The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-12-09

est attention If we were impotenl to
make them good.
The Army.
Within the last three years the Unit
ed States has set an example in dis
armament where disarmament was
proper. BY law our army is fixed at
maximum of 1OO,0O0 and a minimum
Of 10000 men. When there was insur-
rection in the Philippines we kept the
army at the maximum. Peace came in
the Philippines, and now our army
has been reduced to the minimum at
which it is possible to keep it with due
regard to It's efficiency. We should be
able, in the event of some sudden
emergency, to put into the field one
first class army corps, which should be,
as a whole, ut least the equal Of any
body Of troops of like number belong
ing to any other nation.
Great progress has been made in pro-
tecting our coasts by adequate fortifi-
cations with sufficient guns. We
should, however, pay much more heed
than at present to the development of
an extensive system Of floating mines
for use in all our more important har-
bors. These mines have been proved
to be most formidable safeguard
against hostile fleets.
The Philippines.
In the Philippine Islands there has
been during the past year continual
ton Of the steady progress which has
obtained ever since our troops definite
~ got the upper hand of the insur-
gents. 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 Philip,
pine Islands, contain many Clements
of good, and some clements which we
have right to hope stand for prog
ress. At present they are utterly in
capable Of existing in independence at
all or. of building up civilization of
their own. / firmly believe that we
can help them to rise higher and high
er, in the scale of civilization and Of
capacity for self government, and l
most earnestly hope that in the end
they will be able to stand, II not en-
tirely alone, yet in some such relation
to the United States as Cuba now
stands This end Is not yet in sight,
and 1t may be indefinitely postponed
If our people are foolish enough to turn
the attention of the Filipinos away
from the problems of achieving moral
and material prosperity, of working
for stable, orderly and Just govern
ment, and toward foolish and danger
Gus intrigues for a complete independ-
ence for which they are as yet totally
unfit.
keep steadily before their minds the
fact that the justification for our stay
in the Philippines must ultimately rest
chiefly upon the good we are able to
do in the islands. do not overlook
the fact that in the development of our
interests in the Pacific ocean and
along its coasts the Philippines have
played and will play an important part
and that our interests have been serv-
ed in more than one way by the pos
session 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
rUnry or1d fbio No ri ;o,, I, - ,,;ooo of xx,ori.
has been imposed upon us by the re-
suits of the war with Spain. We are
endeavoring to develop the natives
themselves so that they shall take an
ever increasing share in their own gov
eminent, and, as far as is prudent we
are already admitting their representa-
tives to governmental equality with
our own. There are commissioners.
judges and governors in the islands
who are Filipinos and who have exact
~ the same share in the government
Of the islands as have their colleagues
who are Americans, while in the lower
ranks of course, the great majority Of
the public servants are Filipinos.
Within two years we shall be trying
the experiment OF an elective lower
house in the Philippine legislature. If
the Filipinos act with wisdom ard self
restraint if they show that they are
capable of electing legislature which
in its turn is capable of taking sane
and efficient part in the actual work Of
government. they can rest assured that
full and increasing measure of rec
ognition will be given them.
Every measure taken concerning the
islands should be taken primarily with
n view to their advantage. We should
certainly give them lower tariff rates
on their exports to the United States.
II this is not done it will be wrong
to extend our shipping laws to them.
earnestly hope for the immediate
enactment into law of the legislation
now pending to encourage American
capital to seek investment in the IS
lands in railroads. in factories, in plan
tations and In numbering and mining.