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Show GRIEF THAT WILL NOT COUNT. The Butte Miner copies a part of an article from this journal, Ignores the rest and then preaches a little sermon from the portion copied. It assumes that "an outrageous assault has been made upon Colombia," a "sister republic," and that "it has been robbed of the most important portion of its territory," and that '"no justification can be found for that by recourse to the contest with the Indians for the possession of the American Ameri-can continent." Well, for the sake of argument, why not? Th,e Miner says: "It was one of the exigencies of civilization that led to the invasion of the American continent by Europeans, and it was the progressive tendency of this civilization that resulted in the conflicts with the red men in which the latter were worsted." Is not that rather a strange and dangerous admission? Squarely stated it would read as follows: "The white men found the land; they coveted it; being better armed than the Indians, they took it; It was an exigency of civilization; what are you going to do about it?" Continuing in the same strain, the Miner, in effect, says: "It is different when you U B come to the mongrels on the Isthmus of Panama. i B Not one in ten of those characterless scoundrels knows who his father was, for a trifling consider- ! B atlon the average Colombian and Panamaan would B sell you his mother's marriage certificate; he is , jB without pride of ancestry and he does not care a B continental about posterity, but, say, that is a B sister Republic, and we must grieve over that . Hfl spoliation and make all the clamor possible about B it up to election day. After that our sympathies B and our sense of eternal justice will suddenly cool. B And though it is getting a little stale, we must B still keep up our grief over "the robbing of the B Filipinos of their possessions," for we are in a B close place and must have some slogans for the B coming campaign." B That is all very touching. The only trouble B is there is no possible foundation for it all. Some B years ago Panama joined the confederation of M Colombia. But she made the reservation that she H would withdraw whenever it seemer to her best in- H terests to do so. The government of the United M States was contemplating the construction of an jH inter-oceanic canal. Colombia wanted it built M across Darien, and agreed upon the terms. Our' M Congiess , after much debate, accepted the terms" V M and a treaty was drafted putting those terms into , M effect and it was latified by the Senate of the Unit- M ed States. It was sent to Bogota, where the Colom- !t M bian Congress was in session. From that Con- M gress it received nothing but contempt up to the B day of adjournment. A few days later B Panama, under her reserved rights, withdrew B from the Colombian Confederation and declared B herself an independent state. President Roose- M velt at once recognized the new power, and was B swiftly followed by the chief nations of the old B world. At the same time he cabled to our naval B commanders at Colon to keep the'peace, as we are B bound to do by an old Democratic treaty made in B 184G. Further, when importuned by anxious Con- B gressmen Congressmen anxious to make a point B against him, the President declared that there was B no conspiracy, no bargain, no understanding with.' B the men of Panama, through which they declared B their independence. Had the President not done B what he did the Democracy would now be berat- B ing him for a serious neglect of duty and wo fear B the Miner would be joining in the cry. For in-' B stance, suppose the President had not promptly B moved and Franco had sent a fleet to Aspinwall B to protect French property on the Isthmus, what H kind of a fix, under the Monroe doctrine, would H our Government have been in? H As for the Filipinos, when the islands were M taken from Spain it was found that they were M peopled by some thirty odd warring tribes, and l that one tribe, the Tagals, sought the mastery and H sought to put the rest down and make them slaves ', M with all attending cruelties. They had to be put l H down. The soldiers and sailors of tho United M States did the work. Peace was restored, every ( B man was guaranteed peaceful possession of what J was his; he was further guaranteed protection and B a chance to live and work and to have what he 'B earned. M That is, the right thing was done, and neither B out of the Philippines nor Panama can the De- ,B mocracy got a war slogan for the campaign which B tho honest masses of this country will heed. B |