Evening star., 1936-01-14

between him and the Americans de-
veloped. On January 81, 1899, Gen.
Aguinaldo promulgated the constitu-
ton of the Philippine Republic and
was inaugurated as president, and two
weeks later the Philippine insurrection
against the United States commenced.
Question Of Policy Arises.
And so we found ourselves fighting
the Filipinos-a people who were
struggling for independence. Our oc-
cupation of the Philippines was not
premeditated, but had come about en-
tirely through the fortuitous chance
of war. Whatever may be said Of US,
we certainly did not take the islands
with any thought Of territorial ag-
srandizement. What was then to be
the attitude of the United States to-
ward a freedom loving and freedom
seeking colony which it had 50 acci-
dentally acquired?
There were some imperialists among
us who looked toward . policy Of CO.
lonial expansion and exploitation. and
who said, where the American nag
once goes up it never comes down"
Such a departure from our national
ideals never commended itself to the
American people.
Wisely or unwisely, we had taken
the Philippines. Wisely or unwisely.
we had assumed the burden and re-
sponsibility of governing them. And
yet we said the Philippines belonged
to the Filipino people: that We were
merely their trustees, and that when
they were competent to take care of
themselves we would resign our trust
and let them govern themselves.
Colonial exploitation was repug-
nant to our minds. We declared that
the good of the colony, not our own
good, must be the first consideration,
which was perhaps brand-new idea
in q world which had always colonized
for quite different reasons.
Through no fault Of their own, the
people of the Philippines had not been
trained in the difficult art Of self
government, and had never been given
an opportunity to demonstrate whether
they could rule themselves or not, nor
whether they would respect the rights
and property Of others.
How could we tell whether they had
been disciplined. as Anglo-Saxons had
been disciplined for centuries, to SUBJ
init to the expressed will of the ma
jority, no matter how wrong the in
dividual might deem that decision to
be? Where that principle Is not &C.
cepted democracy must fail.
10000 Troops Sent to Islands.
And 50 we set up q military govern
ment and proceeded to put down the
insurrection. We soon discovered that
we had q first-class war on our hands.
At first there was heavy fighting BE-
tween the two armies, in which the
Filipino forces were driven back and
broken up into small bands. A period
Of guerrilla warfare ensued, which
lasted more than . year and . half
We had more than 10000 troops scat
tered all over the Philippines, and we
bad garrison in every town Of i'm
Portance and in many places that
were mere villages. But the guerrilla
warfare continued, under the direc-
ton Of Gen. Aguinaldo, who was in .
remote hiding place. There is no tell
ing how long the insurrection might
have lasted If Gen. Frederick Funston
had not accidentally learned the
whereabouts Of Gen. Aguinaldo and.
by bold stratagem, captured him.
The capture Of Gen. Aguinaldo soon
terminated the insMTection, and the
islands were rapidly pacifed. The
military government. after having es-
tablished peace and order, and after
having made the beginnings Of the
American type Of administration and
Jurisprudence, Of popular education.
of building roads and Of modern sani-
tation, was superseded by civil gov
ernment, and step by step sef-goveFn-