The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-12-05

tional committees, and the candi-
! dates for the presidency themselves,
in order that platforms may be from
ed by those responsible to the people
for carrying them into effect.
Our Obligations to Our Across-the-sea
! Possessions
I These are all matters of vital do
nestle concern, and besides them.
outside the charmed circle of our own
national life in which our affections
command us, as we'll as our consci-
ences, there stand out our obligations
toward our territories over sea. Here
we are trustees. Porto Rico, Hawaii,
| the Philippines, are ours, indeed, but
not ours to do what we please with.
| Such territories, once regarded as
mere possessions, are no longer TO be
! selfishly exploited: they are part of
| the domain of public conscience and
of serviceable and enlightened states
manship. We must administer them
| for the people who live in them and
with the same sense of responsibility
to them as toward our own people
in our domestic affairs. No doubt we
! shall successfully enough bind Porto
Rico and the Hawaiian Island to our
selves by ties of justice and interest
and affection. but the performance
of our duty toward the Philippines is
more difficult and debatable matter.
We can satisfy the obligations of gen.
! erous justice toward the people of
Porto Rico by giving them the ample
and familiar rights and privileges ac-
corded our own citizens in our own
territories and our obligations toward
the people of Hawaii by perfecting the
provisions of self-government already
granted them, but in the Philippines
we must go further We must hold
steadily in view their ultimate indie
pendence, and We must move toward
the time of that independence as
steadily as the way can be cleared
and the foundations thoughtfully and
permanently laid.
Granting Greater Privileges to the
Filipinos
Acting under the authority con-
ferred upon the president by congress
| have already accorded the people of
the islands majority in both houses
of their legislative body ny appoint
ing FIVE instead of four native citizens
~ the membership of the commission.
IL believe that in this way We sail
rake proof of their capacity IN coun-
sci and their sense of responsibility
in the exercise of political power, and
that the success OF this step will be
sure to clear our view for the steps
which are to follow. SteD by st p we
should extend and perfect TIC system
OF self-government in the islands,
making test of them and modifying
them as experience disc'oses their
successes and their failures; Glat we
should more and more pul under the
control of the native citizens OF TIE
archipelago the essential Instruments
# their life, their local i.strumentali-
ties of government, their sc .on.s. all
munities,. and SO by counsel and ex
perience set up a government which
all the world will see to be suitable
to a people whose affairs are under
their own control. At last. I hope
and believe, We are beginning to gain
the confidence of the Filipino peoples. |
BY their counsel and experience. rath- |
er than by our own, we shall learn |
how best to serve them, and how
soon it will be possible and wise TO |
withdraw our supervision. Let us
once find the path and set out with !
firm and confident tread upon il and I
we shall not wander from it or linger |
upon it.
Duty to Alaska
A duty faces US with regard to !.
Alaska, which seems to me very
pressing and very imperative; per
haps | should say a double duty, for /
it concerns both the political and the
MATERIAL development of the terri
tory. The people of Alaska should
be given the full territorial form of
government, and Alaska, as a store
house, should be unlocked. One key
to it is a system of railways. These
the government should itself build
and administer, and the ports and ter
minals it should itself control in the
interest Of all who wish to use them
for the service and development of
the country and its people.
But the construction of railways is
only the first step; is only thrusting
in the KEY to the storehouse and