Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-10-24

StOCAs VA8AAAA0s 1
council pass all laws for the loca
government of the province sub
ject to approval or disapproval
by the Philippine Commission,
and the executive authorities are
given a comparatively free hand
in the loca. administration. The
Philippine Legislature has no
control over this province, nor
does it 1egislate for it in any
way,-it being subject only to
the Commission. Being free, as
it is, from politics, and the war
like character of the inhabitants
necessitating quasi-military
government. it is without doubt
| the best and most efficiently gov
erned.part of the archipelago. The
so-cal1ed non-christian Filipino
tribes are governed under special
laws enacted by the Commission
only.
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION.
Of all the phases of our gov
eminent administration in the
Philippines the three that reflect
the greatest credit upon us are
Sanitation, the Administration
of Justice, and Education, and
that too, probably, in the order
named.
SANITATION.
| One of the first things un-
dertaken, and that too even be-
fore the cessation of hoStilitleS,
was thorough housekeeping,
so to speak. The military gov
eminent inaugurated a depart
ment of health, which immedi-
ately began the cleaning up of
all parts of the islands occupied
by the military authorities. the
study of tropical diseases, and
the enforcement Of sanitary rules
and regulations. For many rea-
sons this department has never
been so efficient under the civil
as it was under the military au-
thorities. The latter were not
hampered by politics, as the civil
authorities seem to think they
are, nor did they have any ultra
tenderness for the whimS of the
natives and their constitutional
ant1pathy to cleanliness and
sanitary activities that disturbed
the even tenor of their lives.
Since the establishment Of civil
government there has been Gre
ated within the department of the
Interior a Bureau of Health with
Doctor of the United States
Marine Hospital Service at its
head, known as the Director of
Health. This Bureau has juris-
diction, and, in theory, almost
autocratic powers throughout
the archipelago in sanitary mat
tiers. 1t has at its command the
services of innumerable doctors
and sanitary inspectors, and is
ably assisted in it's work by the
Bureau of Science. 1t has under
its control the Civil Hospital,
now known since the completion
of the magnificent hospital build
ings, said to be finest in the
Orient. as the Philippines Cen
eral Hospital, which is main
tanned primarily for the benefit
of the officers and employees of
the Insular, Provincial, and Mum
icipal Governments, where they
receive surgical or medical at
tention at the nominal cost of
one dollar per day.
Through the intelligent and
efficient 1abors of the health Of
ficia1s bubonic plague, which was
common before American occu-
patton, has been entirely extir-
pated. Smallpox, which was
very common and often fatal in
its effects, is now almost thing
of the past by reason of the vac
! cination of nearly the entire pop
ulation. The rayaees of cholera,
which in times past claimed its
tribute of thousands annually, is
soon under control whenever an
epidemic occurs, and its victims
are mere 1.-THE of former times.
Under the instruction and propa-
ganda carried on by this bureau
the infant mortality, heretofore
like the massacre of the limo
cents, is diminishing. And to
| the very great credit of the health
authorities Manila is now one of
the c1eanest cities in the world,
I, and the percentage of mortality