The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-12-29
WORLDS GREATEST NEED IS JUSTICE
SAYS REP. CURRY, FORMER SEIERIFF-SCOUI
Romantic Southwestern Character Contributes Few
ForcibIe Remarks About Moral Standards Like
wise Few Words About Filipino and American
Liars and the Difference in the Breed
By JAMES p. MORROW.

DR. other, refused to be arreSted-be1ne
busy at the time branding calves or cut
mg a train-load of steers from the herd
but that he afterward rode his pony
Into the cluster of shacks called the
county seat purposely to surrender and
helng tried with frontier informality,
was unanimously exonerated. A gun
perhaps, and maybe a pair of them,
were the instrumentalities he employed
In setting the hearing forward until he
was ready for it.
The story, possibly, is untrue Still
Is not unbelievable to those persons who,
listening TO George Curry talk about the
philosophy Of life have heard him ex-
claim: What the world needs most is
Justice" Seemingly his emphasis gives
the epigram the sound of personal ex-
periences. And experiences, mostly
strenuous or dramatic, sum up the total
Of this mans nine and forty years
A cow-puncher and later a dealer in
beef-cattle on his own account Also a
trader among the Indians and a mer-
chant far in from the rim Of the plains
Then sheriff of a border county, where
all persons, good and bad. carried arms.
captain in Cuba of a company of
Rough Riders. A captain In the Philip
pines Of troop of calvary and a band
Of scouts. Again, chief Of police in the
city Of Manila. Governor successfully
of the provinces OF Camarines. Isabella
and Samar and the Territory of New
Mexico Present at the battle of San
Mateo. at which LawtOn fell with a bull
let through his breast. To-day, a men,
Der OF Congress. A weII-muscled and
deep-shouldered man; gray-eyed, strong
jawed. low-voiced.
Gamblers in a Guardhouse.
We talk about moral standards he
said. turning away from his adventures
to speak Of some Of the matters he has
noted and thought about Moral stand
ards for the other fellow, however, and
not for ones self. That has always been
the custom of man singly and men in
the mass. was officer of the day, once,
in the Philippines. Going around late
at night, 1 found thirty natives, males
and females, in the guardhouse. They'd
been gambling and were caught in the
act.
Gambling is one of the vices Of their
race. In some countries the practice
is carried on at the stock exchanges;
likewise in parlOrs for plated spoons, pic
ture frames and bric-a-brac. But we
were of there in the Pacific carrying the
rifles and wearing the uniform of a civil
lized nation and were to break up vicious
habits, even at the point of the bayonet.
at monte, Spanish game that is played
with forty cards a boy. the servant
of the man, trotted out and came back
carrying the money in hempen bags
Large sums. too, were lost and gained
at chicken fights. Coins were thrown
down, hit or miss. it appeared, around
the edge Of the pit but there We're no
disputes unless some American butted
i'm who didn't understand the iutricacies
NJ no IA, eli
We found it, was bad. We were there
10 assimilate benevolently and to uplift
the heather to our moral-theoreticsl-
plane.
"A general. passing through the region
where We were encamped, had prohibited
all native forms of chance. Coming
RlOng, we had inherited his prescription,
reading it righteously and Enforcing the
same. So | found the thirty Fflipinos
meekly huddled in the guardhouse. As
stood listening to summary of the
case given by sentinel, my eyes wan
dered onward to a tent, through the open
lap OF which ] saw a group of our own
men loud and busy at straight poker
II was pay day and civilization, az we
represented and upheld it, was showing
he barbarians how such an occasion
should be observed. Moreover, the i'm
pounded barbarians, peeking through the
.-e-~'A@f WIG Witnesses VI lllG event.
stopped Gambling in Manila.
The door was opened and / turned
them loose L hadn't the stomach to do
anything less Going to the house Of the
colonel to report my act, l found him
and other officers playing cards for
money on the dinilg-room table sit
down. captain the colonel cried, and
join us / told him my errand. You
did right he answered, because he was
a morally honest man. 1t was a damned
fool order in the first place.
Did YOU 1 asked, interrupting his
narrative, stop gambling in Manila
while you were chief OF police?'
Most of it," he replied. isolated
games in private houses went on as be- /
fore, suppose, but public gambling
rooms were closed" |
of course" I said, you sent the
to jail, for that, so Ameri- |
can police officers declare, is the only |
sure course to pursue?"
No; I simply told them they had to |
quit. and they shut up shop forthwith |
A sentence to jail may be necessary in
the United States; il was not necessary
during my day. however. in Manila The |
higher a people go upward in civiliza-
ton the less respect they seem to have
for law. l say this deliberately after
living long time In the Southwest dur
ing the rough days of its early develop
ment and after spending several years in /
the Philippines. The Filipinos, half-civ-
ilized, as we think, and millions of them |
not civilized at all, are a sober race
The lust for money and appetite for
liquor are the causes of a great deal of
law-breaking in the United States, and
can become a national |
habit
whether overriding some OF the laws
finally leads to moral delinquencies of
an kinds. / shall leave the philosophers
10 assert or contradict 1 know, however
that the Filipinos obey the law, and that
they do not use alcohol to excess Rich
families. following the custom of the
Spanish, serve wine at dinner; the poor
drink a fierce decoction made of cocoa
nuts, but they drink 1t sparingiy. On
the other hand, our soldiers poured it
DOWN, and many OF them became insane
Drunken 'Filipinos are not seen in the
streets. The Filipino women will gamble,
but they do not become intoxicated.
After spending eight years in the Philip
pines. I learned that we Americans might
get some benefit were we to copy the
natives in several respects.
some observations About Liars.
I'VE carried our nag into the islands.
hong with our standards of personal
onduct The Christians have landed
o the word ran up and down the noun
aims and into the swamps and forests.
We sat UP ideals, like targets to be shot
t-and to be missed by ourselves. The
eathen do not tell the Truth we pres
ntly complained. while our officers played
oker and our soldiers went crazy drink
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