Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-12-08

! it could complete it's cable much sooner
than II it were required to take s0undInSs
upon its own account. Pending conslqefa-
tlon of this subject, il appeared lmp0f!anC
and desirable TO attach certain conditions
to the permission to examine ana use the
Soundings, il it should be granted.
In consequence of this solicitation OF the
cable company, certain condltlons NeIe
formulated, upon which the president was
willing to allow access to these soundlnSS
and to consent to the landing ana laying OF
the cable, subject to any alterations OF du-
dit0ns thereto imposed by the congress-
This was deemed proper especially as it
was clear that a cable connection Oh some
! kind with China, q foreign country, was
part of the cOmpanys plan. inns course
! was, moreover, in accordance Win a me IN
| Of presidents, including President GfanI
action in the case of the first Frencn caole
| explained to the congress III ms annual
message of December, 1879, and the IN
stance occurring IN 1879 OF me me S SicII.o
french ,if5 cable from Gano B GeS 70 o' iielie
These conditions prescribed, among otner
| things a maximum rate for commerclaI
| messages and that the company should
construct line from the Philippine Islands
| to China, there being at present, as is Wen
konwn, a British line from Manila to
The Representatives of the cable company
| kept these conditions long under CONSIDER
alton continuing in the meantime me- 70 d pre-
! however, at length acceded to them, and
an all-American line between our Pacific
|
Honolulu and the Philippine islands: is
| thus provided for and is expected within
! few months to be ready for business
| Among the conditions is one reserYlng the
power of the congress to modify or repeal
F.! any or all Of them copy of the condi-
lions is herewith transmitted.
! OF Porto Rico it is only necessary TO say
! that the prosperity of the island ana the
| wisdom with which it has been governed
/ have been such as to make it serve as an
| example Of all that is best in insrlar adj
ministration.
IN THE PHILIPPINES.
On July last, on the 126th anniversary
of the declaration OF our independence,
peace and amnesty were promulgated III
the Philippine islands. Some trouble mas
j since from time 70 time Threatened WIN
the Mohammedan Moros, but with the late
insurrectionary Filipinos the war mas en-
tirely ceased. Civil government has now
/ been introduced Not only does each hlhp,
inc enjoy such rights to life, liberty and
I the pursuit of happiness as he mas never
before known during the recorded history
of the islands, but the people taken as Il
ment greater than that granted to any Oth,
er orientals by any foreign power anu
save the Japanese alone We have not
gone too far in granting these rights OF M
erty. and self-goyernment; but we have Ger
tainly gone to the limit that in the inter
ests of the Philippine people themselves it
was wise or just to go. 10 hurry matters,
/
/ entail calamity on the people OF the
Islands No policy ever entered into by the
American people has Vin 6d tS t 3Icr n 9
holding the Philippines. The triumph OF
our arms, above all the triumph of our
laws and principles, has come sooner than
we had any right to expect. Too much
| praise can not be given to the army for
what it has done in the Philippines both
4 in warfare and from an administrative
! standpoint in preparing the way Tor civil
/ governments; and similar credit belongs TO
/ the civil authorities for the way in which
| they have planted the seeds OF self-g0Vefn-
I ment in the ground thus made ready Tor
them. The courage, the unfinching endur-
ance, the high soldierly efficiency, and the
| general kind-heartedness and humanity OF
i our troops have been strikingly manifested.
4 There now remain only some 10000 troops
/ in the islands, All told, over one hundred
thousand have been sent there. OF course.
I there have been individual instances or
/ wrong doing among them. They Warred
/ under fearful difficulties of climate ana
/ surroundings; and under the strain of the
/ terrible provocatiOnS which they contm-
I ually received from their foes, occasional
instances of cruel retaliation occurred ET-
cry effort has been made TO prevent Such
cruelties, and finally these efforts nave
4 been completely successful. Every emory
/ has also been made to detect and PUNISH
i the WrongdoerS After making all allow
i ance for these misdeeds, it remains true
that few indeed have been the instances IN
l which war has been waged by civilized
I power against semi-civiliZed or barbaroqs
forces where there has been so jlttle
pine islands. On the other hand, the
i amount of difficult, important and bench
cent work which has been done is we'll
i nigh incalculable. ,
Taking the work of the army and the
/ civil authorities together it may be cues
toned whether anywhere else IN modern
/ times the world has seen a better example
! of real constructive craftsmanship than our
people have given in the, Philippine
islands. High praise should also be given
those Filipinos in the aggregate very nu-
merous, who have accepted the new condl-
lions and joined with our representatives
to work with hearty good will for the wei
The army has been reduced to the mini
mum allowed by law 1t is very small To-: Tor
the size of the nation, and most certainly
should be kept at the highest point of eff
cheney. The senior officers are given scant
chance under ordinary conditions to eXef-
else commands commensurate with tnelr
rank, under circumstances which would fit
them to do their duty in time of actual
: war. A system of maneuVering our army
in bodies of some little size has been DGgun
and should be steadily continued. WITHOUT
such maneuvers it is folly to expect that
in the event Of hostilties with any serious
foe even small army corps cou6a De
handled to advantage. Both our officers
and enlisted men are such that we can take
hearty pride in them No better material
can be found But they must be thorough
! ly trained, both as individuals and in the
mass. The craftsmanship of the men must
receive special attention. In the clrcum-
!, stances of modern warfare the man must
II act far more en- his own individual reSpon-
sibility than ever before, and the hlgh IN
dividual efficiency Of the unit is of the ut
; most Importance Formerly this unit was
: the regiment; it is now not the regiment
: not even the troop or company; 1t Is the
individual soldier. Every effort must on be
soldierly quality in both the officer and the
enlisted man.
The measure providing for the .reorgani-
cation of the militia system and for secur-
J ing the highest efficiency in the national
guard, which has already passed the house,
} should receive prompt attention and ac-
; ton. 1t is of great Importance that the re-
lation of the national guard to the militia
and volunteer forces of the United States
} should be defined. and that in place OF our
present obsolete laws a practical and ell
! cent system should be adopted.
NAVAL AFFAIRS.
For the first time in our history naval
maneuvers on a large scale are being held
under the immediate command o. the al
miral of the navy. Constantly increasing
attention is being paid to the gunnery: OF
the navy, but it is yet far from what It
should be. l earnestly urge that the in
crease asked for by the secretary of the
in tiOn for lmDrOVlnG