Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-10-02
SECRETARY TAFT TELLS OF ORl-
ENTAIL TRIP.
STILL SOME Discomfort
Younger and Educated Natives De-
mand immediate Separation From
United States Transformations
Not as Favorable as Might Be De-
sired.

San Francisco, Sept. 28.-Secretary
Taft in an interview with the Associ-
ated Press covering his trip to the
orient, said that the political situa-
ton in the Philippines in some re-
spects was not as good as it ought to
be. .a4 H
"A wave of Ladronism," he said,
"has swept over Cavite, and it has
been found necessary to suspend the
writ of habeus corpus in Cavite and
Batangas. The same was true of
Samar, but the use of troops on Sa-
mar and scouts and constabulary in
Cavite have put an end to this bust
ness"
Concerning the agitation for lnde2
pendence Secretary Taft said:
Some of the younger men OF edu-
cation have been advocating 1nme;
date independence. 1t therefore
becomes necessary to state with con-
siderable emphasis the policy OF the
administration on this subject and to
say that in the opinion of the admin
istration there is no possible nope
for independence short of a genera
ton, because the people could not be
fitted for self government in that
time; indeed, it will probably take a
much longer period
Continuing, he said
There was remaining unsettled a
question about the title to one-half OF
the friars lands-those owned previ-
OusIy by the Dominican order. After
a conference with representative OF
the vendors a satisfactory compromise
was effected by which good title to
the lands will be conveyed to the
government and possession given, as
far as that possession is in the ven
doris, and the difference as to price, a
matter of some 100000, will be left
to adjustment by arbitration.
while the conditions in the Philip
pines are not as favorable as we
would like to have them and probably
will not be favorable until the de
pressing conditions shall be followed
by a prosperous season., still progress
is being made. The government is
more efficient, inefficient men are be-
ing eliminated and things are set
ting to business. Economy is being
practiced more and more in the gov.
nrn1nnnt f1jninnS intT
duced very rapidly to the places of
Americans and on the whole, in look
ing back over two years, decided
steps forward have been taken"
Profitable Trip.
Beside the statement made by Sec
rotary Taft, the Associated Press i'm
terviewed several congressman who
were with the party. All are agreed
that the visit to the Philippines was a
most profitable one from an educa-
tional point of view and that great
fund of the most. valuable informa-
ton was gathered
Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin,
chairman of the house committee on
insular affairs, said:
Takes Question Out of Politics.
"One effect of the trip will be, in
large measure, to take the question of
immediate Philippine independence
out of politics. Personal study of
the situation has, think, convinced
the members of our party, democrat
and republicans, that the inhabitants
Of the Philippine islands are not now
capable of free self-government. This
conclusion is admitted to be true by
educated conservative filipinos them
selves, though they, like the majority
of other people of the islands, hope
for an Independent government when
the inhabitants of the islands shall
become fitted to maintain it. The