The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-02-02
LOVES HIS LAND
AS WE LOVE OURS
Taft Describes the Patriotic
Trials of FiIipinos.
EVENTS OF SOUTHERN TOUR
WOMEN WENT WITH PARTY
NEARLY EVERYWHERE.

uTAsHINGToN, Feb civil Gov
w ernor Taft reached the most in
tefesting points in his testimony
before the committee today. He de-
scribed his southern tour and dwelt
upon his Impressions Of the people.
His story was a thesis on Filipino hu-
man nature.
Concluding the narrative OF his
southern excursion. Governor Taft said
/ that the ladies Of the party accomPan-
( led the gentlemen to all places 10
which they went, except in a few in
star ces- These exceptions were ma-ls
on account of the fact that Il was
necessary to take small vessels to reach
them rendering t announcement FOR The
ladies' tC go. The party mad n3t VS.
| tied MindorO because Of climatic eondi-
/ tions and because at the time there
! had been no effort to pacify the is
! land.
Governor Taft spoke frequently Of
the unreliability Of all estimates OF the
population, but said there were prob
ably 5000, 600 FilipinOs or Christians,
and probably 900, 600 Mores. However,
! a census was badly needed
The members of the committee smiled
when Governor Taft said It thu
/ Christians had made all . Ible
! A second trip into the nor. por-
ton Of LUzon island aas aeScribed
next. This tour, the cove. Qar said, was
made almost ygichouJ military escort.
! Cagayan, in the extreme northern part
/ of the island. is, from an agricultural
standpoint, the most magnificent por-
/ ton Of the islands. This portion also
! contained splendid forests. He ex-
planned that IL is necessary to provide
| "A more paternaI Orm Of government
! for the IgOrIetes than for the Filipinos.
/ 1t was also impracticable TO place
/ Filipino governors over these people.
Some Insurgents without Guns.
In reply to Senator Patterson. Gov
ernOr Taft said that there were prob
ably 1900 rifles in the hands Of the
I insurgents in the islands and there are
some Of the latter who do not carry
guns. He could not, he said, tell where
the rifles and the ammunition came
| from. Some had been received from
Admiral Dewey before the beginning Of
the instruction and there were also
rumOrs Of shipments from Hongkong
and other parts Of China and Japan.
but the reports could not be verified.
Some Japanese rifles had been found,
but most of the rifles We're either Rem
( ingtOns or Mausers, Indicating either
american On Spanish cr,gias As 10 5a
1 juntas, most Of them are concentrated
I now at Hougkong1 composed mostly of
/ natives Of Batanga who had made
/ their money in coffee growing.
| Replying to Senator Dubois. the wit
ness said that Laguna and Samar are
| the only Philippine provinces which
| have not been organized and that with
those provinces organized practically
| all the Philippines CAPABLE of being
| taken would be under civil government
| In reply to other questions from Mr..
| Dubois, Governor Taft said that the
/ Filipinos have greater attachment for
/ their country than, for instance. the
Chinese have for theirs.
Loves His Native Land.
The Filipino is" he said. attached
/ first to his town and second to his prov
/ ince, and he Is, I think, now forming
: an attachment for the name of FIJI
/ pinO- On that pride OF country and on
/ the FtlipinoS' desire for education. L
| base my hope on the success Of what
we are doing in the islands"
In reply TO other questions. Governor
Taft said that he estimated that from
. to per cent Of the people read and
/ write the Spanish language. but that
he could not say what proportion OF
the people could write their own Ian
/ guage.
One great difficulty encountered Is
the fact that the people of the diff
ferent provinces do not understand the
| language of another. The witness said
that many Of the S35 American teach
ers are engaged in instruCting the
/ Filipino teachers. They are scattered
over the islands in 455 towns, and they
are making good progress, notwith-
standing their own lack Of knowledge
Of the natives. Many Of the American
soldiers have acted as teachers Of the
islanders and had proved very success
/ full The Filipino teachers were gen
orally, he said. availing themselves Of
! the advantages thus afforded As a
rule the people appeared anxious to
get the education thus given, but in
some cases the priests were manifest
ing a disposition to establish parish
schools for their people.
Spanish the Common Language.
/ Governor Taft said that Spanish is
the only language thar IS common
throughout the archipelago and that
this was the only instrument Of COM
mUnicatiOn with outside thought 4
native who did not speak Spanish was
/ compared by him TO a man at the bot
tom Of a we'll who must necessarily BE-
/ ignorant of almost everything going on
in his vicinity This condition OF az
fairs, Governor Tai. said. had led him
recently to vote for the continuance Of
Spanish as the official language Of the
islands, for If English should now be
constituted the official language IL
/ would be impossible to conduct bust
nses without the aid of Interpreters.
At this point Senator Patterson
asked Governor Taft whether the Fill
ipinO OF average intelligence is capa-
] bic OF distinguishing between an IN
/ dependent government for his country
and a benevolent and paternsI form OF
! government, such as the United States
would give. Replying, Governor Taft
said that a Filipino Of intelligence was
/ capable of making such distinction,
/ but he emphasized the necessity or
making sure that the Filipino who
must pass upon this problem is man
Of such intelligence
System Of Bossism-
oYou cannot" he said. appreciate
the ignorance and the Credulity of the
natives who do not have the advantage
| of a knowledge Of the Spanish Ian
guage. The present difficulty in the
Islands is found in the case where the
! educated Filipinos control their own
people. In the province OF Caguayan
thew have a system of bossism and
these bosses have almost the power OF
| life and death. II is exceedingly diff
hcult TO get into the minds OF the PEG
ME situated as are the common peO-
ME the fact that theirs is not the only
rav of living. Consequently when Ona
speaks of independence he is not un'
derstood'