The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-12-04
TOUR OF THE PHILIPPINES
Senator Bacon Says the Natives
Desire Independence Above All
Things.

!, Desire Independence ABOVE a
) Things.
: Hon. A. o. Bacon, of Georgia, Ina
: just returned from tour of the PhiliI
: pines, and gives his impressions i'm a
interview for the Atlanta Constitution
\ "With regard to the Philippines,
, is next to impossible to give wi,hi
the confines of n newspaper mtervicN
any adequate summary of the imprcs
sions gained during the more than
month L devoted to study Of the is
lands and their people. 1t is a grea
big subject. L spent some time il
Manila, which is the metropolis of thu
Philippines, and j think gained mucl
valuable information there, butin som,
respects the most valuable portion o
my stay in the Philippines was thai
devoted to tour of the islands, which
gave me an insight into the dilferen
parts Of the archipelago and the diff
fcrcnt people who comprise its popu
latiOn. We went down as far as Jolo
which is the capital Of the Sulu group
and is almost down to BorneO. We
saw the principal Visayan islands,
which form very important section
OF the group, and had excellent op.
porluaitics OF getting an insight into
the conditions as they are now.
4" For one thing" continued Senator
Bacon, L realize that the task we
have undertaken in the Philippines is
many times greater and many times
more serious THAI. | thought before
went there. 1t is extremely difficult
for anybody to realize the magnitude
OF this task who has not been down
there and who has not come i'm actual
contact with tho islands and the peO.
pie. IL was the belief that this was so
that inspired me with the desire TO visit
The lsla' dis and L am more than glad
avmled myself of the opportunity
which presented itself. 1 do not know
whether it will be possible to impress
tho people of the United States with n
realization Of the actual conditions, for,
as | have said, nobody who has not
been there can understand these as
well as one who has.
al have been greatly disappointed
10 have had to come to the conclusion
that the people of the Philippines are
miricndly to the Americans. With
them the sentiment of nationality is
undoubtedly strong. Even those who
for business reasons protest loyalty
arc not friendly TO American sovereign
ty, but have in their hearts the desire
for nationality. / do not believe there
will be time for generation at least
when this sentiment will change, AMI
| am convinced that we will have TO
keep very large army there for an in
definite period.
My conclusions have been drawn
from the testimony of army officers,
officials of the civil government and
from interviews with the leading ma
tivcs who protest friendship for the
American government. The conclu-
sion 10 be drawn from this testimony
the only conclusion that can be drawn
from it's that the Filipinos feel they
arc entitled to nationality; that they
desire beyond all things n brown mans
government.
"Therc are but two ways in which
we can govern the islands," continued
Senator Bacon. "rhcso are either
abs, Lutte military rule on the one hand,
or such II liberal government as will
satisfy the people on the other; there
can be no half way business.
"As for the Filipino people them
selves, found them distinctly superior
TO what had expected. / believe this
would be the conclusion of every fair
man who was brought In contact with
them. Since left Washington have
hcen brought in touch with many
brown races and / do not hesitate to
say that | consider the Filipinos equal
to amy and superior to most in point of
character and mental ability. They
labor under the handicap of tropical
climate and, therefore, are not as Wig
orous physically or as industrious as
the Chinese or the Japanese, for in.
stance, and this must be taken into ac-
count in dealing with them; but as
have said, am convinced that they
arc the equals of any in point of char
actor and ability.
"With regard TO the climate, we
we're there at the most favorable time,
just at the close of the rainy season,
when the southwest monsoon was
blowing continuously, and so long as q
person was in the breeze he could be
reasonably comfortable, but once out
of the breeze, even if he was in the
shade, he would find it very unpleas
ant, for he would porspirc profusely
and would feel as if liable 10 being
overcome with the heat. The country.
taken as a whole, is in this regard like
all other countries i'm the tropics and
near the water.
Thcle has been no revival of The
business enterprises of the islands such
as L expected to see. That this is tho
case--that there has been return to
the conditions which existed before
the war-was admitted on all sides.
Nevertheless there has been quite a
boom in Manila on account of the large
amount of money being spent there as
tho result Of American occupation.
The same amount of money spent by
the government in any American city
would give it great boom. Manila is
being benefited by the lnrge expendi-
ture of money for which the american
people have to foot the bills. Whether
there ls any chance of its being pay
ing movement is something that the
people will, think, consider pretty
carefully.
/ am convinced that we have vol.
unfairly undertaken the most difficult
and most expensive problem that has
ever fallen to the United States gov.