The Holly chieftain., 1905-10-06
THE PHILIPPINES
AS SEEN BY MEMBERS OF THE
TAFT PARTY.
REPORT AT SAN FRANCISCO
All Agree That FiIipinos Are Not Yet
Fitted for Independence = Great
Possibilities in Soil and Location
Education PRINCIPAL Need.


San Francisco.-Mepbers OF the
Taft party who arrived from the Orient
Wednesday have summarized their i'm
pressions as follows:
Congress sman Cooper of Wisconsin.
chairman of the House committee on
insular affairs. said:
Zone 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-governfnent. This con-
clusior is admitted to be true by edu-
Gated conservative Filipinos 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-
tenn of American common schools.
These schools. steadily increasing in
number, attended now by 375.O00 chill
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 stuay of questions
mn fnu xtt{f hn r,f no
mitt';e OF which 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 find
that my idea of the extent and value
of the islands as productive territory
was far below the truth. regard Lu-
zOn as the finest and most productive
island in the large group that extends
from Japan southwark along the Ash
attic coast. l 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 to do in
these islands,"
Congressman Charles F. Scott of
Kansas said:
'lt was a surprise to most of us to
learn that only nine per cent. of the
5t'llable land is under cultivation and
that vast areas Of the most fertile soil
in the world is yet untouched The de-
velopment of this fruitful land, the
opening of the great deposits of coal,
iron and other minerals, and the utili-
zation 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 49,
100000 people as easily as they now
maintain 100000. 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 proudest possessions"
Senator Patterson of Colorado:
1.-The Philippines, the more you know
of them, the more serious appears the
problem. l am convinced that in their
government weare getting farther and
farther away from Secretary's Taft's
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, but in
any event American methods and CIV
ilization 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
ganized effort to prevent the Emperor
from ratifying it. 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 1t 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 were two or three men
responsible for the keeping up of la
dronism, who had not been captured.
"Somc of the younger men OF educa-
tion have been advocating immediate