The Washington times., 1901-11-12
PHILIPPINES THE FEATURE
To Be EXhaustively Treated in
Mr.. Roots Coming Report.
The Secretary of War Busii> EngnG-
ed in Arranging the Data Collect
ed-StrenEfh of the Army-Our
Cuban Policy to he Discussed.

Secretary Root left Washington yester-
day for a short "Trip to New York and is
expected to return today and resume
work on his annual report, which has
been in course of preparation for more
than a week past.
The Secretary Of War is giving much
time to the construction of this report. as
it covers many very important subjects,
including the reorganization Of the army
along the lines adopted by Congress at its
last SESSION; the introduction cf civil
government in the Philippines, with an
account Of the progress made by the mill
tary and civil authorities in the islands.
and also a description Of the work Of
the government of Intervention in Cuba
under Gen. Leonard Wood.
Before he began the preparation of the
report Secretary Root called upon the
diffesEssts branches of the War Department
for stsste1nents on the subjects which he
hads er consideration. He called upon
the isutant General of the Army Tor in
formation as to the personnel of the army
and the Borl1ing of the new Organization
biA : He had a statement prepared by
the sQuartermaster General showing the
operation of special features Of that ser
viee. General Miles was asked t. state
any recommendations he had to make,
and from General Corbin Secretary Root
secured a brief synopsis of the reports Of
the commanders of the military depart
meRts in the United States.
He also requested the Philippine Com
mission to supply him with data as TO
the progress made in the Philippines, and
asked General Wood for information as
to the work in Cuba Already he has out
. sy1Ffa
nation d, sired is at hand and ready for
his review. Some features of the report
are now prepared. so that it is known to
some extent what Secretary Root will say.
The report will open with a statement of
the strength of the army and It's dis
tributiou in the United States and in for
eigu territory 1t then will discuss the
movement of troops, including some in
teresting information as to the muster
ing out of the volunteer army last July,
the organization of the new regiments to
replace the troops brought from the Phil
ippines. and the question of reduction
OF the Philippine military force.
The report tells of the consolidation of
military departments for the purpose of
economy, the discontinuance of the
military department of Alaska, and
the consolidation Of the military de
partments in the Philippines under Cen
oral Wheaton and General Wade. The
military operations in the Philippines will
be described briefly and Secretary Root
will refer to the capture of Aguinaldo. 1t
is his present intention not to give much
attention to the effect of Aguina ldo's cap
ture. except so far as 1t may be necessary
10 give General Funston proper credit for
his achievement, but so far as showing
any great result upon the insure ction
he does not believe that Aguinaldo's cap
ture was very important
The termination of the insurrection will
be discussed, and comment made upon
the surrender of the principal insurgent
leaders. Secretary Root Will renew his
recommendations for the organization of
EDiplnos for the purpose of maintaining
order in the Philippines. and will call
attention to the excellent work. and 10y
atty of the organizations of native scouts
In reviewing the work of the Philippine
Commission the report will tell of The
transfer Of civil authority to the Com
mission and Governor Taft by General
Macarthur. who up to July exercised
the dual functions of civil and military
governor. 1t viii be pointed out in the
report that the maintenance of civil
government by the Philippine Commits
sion is under the military power Of the
President. and in this connection Secre-
tary Root will refer to the decision Of
the supreme Court in the insular cases
and its effect upon the conduct Of affafrs (
in the Philippines
He viii describe at scme length the |
improved conditions in the Philippines /
the establishment of schools by the Com ]
mission. the sending OF American teach I
ers TO Manila, the improvements ordered /
by the Philippine Commission, the adop- |
ton by that body of a code of civil pro- /
cedure code Of criminal procedure. and /
the PRONUNCIATION Of a new tariff framed /
upon lines suggested by the Philippine /
Commission.
Mention will be made of the appoint
rnent of Collector Shuster to be Collec- |
tor Of Customs at Manila; there will be |
also a resume of the principal laws en- |
acted by the Commission, the measures !
for securing revenues for the insular
government, the installation of municipal
the organization of provin-
cial governments. and the progress made
in putting into operation the machinery
of general scheme OF civil government
by the formation Of a council COMPOSED
of the members of the Philippine Com
mission. and three Fiipinos. as follows:
William f. Taft. Civil Governor: Dean
{. Worcester. Secretary of the Interior,
Luke E. Wright, Vice Governor and Sec
rotary of Commerce and Police: Henry
c. lde, Secretary OF Finance and Justice.
Bernard Moses. Secretary of Public In
stTuction; and Trinidad E. ParGo de
Tavera, Benito Legarda, and Jose Lu-
zunlaga.
Secretary Root. In telling Of the i'm
proved conditions in the Philippines. pur-
poses referring TO the recent outbreak in
Samar. and saying that such sporadic
outbreaks are not unexpected in view of
the sudden termination Of hostilities. and |
the temperament Of the Fnpinos
That part Of the report dealing with the |
work in Cuba will be of particular inter-
est because OF its remarks on the work OF |
the Constitutional Convention and the re-
laIions Of the United States TO Cuba. in |
view of the approaching time when the
island viii be ready for self-government
IT is Secretary Roots opinion that his re-
port should plainly state the obligation
Of the United States to give Cuba her
Independence. and in this view
he is strongly supported by the President
and General Wood. II is, therefore very
prObabir that he win urge that the prom
Use Of the United States to Cuba be ful-
filed at the earliest moment after the
elections provided for in the Constitution
of Cuba
The progress Of the American Govern
ment Of Intervention will be shown in the /!
report by statistics in regard to schools |
established: the revenues collected in the |
island, and the improvements determined
upon. The prosperity Of Cuba Will be
ont al