The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-09-14
PHILIPPINE SITUATION.

OQuuAulllluuGE 6G4lutuAHu live OHN
an Authorized Statement OF tho
Condition OF ARalrS IN tho Arohi-
peIago.
ITHACA. N. 2, sept. iS-Prealdent
schurman returned to-day to his once
in Cornell university. he gave out tho
following statement to the ASaoclatOd
Press on Philippine aftairs;
at e very important that the public
should know the actual facts Of the sit
nation. Things are what they are, and
the American public should understand
them, whether they agree with or run
counter to the public'G wtaheG
First, Il requires some eifoft 70 reals
iEe the vastneSs OF the archipelago.
which extends In triangular form from
FormoBh to BOrneO and Celebeg through
sixteen degrees OF latitude. Never go4
ing out in the Pacific ocean on the east
nor the China sen on the west, ImAde
o circuit Of two thousand miles all
south Of Manila. This gives some IDEA
Of the difficulty OF maintaining an eRec.
tive blockade, aS the coast line Of all
the islands embraced In the archipelago
Is many more thousands OF miles.
Second. the multiplicity and heteroA
genous nature Of the tribes Is something
astounding. Over sixty different lan'
guages are spoken In the archipelago,
and though the majority Of tribes are
small, there at least half dozen, each
having over a quarter Of q million
members. The languages Of these peo-
pie are as distinct from one another a.
French and Spanish or italian. 30 that
the speech of any one tribe Is unintelll-
gible TO its neighbors. These tribes are
all civilized, and ohristian!1ed, but
small uncivlliZed tribes, among whom
the Igorotes seem best known in Amer
ica, inhabIt the mountains in Lulon,
and form large part Of the population
Of Mindanao. IN this island also there
Is a large Mohammedan population,
which Is Independent Of the Mohamrne-
dams In the nelghboring sulu archipel-
''Thlrd, It Is the TagaloS, fnhabiting
some OF the provinces about Manila,
who are resisting the authority OF tho
United States. Other civilized Filipi-
nos are neutral, except where they are
coerced by armed bands Of Tagalos who
seized upon their governments during
the making and the ratification Of our
treaty Of peace with Spain. It would
be incorrect to assume, however, that
these tribes are allies Of ours. They
uIE Nuks AAAAEGht NuNg 1AN AAee NAhAA9AN
suspicion Of the white race Of which
they have had experience only through
Spain. But there are men OF Intelli-
gence and property and the masses
when not stirred up by the Tagalos rec-
ogniEe the advantage to them Of Amert-
can sovereignty and so remain neutral
although robber bands from time to
time descend from the mountains 70
plunder and burn the estates OF the
peaceful Inhabitants on the plains.
Fourth, the insurrection, though SER
louB enough, as experience has proven,
is not national uprising. Indeed there
is no Philippine nation. As have all
ready said, there is a multifaTious COLI
lection Of tribes having only this in
common, that they belong to the Mo-
lay race, The inhabitants Of the arch-
ipelaEo no more constitute nation
than the inhabitants OF the continent Of
Europe do.
Fifth, the United States having as
sumed by treaty Of pence with Spain,
sovereignty over the archipelago, be-
came responsible for the maintenance
of peace and order, the administration
Of Justice. the security OF life and prob-
erty among all the tribes of the archi-
pelngo. This Is an obligation which Inc
telllgent Fillpinos, not less than for
eign nations, expect US TO fulfill. Nor
Will the national honor permit Us TO
turn back. In taking the Philippine ID.
lands we annexed great responsibility.
The fact that the responsibility IL heav-
Ter than most people supposed It would
be, iB no excuse for failure to discharge
It. I repeat that the Philippine ques-
ton Is essentially a question Of national
honor and obligation"
In reply to an inquiry whether any.
thing was now left but to fight 1t out,
President Schurman said:
"In my opinion. much good would be
done by a declaration on the part Of
Congress OF the form Of government to
be established In the islands, or better
still, let Congress establish a govern
ment for the Philippine Islands and
have It put In force in all p0Fta and
among all tribes hostile to the United
States. This would serve several pur.
poses. It would distinguish between
our friends and our enemies and treat
the former according 10 their deserts.
II would also give to our enemies Q
demonstration Of free government on
American plan, q very important point
when 1t Is remembered that the Tagn-
los claim to be fighting for their lib
erty. And I had better call attention
to the fact that the government which
Is well adapted to one tribe may need
considerable modification to be avails
able for another"
Asked about the capacity Of the Fiji.
pino peoples to govern themselves,
President Schurman replied that they
had had no experience In self COVE
ernment. except in municipal affairs,
and even these were subject to the
control Of the Spanish authorities, He
thought, however, that each tribe
might, subject to the supervision Of q
wise general government, manage in
the main its own municipal and provin-
would vary with the position which the
different tribes occupied In the scale Of
civilization.