The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-12-03
Progress in the Philippines

On July last on the one hundred
and twenty-siXth anniversary of the
declaration of our independence, peace
and amnesty We're promulgated In the
Philippine Islands. Some trouble has
since from time to time threatened
with the Mohammedan Moros but with
war has entirely ceased. Civil govern
ment has now been introduced. Not
only does each Filipino enjoy such
rights to life, liberty, and the pur-
suit Of happiness as he has never
before known during the recorded
history of the islands, but the peo-
pie taken as a whole now enjoy a
measure of self-government greater
than that granted to any other ORR
entails by any foreign power and
greater that that enjoyed by any
other Orientals under their own gov
ernments, save the Japanese alone.
We have not gone too far in granting
these rights of liberty and self-gov-
ernment; but we have certainly gone
to the limit that in the interests of
the Philippine people themselves it
was wise or just to go. TO hurry mat
tiers, to SO faster than we are now 60
Ing, would entail calamity on the peo-
pie of the islands. No policy ever
entered into by the American people
has vindicated itself in more signal
maner than the policy of 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 ex-
pect. Too much praise can not be
given to the army for what 1t has done
in the Philippines both in warfare and
from an administrative standpoint in
preparing the way for civil govern
ment; and similar credit belongs to
the civil authorities for the way in
which they have planted the seeds of
government in the ground thus
made ready for them. The courage
the uniinching endurance, the high
soldiery efficiency, and the general
kind -heartedness and humanity of our
troops have been strikingy manifest
ed. There now remain only some fif-
teen thousand troops in the islands.
All told, over one hundred thousand
have been sent there. OF course, there
have been individual instances of
wrOngdoing among them. They war;
red under fearful difficulties OF climate
and surroundings: and under the stra in
of the terrible provocation which they
continually received from eheir foes,
occasional instances of cruel retalia-
tion occurred. Every effort has been
made TO prevent such crueltes, and
finally these efforts have been COM
pletely successful. Every effort has
also been made to detect and punish
the wrongdoers After making all al
lowance for these misdeeds, ii remains
true that few indeed have been the in
stances i'm which war has been waged
ny civilized power against semi
civilized or barbarous forces where
there has been so little wrongdoing by
the victOrs as in the Philippine Islands.
On the other hand, the amount of diff
hcult, important, and beneficent work
which has been done Is well-nigh in
calculabIe.
Taking the work of the army and
the civil authorities together. 1t may
be questioned whether anywhere else
i'll modern times the world has seen
Il better example of real constructive
craftsmanship than our people have
given in the Philippine Islands. High
praise should also be given those Fill
pinos, in the aggregate very numer-
Gus, who have accepted the new condl-
tlons and Joined with our representa-