The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1902-12-03

Pave the slightest fear OF aggression from
tnr United States. II behOOves each on,
to maintain order within its own borders
and to discharge its just oblgu tiuns Il
foreigners. When this is done. they cal
rest assured that. be they strong or weak
they have nothing to dread from outside
] interference. More and more the inCreas.
ing interdcpendence and cOmpleNity OF
International political and economic rela.
l:ons render 1t incumbent on all civilized
ind orderly powers to insist on the proDeI
policing Of the world.
During the fall OF 1901 a communicate tior
was addressed to the secretary Of state
asking whether permission would be
granted by the president to a corporation
TO lay cable from a point on the Cali.
fornia coast to the Philippine Islands by
way Of Hawaii. A statement of cOndi-
tons or terms upon which such corpora
hOn would undertake to lay and operate
cable was volunteered.
lnasmuch as the congress was shortly tC
| convene and Pacific cable legislation had
| been the subject Of consideration BY the
! congress for several years, 1t seemed Ia
| me wise to defer action upon the appliCa-
ton until the congress had first an oppor-
| tunlty to act The congress adjourned
| without taking any action leaving the
| matter in exactly the same condition in
which 1t stood when the congress con
| yened.
| Meanwhile it appears that the CONNER
cial Pacific Gable company had promptly
| proceeded with preparations for laying its
cable 1t also made application to the
/ president for access to and use of sound
| ings tai ken by the United S'1tes steamship
| Nero for the purpose OF discovering a
! practicable route for a transpaCitiC cable.
| the company urging that with access to
| these soundings it could complete its cable
much sooner than II 1t were required TO
| take SOundlngS upon its own account.
| Pending consideration Of this subject 1t
| appeared important and desirable to at
| tach certain conditions to the permission
| TO examine and use the soundings il it
| should be granted.
| In consequence Of this solicitation of the
| cable company certain conditions were
| formulated, upon which the president was
| willing to allow access to these sound
| lngs and to consent to the landing and
| laying of the cable subject to any altera-
! tions or additions thereto imposed by the
| congress. This was deemed proper, espe-
| cially as 1t was clear that cable con-
| necton Of some kind with China, a for
| eign country, was a part of the Company's
| plan. This course was, moreover in ac-
| cordqncc with line of precedents, includ-
| ing President Grants action in the case
| Of the first French cable, explained to the
| congress in his annual message of De-
| cember, 1875, and the instance occurring
| in 1873 of the second French cable from
| Brest to st. Pierre, with a branch to
| Cape Cod.
| These conditions prescribed. among 9TH
| er things. maximum rate for CONNER
| cial messages and that the company
| Sllbulu tOUStIuCt q line from the Phillip
| pine Islands to China, there being al pres
| cnt, as is well known, a British line from
| Manila to HongkOng
The representatives Of the cable compa-
| ny Kept these conditions long under con-
| sidcration, continuing in the meantime to
| prepare for laying the cable. They have
| however, at length acceded to them. and
| an all American line between our Pacific
coast and the Chinese empire by way Of
| 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 reserying
the power OF the congress to modify or re-
! peal any or all Of them. \ copy Of the
| conditions Is herewith transmitted.
OF Porto Rico it is only necessary to say
| that the prosperity Of the island and the
wisdom with which 1t has been governed
| have been such as to make ii serve as an
| example of all that is best in insular ad-
ministration.
On July 4 last, on the one hundred and
| twenty-siXth anniversary Of the declara-
| tion Of our Independence. peace and am
nesty Were promulgated in the Philippine
| Islands. Some trouble has since from
| time to time threatened with the Moham-
medan Moros, but with the late insurrec-
| tonary Filipinos the war has entirely
| ceased civil government has now been
| introduced. Not only does each Filipino
enjoy such rights to life liberty and the
pursuit of happiness as he has never be-
fore known during the recorded history Of
the islands, but the people, taken as a
whole, now enjoy a measure Of self gov
ernmcnt greater than that granted to any
other orientals by any foreign power and
| greater than that enjoyed by any other
| orientals under their own governments
! save the Japanese alone. We have not
gone too far IN granting these rights Of
liberty and self government. but we have
certainly gone tO the limit that in the in
terests of the Philippine people themselves
IL was wise or just to go. To hurry mat
tiers. to go faster than we are now going
na Rf
the Islands. No policy ever entered into
by the American people has vindiCated it.
self in more signal manner than the poll
Cy Of holding the Philippines The tri-
umph Of our arms, above all the triumph
of our laws and principles. has come soon
er than we had any right to expect. Too
much praise cannot be given TO the army
Tor what II has done in the Philippines,
both in warfare and from an administra-
tive standpoint, in preparing the way for
civil government. and similar credit be-
longs to the civil authorities for the way
IN which they have planted the seeds Of
self government I'm the ground thus made
ready for them The courage. the un-
flinching endurance, the high sOlderly eff
cheney and the general kind hcartcdness
and humanity II our troops have been
strikingly manifested. There now remain
only some l5.OOD troops I'm the islands All
told, over lOlOOO have been sent there. or
course there have been individual in
stances of wrOngdOing among them. They
warred under fearful difficulties Of eli
mate and surroundings. and under the
strain Of the terrible pruvOCatiOns which
they continually received from their foes
occasional instances Of cruel retaliation
occurred. Every effort has been made tn
prevent such Cruelties and finally these
efforts have been completely successful.
Every effort has also been made to de-
tect and punish the wrongdOcrs After
making all allowance for these misdecds
II remains true that few indeed have been
the instances in which war has been
waged by Il civilized power against semi
civilized or barbarOus forces where there
has been so little wrOngdUing by the vie
tors as in the Philippine Islands. On the
other hand, the amount Of difficult impOr-
tant and beneficent work which has been
done is well nigh inCalCuablc.
Taking the work Of the army and the |
civil authorities together. ii may be qucs- |
toned whether anywhere else I'm modern |
times the world has seen a better exam |
pie Of real constructive craftsmanship |
than our people have given In the Philip, |
pine Islands. High praise should also be |
given those FilipinOs - In the aggregate !
very numerOus-whO have accepted the |
new conditions and Joined with our repre-
sentatives to work with hearty good will |
for the welfare Of the islands
The army has been reduced to the mini |
mum allowed by law 1t is very small for
the size Of the nation and most certainly |
should be kept at the highest point Of ci-
'ienCy. The senior officers are given scant
chance under ordinary conditions To cN-
ircise commands commensurate with their
rank under circumstances which would fit
hem TO do their duty in time Of actual
war. A system Of mancuvering our army
N bodies Of some little size has been be-
yun and should be steadily continued
Without such mancuvers IL is folly to ex-
lect that in the event Of hustiltics with
my serious Zoe even a small army corps
'Ould be handled to advantage. Both our
,tiicers and enlisted men are such that
We can take hearty pride in them No
)etter material can be found. But tho
must be thoroughly trained, both as indi-
'iduals and In the mass The ma arksman-
hip Of the men must receive special at
cntion. In the circumstances Of modern
warfare the man must act far more on
lis own individual responsibility than
yer before, and the high individual cni-
iency Of the unit Is Of the utmost i'm
Ortancc. Formerly this unit was the
egiment II is now not the regiment. not
wen the troop or company. II Is the ind-
iidual soldier. Every effort must be made
o develop every wOrllmanlike and sol
iprly Uunlity I'm bOth the officer aud tho ]