Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-12-12

To the task OF meeting these patent
defects. the war department has been ad-
dressing itself during the past year A
comprehensive plan OF reorganization was
prepared BY the war college division Of
the general star. This pan was thor
oughIy discussed last summer at a series
Of open conferences held by the secretary
Of war and attended by representatives
from all branches of the army and from
congress In printed form IL has been
distributed to members Of congress and
throughout the army and the national
guard, and widely through institutions Of
learning and elsewhere in the United
States. n It. for the first tine, we have
q tentative chart for future progress.
The National Guard.
Under existing law the national guard
constitutes, after the regular army. the
first line Of national defense. It's or
ganization, discipline, training. and equip
nent, under recent legislation have been
assimilated as far as possible, TO those
Of the regular army, and its practical
efficiency. under the effect Of this train
ing, has very greatly increased Our cft-
zen soldiers under present conditions
have reached a stage Of development be
yond which they cannot reasonably be
asked to go without further direct as
sistance in the form OF pay from the fed
eraI government. On the other hand, such
pay from the national trea sury would not
be justified unless It produced q proper
equivalent in additional efficiency on the
part Of the national guard The organized
militia today cannot be ordered outside Of
the limits Of the United States, and thus
cannot lawfully be used for general mill
tary purposes. The officers ana men are
ambitious and eager to make themselves
thus available and to become an efficient
national reserve Of citizen sOldlery. They
are the only force Of trained men. other
than the regular army, upon which we
can rely. The sO-called military pay bill,
In the form agreed on between the au-
thOrities Of the war department and the
representatives Of the national guard, in
my opinion adequately meets these con
ditiOns and offers a proper return for the
pay which it is proposed to give to the
national guard. I believe that It's enact
ment into law would be very long step
toward providing this nation with a first
line Of citizen soldiery, upon which its
main reliance must depend in case OF any
national emergency. Plans for the or
ganization Of the national guard into tao
teal divisions, on the same lines as those
adopted for the regular army, are being
formulated by the war college division
Of the general staff.
Porto Rico. Mr.. Taft says, continues
to show notable progress and he urges
the senate to pass the bill granting the
Porto Ricans American citizenship.
Philippines.
A bill is pending in congress. con
tinues the message. which revolution
ICES the carefully worked out scheme
of government under which the Philip
pine islands are now governed and
which proposes to render them virtu-
ally autonomous at once and absolutely
independent in eight years. Such a
proposal can only be founded on the
assumption that we have now dis
charged our trusteeship to the Filipino
people and our responsibility for them
to the world. and that they are now
prepared for government as well
as national sovereignty. thorough
and unbiased knowledge of the facts
clearly shows that these assumptions
are absolutely with Justification. As
to this. l believe that there is no sub
stantiaI difference of opinion among
any of those who have had the respon-
sibiHty Of facing Philippine problems
in the administration of the islands,
and I believe that no one to whom the
future Of this people is a responsible
concern can cOuntenance g policy
fraught with the direst consequences
to those on whose behalf it is osteR-
sibly urged.
In tie Philippine islands we have
embarked upon an experiment unpTece-
denied in dealing with dependent
peoples. W e are ueNelODlnE JNeTe
conditions exclusively for their own
welfare We found an archipelago
containing "a tribes and races, speak
ing a great variety of language and
with a population over 80 per cent. OF
which could neither read nor write
Through the unifying forces of a
common education. of commercial
and economic development. and of
gradual participation in local seIf-govern-
ment we are endeavOring to evolve q
homogeneous people fit to determine
when the time arrives, their own destiny
We are seeking to arouse a national sDir-
1t and not as under the older colonial
theory, to suppress such a spirit. The
character Of the work we have been do
ing is keenly recognized in the Orient
and our success thus far followed with
not a little envy by those who initiating
the same policy. find themselves hamp-
cred by conditions grown up in earlier
days and under different theories of ad-
ministrati0n. But our work is far from
done Our duty to the FiHpinos IS far
from discharged. Over half a million Fill
Pine students are now in the Philippine
schools helping to mold the men of the
future into a homogeneous people, but
there still remain more than a million
Filipino children of school age yet to be
reached. Freed from American control
the migrating forces Of a common edu-
cation and a common language will cease
and the EDUCATIONAL system now well start
ed viii slip back into ineffciency and dis
order
An enormous increase in the CONNER
ciaI development OF the islands has been
made since they We're virtually granted
fun access to our markets three years
ago, with e-ery prospect of increasing
development and diversified industries.
Freed from American control such devel-
opment is bound to decline. Every OBJ
server speaks of the great progress in
public works for the benefit of the Fiji
#pnos of hartor improvements. Of road
and railways. of irrigation and artesian
wells, public buildings. and better means
OF communication. But large parts of
the islands are still unreached, still even
UNEMPLOYED. roads and railways are need
ed in many parts, irrigation systems are
still to be installed and wells to be driven.
Whole villages and towns are still with
out means of communication other than
almost impossible roads and trails. Even
the great progress in sanitation, which
has successfully suppressed smallpox, the
hubOniC plague. and ASiatic cholera, has
found the cause OF and a cure for beri-
beri. has segregated the lepers. has help
ed to make Manila the most healthfuI city
in the Orient. and to free life throughout
the whole archipelago from its former
dread diseases, is nevertheless inCOm-
plete in many essentials Of permanence
in sanitary policy. Even more remains to
be accomplished If freed from Ameri-
can control sanitary progress is bound to
be arrested and all that has been achiev-
ed likely to be lost.
II the task we have undertaken is high
er than that assumed by other nations its
accomplishment must demand even more
patience. We must not forget that we
The Real Boss.