The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-23

life and property secure. so that in
oustry could again begin to thrive
Ihen, when we had laid deep and
broad the foundations upon which civil
liberty and national independence must
rest, we turned the island over to the
hands OF those whom the people had
CHOSEN as the founders of the new re-
pubic. Cuba must always be related
10 us In international politics. She
must, in international affairs, be to a
degree a part of our political system
we expect her to accept political
attitude toward us which we think
Wlsest both for her and us.
In return, We must be prepared to
put her in an economic position as
regards our tariff system. which will
give her some measure of the prosper
1ty which we enjoy. l believe it is
only matter of time-and l trust
only matter of very short time-be-
lore we enter into reciprocal trade re-
lations with Cuba.
The Feat OF the Century.
THE isthmian canal represents what
is probably to be the greatest engineer
ing teat-the greatest feat of the kind
of the twentieth century. Before
we start upon the construction of the
canal certain questions of detail and
ing the soil have to be settled. When
TINS has been done, the first question
VIII come upon choosing the commits
sion which is to supervise the building
of the canal.
Here again, we have to deal with
an enterprise so vast and so far-reach
ing in its effects that but one thought
is permisSable-how to get the very
best men in the nation, the men of
the highest engineering and business
and administrative skill who viii
consent to undertake the work. If
possible, l should like to see those men
represent different sections and differ
ent political parties. But these ques-
lions are secondary. The primary aim
must be to get men who, though able
to control much greater salaries than
the nation is able to pay, neverthe-
less, possess the patriotism and the
healthy ambition which will make
them willing to put their talents at
| the governments service.
Spanish Wars Heritage of Evil.
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 deal
ing with the Philippines. The 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 step
ped in and seized the islands and have
taken up the task which we in such
case would have flinched from per-
forming.
"A less easy, but infinitely more alb
surd course, would have been to leave
the islands ourselves and at the same
time to assert that we would not per
init any one else to interfere with
them. This particular course
would have combined all the possible
disadvantages of every other course
which was adVocatedt 1t would have
placed us in a fiumiliating business,
because, when the actual test came, 1t
would have been quite out of the ques-
ton for us, after some striking deed
of saVagery had occurred in the ISL
ands, to stand by and prevent the re-
entry of civilization into them; while
the mere fact of our having threatened
thus to guarantee the local tyrants and
wrong-doers against outside interior
ences by ourselves or others, would
have put a premium upon every spe-
cies of tyranny and anarchy within the
islands.
Finally, there was the course which
we adopted-not an easy course, one
fraught with danger and difficulty. We
made up our minds to stay in the ISL
ands-to put down violence-to estab-
lish peace and order-and then to in
troduce a just and wise civil rule ac-
companiad by a measure of self-gov-
eminent which should increase as rap
idly as the islanders showed them
O11 all 4 0a1-fa f,1fx
formidable task but think of the
marvelously successful way in which
it has been accomplished.
1.-THE first and vitality important
feature was the establishment of the
supremacy of the American flag, and
this had to be done by the effort of
those gallant fellow Americans Of Gus
to whom so great a debt is due--the
officers and enlisted men of the Unit
ed States army, regulars and volun-
teers alike. In a succession of cam
paigns, carried on in unknown tropic
jungles against an elusive and treacn-
ereus foe vastly outnumbering 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. l do not refer to the
Moros, with whom we have exercised
the utmost forbearance, but who may
force us to chastise them if they per-
sist in attacking our troops.
Peace Followed COn1uering Arms.
Among the Filipinos proper, how
ever, peace has come.
step by step, as the army con-
quered the rule of the military was
supplanted by the rule of the civil au-
thorities-the soldier was succeeded by
the civilian magistrate. The utmost
care has been exercised in choosing the
best type of Americans for the high
civil positions, and the actual work
of administration has been so far as
possible by native Filipino officials,
serving under these Americans.
"Our success has been wonderful. No
country has more upright nor ADLER
body of officials than Gov. Taft, Vice
Gov. Wright and their associates and
subordinates in the Philippine Islands.
1t was, of course, inevitable that
there should be occasional failures, but
it is astonishing how few these
have been. Each inhabitant of the
Philippines is now guaranteed his
civil and religious rights, his rights to
life. personal liberty and the pursuit
of happiness, subject ony to not in
fringing on the rights of others.
Large Share of Liberty Granted.
1T is worth noting that already the
Philippine people have received a
greater share of self government, that
they have more to say as to how they
&c hn