The Republican Convention of New York which met on . Wednesday
to nominate a Governor, resolved clearly and firmly that the States were bound to retain the whole of the Philippines. The delegates do not plead only the rights of conquest, but the duties which arise from the destruction of Spanish authority. " We cannot turn these islands back to Spain; we cannot leave them, unarmed for defence and un- tried in statecraft, to the horrors of domestic strife or to par- tition among the European Powers. We have assumed the responsibilities of victory, and wherever our flag has gone, there liberty, humanity, and civilisation which that flag embodies and represents, must remain and abide for ever." There is the case in a nutshell. We believe that these convictions are spreading through the whole American people, and that the Joint Commission now sitting in Paris will have only details, chiefly financial, to debate about. The Spaniards say they will not give up the Philippines, becamie the islands are not conquered, but they could not reconquer them themselves, and even General Weyler thinks their importance to Spain has been exaggerated.
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