Arizona republican., 1902-08-23

good people who are not accustomed | to the roughness of a life of effort, arc almost sure to be disheartened and dis mayed by work and worry and over l much castdown by the shortcomings of the actual or the seeming which Tn real life always accompany the first stages even of what eventually turn out to be most brilliant victories.
 All this is true of what has hap pened during the last four years in the Philippine islands. The Spanish war itself was an easy task, but it left us certain other tasks which were much more difficult. One of these tasks was that of dealing with the Philippines. An easy thing to do-the thing which appealed not only to lazy and selfish men, but to very many good men whose thought did not drive them down to the root of things-was to leave the islands. Had we done this, a period of wild chaos would have supervened and then some stronger power would have stepped in and seized the islands and have taken up the task which we ] in such a case would have fiinched i from performing.
 The less easy, but infinitely more absurd, course would have been to i leave the islands ourselves, and at the same time to assert that we would not permit any one else to interfere with | them. This particular course would have combined all the possible disad- vdntages of every other course which was advocated. It would have placed us in a humiliating position, because when the actual test came ii would have been quite out of the question for US. after some striking deed of sav- agery had occurred in the islands to stand by and prevent the re-entry of civilization into them; while the mere fact of our having threatened thus to guarantee local tyrants and wrong dCers against outside interference by ourselves or others would have put a premium upon every species of tyranny and anarchy within the islands.
 Finally there was the course which we adopted-not an easy course, one iraught with danger and difficulty, as is generally the case in this world when some great feat is to be accom- plished as an incident to working out our national destiny. We made up cur minds to stay in the islands-to put down violence, to establish peace and lorder-and then to introduce just and wise civil rule, accompanied by meas ure of self government which should increase as rapidly as the islanders showed themselves fit for it. Web, it was certainly a formidable task, but think of the marvelously successful way in which it has been accomplished
 The first and vital point of the feat was the establishment of the suprem- acy of the American flag, and this had to be done by the effort of those gal lant fellow Americans of ours to whom so great a debt is due-the officers and enlisted men of the United States army, regulars and volunteers alike. In a successful campaign, carried on in un- known tropic jungles against an elus- i've and treacherOus foe vastly outnum- bering them, under the most adverse conditions of climate, weather and country, our troops completely broke the power of the insurgents. smashed their armies and harried the broken robber bands into submission.
 Tn it's latter stages the war against our rule sank into mere brigandage. and what our troops had to do was to hunt down parties of ladrones. It was nat task which it was humanely pos s!ble to accomplish in a month or year, but month by month, year by year. with unwearied and patient res Clution. our army in the Philippines did the task which it found ready to hand. until the last Vestige of organ ized insurrection was stamped out. I do not refer to the Moros, with whom we have exercised the utmost forbear- ance, but who may force us to chas- tise them if they persist in attacking our troops.
 Among the Filipinos proper how ever, peace has come. Doubtless here and there sporadic outbreaks of brig andage will occur from time to time
 but organized warfare against the American flag has ceased, and there is no reason to apprehend it's recurrence
 Our army in the islands has been re- duced until it is not a fourth of what it, was at the time the outbreak was at its height.
 Step by step as the army conquered the rule Of the military was sup planted by the rule of the civil author ities-the soldier was succeeded by the civilian magistrate. The utmost care has been exercised in choosing the best type of Americans for high civil po- sitions, and never has this country had a mere upright or abler body of public representatives than Governor Taft. Vice Governor Wright and their asso- ciates and subordinates in the Philip pines. Each inhabitant of the Philip pines is now guaranteed his civil and religious rights, his rights to life, per sonal liberty and pursuit of happiness, subject Cnly to not infringing on the