The Springfield herald., 1905-10-06
THE PHILIPPINES
As SEEN eY MEMBERS OF THE
TAFT PARTY.
REPORT At SAN FRANCISCO
All Agree That Fllioinos Are Not Yet
Fitted for Independence - Great
Possibilities In Soil and Location
Education PRINCIPAL Need.


San Francisco.-Member of the
Taft party who arrived from the Orient
Wednesday have summarized their i'm
pressions as follows:
Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin,
chairman of the House committee on
insular affairs, said:
lone 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. Democrats and
Republicans. that the inhabitants Of
the Philippine Islands are not now cap
able of free self-government. This con-
clusion Is admitted to be true by edu-
Gated conservative Fllipinos them
selves.
THE United States has done many
noble. wonderful things in the islands
but its most glorious work is the es-
tablishment there OF splendid sys-
TEN of American common schools.
These schools. steadily increasing IN
number. attended now by $4,000 chill
dren out of an enrolment OF more than
100000, will, more than any other In
fiuence, help to abolish the multitude
of dialects and tongues and regenerate
the people of the Philippines"
Congressman Foss. chairman OF the
House committee on naval AFFAIRS,
said:
Il made this journey largely for the
purpose OF making stuuy Of questions
coming within the scope OF the COM
mittee of which l am chairman.
Congressman Hepburn, chairman OF
the House committee on foreign and
interstate commerce. said:
My visit to the Philippines was
disappointment to me In two respects:
was agreeably disappointed. to ffnd
that my idea of the extent and value
OF the islands as productive territory
was far below the truth. l regard Lu-
zon as the finest and most productive
island in the large group that EXTENDS
from Japan southwark along the Ash
attic coast. was disappointed In that
the people of the Philippines have not
proved the equals in labor and skill OF
their neighbors and have not taken
from the soil the riches that nature
has planted. Filipinos need education
and physical development, and they
must be taught the dignity OF labor.
The United States has much 10 do in
these islands"
Congressman Charles F. Scot. OF
Kansas said:
1T was surprise TO most OF us TO
learn that only nine per cent. OF the
tillable land is under cultivation and
that vast areas of the most fertile soil
In the world is yet untouched. The de-
yelopment of this fruitful land. the
opening of the great deposits of coal.
Iron and other minerals. ana the utili-
cation of the 100000 acres of hard
wood forests offers rich field for the
Investment OF American capital and for
enterprise.
with the resources properly devel-
oped, the Philippines will support 4O,-
900 900 people as easily as they now
maintain 100000 They are the rich
est group of tropical islands IL the
world and the time Will come when
the United States will count them
among its proudest possessions"
Senator Patterson of Colorado:
The Philippines, the more you know
of them, the more serious appears the
problem. / am convinced that in their
government we are getting farther and
farther away from Secretary's Tafts
patriotic and humane policy-the Phil
ippines for the Filipinos and ultimate
independence. The gulf between the
native and the American is widening.
my visit to China has convinced me
more than ever of the wisdom and ne
cessity of Chinese exclusion. believe
the boycott will soon be over, bat in
any event American methods and civ
Iization is OF greater moment tha2
Chinese commerce.
Japan won me from tae fist. Az
admirable people in many ways. The
disgust after the treaty was an or
ganized effort TO prevent the Emperor
from ratifying 1t. Japan is the most
formidable competitor that the United
States and England will have for the
commerce of Asia. and in 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 some re-
spects was not as good as it ought to
be. A wave of ladronism has swept
over the province of Cavite, and 1t has
been found necessary to suspend the
writ Of habeas corpus in that province
and Batangas. 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
! vite had put an end to this business
however. there We're two or three men
responsible for the keeping up of la
dronism, who had not been captured.
Some of the younger men of educa
tion have been advocating immediate
independence. 1t therefore becomes
necessary TO state with considerable
emphasis the policy OF the administra
ton on this subject, and TO say thai
in the opinion of the administra tior
there was no possible hope for inde
pendence short of generation. be
cause the people could not be fitted fol
self government in that time: indeed
1t will probably take much Longer
period. t~
while the conditions in the Philip
pines were not as favorable as w
would like to have them. and probabi,
will not be favorable until the depres
sing conditions shall be followed by s
prosperous season. still. progress is be
ing made. The government is more
efficient; inefficient men are beini
eliminated and things are settling tt
business. Economy is being practicet
more and more in the government. FIJI