AT the beginning of the war with Spain it was declared by President McKinley that “forcible annexation cannot be thought of,” in the case of Cuba, because such a thing would be “criminal aggression.” And Congress, in harmony with the same sentiment, declared before the world that “the people of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent.”
Now, less than a year later, Congress has declared of the people of the Philippine Islands—a people as capable as are the Cubans—that they are not, and of right ought [120] not to be, free and independent; and what was declared to be “criminal aggression,” has now been decreed and justified by the President under the name “benevolent assimilation.” There are strange synonyms being brought to light these days, and there is much about them that calls for explanation.