The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-04-22
PRESIDENT ON PHILIPPINES
Mr.. McKinley's Promises Have Been
Fulfilled, Roosevelt Declares.
THE AMERICAN Army DEFENDED
Soldiers Comme nded % Brave and Hu.
lnane Toward Trcacherous Foe-Gov.
ernor Tan Praised - The President
Travels Over Familiar Ground In North
Dalsota-Grects Old Aequaintances.

efnor TeU Praisod - Tno freehuent
Travels Over Familiar Ground In North
Dakota-Grects Old Aequaintsnees.
liandam. N. D.-President Roosevelt
has Travelled through familiar country.
At many places he recognized old
friends. and from his conversation 1t
was evident that the day had been one
OF the most enjoyable ones OF his trip.
The weather was clear and bracing.
At Fargo. jamestown and Bismarck he
made speeches. Stops also were made
Mt Casselton. Tower. Valley City. the
home of Governor White; Dawson.
Dickinson and Medora.
At Bismarck number OF Indian
chiefs were introduced to the Presi.
dent. Some Of them had fought against
Custer. The President traded with
two of these Indians eighteen or twen-
ty years ago. and lie instantly recog.
nized them.
There were 200 Sioux. Grosventres
and Creeks In the party. Among them
was Rain.in.the. Face. the Sioux chief.
who Is said to have killed Custer.
John Grass, the orntor and Chief Jus.
tice OF the Sioux, presented to the
President the tribes good will In the
form Of an address.
He also presented a peace pipe Of
beautifully carved pipe-st0ne. Among
the chiefs present were Red TOma.
hawk. the Indian who killed Sitting
Bull at the time Of the uprising In the
early nineties: Red Fish. Black Bull.
Standing Bear. Crow Ghost and Cross
Bear.
I'VE have been treated well by the
good. Great Father" said Grass. land
We hope he will again be Great Father
when his time Is over"
Water. chief Of the Mandan Indians.
also presented written assurances OF
the good will Of his people.
Tell him." said President Roosevelt.
through the interpreter. "that am
glad to see him. The Mandan Indians
have always done we'll"
Then the wrinkled old chieftains
grasped the Presidents hand and SOL
EMMY grunted their approval.
?. MedOra. where Mr.. Roosevelt at
one time owned q ranch. and which
was his postoffice address sixteen years
ago when he was Sheriff Of Billings
County. the ranchmen from the sur
rounding country had come into town.
and they gave the President a truly
Western reception. "Joe" Ferris. the
Presidents old foreman. and his broth.
or. s. N. Ferris. met the President at
Bismarck. and rode with him to Me-
dora.
The principal speech Of the day was
made at Fargo. Mr.. Roosevelt briefly
sketched the restoration of order In the
Philippines. and continued:
I'VE should not have abandoned the
conflict without shirking duty. II we
had abandoned It We should have in
fiicted upon the Filipinos the most
cruel wrong and would have doomed
them to n bloody tumble Of anarchy
and tyranny.
1T seems strange. looking back. that
any Of our people should have failed to
recognize duty so obvious. but there
was such failure. and the Government
ut home. the civil authorities in the
Philippines. and above all. our gallant
army. had to do their work amid
storm Of detraction. The army in es-
pecIal was attacked In a way which
finally did good. for In the end K
aroused the hearty resentment Of the
great body OF the American people. not
against the army. but against the
army's traducers.
I'm the army 1t was impossible that
occasional instances of wrongdOing
should not occur The fact that they
occurred In retaliation for well.nigh
intolerable provocatlon cannot for one
moment be admitted In the way Of ex.
use or justification. All good Ameri.
cans regret and deplore them. and the
War Department has taken every step
in its power to punish the offenders
and to prevent or minimize the chance
Of repetition Of the Offense. But these
offenses were the exception and not the
rule. AS a whole OIL troops showed
but great humanity and the most sin.
cere desire to promote the welfare and
liberties Of the islanders
I'm Governor Taft and his associates
We sent to the Filipinos rs upright. as
conscientious and rs able n group Of
administrators as ever any country has
been blessed with having. The admin
lstration Is incorruptlbly honest; justice
Is rs jealousy safeguarded as here at
home.
There Is not In this nation higher
or finer type Of public servant than
Governor Taft. He has rendered liter
ally inestimable service. not only to the
people of the Philippines. but also to
the people Of the United States by
what he has done In those islands. He
has been able to do II because from the
beginning nc hos been given absolute /.
support by the War Department under
Secretary Root The civil government.
Of which Governor Taft Is the head.
will do rs well In the future rs 1t has
in the past because 1t will be hacked
up In the future as II has been In the
past"
C0mmerding the new militia scheme.
President Roosevelt said:
II believe that no other great country
has such fine natural material for vol.
unteer soldiers rs We have"
n