Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-03-24
OUR WASHINGTON
NEWS NOTES.
LATE NEWS ITEMS FROM OUR
NATIONS CAPITOL.
'HOLD ONTO THE ISLANDS
Says Secretary Taft in His Letter to
Jno. Blair for the Purpose Of De-
veloping the Prosperity Of the
Philippines.


In order to allay any misapprehen-
sion relative to the policy Of the adj
minstration with respect to the fu-
Isure of tile Philippines, Secretary
Taft made public the text of let
tier which he wrote TO John n. Blair,
l2f New York, bearing directly on that
fsubject. The Secretary states very
iplainly that the policy of the admin
istration is the definite retention Of
The Philippines, for the purpose Of
developing the prosperity and the self
governing capacity of the Philippine
people, What shall be done when
;he Philippine, "for the purpose Of
when they can safely be trusted with
their own government, the Secretary
believes to be question which doubt
ess will have to be settled by anoth-
sr generation than the present. The
ecretary's letter follows:
"March Is, 1905.
My Dear Sir-I have your letter
of March z, in which you say that a
sommon reported Interpretation Of
nv remarks before the House Commit
lee on Ways and Means is that it is
he purpose of the administration to
give independence to the Filipinos
within the next four years, and that
his produces great timidity about in
Festments in the Philippines, growing
great part out Of the under-current
& doubt as to what the future of these
Stands is to be. In reply | beg to say
hat | can not prevent misconstruction
IF my remarks except by repeating
0 you what I actually think in regard
o the matter The policy Of the adj
ninistration is. the indefinite retention
f the Philippine Islands, for the pur-
sose of developing the prosperity and
elf governing capacity Of the Filipl-
no people. The policy rests on the
zonviction that the people are not
low capable of self-government and
viii not be for long period of time:
ertainly not for a generation and
srobably not for a longer time than
hat, and that until they are ready for
,elf-government it would be a viola
ion of trust for the United States
10 abandon the islands. The question
S to the future, however, is one Who'll
n Of conjecture. The important fact
S the present policy, which in that of
he indefinite retention of the islands
What shall be done in the future when
the people have reached a condition
where they can be safely trusted with
their own government is a question
which will doubtless have to be set
tied by another generation than the
present, both the American and the
Philippine people, to whose wisdom
and generosity we may safely trust
the solution Of the problem. Should
the Philippine people who are fit for
self-government demand independence
[ should be strongly in favor of Civ
uiS II W tHenl, anu HdSe no uouDI
that the American people Of the next
generation would be Of the same opin-
ion. ! think it much more likely, how
aver, that after the Filipino people
shall have been associated with the
American people for a generation or
more, and shall have tasted the pros
perity they will find behind the nation
al tariff wall, they will prefer a rela-
ton to American like that Of Canada
or Autralia to England to one of alb
solute independence. Very respect
fully yours.