Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-12-03

mere and there We nave gone too rapidly,
In giving them local self government. It
$is on this side that our error, If any,
has been committed. No competent OBJ
server sincerely DESTROYS Of finding out
the facts and influenced only by a de.
sire for the welfare Of the natives can
assert that we have not gone far enough.
We have gone to the very verge of safety
IN Fastening the process. To have taken
single step farther or faster in advance
would have been folly and weakness and
might well have been crime. We are ex-
tremely anxious hat the natives shall
snow the power of governing themselves.
We are anxious first for their sakes and
next because it relieves us of a great bur-
den. There need not be the, slightest fear
Of our not continuing to give them all the
liberty for which they are fit,
The only fear Is Lest in our o~veranxiety
we give them a degree Of Independence
for which they are unfit, thereby inviting
reaction and disaster. AS fast as there is
any reasonable hope hat in a given dis
trict the people can govern themselves
self government ha1 been given in that
district. There is not a locality fitted for
self government which has not received
1t. But it may we'll be that in certain
cases it will have to be withdrawn be-
cause the inhabitants show themselves
unfit to exercise 1t. Such instances have
already occurred. In other words. there
is not the slightest chance of our failing
to show a sufficiently humanitarian spirit.
The danger comes in the opposite direc-
ton.
There are still troubles ahead in the is
lands. The instruction has become an
affair of local bandltti and marauders,
who deserve no higher regard than the
brigands of portions of the old world.
encouragement. direct or indirect, to
these insurrectos stands on the same foot
ing as encouragement to hostile Indians
IN the days when we still had Indian
wars, Exactly as our aim is to give to
the Indian who remains peaceful the
fullest and arnplest consideration, but to
have 1t understood that we will show no
weakness If he goes on the warpath, so
we must make it evident, unless we are
false to our W traditions and to the de-
mands Of civilization and humanity, that
while we will do everything in our power
for the Filipino who is peaceful we will
take the s%ter1est measures with the Fill
pino who follows the path of the insurrec-
to and the laArone.
The heartiest praise Is due to large
numbers of the natives Of the islands for
their steadfast loyalty. The Macabebes
nave been conspicuous for their courage
and devotion to the flag. l recommend
that the secretary of wal be empowered
to take some systematic action in the
way of aiding those of these men who
are crippled in the service n the fami-
lies of those who are killed.
Philippine Legislation.
The time has come when there should
be additional legislation for the Philip
pines. Nothing better can be done for the
Islands than to introduce industrial enter
prises. Nothing would benefit them SO
much as throwing them open to indus
trial development. The connection be-
tween idleness and mischief is proverbial,
and the opportunity to do re1nunerative
work is one of the surest preventives of
war. OF course no business man will go
into the Philippines unless it is to his In
terest to do so, and 1t is immensely to the
interest Of the islands that he should go
in. 1t is therefore necessary that the
congress should pass laws by which the
resources of the islands can be developed,
so that franchises ffor limited terms of
years. can be granted to companies doing
business in them and every encourage
ment be given to the incoming Of business
men Of every kind.
Not to permit this Is to do~a wrong to
the Philippines. The franchises must be
granted and the business permitted only
under regulations which will guarantee
the islands against any kind of improper
exploitation. But the vast natural wealth
of the islands must be developed, and the
capital willing to develop it must be given
the opportunity. The field must be thrown
open to Individual enterprise, which has
been the real factor in the development of
every region over which our flag has
flown. 1t Is urgently necessary to enact
suitable laws dealing with general trans
portation. mining, banking. currency,
homesteads and the use and ownership Of
the lands and timber These laws will give
free play to industrial enterprise. and the
commercial development which will surely
follow will afford to the people of the
islands the best proofs of the sincerity of
our desire to aid them.
I call your attention most earnestly to
the crying need Of a cable to Hawaii and
the Philippines. to be continued from the
Philippines to points in Asia. We should
not defer e day longer than necessary the
construction of such a cable. 1t is de-
manded not merely for commercial but
for political and military considerations.
Either the congress should Immediately
provide for the construction of a govern
nent cable or else ar arrangement should
be made by which like advantages to
those accruing from a government cable
may be secured to the government by
contract with a private cable company.
The Isthmian Canal.
No single great material work which re-
mains to be undertaken on this continent
is of such consequence to the American
people as the building of a canal across
the isthmus connecting North and South
Vi AAAApoA La = LIZ ldllOu 10
by no means limited merely to it's mate
rial effects upon our business prosperity,
and yet with a view to these effects alone it
would be to the last degree important for
us Immediately to begin it. While it's ben
efcial effects would perhaps be most
marked upon the Pacific coast and the
gulf and south Atlantic states. it would
also greatly benefit other sections. 1t is
emphatically.a work which it is for the
interest Of the entire country to begin and
complete as soon as possible; it is one of
those great works which only a great ma
ton can undertake with prospects of sue
cess and which when done are not only
permanent assets in the nations material
interests, but standing to its
constructive ability.
l am glad to be able to announce to you
that our negotiations on this subject with
Great Britain. conducted on both sides in
a spirit of friendliness and mutual good
will and respect, have resulted in my
being able to lay before the senate q
treaty which if ratified will nable us to
begin preparations for an sthmian canal
at any time and which guarantees to this
nation every right that it has ever asked
in connection with the canal. In this
treaty the old Clayton-Bulwer treaty, so
long recognized as inadequate to supply
the base for the construction and mainte-
nance of q pecaSSa rily Ap7arioau shin m.