The Indianapolis journal., 1902-08-23

mittee which is TO supervise the building OF
the canal. Here, again. we have 10 deal
with an enterprise vast and so far reacn-
ing in its effects that but one thought is
permlssble-hOw 10 get the very best men
in the Nation, the men Of the highest engl-
neering and business and administrative
skill-whO will consent to undertake the
work. II possible I should like 20 see these
men represent different sections and diner
ent political parties. But these questions
are secondary. The primary aim must be
TO get men who, though able 10 control
much greater salaries than the Nation is
able 10 pay, nevertheless possess the pa
trlotism and the healthy ambition which
will make them willing TO put their talents
at the governments service.
so much for what has been done in the
Occident. In the Orient the labor was more
difficult
1T is rare. indeed. that a great work.
work supremely worth doing. can be done
save at the cost not only of labor and toll
but of much puzzling worry during the time
of the performance. Normally, the nation
that achieves greatness like the individual
who achieves greatness. can do so only at
the cost of anxiety and bewilderment and
heart-wearing effort Timid people, people
scant of faith and hope, and good people
who are not accustomed to the roughness
OF the life of efort-are almost sure TO be
disheartened and dismayed by the work ana
the worry, and overmuch cast down IN the
shortcomings, actual or seeming, which In
real life always accompany the nrSt stages
even of what eventually turn out TO be the
most brilliant victories.
THE PHILIPPINES TASK
"All this is true Of what has happened
during the last four years in the Philip
pine islands. The Spanish war itself was
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. 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 super
vened 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 ftinched from perform
ing.
"a less easy but infinitely more absurd
course would have been to 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 dis
advantages of every other course which
was advocated. Ii would have placed us in
humlllatlng position, because, When the
actual test came, 1T would have been quite
out Of the question for us, after some strik-
ing deed of savagery 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 the local tyrants and wrong
doers against outside interferences by our
selves 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 fraught
with danger and difficulty, is generally
the case in this world when some great
feat is to be accomplished as an incident
to working out national destiny. We made
up our minds TO stay in the islands-to
put down violence-to establish peace and
order-and then to introduce a just and
wise civil rule, accompanied by a measure
of self-government which should increase
as rapidly as the islanders showed them
selves fit for il. Well, ii was certainly a
formidable task; but think of the mar
velously successful way in which il has
been accomplished.
THE FIRST IMPORTANT FEAT.
1.-THE first and vitality important feat 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 ours to whom so great a debt is due-the
officers and enlisted men of the United
States army, regulars and volunteers alike
In succession of campaigns, carried on in
unknown tropio jungles against an elusive
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 insur-
the broken robber bands into submission.
In its later stages, the war against our
rule sank into mere brigandage; and what
out troops had to do was to hunt down the
parties of ladroneS. 1t was not task
which il was humanely possib' to accom-
plish in a month or a year; buL month by
month, year by year, with unwearied and
patient resolution our army in the Philip
pines did the task which 1t found ready &c
hand until the last vestige of organized in
surrection was stamped out. / do not refer
| to the Moros with whom we have exercised
the utmost forbearance, but who may force
us to chastise them If they persist in at
tacking our troops. Among the FilipinoS
proper, however, peace has come. Doubt.
| less here and there sporadic outbreaks OF
| briGandage Will occur from time to time
! but organized warfare against the Amer.
| lean flag has ceased and there is no reason
| to apprehend its recurrence. Our army il
the islands has been reduced until it is moi
fourth of what Ii was at the time the
outbreak was at its height.
Step by step, as the army conquered, tn,
rule of the military was supplanted by th'
rule of the civil aUthorities-the soldier was
! succeeded by the civilian magistrate Th'
utmost care has been exercised IL choosing
| the best type of Americans for the higl
! civil positions, and the actual work of ad
minstratiOn has been done so far as posi-
| BILE by native Filipino officials serving un
| der these Americans. The success OF tn
| effort has been wonderful. Never has th
| country had a more upright able
| body of public representatives than Gov
associates and subordinate in the Philippin,
| islands. 1t is very difficult matter prac
| tically to apply the principles of an orderll
| free government TO an Oriental peopl,
| struggling upwards out of barbarism anS
| subsection. 1t is a task requiring infinite
| frmness, patience, tact, observation-disclosures
All these qualities and the countless other
| necessary have been found in the civil an,
military officials who have been sent owe
to administer the islands.
CIVIL RULE OVER ALL.
"It was, of course. inevitable that Their
should be occasional failures; but it is as
tonishing how few these have been. Her
and there the civil governments which ha,
been established in a given district had [,
| be temporarily withdrawn because of SOM
| outbreak; but at last, on the July 4 that ha
| just passed on the one-hundred-and-tw TWEEN
! ty-sixth anniversary Of our independence
| it was possible at the same time TO declar
| amnesty throughout the islands and def
| nitely to establish civil rule over all o
| them excepting the country Of the Mo
| hammedan Moros, where the condition
were wholly different. Each inhabitant o
! the Philippines is now guaranteed his civi
and religious rights TO life, personal libert,
| and the pursuit of happiness. subject onl,
| to not infringing the rights of others
1t is worth noting that already the Philip
| pine people have received "A greater Shar
of self-government, that they have NOR
| 10 say IS 10 how they shall be governed
than is the case with any people in tn
| Orient which is under European rule.
! Nor is this all. Congress has. wit
| far-seeing wisdom, heartily supported al
| that has been done by the executive. Wis
| laws for the government of the Philippin
islands have been placed upon the statut
H. HI