12 'Che Conservative *
ANTI-EXPANSION SENTIMENT.
The country hns begun to show sign.
of antagonism to expansion. The glam
our of adding foreign colonies to oui
home territory dazzled the people , highly
strung by brilliant victories over Spain
and at first the imperialistic idea tool )
possession of them. But , since they
have had time to meditate on the mat
ter , the glamour has , to a largo extent
died away ; and , having begun to weigh
the disadvantages of the acquisition ol
sxich territory as the Philippines against
the glory of the possession , they are in
clining to change their minds , and tc
believe that we'd be better without the
encumbrance of these Pacific isles , with
their hordes of semi-savages. When
the people have begun to view the mat
ter in this light , it will not take long for
the same anti-imperialistic ideas to per
colate through to senators and repre
sentatives ; and this , in conjunction with
the powerful anti-annexation element
already existing in congress , is what
gives us the hope that neither treaty nor
resolution which includes the annexa
tion of the Philippines may commend
itself to the judgment of either house
even in the republican Fifty-sixth con
gress. New Orleans Times-Democrat
( Dem. ) .
Governor-elect Liud of Minnesota ,
who carried a state , solidly republican
for thirty years , for a democratic-fusion
ticket on a persistent , red-hot anti-
imperialistic campaign , would be a good
man for the people who are slating the
recent election as a grand sweep for ex
pansion doctrine to consult. Boston
Record ( Rep. ) .
To acquire thn Philippine islands
would necessitate a war lasting probably
ten years ( it has taken nearly 800 years
to conquer India , and only forty years
ago the horrors of the Sepoy mutiny oc
curred ) and the loss of thousands of
lives of Americans. In a campaign of
less than six months the lives of nearly
8,000 soldiers were lost. In a campaign
of at least ten years in the tropical jun
gles of the Philippines it seems safe tc
conclude that the lives of 50,000 Ameri
can soldiers would bo sacrificed , and the
cost of such a war would probably not
bo less than $40,000,000 a year. It is
generally estimated that a military pol
icy would cost between $60,000,000 and
$100,000,000 a year. It is admitted that
the commerce of the Philippine islands
is not tempting enough to justify such
an expenditure. It is probable that be
fore the campaign in the Philippines had
progressed five years , the sober sense of
the American people would refuse to
justify any further waste of life. Bos
ton Advertiser.
Colonel Albert Clarke , secretary of the
Home Market club , has at last but with
very apparent reluctance come to realize
that the protection theory and the ex
pansion idea do not hitch horses. And ,
moreover , in his address at the annual
meeting of the club yesterday afternoon ,
he veiy frankly states that ho does not
see why manufacturing may not be suc
cessful under American management in
the Philippines as it is under English
management in Bombay , thereby expos
ing "our industrial population to unre
strained competition with the low-priced ,
ill-conditioned and coolie labor. " With
such an open recognition of the tremend
ous industrial menace , involved in the
annexation of 8,000,000 Malays , it is in
credible how any intelligent man can
tolerate the annexation proposition ,
while , at the same time , harping on the
old cry of protection. The industrial
danger of Philippine- annexation should
be enough of itself to put a stop to this ex
pansion folly ; but it is only one of the
many dangers , difficulties and responsi
bilities with which the administration
needlessly proposes to saddle the Ameri
can republic by its Philippine policy.
Boston Post.
Neither as permanent settlers nor as
temporary ones doing fighting or garri
son service does the United States want
to furnish human sacrifices in further
repetition of these historical lessons. It
may be in order for it to take the Phil
ippines temporarily that may be the
shortest cut to more fitting disposition
of them but it wants to get rid of them
as soon as possible , and to stand in no
other relation to them than to other far-
off quarters of the world to which its
territorial possessions do not extend , and
iii which no conservative American cit
izen wants them to extend , though the
conditions are such as to excite just as
much sympathy for the people in such
regions as for those of the Philippines.
Pittsburg Commercial Gazette ( Rep. ) .
It will be fortunate for the country if
Mr. McKinley is brought to see the
gravity of the situation as plainly as Mr.
Hoar comprehend id it. There has been
no more serious condition in this country
since the civil war. Cincinnati En
quirer ( Dem. ) .
Chicago negroes in a meeting at Bethel
Methodist church Tuesday evening
adopted resolutions relative to condi
tions in the South , among which was one
expressing opposition to the acquisition
of more territory by the United States
until the government can protect its
citizens at home. This protest is very
significant. When the nation is unable to
insure to its own citizens , within its o\vii
domain , the rights solemnly guaranteed
by the constitution , because of raca pre
judices and animosities , it should hesi
tate before taking into the United States
still other alien races. Chicago Record
( Ind. ) .
Of course , free trade between the
United States and the Philippines would
not operate to the advantage of the
sugar-cane growers , the sugar-beet
growers , and the tobacco manufactur
ers. Two trusts are vitally concerned
in discriminating duties against
Philippine products ; but if the interests
of these trusts are of paramount impor
tance , then the Philippines are worthless
to the United States , except as a naval
station. On the other hand , if the prin
cipal argument of the expansionists is
based upon fact , if the trade of the
Philippines is of vital importance to
the United States , if the develop
ment of these islands will furnish a
fertile field for American cap
ital , there is no justification for the pol
icy that the president contemplates.
Detroit Tribune ( Sil. Rep. ) .
Whether an overwhelming majority
of the American people desire the re
tention of the Philippines and Cuba re
mains to bo seen. To retain the latter ,
unless its peopls desired it , would bo
deliberately to violate a most solemn
pledge , and the retention of the Philip
pines and their annexation to this coun
try without their consent would bo to
repudiate an implied promise and to turn
our backs upon the fundamental princi
ples of our government. We do not be
lieve an overwhelming majority of the
American people want to do these
things. There is hardly a single news
paper in the state of Maine supporting
this policy , and only a single member
of our congressional delegation is
known to favor it , while most of them
are known to be unalterably opposed to
it. Portland ( Me.Press ) ( Rep. ) .
The Dispatch publishes elsewhere a
collection of interviews with all classes
on the subject of the proposed annexa
tion of the Philippines. Since the alle
gation is widely made that there is
an overwhelming popular demand for
this measure , it is cogent to point out
that these inquiries among business
men , professional men , politicians and
labor leaders show the reverse of that
statement , so far as Pittsburg is con
cerned. The drift of the expressions
quoted elsewhere is that more business
men are opposed to the imperialist pol
icy than in favor of it ; the clergy and
bar are divided about equally ; the rep
resentative women frankly confess that
they do not understand the subject suffi
ciently to form a judgment , and the
two most significant features are that
even the politicians are divided on the
question , and the labor element is dead
against it. Pittsburg Dispatch ( Rep. ) .
When eight million Asiatics of mixed
origin , inheriting all the debasing ten
dencies of six thousand years of an in
ferior ancestry , shall have become
transformed into intelligent men and
women , acquainted with the English
language and the American constitu
tion ; when these now subjects of ours
in far-off Luzon and Mindanao and
Samar and Mashate , with the sluggish
blood of the tropics coursing through
their veins , shall have learned the sig
nificance of American citizenship and
become imbued with Anglo-Saxon
sturdiness and self-control when all
these things and a few others that
might be mentioned have come to pass ,
