The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-07

promotions. We should be able, in the event
 of some sudden emergency. to put inso tne
 field one first-class army corps, wnicn
 should be. as a whole. at least the e0ual ei
 any body of troops of like numoer o'- longing to any other nation
 Great progress has been made in protect-
 ing our coasts by adequate Qualifications
 with sufficient guns. We should. however
 pay much more heed than at present to the
 development of an extensive system of noa'~
 Ing mines for use in all our more importan.
 harbors. These mines have been pEoveo
 to be a most formidable safeguard asains'
 hostile fleets.
 Medals of Honor h the Navy.
 earnestly call the attention Of the Congress to the need of amending the exist ing law relating to the award of consres-
 sionai medals of honor In the Navy so az to provide that they be awarded to commis-
 stoned officers and warrant officers as well as to enlisted men. These justly prized
 medals are given in the Army alike to the
 officers and the enlisted men. and 1t is most unjust that the commissioned officers ana
 warrant officers of the Navy should not m this respect have the same rights as tncir
 brethren in the Army and as the enlisted men in the Navy.
 The Philippines.
 In the Philippine Islands there has been during the past year continuation of the steady progress whih has obtained ever
 since our troops definitely got the upper
 hand of the insurgents. The Philippine people, or. to speak more accurately. the many tribes. and even races sundered from one another more or less sharply. who go to make up the people of the Philippine Is. lands contain many clements of good. and some elements which we have . right to hope stand for progress At present they
 are utterly incapable Of existing in inde- pendence at all or of building up ctviliza- tior. of their own. firmly believe that we can help them to rise higher and higher in the scale of civilization and of capacity for self government, and I most earnestly hope that in the end they will be able to stand if not entirely alone. yet in some such relation to the United states as Cuba now stands. This end Is not yet in sight. and it may be indefinitely postponed if our people are foolish enough to turn the at tention of the Filipinos away from the proh- lems of achieving moral and material pros- perity of working for a stable. orderly, ana just government. and toward foolish and dangerous intrigues for complete independ- ence for which they are as yet totally un- fft a.-
 On the other hand our people must keen steadily before their minds the fact that the Justification for our stay in the Phil ippines must ultimately rest chiefly upon the good we are able to do in the islands I do not overlook the fact that in the de- velopment of our interests in the Pacific ocean and along its coasts. the Philippines have played and will play can important part and that our interests have been served in more than one way by the posses sion of the islands. But our chief reason for continuing to hold them must be that we ought in good faith to try to do our share of the worlds work. and this partiou- lar piece of work has been imposed upon us by the results of the war with spain The | aA f0 tr. 10 Phtltnntne Islands is akin to. but not exactly like. the problems presented to the other great civt- iized powers which have possessions in the Orient. There are points of resemblance in our work to the work which is being done by the British in India and Egypt by the French in Algiers. by the Dutch fin Java by the Russians In Turkestan. by the Jap anese in Formosa: but more distinctly than any of these powers we are endeavoring to develop the natives themselves that they shall take an eyer-increasng share in their own government, and as far ns prudent we are already admitting their representatives to a governmental equality with our own. There are commissioners, judges and gov ernors in the islands who are Filipinos and who have exactly the same share in the government of the islands as have their col leagues who are Americans. while in the lower ranks. of course. the great majority of the public servants are Filipinos With
 
 ment of an elective lower house in the
 Philippine legislature. It may be that the Filipinos will misuse this legislature. and they certainly will misuse 1t if they are mis-
 led by foolish persons here at home into starting an agitation for their own inde- pendence or into any factious or improper action In such case they will do them selves no good and will stop for the time
 being all effort to advance them and give them a greater share in their own govern
 ment But If they act with wisdom and self restraint. If they show that they are capable of electing a legislature (which in its turn is capable of taking a sane and
 efficient part in the actual work of govern
 ment. they rest assured that a full and increa sing measure of recognition will be given them. Above all they should remem- ber that their prime needs are moral and industrial, not political. It Is a good thing to try the experiment of giving them
 legislature: but it is far better thing to give them schools good roads. railroads
 which will enable them to get their products to market honest courts an honest and ef- ficient constabulary. and all that tends to produce order. peace. fair dealing as be- tween man and man. and habits of intel ligent industry and thrift If they are safe guarded against oppression, and If their real wants material and spiritual. studied inteliigently and in a spirit of friendly sympathy. much more good will be done than by any effort to give them DO. littcal power though this effort may in it's own proper time and place be proper enough
 Meanwhile our own people should remem- Der that there is need for the highest stand ard of conduct among the Americans sent to the Philippine Islands not only among the public servants but among the private individuals who go to them. It is because feel this so deeply that in the administra- ton of these islands l have positively re- fused to permit any discrimination what soever for political reasons and have in; sisted that in choosing the public servants consideration should be paid solely to the
 worth of the men chosen and to the needs of the islands There is no higher body Of men in our public service than we have in the Philippine Islands under Governor Wright and his associates. So far as pos sible these men should be given free hand. and their suggestions should receive the hearty backing both of the Executive and of the Congress. There Is need of a vigil lant and disinterested support of our puo- lie servants In the Philippines by good citi- gems here in the United States. Unfor- tunately hitherto those of our people here at home who have specially claimed to be the oh ampions of the Fihpinos have n reality been their worst enemies This will continue to be the long they strive 10 make the Filipinos Independent. and stop all industrial development of the islands by crying out against the laws which would bring 1t on the ground that capital ists must not "exploit' the islands Such proceedings not only unwise, but most harmful to the FiIlpinos. who do not need independence at all but who do need good laws. good public servants and the industrial development that can oniy come if the investment of the American and for