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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (May 30, 1902)
The Commoner. 5 .My 30, 190a " The "Philadelphia North American suggest an fcpt answer to those who say that the men and women who protest against tor Preserving ture and cruelties in the Phil Army ippines are assailing the honor Honor. of the army when it very point ,tr" edly remarks: "The only way Co preserve the honor of the army is to expel from the army every man who disgraces his uniform." It has not escaped the attention of a great Xnany people that the United States government did not have special representa N0 tives at the inaugural cereinon- Spccui ics of President Paima. The Delegation. representatives of this govern ment stationed in Cuba seemed to provide sufficient representation; and yet, when a king is to be crowned on Juno 26th, in the ad ministration's view it will be necessary to send a special delegation to participate in the ceremonies. In an address delivered before the Iowa bank ers' association May 22nd, Charles G. Dawes, form er comptroller of the currency, Banish made a speech against the Fowl- Mr. er bill. Speaking particularly Dawes. in opposition to the proposed asset currency, Mr. Dawes said, "What we want is a currency circulation which will help us out in times of panic, and not an as Bet currency which, when we are out of a panic, lielps ns into one." Mr. Dawes is rapidly approach ing the "copperhead" class. One or two more statements like this and he will be read out of tho republican party and perhaps banished to some Is land of the sea. .a Some one; referring to the treatment accorded Cuba by the United States, said, "The country of Washington has covered itself aiory with glory higher and purer and than that of arms." These are Arms. very acceptable tributes and yet every tribute of this character directs our attention to our policy toward an other people struggling for liberty, a policy In which the country of Washington has not cov ered itself with glory; it is a policy which that eminent republican statesman, George F. Hoar, says, "has succeeded in converting a people who, three years ago, were ready to kiss-the hem- of the garment of an American and to welcome him as a liberator, into sullen enemies possessed of hatred which centuries cannot eradicate." 'It is to be hoped that tho St. Louis Republic speaks advisedly when It says, "The people have long ago accurately sized up The Ballot N the trust situation. They know Box that the great combinations In Will Show. restraint of trade are a menace of the gravest import to the general good. They have seen these organizations created and fostered by republican policies. In tevory important political campaign they And the trusts aligned solidly on the republican side, con tributing heavy sums to the republican campaign Blush funds and using all their influence to com pel their employes to vote the republican ticket." We cannot, in fact, tell whether the people have "accurately sized up the trust situation" until they gather at the ballot box and array themselves against the party behind which tho trusts are aligned solidly. In a speech in the senate Mr. Carmack of Tennessee made an interesting point when he said that tho American people Define have a right to demand that the ' the party in power shall define Policy. its policy in the Philippine is lands. On this point Mr. Car mack said "You asked us to wait until the treaty had been ratified, and we waited. Then you asked us to wait until the insurrection had been sup pressed, and we have waited for that. You have exhausted the last pretext, and no other excuse stands between you and the performance or your plain duty. The American people and 'the people of the Philippine islands alike demand that you shall frankly declare your intentions In this mat ter, and both have a right to know. They are not willing to trust blindly in the wisdom of your sec ret designs, You are trying to lead two peoples Windfold, one into a policy of imperialism,, con trary to all its history and traditions, the other Into a conditon of political servitude, contrary to all its just hopes and expectations. You hava objected that you would make no answer to men who came to you with guns in their Tiands; but, fiir, the people who have been knocking at your door, the people whose memorial, lies upon, your table, did not coma with guns in their hands. They came with nothing but a peaceful petition, and they came as the accredited friends of your government and the supporters of your sover eignty in the Philippine islands. They are the men by whose help, as Governor Taft testified, more has been done to pacify the Philippine is lands than by all your armies in the field. By their long, faithful, and effective service they have a right to be heard and a right to be answered. They will not patiently submit to your acts of sheer despotism and trust in your vain and de lusive promises forever' Trusts and Progress. Those people who have been persuaded that "the trusts have come to stay" and are an esseu tial element in progress and prosperity, are provided wltn iood for thought hy the New York Evening Post, in this: "Many jexamples could bo given of tho inevitable suppression of Initiative and en terprise by the great combinations of the day. Uno huge consolidation, including gas works and elec tric lighting, has quietly thrown aside a plan to reduco the cost of producing electricity simply De cause, in the merger, old plants were given an artificial value and could not be disturbed or sur fer the loss of their business by a competitive method. We hear of one great monopoly whicii has bought up useful patents and pigeon-holed them simply becauso it was not willing to incur the initial expense and labor of putting them into operation." In a dispatch to the New York World under date of Havana, May 20th, General Maximo Go mez, the Cuban patriot, said, Gratification "In the midst of this joy and and pleasurable excitement that sur- Rcgret. round me on this day of national happiness, as I cast a glance on our sad and bloody past, I then perceive the great ness of this Cuban people, and the greatness also of tho American people that helped us with its blood to make real our longed-for ideal tho re public." Is it not regrettable that a similar mes sage cannot come from the people of the Philip pine islands? Their longed-for ideal, like that of the Cubans, is the "republic." The Cuban people owe their greatness to their persistent struggle for liberty. The Filipinos have made a similar strug gle. Is it not gratifying that the Cuban people have so good an opinion of this nation? And would It not be equally gratifying if tho Filipinos cculd entertain for us the same affection? Miss B. M. Hull of New Haven, Conn., who is teaching school in tho Philippines, haB written an interesting' lett.er, extracts Another from which are printed in the Philippine New York World. In this let Leak, ter Miss Hull says, "Somebody made some money out of this educational movement. At the outset $136,000 was spent for books, which were sent around to probably half of the towns in the archipelago. It would be no exaggeration to say that fully $100,000 of that money was thrown away, for it went for books that can't be used here In a decade. We have here histories that no child In my school will be able to understand in five years, geo raphies that dismiss the Philippine islands in two sentences and arithmetics that no child will bo able to work with until he has had at least two years' training in English. This might be for given and attributed to the ignorance of the needs when first sending out books, were it not that only recently we have received another installment equally valueless." Every day or two something leaks out to cultivate the suspicion that the half has not been told to the American people con cerning the situation in the Philippines. Some "body is evidently making money out of the entire Philippine movement We know it is not tho government, and we know that the American peo ple generally are not profiting by it; but it stands to reason that a policy so entirely at variance with American principles, so expensive to cur pub lic treasury and so wholly unpromising aa to practical benefits, must be productive to some people, else the elephant would not .be on our hands. ' In an editorial entitled "The Republic of Cuba," the New. York Tribune says, "It Is believed that Cubans are capahle of en ciiban lightened and successful self- and government It would be uu- FHiplno. gracious to suspect them of tendencies toward such a state of affairs as has too often pre vailed in the Central and South American coun tries." What reason has the Tribune to helievo that the Cubans are capable of enlightened and successful self-government? They have not bee tested, and do not republicans tell tts that they cannot give the Filipinos self-government bocniiKo they have not shown themselves fitted for it? Why would it bo "ungracious to suspect tho Cubans of tendencies toward such & state of affairs as has too often prevailed in some Central and South American countries?" Wo suspect tho Filipinos of this tendency, and yet wo do not seem to think it "ungracious." Is it not truo that thoro are many republican statesmen who bcllove that the Cubans will fail in their self-government experi ment? And yet they havo given tho Cubans the opportunity to make tho experiment. Why not give tho Filipinos a similar opportunity? Why bo "ungracious" toward the Filipinos when we are so careful not to bo "ungracious" toward the Cubans." No less an authority than Admiral Dowey, referring to tho Filipinos, said, "Thesb people are far superior in their intelligence and more capable of self-government than tho natives of Cuba, and I am familiar with both races." And, in a later communication, Admiral Dowey rolterated this opinion and added, "Further Inter course with them has confirmed me in this opinion." The" Red Wing, Minnesota, Argus, makes an interesting suggestion to Attornoy-General Knox. Tho Argus suggests that the Taking "water cure" might bo tried in avcure" dealing with men who conspire Home. against tho public welfare In this country. The Argus says, "Witnesses from the Philippines say it Is harm less and refreshing. When they suspected natives of having guns, they applied It, and, they add, wo got tho guns.' The government suspects these men of using instruments of warfare against the people of the United States, but the evidence is concealed. Imagine one of Knox's lieutenants coming In to report: 'Wo applied the water cure and grinning, 'wo got tho ovidence.'" It is very likely that if this suggestion were ever mad seriously and any attempt were made to act upon it even in a mild way, men who now find very ready apologies for tho "water cure" would incline to the notion that, after all, the "water cure" la hardly iuo thing to be practiced In the name of a civilized people. Questions for Expert Determination." The Sioux City Journal, republican, referring to the beef trust, says: "The only 'question re maining is whether the packers have fixed meat prices at a high er figure than should bo war ranted by the increased cost of cattle, and tho increased demand for meat, particularly tho better qualities. That is a question for expert determination." When the increase in the price of meat is so enormous that a very large number of people throughout the country aro required to curtail their consumption of meat, while many others aro forced to do with out meat altogether, It would not seem to require a very great amount of "expert determination" to show that the prices fixed are "at a higher figure than is warranted by the increased cost of cattlo and the increased demand for meat." One need not be of a very high order of intelligence to un derstand that something is wrong when laborers' wages and salaries have so far failed to keep pace with the Increase in the price of the neces sities of life, that a considerable number of people are required to economize on their consumption of food. During the debate on the Philippine bill, Mr. Carmack of Tennessee, addressing Mr. Lodge of Massachusetts, said, "I will say The to the -senator from Massachu- Artfwi setts that one part of the Dodgers. amendment proposed by me is a declaration against statehood In the American Union for the Philippine Island. I should like to know of tho senator from Mas sachusetts if he will vote for that proposition?" Mr. Lodge replied, "I have said to the senator that I would answer in my own time and In my own way, which I presume Is my right" Mr. Carmack retorted, "Of course, Mr. President, I am not at tempting to trespass upon the right of the senator from Massachusetts, aad I suppose I have ft Tight to ask tho senator the question, which he has a right to -decline to answer. I am not in the least degree trespassing upon his rights. It Is a question which might have been answered yes or 'no.' If the senator chooses to answer it in some other words, which do not mean either 'yes or 'no,' of course that is entirely satisfactory to mo," Tho characteristic republican way of an-, swering a question that might be answered by "yes" or "no" is to answer it in some other worflg which do not mean either "yes" or "no." TV ' (" ' ,