen
| performed since the breakup. OF the
| Roman empire. Indeed, 1t IS greater
! feat than was performed under tne
| Roman empire. Unquestfonably mis-
| takes have been made; it would in
| dicate qualities literally superhuman
! complished without mistakes. 1t is
| easy enough to point out snort
| conings; but the fact remains that the
| successful administration of the In
dian empire by the English has been
| one of the most notable and most ad-
| mirabIe achievements or the Whlte
race during the past two centuries
! On the whole it has been for the i'm
| measurable benefit of the natives of
India themselves.
The Philippines.
| eFinally take our own experience
| in the Philippines Spain finally lost
power to be of benefit to the Islands;
btu do not forget that Spain accom-
pIished very, very much for them dur
ing more than two centuries; and that
| the islands owe their present possibil1-
| ties to the fact that the SpaniardS took
| possession of them. Then we came in
| / am sure that when international his
| troy is written, from the standpoint OF
acclaiming international justice, one
chapter will tell with heartiest praise
what our people have done in the Phll-
ippines Exactly as in the Caribbean
| sea we have endeavored to give genu-
| inc and disinterested help to the lnde-
| pendent peoples of Cuba and San Do
| mingO, so, in the same Splrit-though
the task is of quite different character
| I'VE are endeavoring to educate and
! train the native races under our SOW
! ereignty in the Philippines. In our
treatment of the Filipinos we have
acted up to the highest standard that
/ has yet been set as marking the
proper way in which a powerful and
1 l. TraVs
! people. Cuba we are at this moment
! leaving for the second time, to work
! out Il destiny which we now hope and
believe will be one of stable and order
| ly independence and prosperity.
"In the Philippines we are constantly
giving an increasing measure of self
government OF course, in one sense
! of the word self government can nev-
er be bestowed by outsiders upon any
people. 1t must be achieved by them
selves. 1t means in this sense pri-
marily self-control, se1f-restraint, and
If those qualities do not exist-that is,
if the people are unable to govern
themselves as there must be
government somewhere, it has to come
from outside. But we are constantly
giving to the people of the Philippines
an increasing share in, an increasing
opportunity to learn by practice, the
difficult art of self government If
we had abandoned them at the outset
to their own devices, If we had shirk-
ed our duty ana sailed OUT Oh lIlS IS
lands, leaving them in a bloody welt
er of confusion, the chief sufferers
would have been the Philippine peo-
pie themselves. We are leading them
forward steadily in the right direction.
and we are doing it because our peo-
pie at home desire that they shall be
treated right, and because our people
in the islands, in the civil government,
in the army, and among the mission
ary representatives of the various
creeds work primarily for the ad-
vancement of the people among whom
they dwell. I believe that am speak
tiality when 1 say that the American
treatment of and attitude toward the
Filipino people, in its combination of
disinterested ethical purpose and
sound common sense, marks new
and long stride forward, in advance OF
all steps that have hitherto been TAX
en-, along the path of wise and proper
treatment of weaker by stronger
races.
"Our own country has in the past
| committed grave wrong against
| Africa for which it should amply
| atone, and no better atonement can
| be made than that which is being
| made by the American missionaries of
| every creed and church. who are now
doing so much in almost every cor
ner of Africa for the physical. the in
| tellectual and the moral betterment
| of the people.
/
''The responsibility of America for
! the moral well-being of the people of
Africa Is manifest. Our wealth and
power have given us a place of in
! fuence among the nations of the
| world. But worldwide influence and
/ power mean more than dollars or SOC
ial. intellectual. industrial su-
premacy. They involve response
/ bility for the moral welfare of others
| which can not be evaded.
| Of
ard Africa is emphasized because of
our past history, and because of the
number of our citizens who are of Afri-
| can descent. AS a result of the African
slave trade, that crime of the ages, and
of two and a half centuries of slavery
| in America, the United States has near
| ly 100000 of colored people as part
| of its citizenship. No other country
outside of Africa has so large a negro
population, and. what is more, there
are no other 100000 of negroes in the
world who own as much property and
have as large a per cent who are in
telligent, moral, and thrifty.
The education and uplift of the
American negro now going forward
should be accompanied by the increase
| of the missionary and Christian forces
on the continent from which his an
cestors came. The number of those
who go as missionaries to Africa will
| increase; and it is not unreasonable to
| suppose that large share of the lead
0ISnlp lot the SNdHSSlAZdllOu VI 1AO
continent will be furnished from among
our own coIored leaders in America.
| "In the redemption of Africa all Sec
| tions OF the Christian church must be
united, but Methodism, because of the
| vast numbers it represents and the
spirit and methods of its movements,
! should have a share of especial note.
The spirit of Methodism is the spirit of
| expansion and of worldwide conquests
| in the kingdom of Righteousness. John
| Wesley's motto was The world is my
| parish I hope the Methodists of to-