St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1913-08-02

sion, which is made up of the
Governor General, the Secretary
of the Interior, a number of
Commissioners, and possibly
some other members, all of whom
are appointed by the President of
the United States. They act
somewhat in the capacity of the
Senate. All legislation must pass
both houses before becoming eff
fective. There are a few other
minor details; but IN a general
way it can be said that the Fill
pinos have a certain measure Of
self government. Whether they
are fit for as much as they have
is a question that is often dis
cussed and that many answer in
the negative. It is common to
hear people Jump all over Taft
for having fathered the scheme
which gave the Filipinos a consid-
cradle voice in the affairs of the
government. In spite of what
he did for them, he is a very un-
popular person among the Filipi-
nos because he has come out in
opposition to the scheme for
immediate independence. Some
of the bills that this Assembly
have passed will give an idea of
their fitness for controlling their
affairs. At the last session they
passed bill that would prohibit
any arrests being made from
dark on Saturday night to Mon
day morning. Of course the
Commission killed 50 foolish a
law; but had it been left to the
Filipinos, it would have been a
law. Their idea was that no
one should be put in Jail at a
time when there was no court in
session to try them. In order to
do away with this difficulty they
passed a law that would allow
criminals to work uninterrupted
from Saturday night to Monday
morning; and this law would
have gone into effect had it not
been that there are others wiser
than themselves to correct their
mistakes. The Assembly passed
a law that would force everyone
doing business here to keep their
books either in Spanish or in
English. / do not know whether
the Commission passed this law
or not; but it seems very unfair
when you consider that most of
the mercantile business here is
done by Chinese who cannot
keep their accounts in any other
language than their own. It
might be wise to mention some
of the laws that this Assembly
has not passed which they should
pass. There is no law prohibit
ing usury, and the consequence
is that the poor are charged rates
as high as 20 per cent per month
for loans. The matter of having
a law against such practices has
been agitated, but the Assembly
will not pass it. Such things as
these stamp the people Of the
PHILIPPINES as unfit for self gov
eminent. There are many other
reasons why it would be foolish
to turn the reigns of government
over to the Filipinos; but these
will be taken up later.
It has been my intention to
preface what | have to say with
the above. The preface has
grown very long; but it was with
an effort that it was cut down as
short as it is.
1t is time that the Philippine
Islands should be looked into and
that a definite policy should be
adopted by which they are to be
governed. This question is not
one that can be decided along
party lines, it is not one that can
be decided at a moments notice.
Serious thought, thorough in
vestigation, and much discussion
must precede any definite action.
It is only of late that many peo-
pie have thought of the question.
The consensus of opinion among
those who are best posted on the
subject is that the question must
be decided by asking What we
to do for the Philippines"
And not What are we going to
do with the Philippines?'
IF the Clarion wishes to pub
lish them, | am glad to furnish
an article on the question of,
Philippine independence and