The Conservative * 9
and let the world know that there is
one town in Nebraska , at least , where
capital , foreign or domestic , may be
safely invested. You have a great op
portunity to give your city's "solid
growth" a real "boom" and I advise
yon to take advantage of it.
I hope the "shadow of the starch
works" may never grow less , and that
many other shadows of big industrial
plants may soon envelop your town ,
and that , collectively , these shadows
may , in due course of time , become so
dark and deep as to obliterate any poli
tician , national , state or local , who may
undertake to obtain political preferment
for himself by attempting to destroy
them. I hope sincerely that the old
town , by populist candidates so con
temptuously termed the "Home of
Trusts" in Nebraska , because the "dis
ease" of home industrial thrift "exists"
there , will , on November 6th. , proclaim
through its voters that Nebraska Oity is
a safe Missouri River harbor for both
labor and capital ; I hope it will go " 16
to 1" sixteen for Industrial Growth
and Prosperity , to one for Industrial
Destruction and Poverty.
Yours truly ,
JOY MORTON.
IMPERIALISM.
In reflecting , in a lazy way , upon the
subject of so-called "imperialism , " about
which so much bad breath is at the pre
sent being worse than wasted , I am re
minded of a paragraph penned by
Thomas Paine concerning a similar
situation , and with reference to a sever
ance of allegiance to British rule by the
American colonies. I do not recall his
precise language , but its import was as
follows :
"The argument is advanced , " he
wrote , "that the colonies have prospered
under British rule , and wisdom and
prudence dictate that we let well enough
alone. " "And this , " continues Mr.
Paine , "is equivalent to saying that be
cause a child has prospered on milk , he
should never have meat , or that the first
twenty years of one's life should oonsti
tnte a precedent for the next twenty. "
To prescribe baby food for this great
nation by that universal doctor , Windy
J. Bryan , or anybody , is an insult to the
common intelligence. The highest wis
dom , by changed conditions , becomes
folly , and to apply the political formula
of 1776 babyhood to 1000 manhood is to
annul 'advancement , and prescribe
nursing bottles for adults. We wan
meat.
The duty of the statesman is to pre
scribe , not for conditions that did , bm
for conditions which do , exist. Th <
treaty by which this nation acquired th <
Philippine islands is not a measure pend
ing , but accomplished. We must speak
of it in the past tense. Of what avail
then , is it to cry out against the manne :
of its acquisition ? Noise is not logic ,
nor declamation argument. That ter
ritory is ours , a part of our country ,
and it is as much the duty of the presi
dent to control and protect it , as to
rush rebellion and preserve order in the
iriginal states ; and to fail in this is to
inbjeot himself to impeachment , dis
honor anil disgrace.
So far as the present campaign is con
cerned , "Imperialism" is but a name a
gaudy fiction devised to hide the de-
'eated issue of 16 to 1 , and the boister
ous monthings concerning it are about
as pertinent and profitable as the study
of a last year's almanac , or a reference
o an abrogated time table. The more
ou study , the more you are misled.
The withdrawal of our troops from
China at the present juncture is the best
possible evidence that the present ad
ministration has no design upon foreign
erritory , nor any tendency toward "im
perialism. " Our army , recently at
Pekin , is now en route to Manila , and
the president has defied the world , and
discomfited the powers , by its prompt
and unconditional withdrawal. There
is no longer room for the word "im
perialism" in our politics. Give us
meat.
PLAIN CITIZEN.
Omaha , Oct. 18 , 1900.
ABBPI.YTO "DIE PHIMPPINER. "
EDITOR CONSERVATIVE :
In THE CONSERVATIVE of October 11 ,
1900,1 find an article signed by E. P.
Evans , purporting to be a review of a
book entitled "Die Philippiner. " "Die
Philippiner" seems to be some recent
book published in Germany by Yon
Ferdinand Blumentritt.
It is a little difficult to say from the
article in THE CONSERVATIVE how much
of the alleged facts in that article re
lating to the Philippines are statements
of Mr. Evans and how much are state
ments of Yon Ferdinand Blumentritt ,
the author of "Die Philippiner. " After
reciting the title of the recent work of
Yon Ferdinand Blumentritt , the article
in THE CONSERVATIVE proceeds to state
that the author of that work "is univer
sally recognized as one of the best
authorities on the subject. " I question
this very much. The purpose of this
article of Mr. Evans seems to be to
extol the work of Von Ferdinand
Blumentritt , to show that the great
majority of the people in the Philippines
are Christians , highly educated , and in
every way fit for self-government , and
to abuse- the various orders of Roman
Catholic priests who are now , and for
centuries past have been , in the Philip
pine islands.
Whether the statements in the article
in question are statements of Mr. Evans
or the statements of Yon Ferdinand
Blnmentritt , I propose to demonstrate
from the article itself that , so far as it is
a slur on the various orders of Roman
Catholic priests in the Philippines , it
contains its own refutation , and to show
that the sweeping charge that is there
made against these various orders of
Roman Catholic priests is untrue.
I quote from that article as follows :
"The Christian Malays , numbering
about 8,000,000 , of whom nearly
seven-eighths belong to the three leading
tribes , Tagals , Blsayas.and Dokans , con
stitute virtually the Filipinos , since it is
with them that foreign powers have to
deal in their commercial and diplomatic
relations with the archipelago , and with
them that the Americans will have to
solve and settle the burning Philippine
question. Blnmentritt characterizes
them as highly gifted and progressive
people , worthy of the esteem and sym
pathy of all civilized nations. He in
stances some jurists like Marcelo H. del
Filar and Mariano Ponce ; scientist like
Dr. Jose Rival ; journalist like Graoiano
Lopez Jama ; artist like the painter , .
Juan Luna whose " "
, picture "Spoliarium"
took the first prize at a Paris exhibition.
If the Filipinos , under Spanish domina
tion , could produce such eminent men ,
what may they not be able to accom
plish when they enjoy the advantages
of a free government with a career open
to every talent , "
In the early part of the same article ,
the author , in speaking of the present
population of the Philippine islands ,
states that there are only about 20,000
Negritos , and that the number of Malays
who are not Christians is about 600,000.
He then shows , as quoted above , that
the great body of the Filipinos ( Christian
Malays ) are intelligent , civilized people
and number about eight millions (8,000- (
000) ) , who have produced great jurists ,
scientists , journalists and painters. Who
made these eight million Malays in the
Philippine islands Christians ? I venture
to say that no one today who has the
slightest information on the subject , or
who will consult authorities , will deny
that it was the Roman Catholic Spanish
priests who made these people Christians ,
educated them , and to whom they are
indebted today for all their enlighten
ment.
Writer Inconsistent.
Then I find in this same article in
THE CONSERVATIVE the following :
"The plea that the Filipinos are not
fit for self-government is a poor pallia
tion of a breach of faith and easily dis
proved by facts. Not only is the pro
portion of learned men larger than in
Servia , Bulgaria and Montenegro , but
also the persons unable to read or write
is less than in the Balkan peninsula ,
Russia , many provinces of Italy , Spain
and Portugal , the South American re
publics and some of our own southern
states. Indeed great care is bestowed
upon elementary education and as a rule
common schools for boys and girls are
well organized and efficiently conducted.
That they could be greatly improved is
undeniable , but their deficiencies are
due not to the indifference of the Filipinos
pines , but to the interference of the
monks. "
Schools and institutions of learning