The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-12-05
UNITED OPINION, FRIDA

cial messages and that the COMPANY
should construct line from the Philip
pine Islands to China, there being at pres.
snt, as IS well known, a British line from
Manila to Hongkong.
The representatives Of the cable comm
ny Kept these conditions long under con
slderation, continuing in the meantime to
prepare for laying the cable They havS
however, at length acceded to them an5
an all American line between our Paciac
coast and the Chinese empire by way Of
tthhonoIulu and the Philippine Islands is
mus provided for and is expected within
Few months to be ready for business.
among the conditions is one reservlpg
ne rne power OF the congress to modify or re,
peal any or all of them. A copy of tbe
conditions is herewith transmitted
Il O1 Porto Rico 1t is only necessary to saw
4aad the prosperity Of the island and the
nave been such as to make it serve as an
example of all that is best in insular adj
ministration "u-
twenty sixth anniversary of the declare
tlon or our independence, peace and am
nesty We're promulgated in the Philippine
1slands some trouble has since from
time TO time threatened with the Moham
medan Moros, but with the late insurrsS
tionary fdl1pinos the war has entirely
ceased. Civil government has now been
introduced Not only does each F'iIipinn
enjoy such rights to life liberty and tbo
pursuit OF happiness as he has never be-
fore known during the recorded history Of
the Islands, but the people, taken as a
whole, now enjoy a measure OF SELF %, 90, a
effhhInent greater than that granted to any
! other orlentals by any foreign power and
greater than that enjoyed by any otber
/ orientals under their own govern M &c
I save the Japanese alone. We have NOT
/ gone too far in granting these rights Of
| liberty and self government but we haya
/ certainly gone to the limit that in tba n,
terests of the Philippine people themselves
/ II was wise or just to go. To hurry mat
/ ters to go faster than we are now goins
4 would entail calamity on the people Of
the islands. No policy ever entered into
by the American people has indicated IL
self in more signal manner than The poii-
! cy of holding the Philippines The tri-
umph Of our arms, above all the triumph
OF our laws and principles, has come soon
er than we had any right to expect Too
much praise cannot be given to the army
for what it has done in the Philippine.
both in warfare and from an administra
tive standpoint, in preparing the way for
civil government, and similar credit be-
longs to the civil authorities for the wav
self government in the ground thus made
ready for them. The courage, the I'M
finching endurance, the high soldiery eff
cheney and the general kind heartedness
and humanity of our troops have been
stridngly manifested. There now remain
only some 1900 troops in the islands. All
told, over 100000 have been sent there. OF
course there have been individual in
stances of wrongdoing among them. They
warred under fearful difficulties Of eli
mate and surroundings, and under the
strain of the terrible provocations which
they continually received from their foes
occasional instances of cruel retaliation
occurred. Every effort has been made to
prevent such cruelties. and finally these
efforts have been completely successful /
Every effort has also been made to de-
tect and punish the wrongdoers. After
1t remains true that few indeed have been /
the instances in which war has been .
civilized or barbarous forces where there
has been so little wrongdoing by the VIC
tors as in the Philippine Islands On the
other hand the amount of difficult impor-
tant and beneficent work which has been
done is well nigh incalculable.
Taking the work of the army and the
civil authorities together, it may be CUES
toned whether anywhere else in modern
times the world has seen better exam
pie of real constructive craftsmanship
than our people have given in the Philip
given those Filipinos - in the aggregate
very numerous-who have accepted the
new conditions and Joined with our repre-
SentativeS to work with hearty good will
for the welfare of the islands.
The army has been reduced to the mini
mum allowed by law. 1t is very small for
the size II the nation and most certainly
should be kept at the highest point of eff
cheney The senior officers are given scant
chance under ordinary conditions to eX-
ercise commands commensurate with their
rank under circumstances which would fit
them to do their duty in time Of actual
war A system of maneuvering our army
In D0Q1eS OF some little size mas been De- !
gun and should be steadily continued.
Without such maneuvers it is folly to eX-
pect that in the event of hostiiities with | ,
any serious foe 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 Bus So 1-rli
must be thoroughly trained, both as indi-
viduals and in the mass. The marksman-
ship of the men must receive special at
tention In the circumstances Of modern
90. CT f1r= an ]
his own individual responsibility than
ever before, and the high Individual eff
cheney of the unit is of the utmost i'm
portance Formerly this unit was the
regiment. 1t is now not the regiment, not
even the troop or company, 1t is the indt-
vidual soldier Every effort must be made
dierly quality in both the officer and the
enlisted man.
1 urgently call your attention to the
need of passing a bill providing for gen.
the supply departments on the lines of the
bill proposed by the secretary Of war last
year. When the young officers enter the
army from West Point. they probably
stand above their compeers in any other
military service. Every effort should be
made by training, by reward Of merit, by
to keep them of the same high relative
excellence throughout their careers.
The measure providing for the reOrgan-
ization Of the militia system and for Sc
]
al guard, which has already passed the |
house, should receive prompt attention
and action. 1t is of great importance that
the relation of the national guard to the
militia and volunteer forces of the United
States should be defined and that In place /
0t our present obsolete laws practlca
and efficient system should be adopted.
Provision should be made to enable the
secretary of war to keep cavalry and ar
lllery horses worn out in long perform
ance Of duty. Such horses fetch but
yUh nd rot hpp
them out to the misery awaiting them
when thus disposed of it would be better
TO employ them at light work around the
posts and when necessary to put them
palnlessly to death.
For the first time In our history naval
on a large scale are being held
ntral Of the navy. Constantly increasing
attention is being paid to the gunnery Of /
ne navy, but 1t Is yet far from what 1t
crease asked for by the secretary of the
navy in the appropriation for improving
me craftsmanship be granted. In battle
me only shots that count are the shots
mat hit. 1t Is necessary to provide ample
funds for practice with the great guns in
time Of peace. These funds must provide
not only for the purchase of projectiles
out for allowances for prizes to encour-
age the gun crews, and especially the gun
pointers, and for perfecting an intelligent
get good practice.
There should be no halt in the work of Z
building up the navy, providing every q
year additional lighting craft We are Ia
very rich country, vast in extent of terri r.
tory and great in population a country 81
moreover, which has an army dimirutiye n
indeed when compared with that Of anv s.
other first class power. We have deIiber h
ateiy made our own certain foreign poll
Sies which demand the possession 81 ,
irst class navy. The isthmian canal vii y
greatly Increase the efficiency Of our nav
= the navy Is of sufficient size, but II we
i I an Ihaoequate navy then the build
hostage to any power Of superior strengtb
l ne Monroe doctrine should be trea taS a.,
he cardinal nF NCN as Z