Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-04-07

nnatly to a condition or mere Dr1gand-
age: and wherever they conquered, they
conquered only to make way for the
rule of the civil government, for the In
PRODUCTION of law, and OF liberty under
| the law. When, by last July, the last
Ivestige of organized insurrection had
disappeared, peace and amnesty were
proclaimed.
AS rapidly as the military rule was
extended over the islands by the defeat
of the insurgents. just so rapidly was 1t
replaced by the civil government At the
present time the civil government is
supreme and the army In the Philippine
es has been reduced until it is sufficient
merely to provide against the recur-
renee of trouble In Gov. Taft and his
associates we sent to the Fillpinos as
upright, as conscientious. and as able
a group of administrators as ever any
country has been blessed with having.
With them and under them we have
associated the best men among the Fili-
pinos, so that the great majority of the
officials, including many of the highest
rank are themselves natives of the
islands. The administration is incor-
ruptibly honest; justice is as jealously
safeguarded as here at home. The gov
ernment Is conducted purely in the in
terests of the people of the islands;
they are protected in their religious and
civil rights: they have been given an
excellent and well administrated school
system, and each Of them now enjoys
rights to life, liberty. and the pursuit
OF happiness such as were never be-
fore known in all the history of the
islands.
The congress which has just adjourn
ed has passed legislation OF high inn
portilnce and great wisdom in the in
terests Of the Filipino people. First
and foremost they conferred upon them
by law the present admirable civil gov
ernnent; in addition they gave them
an excellent currency; they passed a
measure allowing the organization of a
native constabulary; and they provided
in the interests Of the islands, for a
reduction of twenty five per cent in the
tariff on Filipino articles brought to
this country. asked that q still further
granted by the last congress, but l
think that in some shape it will be
granted by the next. And even without
1T, the record of legislation in the in
terests of the Filipinos Is one with
which we have right to feel great
satisfaction
The New Militia.
Moreover, the last congress enacted
some admirable legislation affecting the
bill to create general staff The mill
tia bill represents the realization Of a
reform which had been championed in
effectively by Washington. and had
been fruitlessly agitated ever since. AT
last we have taken from the statute
books the obsolete militia law of the
revolutionary days and have provided
for efficient aid to the national guard
Of the states. believe that no other
great country has such fine natural ma
terial for volunteer soldiers as we have,
and 1t is the obvious duty of the nation
and OF the states to make such provi-
sion as will enable this volunteer SOL
dtery to be organized with all possible
rapidity and efficiency in time of war;
and, furthermore, to help in every way
the. national guard in time of peace.
The militia law enacted by the con-
gress marks the first long step ever
taken in this direction by the National
Government The general-staff law is
of immense Importance and benefit to
the regular army. Individually. would
not admit that the American regular,
either officer or enlisted man. is inferior
to any other regular soldier in the
world. In fact, II 1t were worth while
to boast. should say that he was the
best. But there must be proper train
ing, proper organization and admins
tration. in order to get the best service
out of even the best troops. This is
particularly the case with such a small
army as ours, scattered over so vast
a country. We do not need large
regular army, but we do need to have
our small regular army the very best
that can possibly be procured"