from them
to follow those of Great Britain? Why need we, all of a sudden, be so
very English and so altogether French, even borrowing their nomenclature
of "imperialism?" Why can not we, too, in the language of Burke, be
content to set our feet "in the tracks of our forefathers, where we can
neither wander nor stumble?" The only difficulty in the way of our so
doing seems to be that we are in such a desperate hurry; while natural
influences and methods, though in the great end indisputably the wisest
and best, always require time in which to work themselves out to their
results. Wiser than the Almighty in our own conceit, we think to get
there at once; the "there" in this case being everlasting "tutelage," as
in India, instead of ultimate self-government, as in Mexico.

The policy heretofore pursued by us in such cases,--the policy of
"Hands-off," and "Walk alone," is distinctly American; it is not
European, not even British. It recognizes the principles of our
Declaration of Independence. It recognizes the truth that all just
government exists by the consent of the governed. It recognizes the
existence of the Monroe Doctrine. In a word, it recognizes every
principle and precedent, whether natural or historical, which has from
the beginning lain at the foundation of our American polity. It does not
attempt the hypocritical contradiction in terms, of pretending to
elevate a people into a self-sustaining condition through the
leading-string process of "tutelage." It appeals to our historical
experience, applying to present conditions the lessons of Hayti, Mexico,
and Venezuela. In dealing with those cases, we did not find a great
standing army or an enormous navy necessary; and, if not then, why now?
Why such a difference between the Philippines and Hayti? Is Cuba larger
or nearer to us than Mexico? When, therefore, in future they ask us what
course and policy we Anti-Imperialists propose, our answer should be
that we propose to pursue towards the islands of Antilles and the
Philippines the same common-sense course and truly American policy which
were by us heretofore pursued with such signal success in the cases of
Hayti, Mexico, and Venezuela, all inhabited by people equally unfit for
self-government, and geographically much closer to ourselves. We propose
to guarantee them against outside meddling, and, above all, from
"tutelage," and make them, by walking, learn to walk alone.

This, I submit, is not only an answer