Pros and Cons, Complete Debates; Important Questions Fully Discussed in the Affirmative and the Negative, with By-Laws and Parliamentary Rules for Con (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1897 edition. Excerpt: ... appendix. I. question. Would it be advisable for our government to grant absolute independence to the people of the Philippine Islands? Affirmative. First Speaker.--Mr. Chairman, and Ladies and Gentlemen: The question is one that has been discussed, pro and con, by every citizen of the United States, and in all this discussion there are but two primary lines of contention: one is based upon the great declaration "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." The other is based upon the theory that the peoples of the archipelago are not capable of self-government, and, coming to us through a treaty of peace, become a national charge which we must accept and govern. Those who claim it a duty to deny self-government do so on the boasted sentiment that we are more capable of deciding what are the rights of the islanders to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness than they are themselves. These upholders of American ascendency quiet their consciences on the ground that our superior wisdom should dictate; that it is an act of Providence; that the fortunes of war made us their custodians; that we become responsible to all other governments; that the great Oriental development makes it an absolute necessity to hold those islands as a vantage ground in the world's competition; that it is a means for the expansion of commerce, for industrial energy, and, covering the whole with the hypocrisy of a professed religion, that is to be the means of spreading Christianity. They cite all these...