Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-03-07
LAUNCH TAFT BOOM
Ohio Society Banqueters Say
 "Come to Govern Us"
SECRETARY DEFENDS IMPERIALISM
War Head Responded to 'United States In Phiiippfnes'' and Gave
 Brief Review of Governments

States Tn Philippfnes'' and Gave
 Brief Review of Governments
 Responsibility For Colony.
 NEW YORK, March 7.-It is said that yelled effort was made at the annual banquet of the Ohio society to liam Howard Taft for the presidency. One of the speakers referred to the secretary of war as "the governor of the east who has returned to govern us, as he undoubtedly will do."
 Few of the 400 present were quick enough to catch the point of the re- mark in time to give it force, but among those who did see iss meaning was Secretary Taft, who had been in- troduced. He was on his feet in a second, and before the applause had started he began with his address, After that, with much skill, he turned the enthusiasm of the sons of Ohio in- to an indorsement of the American pol icy in the Philippines inaugurated by William Mckinley and .'carried to a legitimate conclusion by his successor, President Roosevelt" MT. Tafts en- tire remarks were a defense of the present administration.
 ''The United States In the Philip pines' was the toast to which the sec retary of war responded. As governor of the Philippines he had qualified to discuss the subject. and he showed his familiarity with the matter by going into details as they never were gone into before in any speech delivered in this city!
 He had the sympathy of his hear CTS, and often he was compelled to pause that the applause might subside More than once he announced with much force that the United States had been forced into the Philippines by fate and that it could not abandon it's position there.
 Most pertinent, of all his remarks was one regarding the attitude assum- ed soon after the war with Spain by President Mckinley Talking with the president, MT. Taft said that he had expressed regret that the United States had ever been compelled to send its navy to Manila bay.
 
 was the response of the late president, as quoted by the speaker. 'But hope that we have acted for the best No one is more conscious of the re- sponsibility that rests upon us than am I. And no one can be more re- gretful that we had to assume it than l."
 In his speech the secretary of war plunged at once into the subject offthe Philippines. He gave brief review of the conditions in the far east previ- ous to the last decade. Now, think you all know better than I can state it." he went on, "the dilemma in which the United States found itself after Dewey's victory and after the signing of the protocol. What were we to do? Were we to turn the islands back to Spain? Could we turn the islands over to the insurgents? II know upon this point there is a great difference of opinion. do not think there is any difference in the ob- ligation which we were under with re spect to those islands. Were we to leave the islands and the protection of that property drift into an internation- al complication to some other nation?
 ''It is concluded that we might have formed protectorate-that is, we might have seen a government formed; that we might have stationed our na- w in the bay; that we might have said to the foreign nations: We will see that your property is protected, but we withdraw all power to protect it. We will assume the responsibility for this government without retaining the right to say that it is properly conducted That course our govern ment did not follow, but it proceeded to administer the government of the Philippine Islands for the benefit of the Philippine people" .@.