Ir can be well understood that President McKinley and his advisors must be very much exercised in their minds as to the disposal of the Philippines. It must be remembered that Admiral Dewey has carefully refrained from attacking, or giving the insurgents assistance at, any other place than! Manila Bay. It is true that when the insurgents were irritated by the action of the German cruiser Irene in Subic Bay, Admiral Dewey sent the US. ships Concord and Raleigh to their assistance, but Subic Bay may be considered for this purpose as part of Manila Bay. We are so apt in ordinary speech to use the term "Manilx" for the whole Philippines, that we forget how very limited is the area actually occupied by Admiral Dewey, and that he has not even imposed his authority on the whole island of Luzon. We merely mention this to show that if the U.S. Government should decide only to hold Manila Bay and the towns on its shores, it would not be giving up any territory over which the Stars and Stripes have once fluated:; while on the other hand custom would entitle that Government to demand the whole of the Philippines as part of the i demnity to be exacted from Spain, if the popular voice should decide the President to ask for them. "hat there is some popular demand for their re= tention at home, and a strong popular feeling in this direction abroad, we can 504; see from the papers.
The New York Nation, which is not 50g 2 "patriotic" paper, represents the 507 views of those who would not demand ithe Philippines from Spain, and it consider it to be a very fortunate thing that Congress is not in session, and the Executive can draft the treaty of peace with Spain without the interference of the representatives of the American people. In any case, the treaty hus to be confirmed by the Senate, but it is easier to put through a completed draft, than to compile " treaty with every member of the Senate giving his advice and suggestions. lhe Nation's views are given in the following terms When we went to war, not one human being in the United States had a thought of the Phillippines. persons know that they belonged to Spain. Fervor still cared whether they did or not. 'That we were not charged with any responsibility concerning them, however the case may have been with' Cubs, everybody must agree. Did Admiral Dewoy's victory over the Spanish fest bring any such responsibility? Bear in* mind that it was uba, and Cuba only, that we were fighting about and that Admiral Domay's fight was only one means of cripplit the power of Spain, so that she woul have less fighting machinery and less money to use against us in other places, and #0 that she might sooner be brought to terms of penc~. before, we incurred moral respons touching the Philippines when we demolished Admiral Montojo's fleet. As a matter of fact, we have acquired nothing in that quarter beyond what is covered by the range of our guns. The territory in question. is larger in area than New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, and the amount held by us is not so large or ea populous as Staten Island.
idle, then, to talk about the responsibility we have incurred in respect of the Filipinos. What does that reibility consist of Most advocates of stion say that it is our duty to Geliver the natives from Spanish rule but are we sure that they would relish our rule any better? Wo have seen that the Cuban insurgents want nothing of us except thab we shall drive out the Spaniard and leave the the rest to them. The Filipinos probably want the same thing and if they are not to have it, will make all the trouble for us that they can. That these possibilities are weighing upon Admiral Dewey's mind seems clear from his later dispatches.
Tt is not moral responsibility of gain, that prompts the mor:
our Philippine annexationista.
hey want the islands for what they can make out of them in the way of tra That is an intelligible reason, and is a proper one in so far as it does not colo conflict with the principles which we proclaimed to the world as our justiffeation for the war. This was not to bea war'of conquest or a war for gain. It was not even a war for the human race in general. It was Cuban deliverance in particular. We promised when this was accomplished to make peace.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.