INDEPENDENCE FOR THE PHILIPPINES.

BY HON. AUGUSTUS O. BACON,

UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM GEORGIA,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, First-That the Govern ment and people of the United States have not waged the recent war with Spain for conquest and for the acquisition of foreign territory, but solely for the purposes set forth in the resolution of Congress making the declaration of said war, the acquisition of such small tracts of land or harbors as may be necessary for governmental purposes being not deemed inconsistent with the same.

Second-That in demanding and in receiving the cession of the Philippine Islands it is not the purpose of the Government of the United States to secure and maintain dominion over the same as a part of the territory of the United States, or to incorporate the inhabitants thereof as citizens of the United States, or to hold said inhabitants as vassals or subjects of this Government.

Third-That whereas at the time of the declaration of war by the United States against Spain, and prior thereto, the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands were actively engaged in a war with Spain to achieve their independence and whereas said purpose and the military operations thereunder have not been abandoned, but still being actively prosecuted thereunder, therefore, in recognition of and in obedience to the vital principle announced in the great declaration that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed," the Government of the United States recognizes that the people of the Philippine Islands of a right ought to be free and independent; that, with this view and to give effect to the same, the Government of the United States has required the Government of Spain to relinquish its authority and government in the Philippine Islands and to withdraw its land and naval forces from the Philippine Islands and from the waters thereof.

Fourth-That the United States hereby disclaim any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said islands, and assert their determination, when a stable and independent government shall have been duly erected therein entitled to recognition as such, to transfer to said government, upon terms which shall be reasonable and just, all rights secured under the cession by Spain, and to thereupon leave the government and control of the islands to their people.

I have introduced these resolutions not simply for the purpose of procuring a basis upon which to make a speech; I have introduced them for the practical purpose, if possible, of furnishing a basis upon which the question relative to the future policy of the Government in connection with the Philippine Islands may

523

be satisfactorily adjusted and agreed upon, not only by the Senate but by the other branches of the lawmaking power.

The fundamental requirement in these resolutions is that the Government of the United States will not undertake to exercise permanent dominion over the Philippine Islands. The resolutions are intentionally made broad, so that those who agree upon that fundamental proposition may stand upon them even though they may differ materially as to a great many other things relative to the future course of this Government in connection with the Philippine Islands.

Those with whom I am in sympathy in this discussion do not favor the acquisition by the United States of distant territories, of territories so remote as not to be within the proper sphere of the influence of the United States, and more especially of territories peopled by an altogether alien and different race. Further than that, we do not believe that it is consistent with our views and in harmony with the principles of our Government that any territory, speaking generally, should be annexed to the United States against the will of the people inhabiting such territory. We do not believe that it is possible to safely incorporate as a State any community lying on the opposite side of the globe. We do not believe that it is either to the interest or within the governmental power of this country to annex territory with a view to its. being held as a colony, and its citizens, or rather its inhabitants, held as vassals.

Many who are reluctant to relinquish the Philippine Islands, and who are at the same time unwilling to commit themselves to the doctrine of forcible annexation, who at the same time are not willing to put the Government in the position of ruining a people

and subjecting them against their will, endeavor to reconcile themselves by the proposition that the government which we propose to give to that country shall be a good government, that it shall be a government which will better their condition, and that it will be one which in its administration will be consistent with free institutions.

That proposition, while of course a very much more considerate one than the extreme of the subjugation of a people, is still inconsistent with free institutions. Wherever a people are required to render an obedience which is involuntary, that requirement is an enslavement of that people.

There are different degrees of enslavement. If we put our yoke upon a people, if we rule them arbitrarily, if we send them governors and judges, if we make laws for them without their participation, if we enforce obedience to such laws by our army, then it is an absolute enslavement. If, on the contrary, we allow them free. institutions, but at the same time prescribe to them that they shall owe allegiance to a government against their will, it is none the less an enslavement, although less in degree.

There is but one government among the leading nations of the earth that recognizes the right of selfgovernment in a people, that recognizes that the consent of a people is an essential to their government, and when this Government practically denies that right, in the march of free institutions the hand upon the dial of the clock of the world has been set back an hundred years.

It is impossible to conceive that this Government will knowingly and purposely deny to a people the right of self-government; it is incredible that the liberty-loving people of this country will by force of arms

impose a government upon another people against their will—a people who owed us no allegiance—who are struggling to be free. There is no public man who will admit that he is in favor of that proposition; there is no official, no Senator, who would not repel the charge, if it were made against him, that he would thus violate the right of self-government.

Senators argue as to the power of the Government to acquire dominion over foreign territory; they argue as to the duty of the Government to exercise this authority; but when the question is squarely put to them, when the issue is put where it can not be evaded, "Do you favor the subjection of another country and the imposition of the power of this Government without the consent of that people?" they shrink away from the acknowledgment of such a position.

Senator Foraker from Ohio, in his speech the other day, in speaking of the purpose of himself and those who agree with him as to the future of the Philippine Islands, used this language:

I do not understand anybody to be proposing to take the Philippine Islands with the idea and view of permanently holding them and denying to the people there the right to have a government of their own if they are capable of it and want to establish it. I do not understand that anybody wants to do that. I have not heard of anybody who wants to do that. The President of the United States does not, I know, and no Senator in this chamber has made any such statement.

And also Senator Grant of Delaware, in a speech made at a complimentary dinner given in his honor by the Board of Trade of that city, used similar language, as follows:

But now that we have them

He was speaking not only of the Philippine Islands, but of the West India Islands also, I judge from the

connection

But now that we have them, it does not follow that we are committed to a colonial policy or to a violation of those great principles of liberty and self-government which must always remain American ideals if our own free institutions are to endure.

No country, and this country least of all, can afford to trample on its ideals. I have no fear that it will do so.

Without assuming for a moment any right to speak for the President, I think I can assure you, with some knowledge whereof I speak, that he fully appreciates the duties and responsibilities of the situation, and that he is committed to no policy calculated to discourage, much less strike down, the aspirations of liberty-loving people all over the world.

I am extremely gratified to have these expressions from these distinguished Senators, and I am particularly gratified to know that they reflect, of their own personal knowledge, the views of the President with regard to this most important matter. If the views expressed by the Senator from Ohio in his speech and by the Senator from Delaware in his speech, which I have quoted, are those upon which we are to act, there is very little difference between us, and there will be no future contention between us if we can have an authoritative expression from the lawmaking power of the United States in a joint resolution that such is the purpose of the future.

When in that solemn moment we stood forth to dare and meet the necessary sacrifice, we called upon God and men to witness the purity of our motives and the unselfishness of our intentions. We declared in language almost identical with the language of the resolutions which I have had the honor to introduce that we did not propose to wage this war for aggrandizement, that we did not wage it for conquest, but that we waged it, or proposed to wage it, in the interest of humanity. We declared that when a stable government was secured in Cuba we would withdraw from that island and leave the affairs of that country to its own inhabitants.

That war has practically passed; the sacrifice which we anticipated was not exacted of us; the sacrifice in life was comparatively trifling; a special danger which