The Holland Society of New York - Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 67 text:

41' contempt for actual conditions and for the knowl- edge of the natives, humble though they be. We have placed upon us now the responsibili- ties of these colonies. It behooves us not only to acquaint ourselves with the characteristics and capabilities of their people, but to study the methods employed by other nations who have suc- ceeded in dealing with their colonial possessions. Before we advance onestep further we must as- sure ourselves that we make no mistake in the way in which we organize our new possessions. If we look at what other nations have done we shall see much to guide us. For example, while England has in many respects been very successful in deal- ing with her colonies, she has attempted in many places to make Englishmen of them and failed. She has learned that she 'cannot put brown spats on the barefooted savages, or make them wear. monocles and carry heavy walking-sticks like London cads. We have the benefit of her fail- ures when she tried fantastic notions about ele- vating savages and teaching them her religion, or making them adopt her method of life. We have the benefit of Spain's experience, and have seen her by tyranny and lack of sympathy and a grasp- ing policy lose all her colonies. When we turn to Holland, we see that in the government of the islands of java and Celebesshe has given us an example of wise, conservative government, under which her colonies have grown from five to twenty- Eve millions of people in seventy years. How has she accomplished it? Simply by the CXC1'CiSC of sound common sense, and from the fact that the Dutch have never thought that they knew more than they did or could accomplish miracles. They

Page 69 text:

' 43 problem, but is one which appeals to the heart and brain of every patriotic citizen who desires to see the Republic grow in power and in glory, It must be dealt with in such manner that we shall steer clear between the extremes of paternal des- potism and sentimental legislation, which shall in- ject into the body politic a dangerous franchise, which will prove a menace to our own freedom and the intelligent purity. of our own institutions. We do not .owe it to ourselves, or to them, or to civilization that we shall go there proclaiming the dogma, which we do not believe ourselves, that all men are born free and equal. They are not! Men' are born just as horses and mules and don- keys and dogs are born. Some are of one kind and some of another. An old darkey was once asked to dehne the difference between a mule and a jackass. He promptly replied: A jackass is exactly like a mule, only a mule is a little more so 1 just so, an intelligent Christian American cit-izen may be just like a Cuban, Puerto Rican, a Sand- wich Islander, or a Filipino, but I, for one at least, ,believe the American is a little more so! I We must realize that, for the present at least, we have had enough of Fourteenth Amendments ! We want to get a good, strong-minded American administration, which will take these intellectual babies, whose cradles we must rock, and put them to school when they are large enough, and birch them if they do not study their books, and keep them in healthy and kindly tutelage until they are ready to graduate. Then it will be time enough to consider their status and their rights to citizen- ship, absolute or qualified. To deal with them otherwise now, would be midsummer madness.