The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-06-02
THE PHILIPPINES.
A Manila View of NATIVE Government.
Its Impossibility. Il

us impOSsiDiltty. Aag
Manila Times: I'm Mindanao, the
withdrawal Of the small. scattered Span
lsh garrlsons has been the signal for in
tertslbal wars. never quite suppressed,
to burst into new llfe." This Is the key
with which alone the Philippine prob
len can be solved. Spain, weak and
corrupt. perhaps, managed. AZ any rate.
to preserve some sembance OF orders in
the Philippines. Spain has now been
driven out bv Admiral Dewey's victory,
and. primarily. by that alone. It Is,
therefore. imperative that the United
States must establish some authority In
place Of the Spanish. The question is,
what authority Is best to be chosen?
The whole Philippine problem Is mar
rowed down 10 the one questionable
should govern the Islands, and how?
OF the numerous answers suggested
one is disposed OF by this news from
Mlndan7o. Natives cannot govern. The
removal OF Spanish authority, poor as
that was. Is the re-establ!shmen O.
primeval anarchy. II may be less
marked In some islands than In others,
but the fact remains that In all The Is
lands some substantial authority re-
quires to be set up and no native gov
ernnent is strong enough. In Negroes
the native leaders had sufficient ,a.+i'i-
sence TO know this and sufficient hon
esty and moral courage to say SO. In
Cebu almost the same. In Panay ma
tlves were fighting against n1t.ycs,
ah0rtUiOfc nd t,,I L..
esocs were d!sputing and wrangllng and
occasionally cutting each others
Threats unofflclally long before the
Spanlards. besleged in Iloilo, had escap-
ed to Zamboanga. In Mindoro and
Paragua 1t Is the same as In Mlndanao
-prlmeral saragery, let loose from the
weak bands OF Spanish suzerainty.
The country Is as badly sma ,had. It's
social. commercial and administrative
organization as completely knocked to
pieces as the machinery OF the sunken
ReiEa Christina TO reconstruct either
would be, "a task Of inordinate difficulty,
and probably not very profitable. The
native government, say in Mlndanao,
can no more pull Itself together than
could the poor wrecked hulk OFF Punta
SaEg!ey. The hulk can be left as she
lies. to cost nobody anything more than
an inexpensive sigh Of pity Can popu-
lous Islands be left to sink in the slough
of savagery? Can millions Of human
beings who have seen n ElImmcring OF
civilization, who have inclpient Indus
tries that should benefit the whole
world. who have more or less Christian
ity among them-can these be left as
they are. to cost nobody anything more
than an anti-expansion argument?
DaVos Is small coast town, exactly
like what Batavia once was. and Ba-
tavia now IS like what Davos mag be-
come some day. Davos, however, has
two rival Aguinaldians fighting for the
presidentship. while the Wild Moham.
Ineoan Moros from the mountains
swoop down on the unSuarded town,
and the fierce sea rovers from all the
piratical coasts Of the. southern seas arc
marrying the shore. Machinery OF gov
eminent" evidently may be- an Internal
machine. Possibly the Filiplnos may
do better in some places than In Davos.
They need TO, for worse could not be.
But the varying degrees OF anarchy
prevailing In various places cannot
shake the accuracy OF the argument,
We know from Aguinnldos own official
GaZette that the northern provinces of
Lu1on axe being ralded by armed bands
OF fghtinS mer hostile 10 his authority.
Can the country be left to native rule?
That would save the United States a
good deal OF trouble. money and men.
The deaths Of soldiers may reach many
thousands. though we ferven,lv hone
not. The money may reach n big FIG
ure. though that is comparatively unim-
poriant. The United States having de-
stroyed what little there was In the
way OF orderly rule, must face the task
honestly and honorably whatever the
cost may be. The one argument OF the
antl-expans!onis,s, that the natives
should rule the Islands. Is refuted by
the example OF these islands already
suffering from 4 premature lndepend-
cnce.