The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-03

ance with a line of presidents, includ-
ing President Grants action in the case
of the first French cable, explained to
the Congress in his annual message of
December, 1875, and the instance &C.
curing in 1879 of the second French
cable from Brest to st. Pierre, with a
branch to Cape Cod.
These conditions prescribed, among
other things, maximum rate
for commercial messages and
that the company should construct
a line from the Philippine Islands to
China, there being at present, as is
we'll known, a British line from Ma
Mia to Hong Kong.
The representatives of the cable
company kept these conditions long
under consideration, 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 pro-
vided for and is expected within few
months to be ready for business.
Among the conditions is one reserv-
ing the power of the Congress to mod
ify or repeal any or all of them. A
copy of the conditions is herewith
transmitted.
OF Porto Rico 1t Is only necessary to
say that the prosperity of the island
and the wisdom with which it has
been governed have been such as to
make it serve as an example of all
that is best in insular administration.
Work in the Philippines.
On July 4, last, on the one hundred
and twenty-sixth anniversary of the
Declaration of our Independence peace
and amnesty were promulgated in the
Philippine Islands. Some trouble has
since from time to time threatened
with the Mohammedan Moros. but
with the late insurrectory Filipinos
the war has entirely ceased. Civil
government has now been introduced.
Not only does each Filipino enjoy
such rights of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness as he has never
before known during the recorded his
tory of the islands, but the people
taken as whole now enjoy meas
ure of self-government 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 ia
panese alone. We have not gone too
far in granting these rights of liberty
and elf-Government; but we have GER
tainly gone to the limit that in the in
terests of the Philippine people them
selves 1t was wise or just to GO To
hurry matters, to go faster than we
are now going, would entail calamity
on the people of the islands. No pol
icy ever entered into by tie American
people has INDICATED itself in more
signal manner than the policy of hold
ing 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 expect Too
much praise cannot be given to the
army for what it 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 self
government in the ground thus made
ready for them. The courage. the nm
hinching endurance, the high so1dierIv
efficiency. and the general kind-heart-
edness and humanity of our troops
have been strikingly manifested. There
now remain only some $4,000 troops in
the Islands. All told over 100000 have
oeen sent there. OF course. there have
been individual instances of wronpdo-
Ing among them. They warred under
fearful difficulties of climate and sur
roundings; and under the strain Of the
terrible provocations which they con-
tinuahy received from their foes, oc-
casional instances of cruel retaliation
occurred. Every effort has been made
to prevent such cruelties. and finally
these efforts have been completely s,Ic-
cessful. Every effort has also been
made to detect ara punish the wrong
doors. After making all allowance for
these misdeeds. II remains true that
few inSeed have been the instances in
which war has been waged by a civil
lied power against semi-civlllzed or
barbarous forces where there has been
so little wrongdoing by the victors as
In the Philippine Islands. on the 9TH
or hand. the amount OF difficult inn
portant. and benefieent work which has
been done Is weli-nigh incaieulabie
Taking the work OF the army ana
the civil authorities together. n NAV
be questioned whether anywhere eleo
In mOderH times the world has seen
better example % real constructive
statesnagnship than our people have
given ~ ule Philippine Islands. Hirh
praise should also Be- given those Mn.