The Irish standard., 1903-05-23
acquiring our whiskey- drinking la.

1--WE have heard a good deal here
Oh both sides Of the question of adj
hitting the Chinese into the islands.
Where does the commission stand on
that matter?''
1.-The commission has now nothing
to do with it, Congress has taken it
out of our, hands entirely by inccrpor-
ating in it's latest Chinese exclusion
law provision extending the reitrc-
tive measures to the Philippines. We
body, except to carry out the will OF
congress. Therefore, any comments L
may make Oh that subject must be ac-
ceptcd as an expression exclusively OF
my Individual views, and not ais III
volvinS my colleagues.
There has been Il very loud protest
from American business men against
excluding the Chinese laboring class
from the Philippines. Anything COM
ing from such Il source deserves ser
ions consideration. Indeed, there is
no denying that if the Chinese were
freely admitted we should see the dc
VelOpment of the islands so forward
With IL speed almost passing couccr-
ton. Railroads would be built, farms
cultivated, mines worked to their tuii-
est capacity everything i'll Short,
would BOOM There is, however, an
I'll. il,i.. ~
desire of the islanders, and the great
need of the islands, is Il change i'll
the tariff on Philippine products enter
ing the United States. MI the COM
missioncrS. all the business men, and
all the t'ilipnus feel the injustice of
compelling Philippine products to pay
seems to use like Il most unfair dis
elimination against Il people who lave
been reduced to poverty by the ucvaS-
tation OF war, Il rlnucrpeSt Which has
cerried off their CHttle, 4 surra tina.
has killed their horses, and IL plague
Of locustS that has ruined their crops.
They need help and cncoulHg cmcnl,
such as they would receive from the
opening of the markets of the United
States to them on fair and reasonable
terms. The present tariff law is plac-
tically prohibtve against their sugar
and tobacco. y large reduction, or the
establishment Of free trade altogether,
would not so stimulate production on
the islands us to mperil any American
interest, but it would greatly help
these poor people in leinstatinY them
selves in Il condition of comparative
difficult to argue that the products Ct
the Philippines should be admitted OH
low duties, or free, il they were pro
duced by Chinese cheap labor. This
would bring Chinese labor into de-
structire competition with American
labor. so you see there would be an
inherent inconsistency between our
plea for Il reduced tariff and any plea
for the indiscriminutc admission of
the Chinese
MY own opinion is that il would
be better to depend upon the Filipilos
to develop their own country under
the cncoula cement of Il valuable mar
llct opened to them in the United
States, than to inundate the islands
with Chinese cheap labor | uo not
ovcrdraw the situation in speaking
Of an inundntion. We are RIGHT on
the border of China. and wages with
us are enormously higher diam the
Chinese llbOrrr can command ut
there is every reason to believe that
the Chinese immigrants would pour
in upon us by hundreds OF thousands.
The islands, as Il result, would he
much more rapidly developed, a.,rl
cultumlly and commercially, tllai
they can be now, for the Chinese Ia
borer is Industrious. untiring. and
frugal and can undcrbi,l the labor of
any other people. But these very
traits would bear fruit in his soon
monopoizing all the industries anl
trades in the Philippines and driviu;
the native to the wall. 10 put my
views into II single sentence. | feel
that in the present situation it is much
more important for us TO develop the
Filipino than the Philippine Islands,
Speaking of the Filipino scouts who
have joined The American forces,
Commissioner llc says:
'Onc of the most encouraging facts
in connection with this subject is That
the percentage of dcScrtons among
the native scouts and co,Stabuiry
since their enlistment has been less
than that among the United States
army in the Philippine Islands. De
serti0n is the lurest of oIfenses c',arS
cd against Il Filipino. lie likes his
Service he takes pride in his uniform,
he appreciates his pay, and he feels
that his connection With the govern
ment gives him Il peculiar distinction
among his fellows. Moreover. wien
engaged i'll hunting for his peculiar
game, he has the same spirit us any
other sportsman, and is bound to got
something.
"ln Manila we have Il police force
composed Of about one-third of Amer
leans and two-thirds of Filipinos. 1t
is very successful combination. Ike