Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 6.djvu/251

Rh them independence. Oh, Mr. President, what constitutes a promise in the conscience of an honest man? We invited their coöperation against the common enemy. We accepted the service they rendered and profited from it. We knew that in fighting by our side they thought they were fighting for their own independence. We knew more. We knew that the Filipinos would not have rendered the service from which we profited, had they believed that we would deny them their independence. But then our Government was at least honorable enough, before accepting and profiting from their service, frankly to tell them as any honest man would have done, that they were mistaken in their belief? Oh no, our Government did not honestly tell them so. It left them in their confiding belief and accepted from them what advantage it could get. Do you want proof? As a fair specimen take what General Anderson, who for a time commanded our troops there, tells us in a magazine article signed by him:

A few days thereafter (July 1, 1898) he, Aguinaldo, made an official call with cabinet, staff and a band of music. He asked if we, the North Americans, as he called us, intended to hold the Philippines as dependencies. I said I could not answer that, but that in one hundred and twenty years we had established no colonies. He then made this remarkable statement: “I have studied attentively the Constitution of the United States, and I find in it no authority for colonies, and I have no fear.” It may seem [adds General Anderson] that my answer was somewhat evasive; but I was at the time contracting with the Filipinos for horses, carts, fuel and forage.

Can any American having respect for the character of his country hear such a tale without feeling a blush of shame tingle in his cheeks?

When you invite some other person to coöperate with you in a common enterprise; when that other person upon