The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-12

part of the Military Governor st Will or
dinarily be desirable TO allow the towns TO
retain their existing organization until
such time as conditions shall improve; but,
should It prove necessary or desirable ia
individual instances to put the new law
into onerajjoE IN such provinces. 1t IS felt
that the above provisions will give to the
Military Governor ample power to deal
Win any Situation which can arise. and he
has expressed his satisfaction with them
There are al the present time q cCnsid-
cradle number Of provinces which. in the
judgment OF the Commission. are ready for
. provincial civil government It is be
lieved that in the majOrit- Of cases 1t viii
be possible 70 organize all the rlunicipali-
ties Of a province. creating a the same
lime a civil provincial government SO
soon as civil government is established
II any province. power to remove officials
for inethciency. misconduct. or disloyalty-
and, should public safety demand it, to I'LL
the Offices thus made vacant, is vested in
the civil authorities
The Law does not apply to the city Of
Manila or to the settlements Of n0r-Chris
tiau tribes. because it is believed that in
both eases special conditions require spe-
ciaI legislation.
The question as to the hest methods Of
dealing with the non Christian tribes is
Of these tribes is greatly in excess OF the
number OF civilized tribes. although the
total number of Nohammedans and pag2as
is much less than the number of Christ
ianized natives. Still re non Christian
tribes are very far from forming an in
significant element Of tae popula lion.
! They differ from each other widely, both
ii their present social moral, and intel
lectuaI state and in tlA readiness with
which they adapt themselves to the de-
mands Of modern civilization
The necessity of meeting this problem
! has been brought home 20 the Commits
/ sion by conditions in the Province OF
/ Benguet.
| The Igorrotes. who inhahit this prov
/ ince. are a pacific. Industrious, and reIa-
lively honest and truthful people, Tho
/ have never taken any part in the inSur-
TecfiCn and who have rendered our forces
yaIua Bile service by furnishing them WITH
Information. serving as carriers and aid
ing them in other ways They certainly
deserve well Of US They are, however.
iiIiterate pagans. and il is stated on good
authority that there are not three Igor
rotes in the province who tan read or
write They are accomplishing. end.
when wronged fly to the mountain fast
nesses in the centre of the island. instead
of seeking redress
The wonderful climate Of their prov
ince as well as the great mineral wealth,
make II Wellnigh certain that there VIII
be IN the near future large influx OF
Americans and Europeans The situation
is further complicated by the fact that
there are living among the lgorTotes a
! considerable number Of civilized llocanos,
/ who display a tendency to take undue
| advantage Of their less civilized neigh
/ bors when opportunity offers II IS nee
! essary. on the one hand. that The present
( inhabitants should be granted the arotec-
ton which they have well earned. and
! on the other. that they should be grad
ualy accustomed to the ways o. civil
: lied people, which, it is believed, they
Will readily adopt. They should be also
given an opportunity for elementary in
struction, which they earnestly desire #
they can have il without being Sorced to
change their religiouA beliefs
The conditions in Benguet may be taken
as fairly typical of those which prevail
IN many other provinces, populated N
whole or in part by harmless and ami
able but ignorant and superstitious Wild
tribes The Commission has already pass
ed an act for the establishment Of town
ship governments IN this province. and II
IS believed that this measure will serve
as model for other acts neceSSiT2ted by
similar conditions in other provinces The
division of the province into townships
and wards is provided for. The govern
; A&elL OF ESGL loF>AASA4Lg - -Lt'-ilA--S-A4-
! ed IN q President and Council, the latter
/ composed of one representative from
/ each ward of the township. The Presi-
dent and Vice President are chosen at
( large by a viva voce vote OF the male
! residents of the township eighteen or
/ more years OF age. and the councillors
are similarly chosen by the residents OF
/ the several barrios.
! The difficulties arising from the com
! pIete nliteracy of the people are met by
providing for the appointment Of a sec
j relary for each town. VINO shall speak
ara write Ilocano. which the Ig0rrotes
/ understand and English or Spanish