FEBRUARY 12, 1903.
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT.
3
DEATH AND STARVATION
The Rasult of th Bepnbllran Policy In the
Philippines rrrsident Kchurman
Makes a Remarkable Speech
There was an immense meeting at
Cooper Institute the other day to con
sider the suffering in the Philippines,
ahout which the plutocratic dailies
have so little to say. On that occa
sion President Schurman made a re
markable speech, from which The In
dependent makes the following ex
tracts:
The new year has opened with
peace in the Philippine islands; and
as the clouds of war which for four
years have hung over that unhappy
archipelago roll away, and the blind
ing passions which war arouses grad
ually subside, the American people
are coming to discern with clear vi
sion and in dry light the real nature
of their undertaking in what was once
with roseate expectation described as
"those gems and glories of the tropic
seas." And I think no man will
charge me with misrepresentation if I
say that the heartrending spectacle on
which our latest sun has just risen
in Luzon and the Visayas the uni
versal devastation of a long and ruth
less war, the complete obliteration of
towns and villages, the transforma
tion of fruitful plains and valleys in
to desolate wastes and howling wild
erness, the vast, uncounted loss of
human life, the destruction of nearly
all farm animals, the annihilation of
capital, the paralysis of agriculture,
trade and commerce, the derangement
of the currency, the dread specters
of poverty, famine, cholera and the
pestilence that walketh at noonday,
men, women and children brethren
of ours and fellow-Christians, perish
ing like wanton flies in summer, and
the whole nation sick at heart, sullen
in temper, unreconciled to American
rule and, though disarmed and over
mastered by force, yet resolutely de
termined to achieve national indepen
dence, which we still deny them
this, I say, is an accumulation of ca
lamities that must touch our hearts
with the profoundest pity and a com
bination of problems that must
awaken in our minds the gravest anx
iety and concern, not unmingled, per
haps, with self-reproach or even re
morse." Mr. Schurman finds that the spirit
of freedom is indelibly rooted in the
breasts of the Filipinos and that the
war has welded them into one nation.
There are no longer separate and
jealous tribes they are as thorough
ly united as were the thirteen Ameri
can colonies by the war of the revolu
tion. 9
"We must reckon, ho says, "with
the spirit and temper of these people
as well as make provision for their
material welfare. Among freemen,
however it be with slaves, their state
of mind is a far more vital matter
than mere bodily condition. Men will
despise comforts and fling away life
itself in pursuit of some moral ideal
or political end. Now there are two
facts which will serve to interpret
to us the political sentiments of the
"rilipinos. First, there is not, I be
lieve, a single man of them who will
consent that his country should be
permanently a dependency or colony
of the United States, which is the pol
icy of our imperialists. This circum
stance, which all recent information
confirms. I noted in the report of the
first Philippine commission, explicit
ly stating that even those Filipinos
who were supporting American sov
ereignty the minority, indeed did so
in the expectation that, after an inter
val of American training and tutelage,
the Filipinos should be granted their
independence. And, secondly, of that
vast majority who were compelled by
force to acquiesce in American sov
ereignty, thousands have died and
hundreds of thousands are still ready
to die in the cause of Philippine in
dependence. Here is another crucial
fact. Our war with the Filipinos has
made a nation of them; they are no
longer Tagalogs or Visayans or Uo
canos, but one people with a single
national consciousness and a single
national heart. If the idea of inde
pendence was originally the dream, of
Aguinaldo and the Tagalogs. it is to
day the hope, the goal and the reso
lute determination of a nation of 6,
500.000 united Filipinos.
"While the American people were
divided on the opening phases of the
Philippine question, I cannot per
suade myself that they will be divid
ed on the final issue which now con
fronts us the policy of dealing with
the Filipinos as we have dealt with
the Cubans and granting them speedy
independence.
"What, else can we do? There Is
but one alternative. It is the use of
force to keep the Filipinos in subjec
tion. Now, as a temporary expedient,
force may be justifiable; but as a per
manent policy it is the feeblest and
lOur February Clearing Sale! f
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. is
at the above cut and you will have the whole story in a few words brief, but a clear present, I
ation of facts. We could easily print a lot of vainglorious talk about this unusual clearing
rt Vintir Innrr nia )iav licxan in luici noizu nnA u.-Vint. "irruiil follnivu" U7k r A hilt urn Anr't Tfc iant 4'l
necessary. It even isn't good business. The average man has neither the time nor the inclination to listen to
3 a long talk of "whys and wherefores." It is sufllcient to state that yt
LOOK
We Have Simply Divided Our Stock Into Four Parts and the Goods are
Going to Move.
Y) F f 11 A which embraces all Suits
A XJL.1VJL Jr. and Overcoats that were
marked $8.00, f 9.00 and $ 10.00,
from which you may take your
choice for
$6.00
all the
rcoats
1) "F Til "Y which embraces
. XA.1 A.X 13 Suits and Ove
$8.50
which sold at $12.50, $13.50 and
$15.00, from which you may take
your choice for
35
C
which embraces all the
A J. Suits and Overcoats which
sold at 518.00, $20.00, $23.00, rt
from which you may take ft J "2 OO
your choice for 1 Jf
"O rp "lv which embraces all the
A JT.jl.I. JL -J Suits and Overcoats
20.00
which sold at $25, $30 and $35,
from which you may take
your choice for
6
1221 to 1227 O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.
most uncertain thing in the world,
while of all instruments it is the most
odious, the most revolting and the
most galling to the spirits on whom
it is exercised. By force the Filipinos
may be worried and harassed; but
force will not mitigate or destroy their
unconquerable love of independence.
Nor could I possibly be convinced that
the American people desire to break
the spirit of the Filipinos; for it is
the same spirit that has made America."
Eugene R. Long, president and pro
fessor political economy, Arkansas
College, Batesville, Ark.: I enclose
for three months' subscription. (Ash
by's "Money and the Taxing Power.")
D. R. Dewey, professor of economics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Boston, Mass.: Kindly enter my
name as a subscriber to your paper
for the next three months. (Ashby's
"Money and the Taxing Power.")
George H. McGregor, druggist. Som
erville, Ind.: Send The Independent
three months to the addresses below.
Date their subscriptions so they: will
get the first series of the political
economy to begin January 1 (Ashby's
"Money and the Taxing Power").
Richard Donovan, Havelock, Neb.:
Find enclosed one dollar from an old
reader of the best paper in this coun
try. Long may it continue to spread
the light.
