Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-12-04

| without taking any action, leaving tine
matter in exactly the same condition ir
vened.
Meanwhile IT appears that the CONNER.
cial Pacinc Gable company had promptly
proceeded with preparations for laying -
| cable. II also made application TO the
president for access to and use Of sound
ings ia ken by the United States steamship
Nero for the purpose of discovering a
the company urging that with access tc
these soundings 1t could complete its cable
much sooner than IL 1t were required to
Pending. consideration Of this subject ii
appeared important and desirable to at
tseh certain conditions 70 the permission
70 examine and use the soundings if II
In consequence Of this solicitation of the
cable company certain conditions were
Wiling TO allow access to these sound.
ings and to consent to the landing and
LAYING OF the cable, subject to any nltera-
tons or additions thereto imposed by the
congress, This was deemed proper, espe-
cially as 1t was clear that cable con
nection of some Kind with China, for
eisn country. was part Of the company s
plan. This course was moreover. in ac-
cordance with a line of preccdents, includ-
ing PRESIDENT Grants action in the case
Of the FIRST French cable, explained to the
congress in his annual message Of De-
cenlber, 1875 and the instance occurring
in 1873 OF the second French cable from
Cape Cod.
These conditions prescribed, among 9TH
er things, maximum rate for CONNER
cial messages and that the compa ny
pine Islands TO China, there being n pres
ent. as is well known, a British line from
Manila to Hongkong.
The representatives Of the cable compa-
ny kept these conditions long under con-
sldoration, cont nuing in the meantime to
prepare FOR laying the cable They have,
however, at length acccded to them. and
an all American line between our Pacfic
coast and the Chinese empire by way of
Honolulu and the Philippine Islands is
thus provided for and is expected within
rev months to be ready for business
Among the conditions is one rescrving
the power of the congress to modify or re-
pea any or All Of them a copy of the
conditions is herewith transmitted
or Porto Rico it is only necessary to say
that the prosperity Of the island and the
wisdom with which it has been governed
ministra ton.
On July last. on the one hundred and
twenty-sixth anniversary of the doclara-
ton 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-
tionary Filipinos the war. has entirely
introduced. Not only, does each Filipino
pursuit of he ppiness as he has never be-
lore known during the recorded history of
the islands. but the people. taken as
whole, now snJoy measure of self gov
eminent greater than that granted to any
other orlentals by any foreign power and
greater than that enjoyed by any other
save the Japanese alone We have not
gone too far In granting these rights Of
liberty and self government, but we have
terests Of the Philippine people themselves
1t was wise or just to 60 TO hurry mat
tiers, to 20 faster than We are now going.
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
or than we had any right to expect. Too
FOR what il has done in the Philippines.
both in warfare and from an admnistra-
tive standpoint In preparing the way for
civil government and similar credit be-
longs 70 the civil authorities for the way
In which they have planted the seeds Of
sert sovernment in the ground thus made
hinchinE endurance the high soldierly eff
cheney and the general kind heartedness
and humanity OF our troops have been
only some l5.00o troops in the islands. All
told over 100 .oo0 have been sent there OF
course there have been individual in
stances OF WrOnKOOlnS among them. They
warrcd under Fearful dinicnlties of eli
mate and surroundings and under the
strain OF the terrible provoeatons which
they continually received from their foes
occurred. Every effort has boon made to
prevent such cruslties. and finally these
Every effort has also been made to de-
tsct and punish the wronEdoers. After
making all allowance for these msdeeds
i remains true that few indeed have been
ho
waged by a civilized power against semi
civilized or barbarous forces whore there
has been So little wrongd9inE by the vic
tors as In the Philippine Stands. On the
other hand' tho amount Of difficult tmpor-
tsnt and bsnrfcent work which has been
done is well nigh incaloulablo
Taking the work Of the army and the
civil authorities together. it may be Qucs-
toned whether anywhere else In modern
times the world has seen better exam
pie of real constructive statesmanship
than our people have given in the Philip
pine Islands Hish praise should also he
gwen those Filipinos in tho aggregate
new conditions and Joined with our repre-
sentatives to work with hearty good will
for the welfare Of the Islands.
mum allowed hy law II !, T. 70 en-. soaI ' fnr
the size Of the ma ton and most certainly
should be kept at tho highest point OF EN-
ciency. The senior officers are given scant
chance under ordinary conditions to eY-
erclse commands commensurate with their
ank under circumstances which would mt
them TO do their duty in time of actual
war system OF maneuvering our army
In bodies of some little size has been be-
gun and should be steadily continued
Without such msneuvers it lie folly to on
poet that In the event of hostlities with
any serious Zoe even a small army corps
could be 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 tn.
must be thoroughly trained both al indi-
viduals and In the mass. The marksman-
ship of the men must receive special at
lention. In the circumstances Of modern
wa rfare the man must act far more on
his own individual responsibility than
ever before, and the high individual etfi-
cheney Of the unit is OF the utmost i'm
portance. Formerly this unit was the
regiment 1t is now not the regiment. not
eyen the troop or company; it is the indi-
vidual soldier. Every effort must be made
70 develop every workmanlike and SOL
1ierly quality in both the officer and the
enlisted man.
l urgently call your attention to the
need OF passing a bill providing for a gem
,ral staff and for the reorganization OF
ne supply departments on the lines of the
olll Proposed by the secretary OF war last
year. When the young officers enter the |
army from West Point, they probably |
Nand above their conpcers In any other |
military service Every effort should be
made by training, by reward of merit. By |
scrutiny into their careers and capacity. |
% keep them of the same high relative /.
EXCELLENCE throughout their careers
me measure providing for the reorgan-
cation Of the militia system and for Sc
'urins the Shest efficiency in the nation |
II guard. which has already passed the |
louse, should receive prompt attention |
IND action' II Is OF great importance that |
ne relation of the national guard to the
militia and volunteer forcss OF the United
states should be dshned and that in place
u our present obsolete laws practical