Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1908-04-08
TAFT WINDS UP At BLUFFS
Delivers Address at Commercial Club,
on the Philippines.
AFTERNOON SPEECH OMITTED
Guest at LuncheOn of General G.. NJ.
Dodge, and Holds Reception
in Afternoon at the Elks'
Club Rooms.

WAS the nOnOTeu guest Ol OouhNh AnAuAAS
yesterday. During the afternoon, at the
reception held in the Elks club house in
order that the people OF Council Bluffs
might have an opportunity to meet and
greet the distinguished visitor. the secre-
tary shook hands with several hundred
men and women. Prior to the reception.
he was entertained by General Dodge at
luncheon and at night was the guest OF
honor of the Commercial club at its fifth !
annual banquet at which he delivered an
address.
The subject Of the secretarys address
at the banquet had not been announced be-
forehand, although it was expected that he
would talk upon the Philippines and this
expectation was fulfilled. The address
proved an exceedingly interesting talk on
the subject of the Philippine islands and
what the American government has done
there.
During his short stay in Council Bluffs,
Secretary Taft was the guest of General
Grenvine NJ. Dodge at his residence on
Third street
Secretary Taft and party were brought
from Omaha in the automobile of II. II.
Van Brunt. accompanied by'Mr. Van Brunt,
General Dodge. National Committeeman
e. E. Hart and Victor e. Bender. The
Dodge's residence. where luncheon was
served Present at the luncheon were
Secretary Taft. Hon. Lafayette Young of
Des Moines. Charles A. Dickson of Sioux
City, Ernest e. Hart, Charles w. Harl,
Henry II. Van Brunt, Victor f. Bender,
J. G. Wadsworth II. A. Quinn, N. p.
Dodge, c. w. Mcdonald, Hon. c. G.
Saunders. Hon. ]. r. Reed, II. w. Binder,
D. w. Bushnell, Major Ray, United States
army Secretary Mischler and General
odge
Reception at EIks' Club.
The public reception in honor OF Secre-
tary Taft was held in the parlors OF the
Elks club house which were deliberately
decorated with palms and cut flowers in
profusion. During the reception an orches-
ira stationed on the broad stairway. played,
In the receiving line with the secretary,
were. General Dodge, e. e. Hart. C. A.
Beno president of the Commercial club
State Senator c. G. Saunders, and c. w
Mcdonald. Every person introduced to the
distinguished visitor was greeted by him
with hearty hand shake and few pleas
ant words.
Announcement had been made that s@cre-
tary Taft would speak before the banquet
from platform erected near the south en-
part Of the program had to be foregone as
The sssretary was suffering from slight
cold and on account of the dampness of
the atmosphere, II was deemed best that
he not speak in the open air. Several
hundred people had gathered at the plat
form when the announcement that Secre-
tary Taft would not be able to speak was
made by Colonel c. G. Saunders.
Banquet in the Evening.
The evening banquet was held in the
Grand hotel. The assemblage was bril-
liant one. Secretary Taft spoke as follows:
In beginning his address before the Social
union ba1queters Mr.. Taft spoke approx
mgly of THE presence of women at ban
quets. Then he took up the history of the
Philippines Immediately before and since
they came under control of the United
States. He told OF improvements made
there by the United States. Of the adjust
ment of the questions raised by the friars
and their possessions, and finally of the
adjustment of all matters between the gov
ernment and the Roman Catholic church.
Then. coming to present problems, he con-
tlnued:
What is the political capacity of the
Filipino people? There are 1900 600 of them
who are Christians. In stating the obliga-
tions that we are under to the Roman
Catholic friars who made them Christians
wish to call attention to the fact that
they are the only Christian Malays and the
orient, and Il is because they are Chris
tians that we have the high confidence
ins thern an independent, self-governng
people
TRe conditions with respect to ignorance
| in the islands are at first startling. Only
about Z per cent of the peoples in tine
! islands speak Spanish, and the speaking
of Spanish measures the question of
| them are density ignorant. They are
/ ignorant to the degree of being chldlike.
subject to the control of those amoEg
| them who have any education and any
standing to degree that you can hardly
believe.
| Now, in that childike condition. never
! theless, we find something that gives us
| the greatest encouragement in the build
| ing up OF that people, and that is the in
| tense desire of the common man and his
wife, who want their children educated In
the English schools so that they may learn
English.
American Teachers at Work.
We imported 1000 American teachers
and we set those teachers TO work not
only teaGnnT yGIne RBes 0gf feSGn snd
| how to teach English. We established
normal schools industrial schools, aad
| and we now have an enrolment of 100000
Filipino children every year who are read
ing; writing and T,eeclting in English
islands today than there is Spanish. or
! course IL is spoken In different places
! from where Spanish Is spoken. In the
I large cities there has always been more
/ Spanish spoken, but you go into the coun-
| try and you able to make your wants
| known and to talk with the natives in
/ English.
Now we have introduced q system of
| Industrial schools one difficulty we had
| In dealing with the Filipino people was to
I teach them the dignity of labor. They
/ had been accustomed to associate labor
with the system of slavery, so when We
| opened our industrial school I'm Manila it
| was found when we advertised for young
/ men to come there 20 learn elcctr' ctty.
| printing and carpentry and all the trades,
/ they said: mo; they did not come there
| for that purpose; they had come TO be
| clerks"
But that has been overcome. and now
| there are 200 on the waiting list OF the
Industrial sehooi--in Manila, that is.
! And l am sorry to say that our equip
ment, our money, our resources are not
/ sufficiently great To give all the educa-
| tiOn that We ought to give.
! NOW. that is one kind Of education.
| The other kind ofeducatlOn that we have
| given to the people there has been In the
/ practical experience OF self-goVernment.
/ We turned over the municipalities TO them.
We made the ligible voters I'm the muni-
| cipality those who could read and write
| English and read and write Spanish and
| who paid taxes OF IS pazos a year. That
| limited the electorate TO about IS per cent
| OF the males over ~ They are now carry