The Washington times., 1901-12-20
FilipinOs Fail to Grasp
Sell Government.
REPORT OF TIE TAFT COMMISSION,
New Americans Have Much Yet
With Which to Struggle White
Men to Hold Buik of Offices Until
All Ara L ,avened With Liberty -
No Great Progress vt.

partly CT Americans and partly OF Fill
pines, giving the Americans the ultimate
Ccntrol ( 7 ssme time TO ccIne.
The great body CT the pc; pie are ig-
norant ard suporstidous." saT the com
misslcners. and are at present incapable
CT understanding any government but that
Of abscluts sm. Their intelligence and ed
ucaticn may be largely measured by
knowledge of the Spanish language. less
ihan 10 per cent of them speaking Span
lsh.
with Spaniards in control Of these is
lands fer 400 years and with Spanish
spoken in all oiiicial avenues, nothing
could be more significant Of the lack of
real Intelligence among the people than
this statement.
Not n WariiLc People.
"The common class are not warlike
people, but are submissive and easily con-
trolled by The educated among them, ard
the power Cf an educated Filipino, pollti-
oally ambitious. willing to plot. and use
ell the arts of demagsgue in rGus!ng the
people. is quite dangerous.
n ne educate peO PIE themselves, though
fun Cf phrases concerning liberty, have
III faint conception Of what real civil
liberty is. and the mutual self-restraint
\. niCh g involved in It's maintenance.
They find it hard to understand the divi-
slCn Uf powers IN a govelnment and the
limitatit rs that are operative upon all Of
hcers no matter hOw high.
In the municipalities. in the Spanish
days what the friar did not -1ntroi the
presidente did, and the people knew and
expec cd no limit to his exercise of au-
thoIity. This is the difficulty we now
encounter in the organization Of the mu-
nicipality. The presidente fails TO observe
the limitations upon his power. and the
people are too submissive TO press them. "
Qualifications for Voters.
To better such condition, the COM
mission decided that the voter must
speak, read, and write English or Spanish,
or have been formerly a municipal Of
ficer. or that he should pay tax equal
TO SIS year, or own property TO the
value of $3.50. II has been proposed, and
the commission will probably adopt an
amendment in accordance with the pro-
posal. that the payment Of a tax of more
than SIS as a license for a saloon shall
not constitute qualification.
These requisites were strongly recon-
Inended by all the Filipinos consulted in
the matter, many of whom advocated a
much higher qualification.
Meaning of .sPubIic Trust.-
The absolute lack of any sense Of re-
sponslbility on the part Of public officers
heretofore has been vexatious problem
10 the commission. the Islanders regard
ing Office as a source Of private profit, and
as a means of gratifying private desires,
either hate or friendship.
Education Toward Suffrage.
The commission hopes that by estab-
fishing form of municipal government
practically autonomous, with limited
electorate. and by suhjecting its opera
tions to the scrutiny and criticism OF a
provincial government in which the con-
trolling element is American, the Fill
pinos will gradually grasp Western ideas
OF self-rule.
The commissioners, however, do not
look for permanent results in less than
generation. perhaps two.
Congressional Representation.
On this line the commission make the
following request: we ask that provi-
sion be made for the selection after jan
uary 1904, by joint vote Of the popular
assembly and the executive council. OF
two delegates TO represent the interests
of these Islands and the Filipino people
before Congress and the Executive at
o. Washington. Their expenses and salaries
should be paid from the insuiar treasury.
This is something which the Filipino peO-
pie have very much at heart. We believe
tha& such representation would be useful
bo.h to those islands and TO the United
States"
Civil Service Necessary.
without civil service in force, rs at
present the Commissioners say American
70 huniliatlng failure, and even il all its
provisions are enforced It IS likely to be
very difficult to secure and keep in the
service honest, competent Americans who
will enter into the spirit Of the missionary
task OF governing The Philippines success
fully.
There is large demand for stenogra-
piers ia the Philippines. and in all de-
pariments such skill is greatly sought.
The Commission renews its recon-
mendations Of last year, that IT be given
authority to issue bonds with which to
Duy UP the agricultural nolQlnG6 and other
property OF the religious orders.
We earnestly recommend this course
The matter Is a pressing one. FOR the ac-
tion OF the courts in enforcing legal de-
orees In favor Of the real owners Ct the
land against the tenants viii be a con
stant source Of irritation. riot. and law
iossness In the provinces where the land
is. and This viii lead TO distrust and un-
easiness everywhere"
TITLES 40 Property.
The Commission anticipates trouble be-
tween the Catholic Church and the lnsu-
lar government in respect to the title to
and the administration OF trust or other
property. The intimate association be
tween the Spanish Government and the
Church. and the difficulty Of separating
what is civil and what is church property
IS SO great, and presents questions Of such
eclscaey from a political standpoint. that
the Commission recommends In all such
eases an appeal be granted rom the su-
preTne Court Of the islands to the Supreme
Court Of the United States
Death of Captain Corbin. L. 8. n.
PHILADELPHIA. Dec 1s.--Capt. Thomas
Corbin, U. S. ~, one Of the Oldest mem
bers of the Philadelphia Club. died sud-
denly at his residence, 26l South Fifteenth
Street, on Tuesday night. lie was born
in virginia eighty-one years ago. and