The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-22
Philippine Facts and Figures.


ing to the dispatch from Gen. Merritt
to our war department, printed in yes
terday's G lob e. The phrase, meas
ures the extent Of the territory in the
Philippines of which we have posses
sion. 1t is sufficient for coaling sta
ton. dry docks. and an American coll
ony, such as Senator Davis has de-
scribed. and let us hope that 1t will I'LL
timately be conceded to cover all that
properly belongs to us to protect. We
shall undoubtedly be compelled to lis
ten to much discussion over the sig
nificance Of the word Suburbs" if, in
deed, that Is the proper word, and not
Subig, which is the name Of the bay
in that part Of the Philippines.
Your land-grabbing expansionist who
conceals his real motives behind the
flag may be expected to declare that
the entire Philippine group Is compre-
hended in this simple Latin compound,
No matter If the photographer does
declare that "a suburb Is an outlying
part Of city or. town; a part without
the city boundaries, but in the neigh
borhood Of a city," he will not desst
from his contention. Nor will he quit
even though he may be staggered to
learn that the states Of New York, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland
combined just about represent the area
of the Philippines. He might, perhaps,
admit that even the most exaggerated
American humor would not stand for
any such statement as that Chicago.
ST. Louis and Omaha are suburbs Of
ST pny1J hot
Philadelphia and Buffalo are suburbs
of New York city. But, in his con-
Stunning zeal for Philippine soil, he will
certainly insist that the entire group
constitutes the suburbs Of 'tthe city
and defenses Of Manila"
The concern Of the administration as
to what actually occurred in the Phil
ippines may well be understood. 1t I'M
doubtedly feels relieved that neither
Dewey nor Merritt has acted sentiment
tally, and therefore foolishly, at Ma
nila The demands Of diplomacy were
unquestiona bly, considered by both
these officers. They crossed no line
which will need to be abandoned, took
no step which will require retreat
and hoisted no flag that must be low
cred. All in all, they have anticipated
the requirements Of our government
from a diplomatic point of view, and
have satisfied that conservative senti-
ment Of this country which they were
brought UP to respect. The hungry
Joes Of Imperialism may not be alto
gether happy, but the people who
would be taxed to maintain the Phil
ippine elephant will give sigh of re-
lief
1t has been estimated that the mill
tary force required to hold and control
the Philippines will be not less than
10000 men. The annual expense Of such
body Of troops would be SIT, 900 900
for pay and $4,000 600 more for the
commissary, quartermaster, medical
and ordnance departments. Figure as
an additional item of expense the cost
! Of the naval establishment necessary
! to cooperate with the land force.
which will be about SO, OOO,O 900, and we
have total expenditure of $50, 000, 900
| per year for which the people Of the
| United States must be taxed These
figures apply to conditions which will
exist AFTER the Philippines have been
conquered and their savage Inhabitants
have been reduced to subsection; when.
in word, security to life and trade
has once been established.
Meanwhile, an enormous expense will
| have been incurred in subduing the ma
tives and in reaching that peaceful.
So-million per year period This is esti-
| ted hV
than S60,000,000 per year if. az Gen.
Merritt insists. $4,000 soldiers are need
ed. II a larger military force should
prove necessary, then the increase In
expense will be proportional.
Look at the other side of the ledger
and see what would be gained by our
| occupying the islands. SPANS net an
nual revenue has been 100000, out Of
a total taxation Of $500, 00o The ap-
plication Of honest methods to the COL
lection Of revenues, 1t Is estimated by
this same high authority, ought to re-
suit in the United States netting an
nrally about $4,000, 900 over the cost of
governmental administration, in peace
full times Deducting this from the
cost Of military service already refer
ned to, there would still be an an
nual expense Of s2o,0Oo,oOO to he pro-
vided for by the American taxpayers,
for the trade figures give no hope for
relief from that quarter.
The total value Of all the exports of
the Philippines for 1896 was only $780,
756,25O, sum nearly twice as large
as the imports for the same year, for
these amounted to only $40, 937, 500.
One more step makes the reasoning
complete that from the trade point of
view the Philippines are Likely to prove