Rocky Ford enterprise., 1905-10-06
The PHILIPPINES
AS SEEN BY MEMBERS OF THE
TAFT PARTY.
REPORT At SAN FRANCISCO
All Agree That Fiiioinos Are Not Vet
Fitted for independence - Great
Possibilities in Soil and Location
Education Principal Need.

FOtbiDIltttcd IN oCtI anu LoCdpoH-
Education Principal Need.
San Francisco.-Member OF tho
Taft party who arrived from the Orient
"Wednesday have summarized their i'm
pressloS as follows:
Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin.
chairman of the House committee on
insular affairs. said:
"Onc effect OF the "trip will be. In
large measure. 10 take the question OF
Immediate Philippine Independence
out Of politics. Personal study OF the
situation has. | think. convinced the
members Of our party. Democrats and
Republicans. that the inhabitants OF
the Philippine islands are not now cap
able OF free self,goycrnment. This con
clusion is admitted To be true by cdu-
Gated conservative Fiiipinos them
selves.
"Thc United States has done many
noble. wonderful things in the Islands
but It's most glorious work is the 's'
tabllshmcnt there OF splendid sys-
TEN Of American common schools.
These schools. steadily increasing In
number. attended now by $4,000 chill
drcn out OF an enrolment of more Than
100000. will. more than any other in
tiuencc. help to abolish the multitude
Of dialects and tongues and rcscncfat-
the people Of the Philippines"
ConErC sHnan Fnss. chairman of the
HoaSC committee ON naval annirs.
said.
Il made this journey largely for the
purpose Of making stuuy OF questions
coming within the scope of the com
mittcc Of which I am chairman.
Congressman Hepburn. chairman Of
the House committee on foreign and
Interstate commerce. said:
My visit TO tn. Philippines was u
disappointment to me In two respects:
! was agrccabiy disappointed. 10 md
ihn, my idea OF the extent and yain.
of the Islands as productive territory
was far below tn. truth. regard l.u'
xon NJ the finest ani most produc'iv"
Island Ia the large group that extends
from Japan southward alonS the A-i'
atic coast. ! was .iBappointcd In that
the people of the Philippines have not
proved the equals In labor and -kili OF
their ncishbors and have not taken
from the soil the riches that nature
una h'tt
aud physical development. aud they
must be taught the dignity Of labor.
The United States has much in do IL
these islands"
Congrcasman Charles r. Scot, Of
Kansas said:
1T was surprise to most of us Ia
learn ;ha, only nine per cent. of III.
tiiiablc land IL under cultivation and
that vast arcas of the most fertile soil
In the world In yet untouched. The de
vciopmcnt of this fruitful land. the
opening Of the great deposits Of coal
iron aud other minerals. and the uiili
zation of the 5.0vo.OoJ acres of hard
wood forests offers rich Held for the
investment of American capital aud fos
enterprise.
with the resources properly dcvcl
opcd. the Philippines will support 90.
100000 people as easily az they now
maintain S.00o.0Oo. They are the rich
est group of tropical islands In the
world and the time will come when
the United States will count them
among Its proudcst possessions"
Senator Patterson Of Colorado:
The Philippines. the more you know
Of them. the more serious appears the
problem. I am convinced that In their
government We are getting farther and
farther away from Secrctary's Taftr
patriotic and humane poiicy-thc Phil
ippincs for the Filipinos and ultimate
independence. The gulf between the
native and the American IN widening.
My visit to China has convinced me
more than ever OF the wisdom and ne.
ccssity of, Chinese exclusion. ! believe
the boycott will coon be over. but In
any event American methods and civ.
iliEation is of greater moment than
Chinese commerce.
Japan won me from the first. An
admirable people In many ways. The
disgust after the treaty was an or.
fanizod effort to prevent the Emperor
from ratifying II. Japan IL the most
formidable competitor that the United
States and England will have for the
commerce of Asia. and in u few years.
II they hold their own against Japan.
Many economic and Industrial
changes must take place
Secretary Taft said of the conditions
in the archipelago:
The political situation In somc rc.
spccts was not as good as II ought to
be. \ wave of ladronism has swept
over the province of Cavitc. and II has
been found necessary TO suspend the
writ OF habeas corpus in that province
and Batnngas. the neighboring prov
ince. The same was true Of Samar.
but the use OF troops In Samar and the
use OF scouts and constabulary In Ca
vitc had put an end TO this business:
however. there were two or three men
responsible for the keeping up OF In.
dronism. who had not been captured.
e al .Nf ,pn.
tion have been advocating immediate
independence. II therefore becomes
necessary 10 state with considerable
emphasis the policy of the aiministra.
tion ON this subject. and TO say that
in the opinion OF the administration
there was no possible hope for indie
pcndence short of generation. be-
cause the people could not be fitted for
self government in that time: indeed.