The mirror., November 12, 1903, Image 1

About The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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6/>e MIRROR
Published Weekly j
jb) TT~ Minnesota. Stale
Vol. XVII.—No. 17
mind on the mountain.
Suddenly fallen In blue enchanted weather,
like a sea at Its highest heave and farthest run,
Blue beyond blue, asleep, in the wind and sun,
The mountains! Here, with only our arms for
tether,
In the rose-heaped laurel and ankle-deep in the
heather,
With the wind on the mountain are we o’er a
world at rest,
The wind in your wild skirts binding us breast
to brest,
hair in my face as we cling to
gether.
Close in my arms! If now at the wind’s wild
prime,
If wej should be snatched on the wind’s wild
wildest sweep,
Snatched and whirled and blown as light as a
feather,
BQI away from our bride-bloomed summit of
time,
Ont and afar where the peaks of eternity sleep,
We may vanish at least and fall at the last to
gether.
—Joseph Russell Taylor, In Scribner’s.
The Philippines.
AT no time in the history of this
country has a crisis arisen
but the administration has
found itself embarrassed by a
minority. The Philippine problem is
no exception to this rule. This minor
ity, small when compared to the entire
population, comes trailing along be
hind like the tail to a kite, loaded with
objections but noticeably devoid of
anything better to offer. The question
is not whether the control of the Phil
ippines is without evils. Evils can be
found in all matters depending upon
humau agencies as long as human na
ture has its present weaknesses. The
question i 6: Was not thefcourse pur
sued by the McKinley administration
and continued by the present adminis
tration subject to less evils to all part
ms concerned than any other course
that could have been pursued ?
After the battle of Manila Bay the
government found itself practically in
possession of the Thilippipe Islands.
It was necessary to do one of two
things, either to withdraw and leave
the islands to the mercy of Spain and
a continuance of her rule of cruelty
and oppression, or to take control of
them. There was no chance for the is
lands to secure independence for them
selves.
The insurrection against Spain was
ended July, 1897, upon the promise of
Spain to inaugurate reforms,
and the withdrawal of the leaders of
the uprising, including Aguinaldo, to
Hong-Kong in September of the same
year. The insurrection was practically
ever.
Snch was the condition of things
when war between the United States
and Spain was declared. As soon as
the leaders found Spain had her hands ;
full with the United States the insurrec- j
iion took on a new lease of life. The
chiefs in Rong-Kong communicated
with United States Consul Wildman at
that place and offered to aid us against
Spain, stating that they wished annex
ation to the United States and relief
from Spanish rule, but made no men
tion of independence. Aguinaldo was
brought back to the Philippines
through the influence of Dewey. When
the Spanish ships were destroyed and
Manila Bay was in possession of Dew
ey; the insurgents took heart and some
small victories were won by Aguinal
do and his followers. Aguinaldo then
commenced making claims looking
toward independence, forgetting the
laet that but for the United States he
and the other leaders would have still
been in Hong-Kong.
Let us look at the proposition that the
United States Bhould turn over the is
lands to the people, with absolute inde
pendence, for a moment. There is
nothing about the condition and char
acteristics of the Filipinos that war
rants the belief that they are capable
of self-government. As shown by the
census recently taken, the population
•f the islands is about 6% millions.
Of this number 650,000 are classified as
belonging to the “wild tribes,” i. e., sav
ages. These are divided into eighty
different tribes. The savages will thus
be seen to be about 10 per cent of the
STILLWATER, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1903.
total population. This fact alone would
make the chance of successful eelf-gov
ernment very difficult, if not impossi
ble.
But what of the other 90 per cent of
the population? If they were com
posed of English, Americans or others
whose nationality and temperament fit
them for self-government the problem
would not be so difficult. But a race
of people ruled, or rather misruled, by
Spain for years, suddenly thrown upon
their own resources, could end in but
one way—a series of dictatorships or
anarchy. Regarding Aguinaldo and
his actions, I have come to the conclu
sion that he had in his mind at the
time of his turning against the author
ity of the United States the idea of a
dictatorship for himself under the
guise of securing independence for the
islands.
Take into consideration the condi
tions and temperament of the people,
there is absolutely no foundation upon
which to base a belief in a capable self
government. But suppose for the sake of
argument we leave them to themselves,
can anyone be insane enough to think
that they would remain so? We must
remember that the European countries
are strictly in the real estate business.
They are “it” when any new territory
is in sight. Because of their geograph
ical position and value, the islands
would become their prey; they would
be swallowed up for debt or some oth
er excuse before the young republic
was fairly started, as would have been
the case in South America but for the
Monroe Doctrine.
We hear the claims, “violation of the
Declaration of Independence” and “a
government can receive its just powers
only from the consent of the governed.”
We can have no better authority upon
the “consent of the governed” claim
than the founders of this government.
At the very beginning the Louisiana
Purchase was made practically by
signers of the Declaration of Independ
ence. No one ever dreamed of holding
an election, to find out whether the in
habitants of the Louisiana Purchase
Territory gave their consent or not.
Again, we have Alaska added to our
country without the consent of the in
habitants, Such a proposition was
never heard of until given birth in con
nection with the Philippine question, at
the same time the anti-imperialist mi
crobe came into existence. Through
the payment to Spain of $20,000,000
j and the war this country secured a title
to the islands not only through con
quest, but also by purchase. As against
control by a foreign government with
an uncertain future, depending much
upon what country secured control, is
independence, with its inevitable strug
gles upon the part of the people
against would-be dictators and against
disorder, they have brought order out
of chaos, linked with a strong govern
ment aiding and assisting on every
hand.
While I have not the faith some peo
ple have in our government, imagining
it can make a few cents’ worth of sil
ver equal a gold dollar, or buckwheat
cakes legal tender simply by putting
upon them its stamp of approval, I
still believe this country through its
representatives can and will handle the
future of the Philippines to the entire
satisfaction of the people of the islands
as well as the people of America.
The benefits to the islands, even at
this early date, are not theoretical or
imaginary. A vast system of improv
ements, embracing sound currency, san
itary regulations and a system of educa
tion, looking toward moral, physical
and financial advancement is in opera
tion. The control of the Philippines
marks the commencement of an epoch
in the affairs of this country larger and
broader than ever before. It will ne
cessitate widening our previous nar
row limits as a nation and making our
influence felt throughout the civilized
world. We will become, in fact, a
world power, a position the mere
mention of which has been a night
mare to the anti-imperialists. It is the
entering wedge toward securing a
larger share of the vast trade of the
“IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND.”
Pacific, which will necessarily be car
ried largely in our' ships. It will
bring into existence a merchant ma
rine ranking with that of any other
country. It is possible that some time
in the future the islands may bring
about a partial solution of the race
problem, through the colonization
with government assistance, of the
islands by Southern negroes. They
are exactly adapted to the climate
and the climate to them. I be
lieve the time is not far distant
when this matter will receive serious
attention. Notwithstanding the oppo
sition in some quarters, when we take
into consideration the advantages to
be derived both by the Filipinos and
ourselves the action being taken
toward them would seem to be the
most logical and reasonable solution of
the problem possible. G. J.
New York’s Election.
THOSE who judge the ideals of
the voters of New York City
by the puritanical standard of
a New England village were
surprised by the unexpected victory of
Tammany. New York is a great cos
mopolitan city filled with all classes,
nationalities and conditions of men.
Tammany has been successful in giv
ing this diversified multitude the kind
of government it wants. Whether
Tammany’s methods of administering
the affairs of New York are ideal and
above criticism concerns none but the
people of New York City. They have
never complained a great deal about
Tammany rule and have never endured
any other for any great length of time.
One thing is certain —New Yerk Is
done with reform politicians, and their
methods of making people good,
whether they will or not. Perhaps the
real factor in Tammany success is the
fact that the great majority of voters
in New York are among the poorer
classes. The rich man who lives up
town has no influence in a city elec
tion. The voters in the crowded dis
tricts are always on the side of Tam
many. The reason for this is too obvi
ous to mention. Pendennis.
Silence—a deeper sea—
Now suDders thee,
Save from thefprlmal tone—
Thy mother’s moan.
Within her waves hadst thou
No voice as now:
A life of exile long
Hath taught thee song.
—John B. Tabb, in Scribner’s.
An Autumn Homily.
WHEN a man in or out of
prison sighs and says he
longs to lead a better life,
I no longer suspect him of
reckless or profligate practices. He has
said it a good many times in my hear
ing, for he and in pretty much
the same position—find ourselves ad
vancing ominously in years, and in
creasingly attentive to the possibilities
that remain for us in this life. At first
I would reflect on what a mess he had
made of it all, from beginning to end, al
ways choosing the wrong thing, always
a failure, always sinking a little lower;
all his efforts incomplete. Then I
would realize that his sigh and familiar
exclamation are the genuine tokens of
an aspiration which most of us share
and which, while its vehemence varies
according to seasons and circumstances,
cannot long be altogether missing from
the consciousness of any growing soul.
I sympathize with my fellow penitent.
No doubt you'do, too. Each of us
whose spiritual state is at all healthy
harbors a wholesome measure of chron
ic dissatisfaction with his progress in
grace. We should like to get on faster,
to make fewer missteps, to be saintlier,
less greedy, less bothered by recurring
spasms of repentence over recurring
incidents of misbehavior. We don’t
grudge the repentence, bat we would
the Shell
gladly eliminate the misdeeds that ne- 1
ceseitate it. \
Most of us incline to the conviction A
that we could lead a better life if we j
had a better income and got it easier. ,
“Easy money has brought many a man j
to hard labor.” We grudge the time ]
and thought we have to devote to \
money-gettiug, or to spreading rather ,
a thin layer of funds over a large area ,
of expenditure. If we were richer j
maybe we would have more time and
inclination to be good. If the margin ]
between our needs and our receipts (
were a little wider, we could practice ,
divers virtues of benevolence. If we ■
could live under such reasonable con- ,
ditions as we would choose, and be quit
of sundry trials and annoyances that
assail our tempers and strain our pa
tience, surely we. should make out bet
ter. If we had a better time we could
lead a better life —that is what most of us
are prone to think, and we are apt, ac
cordingly, to try hard to have a better
time, and to enlarge our means, if pos
sible, to that end. So long as we make
the end fit the means by legitimate
practices and a conscious rectitude of
purpose there will not be the ignomini
ous failure that so many of us are now
experiencing.
We are told that in these days Amer
icans are in greater haste to be rich
than any people. Very likely. And
probably it is partly because we are
such an aspiring people, and because so
many of us long to lead better lives.
The reasoning that armies of us seem to
follow is: “Be rich and you will be hap
py; be happy and you will be good.”
It is not altogether false reasoning.
The eld sew that used to be in all the
copy-books in school was, “Be virtuous
and you will be happy.” Now, it is a
poor saw that won’t cut both ways.
We can’t lay down, “Be happy and you
will be virtuous” as a sure rule, but
still it is a fair corollary to the other
more important propositions. Certain
ly folk who are happy—truly happy—
are more apt to be good, and have less
excuse for not being good, than those
who are wretched. Certainly, too, folk
who have what they consider about
enough to live on are more apt to be
happy than those who have not. That
you want to get rich means in these times
hardly more than that you are civilized
and have developed wants; and we
certainly believe that we are warranted
| in considering the civilized people in
,the world who keep wanting to grow
| richer better people than the less civi
! lized peoples who have little regard for
j money. The general impulse to make
more money is defensible at least, espe
cially when we consider tt»e cases of
lazy persons who seem not to be doing
their best in that line.
All the same, when my fellow peni
tent longs to lead a better life it does
not merely mean that he wants to be
C richer. Bread and such things are in
s dispensable, but man does not live by
i, bread only; and it isn’t the lack of
f bread, nor even of automobiles and
3 steam-yachts, that you and I and our
- fellows are conscious of when we have
3 these yearnings for betterment. They
mean that we are tired of being con
fessed and conscious sinners day in
and day out, and should like to square
our conduct with higher standards.
We should like to be only aDout so sel
fish as to save prudent persons the
trouble of taking care of us; only
about bo thrifty as to avoid having
sound reasons to regret that we were
not thiftier; only about so critical of
our neighbors as is indispensable to
the maintenance of a proper standard
of righteousness; only nice enough as
to our employments to secure our doing
the sort of work suited to bring out the
best we have in us. Perpetual self-seek
ing, and self-coddling, and the avoid
ance of all avoidable pains and duties
ought to make us discontented, and
they do. Part of oar time and strength
we have need to devote to labors
whereof the pay comes not in cash, nor
in ordinary pleasures or advantages,
but in satisfactions which are spiritual
and benefit our souls. We all know
that theoretically; but in practice we
are very apt to overlook it. When we
Tedus.l Sl.ooper year, In advance
i tKMB.-j gi x Months 60centk
have plenty of food and no appetite,
we know that it will pay us better to
work up an appetite than to seek a
new species of tempting food; but
when the conditions under which we
live are reasonably good, and we have
pleasures and privileges in fair quanti
ty and are still restless, we don’t always
recognize that what we need is not
more enjoyments, but a better appetite
for those we already command.
It is conceivable that when the mil
lennium comes everything will go right
on the earth, and there will be nothing
to bother about. But meantime, while
there is much to bother about, I cannot
think any one entirely fortunate who is
not bothered in reasonable proportion
to his powers. To have no anxieties, to
be subject to no annoyances, to have no
unwelcome duties, and no occasion for
self-denial, is not by any means to be
in a good case. Anyone finding him
self in such a predicament is bound to
go out and hunt up labors and troubles
merely to make life worth living. Ev
ery one of us is a wheel with cogs in it,
meant to fit in with other cogged
wheels —making a harmonious whole—
and turn more or less laboriously and
effectively in the great human machine.
Either we fit ourselves into that ma
chine and turn with the other wheels,
or we go to the scrap pile. Let us
ponder over this well, for it is the ne
cessity of our circumstances, that each
one of us must get himself into line
and harmony with this system of
things. Otherwise each one of us will
find himself working at cross-purposes
with the human machine.. Usefulness,
success, satisfying fruition of all our
work are possible only when our work
is in harmony with the general sweep
of human activities.
Did you ever think why it is that
crime cannot possibly be successful, no
matter how able the criminal ? It is be
cause the criminal is combatting every
settled method of civilization. Every
device of business becomes a detective;
and the criminal’s operations are in con
flict with the whole course of the daily
life of eighty millions of our people—of
all people. Let him take precautions
ever so cunningly, the criminal finds his
plans utterly irrational and is bound to
run up against it sooner or later, when,
if he be wise, he will mend his ways
and consecrate himself to higher pur
poses and become a useful member of
society and an honor to himself and
the world at large. There was a pris
on warden who once announced that
he had made a new consecration of
himself to public duties. He was
an honest and honored man, but not
especially holy, and the public press de
rided his consecration a good deal. But
no doubt he had, on a somewhat larger
scale, the same feeling that you and I
have when we weigh our past efforts
and review our progress, and disparag
ing a little our daily course, sigh and
long to lead a better life. I don’t
know that there is any better way for
us to mark the return of Thanksgiving
than by taking out new consecrations
for our own use. It is not necessary that
we should do it dismally. Nothing
that is dismal fits the Thanksgiving
season. We should be determined to
be as good humored as possible about
everything, to accept cheerfully and
kindly our share of life’s labors, to
practice charity, avoiding evil and
moving along on life’s highway with as
little friction as possible.
“Spite of all the sorrow,
Spite of all the song,
Mountain top or valley,
Movin’ right along!
“In the Icy winter
Still a summer song,
Any sort o’ weather
Movin’ right along.”
E. D. M.
Indians Educating Whites.
The Quapaws, of Indian Territory, a
small tribe, to provide against illiteracy
among their white lessees, established
last year a public school system, and
several schools were maintained for
six months, attended by thirty-two In
dian and 200 white children. The Qua
paws paid 91,000 from their funds, but
Che whites failed to pay their tax of
one cent an acre from each white lessee
and 91 per annum from each white
laborer, and the schools had to be
closed.—The Indians’ Friend.