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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1902)
wrwwm BgW The Commoner. "3J ? Volhai, No.Mi. -3 ..A Catechism on Imperialism.. ' Q. Is the Philippine question settled? A. No. ' Q. How can it bo settled? ; A. Either by applying American principles to the Filipinos or by abandoning those principles in the United States. Q. Why do republicans declare that the ques tion is settled? A. Because they do not dare to discuss the principles Involved. Q. Is "it possible to have self-government in tho United States and a colonial policy in the Orient? A. Not permanently. As a. man may for a While lead a double life, so our nation may for a while proclaim the principles of tho Declaration of Independence hero and deny those principles to the Filipinos, but the irresistible tendency to recon cile preaching and practice will ultimately compel us to stop preaching self-government hero or to stop practicing colonialism across tho Pacific Q. By what title did wo acquire tho Philip pine islands? A. "Wo have no title to the Philippine islands that can be recognized or defended by American 1 citizens. Q. What title is assorted? A., Some argue that we bought tho islands and tho people from Spain and others say that we obtained title by conquest Q. Did Spain have a right to sell us eight millions of Filipinos at two dollars and a half a piece? A. No. A Spanish king had no more right to sell Filipinos to us than our president or con gress would have to seil seventy-five million American citizens to tho Spanish king. Q. Could we buy the islands and then claim the people as "fixtures that go with the land?" A. No. The purchase of cold, Inanimate mat tor cannot be held to carry with It title to living beings possessing souls and made in the imago of their Creator. To claim that the people were "thrown in" with the land would be asbad as to buy them at so much per head. Q. Can title be secured by conquest? A. No. Seventy-fivo millions of people can no more secure title to eight millions by whip ping them than a big man can secure title to a little man by whipping him. If governments de rive their just powers from the consent of tho governed then it is impossible to secure title to people either by purchase or by the exercise of superior force. Q. Does the suppression of the insurrection change the situation? A. Not at all. The rights of the Filipino are the same whether he is able to enforce them or not Q. But has our nation not promised to bo good to tho Filipinos? A. Yes. But what tyrant ever promised less to his subjects? Q. Will it not be better for the Filipino to be a subject of our government than to be a citizen under a government of his own? A. No. Because citizenship stimulates prog ress, while tho condition of a subject destroys hope and ambition. Q. Could our country afford to have subjects oven if it were best for the subjects? A. No. Wo cannot afford to abandon our the ory of self-government even if it would enable us to help people held as subjects under a colonial system. Our duty to ourselves and to the world requires our nation to assert and to exemplify tho self-evident truths: that all men are created equal; that .they are endowed with inalienable rights; that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. No destiny can be higher than this and no ad vantage obtainable from a colonial system could compensate us for lowering bur nation's Ideals. Q. How have the republicans been able to avoid the Issue of imperialism? A. At first they denied that they intended im perialism, then they said that they could not dis cuss the future until the Filipinos laid down their arms, and now they .say that the Filipinos having laid down their arms, the question is settled and that there is nothing to discuss. Q. Have tho American people ever indorsed imperialism. A. No. The republican! have never gone into a campaign advocating a colonial policy. Even after the election of 1900 President McKInloy de clared that "no thought of imperialism lurked in tho American mind." Q. Do all of the republicans favor imperial ism now? A. No. But few republicans actually favor imperialism. If they really favored it they would boldly proclaim their belief in imperialistic prin ciples. Q. Why do republicans fail to protest against imperialism? , t- A. Because they have not studied the ques tion sufficiently to understand its dangerous ten dencies. They have faith in their party and be lieve that it will do right in all things. Q. Will faith save tnem? A. No. Faith without works is dead. Each republican is a part of his party and he cannot shirk responsibility for what his party does. He cannot expect other republicans to save his coun try, he must help save it He ought to have lite opinion on the subject and ought to express that opinion at the polls. Q. Has the democratic party any plan for set tling tho Philippine question? A. Yes. It not only has a plan, but it has the only plan that has been proposed. v Q. What is the democratic "plan? A. It is set forth in the Kansas City platform and is as follows: "Let the nation immediately announce its purpose to give the Filipinos, first, a stable form of government; second, indepen dence, and, third, protection from outside inter ference as we fiave1 protected the republics of Central and South merica." It is, in other words, to do In the Philippines what we have done in Cuba. . . Q. How can a republican show his approval of this plan? A. By voting the democratic ticket Our Allies. Representatives of the administration have told the people that the Filipinos were not our al lies and this statement has been echoed and re echoed by republican organs and republican ora tors. A case is pending In the United States supreme court in which is involved the right of Admiral Dewey and tho men under him to certain prize money. After the battle t)f Manila several Fili pino flatboats and other minor vessels were seized and a claim for prize money was presented on behalf of Dewey and his men. The brief filed by the attorneys for tho United' States govern ment is decldely Interesting In that brief this statement appears: As soon as the present libellant's force was able to land and establish itself on shore it entered intd friendly relations with the Fili pinos and provided many of them with arms for offensive and defensive operations against tho Spaniards. To treat somo of the Filipinos as friends and allies and to treat others of them as enemies merely because they hap pened to be in tho possession of small craft which might be of use to the United States was certainly not a consistent course of action and should not bo upheld by a court" Here is tho distinct admission on tho part of the legal representatives of the United States gov-1 ernment that the Filipinos were our allies. For the purpose of avoiding the payment of what the government's representatives regard as an unjust claim, it is pointed out that tne American forces first "entered into friendly relations with the Fili pinos and provided many of them with arms for offensive and defensive operations against the Spaniards." And it is argued that "to treat some of the Filipinos as friends and allies and to treat others of them as enemies merely because they happened to be in the possession of small craft which might be of use to the United States was certainly not a consistent course of action and should not be upheld by a court" To be sure it' Is not necessary for a student of history to read this brief to convince himself that the Filipinos were our allies. The record of our Operations in the Philippines presents indisputable proof on this point But it has been urged by rep resentatives of the administration that tho testi mony that has heretofore been presented is not convincing because it was given "in the heat of a. battle;"-but here, long after the. battle has been concluded, long aftor "peace" has been declared, according to administration representatives, the attorneys for the government, in a calm and well constructed brief filed for the consideration of a court, present the claim that tho Filipinos were our allies and assert that it is not a consistent course to treat some of the Filipinos as our friends and allies and to treat others of them as enemies. The record is filled with evidence showing that this people, against whom ive have, waged relent less warfare, were our allies against Spain. We Invited them to assist us; they accepted the invita tion and whatever pledges may have been made or whatever pledges may have been withheld, the fact remains that when we accepted their as sistance In our operations against Spain we gave them reason to believe that after the victory was won they could depend upon being treated in ac cordance with American principles and American tradition. The,. Philadelphia North American, comment ing upon the brief filed in the supreme court, says: "Neither is it a consistent course of action, for that matter, for the government to deny, as it has on all previous occasions, that the Filipinos were re ceived as allies by Dewey, and later to declare that they wore treated 'as friends and allies.' A supreme court decision, in accordance with the government's latest contention, would hardly please the champions of imperialism." JJJ Cummins' Interpretation. Since the adoption by the Iowa republican state convention of that famous "no shelter to