The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-03

of our independence, peace and amnesty were promulgated in the Philippine Is- lands. Some trouble has since from time to time threatened with the Mohamme- dan Moros, but with the late insurrec- tionary Filipinos the war has entirely ceased. Civil government has now been introduced Not only does each Filipino enjoy such rights to life, liberty. and the pursuit of happiness as he has never before known during the recorded history of the islands, but the people taken as a whole now enjoy a measure Of Self-goV- ernment greater than that granted to any other Orientals by any foreign power and greater than that enjoyed by any other Orentals under their own governments, save the Japanese alone. We have not gone too far in granting these rights of liberty and elf-goVernment; but we have certainly gone to the limit that in the in- terests of the Philippine people them selves it was wise or just to go. To hur- ry matters, to go faster than we are now pie of the islands. No policy ever en- tered into by the American people has vindicated itself in more signal manner than the policy of holding the Philip pines. The triumph of our. arms, above all the triumph of our laws and princi- ples has come sooner than we had any | right to expect. Too much praise can not 1 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 government; | and similar credit belongs to the civil au- l thorities for the way in which they have l planted the seeds of self-goVernment In l the ground thus made ready for them. | The courage, the unfiinching endurance,
 the high soldierly efficiency, and the gen. | eral kind-heartedness and humanity of OFT troops have been StrikinglY mam- | fested There now remain only some l5,WO | troops in the islands. All told, over lOOWO | have been sent there Of course, there | have been individual instances of wrong l .rnA T1Ia
 fearful difficulties of climate and sur
 roundings; and under the strain Of the
 terrible provOcations. which they conun- ually received from their foes, occasional l instances of cruel retaliation occurred | Every effort has been made to prevent | such cruelties, and finally these efforts
 have been completely successful. Every l effort has also been made to detect and | nunish the wrongdoers. After making all allowance for these misdeeds, it remains
 true that few indeed have been the ln- l stances in which war has been waged by | civilized power against seml-clVlllzeu | 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 difficult, important
 and benefcent work which has been done
 Is well-nigh incalculable.
 Matter for Congratulation.
 Taking the work of the army and the
 civil authorities together, it may be ques- | toned whether anywhere else Tn modern l times the world has seen better exam | pie of real constructive statesmansnll l than our people have given in the Phllip-
 pine Islands. High praise should also be | given those Filipinos, in the aggregate | very numerous, who have. accepted the
 new conditions and joined with our rep
 resentatives to work with hearty sooo | will for the welfare of the islands
 The army has been reduced to the min l mum allowed by law. It is very small
 for the size of the nation, and most cer-
 tainly it should be kept at the highest '. point of efficiency. The senior officers | are given scant chance under ordinary | conditions tu exercise commands com | mensurate with their rank. under clrcum- l stances which would fit them to do their duty in time of actual war A system of | maneuvering our army in bodies of some | little size has been begun and should be l steadily continued. Without such man. l euvers 1t is folly to expect that in the event of hostilities with any serious foe | led to advantage Both our officers and | enlisted men are such that we can take | hearty pride in them. No better mate l rial can be found. But they must be l and in the mass. The marksmanship oi
 the men must receive special attention l In the circumstances of modern Wartart
 the man must act far more on his owr | individual responsibility than ever be-
 fore. and the high individual efficiency
 of the unit is of the utmost importance
 Formerly this unit was the regiment; I
 is now not the regiment, not even tho
 troop or company; 1t is the indlVidual sol
 dier Every effort must be made to de
 velop every workmanltke and soldierN
 quality in both the officer and the en
 listed man.
 ; I urgently call your, attention to tn general staff and for the Teorganizato | of the supply departments on the lines O | the bill proposed by the Secretary o