The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-13
Men, Tried and True.

Men who accomplish things great in
themselves; who fit the places In which
they are put, even in emergencies and
grow with singular vigor up to the
measure of the demands upon them, are
not found easily. They have genius Tor
filling urgencies. Such are Secretary
Root and Governor Taft.
Secretary Root, not bred to war, military
tactics nor details Of the executive duties
Of great and neutrality-suspicious. OF the
~ government, has shown the ripest ability
to grasp the necessities Of the department
and to comprehend its most obvious de-
fects. He entered upon the strenuous
advocacy Of the measure to reform the
obsolete militia law Of 1892, increase the
efficiency of the organized militia and
bring about an harmonious cooperation
between it and the regular army in prepa-
ration for war, and for the raising Of VOL
unteer forces whenever such forces are
necessary.
The practical character Of the Dick law
has changed the whole face Of the ma
tional militia situation: The nation will
hereafter be in state Of militia prepared
ness Wnen war comes, anu LLeIe Will Uc Ilu
confusion and misrepresentation of duties,
such as existed at the beginning Of the
Spanish war, and competent men will be
found to perform the duties of volunteer
officers in the staff and supply DEPART
ments. No less valuable Is the law Of the
general staff, (which provides expert d.
rection for the movements Of the army;
plans of campaign, Typographical infor-
nation of every country possibly to be
campaigned in, and provision for the
speediest mobilization and the most eff
fective. No nation will be better prepared
for war than ours and, with such a COM
paratively small standing army.
No less illustrious is Governor Taft,
whose work in the Philippines has been of
the highest Importance 1t Is understood
that The is to take the position Of Sec
retary.% Root which he will no doubt we'll
fill, and yet he has in such a peculiarly
efficient way met the demands upon him
in the Philippines, that it does not appear
how he can be replaced. He has unsettled
problems still upon his hands. A Ma
Mia cable states that the governor does
not want to leave before next February,
as he is now formulating matters Of the
utmost Importance to the islands. The
question of the friars land has not yet
been settled and Rome certainly has not
been anxious to push it. The Fil1p1nos
would be perfectly satisfied to have Gov
ernor Taft settle the whole matter and
any other which concerns them for that
matter, for they have the most implicit
confidence in him. When the governor
came back to the islands after his severe
illness last year. the reception rendered
him on his return was unprecedentedly
enthusiastic, and there is not on record an
instance Of. such a great and genuine
demonstration on the part Of an alien
people to a civil governor appointed by a
foreign power to rule them. Taft has
won the confidence Of the people; has been
patient with them borne with their weak
resses, administered the law with equal
and exact Justice; shown that American
government and Spanish government are
not to be named in the same category and
shown that Great Britain is not the only
country on earth which is able to govern
d colony intelligently and nationally. Taft
indeed, could not offer a more splendid
or more enduring sacrifice in behalf of his
country and for the substantial good Of his
country than by completing, so far as he
can, the redemptive work he has under
taken in the Philippines.