The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-10-07
A STRENUOUS LIFE.

President Roosevelt wrote an article
on Gov. VIII. Taft of the Philippines,
in. August; last, for The outlook which
now appears in the issue OF September
2ist of that paper
Judge Taft combines as very, very
few men can combine says Mr.. Roose-
veit. "a standard of unflinching recti-
tude on every point of public duty and
a literally dauntless courage and willing
mess to bear responsibility, with knoRl-
edge of men, and a far-reaching tact and
kindness which enables his great abil-
titles and high principles to be of use in
a way that would be impossible Were he
not thus gifted.
President Mckinley has rendered
many great services to the country; and
not the least has been the clearsighted-
ness with which he has chosen the best
possible public servants to perform the
difficult tasks of acting as first admins
traitors in the islands. Such was the SER
vice he rendered when he chose Assist
ant Secretary of, the Navy Allen and aft
erward Judge Hunt as governors of Por-
TO Rico; when he chose General Leonard
Wood as governor general of Cuba and
finally when he made Judge Taft first
y governor of the Philippines"
Mr.. Roosevelt then describes at length
the difficulties Judge Taft encountered
in trying to establish civil rule, and de-
clares that the Tagalog instruction was
kept largely under way by moral aid
1t received from certain sources in this
country.
Any action he said. "of the com
mission, no matter how wise and just
was Certain to be misrepresented and
bitterly attacked here at home by those
who, for whatever reasons, desired the
success of the insurgents
Mr. Roosevelt then tells of the danger
OF friction In the Philippines between the
military and eivl authorities. He con-
tinues: ~
Fortunately we had at the head of the
War Department in Secretary Root a
man as thoroughly fit for his post as
Governor Taft was for his"
According to Mr. Roosevelt the army
has grown more and more efficient under
Secretary Roots management He de-
ciares that neither the governor nor the
secretary was incapable of understand
Ing the pettiness which makes an official,
even in high office, desire to keep official
control OF some province or public work,
not for the sake of the public work, but
for the sake of the office
Mr.. Roosevelt declares that the lnsur-
rection Is fast being put down. and that
The islanders are being employed In the
government works wherever Governor
rant can place them. He adds:
The statesmen at home, In Congress
and out of Congress, can do their best
work by following the advice and the
lead of the man who Is actually on the
ground, 1t is therefore essential that
this man should be of the very highest
stamp. If inferior men are appointed.
and, above all, If the cause of spoiIs-
politics ever fastens itself upon the ad
ministration of our insular dependencies
widespread disaster is sure to follow
Gov. Taft" he says. left high Office
and accepted an arduous undertaking
in the Philippines entirely from a sense
of duty. But he gladly undertook it;
and he is to be considered thrice for
tunate! For in this world the one thing
supremely worth having is the oppor-
tunity, coupled with the capacity. to do
we'll and morthily a piece of work, the
doing Of which is of vital consequence
to the welfare OF mankind"
When the President wrote these
words in August last, he little dreamed
that he himself, was on the eve Of fac
ing ''one of those opportunities SUI
premely worth having on a vastly
larger scale than he had so generously
declared was before Judge Taft