New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-03-01

about 2l,376,0o0. The exceptional i'm
portance OF educational work IN the
Islands arises from the fact that what
We call-or miscall-"manhood SUI
frage" does not exist there. IL IS not
sufficient that the wouldbe voter Is a
member Of the genus Homo, oil the
male sex and twenty-one, or, rather
twenty-three years OF age. lie must
also be one who held Office prior TO
1893, or who holds $3.50 worth OF real
property or pays So year IN taxes,
or who can speak, read or write Eng
lish or Spanish. The result of these
requirements was that in 1912, IN
population of more than 100000 there
were only 900 voters. or fewer than
4 per cent of the population. In New
York the number of votes actually cast
is about Is per cent Of the entire popu-
lGtion.
But if all these things and many
more have been done. and If the doing
OF them has cost and is costing the
United States nothing. who pays for
them? Naturally, and appropriately,
the people Of the philippines, for whose
benefit they are chiefly done. Under
our administration the islands have
been sufficient unto themselves. They
have been self-supporting. They have
paid not only the whole cost of their
government, but also that OF all these
public works, sanitation. education and
what not, which are literally trans
forming the archipelago.
Is that burden to the people? Are
we crushing them with taxation? Let
US see. We have quoted some statis-
tics of growth. Here are more: From
1900 TO 1913 the amount of postal
money orders sold rose from s1,526,3lO
to Ss,272.s5S, or 444 per cent; and the
amount Of deposits in postal savings
banks from 1907 20 1913 rose from
s254,731 TO sl.2402i1, or more than
34S per cent. That does not look Ike
poverty. Mr.. Jones. the first American
high priest OF the scuttllng cult, Is at
times copously lachrymose and at
times austerely Rhadamanthine over
our RECKLESS extravaganza and stud
led disregard for the interests OF the
poor and defenceless Filipino" declar-
ing most cocksuredly that OF the
money contributed out of the pockets
of the Filipinos much was
needlessly and shamefully wasted, ana
that the benefits derived from It's ex-
penditure, even in those eases where
the expenditure was proper, have rare
", if ever, been commensurate with
the cost" Now. in 1912, for example,
the total expenditures upon the ISLANDS
were Sl5,i04,3s0.75, and the revenues
and receipts from the pockets OF the
moor and defenceless Filipinos' and
elsewhere were 1888, 1860. We must
wonder. therefore, what becomes OF
that S20,000000 I, siO,OOO,OOO whlcA'
according TO the estimates quoted by the
automatically precise Mr.. Quezon' was
in that came year spent on the lslahus
from the Treasury of the United states.
II would really look as though Mr.
Jones and Mr.. Quezon would peter
get together and decide which story 70
tell: Whether the Filipinos are being
oppressed and plundered, or the united
ST .es Treasury is being looted. Or Is
it both?
But TO apply an efficient siccative
and styptic 10 the overworked 'achry-
NAL duets Of Mr.. Jones, let US observe
automatically just how much money
the poor and defenceless' rlliplno Is
called upon TO contribute out Of ms
own pocket-to educate his children,
TO guard against smallpox and cholera
to provide police protection icr ms
make and keep the islands d civilized
country. In the fiscal year 1912 the
total revenues of the archipelago. in
sular. provincial and municipal,
amounted to only s2.2S head OF the
population. OF course, not all Of that
came "out of the pockets OF the Fill
pinos,' but that did include every cent
that did come out Of their rockets. In
that same year the revenues OF Japan.
not counting those from government
monopoles, amounted TO 81 50 head,
or more than twice as much. Would
it pay the "poor and defenceless Fill
Pine" 70 exchange American for Jap
anese administration? In that same
year the revenues Of the United States
Federal only, not counting state.
county and municipal were S7.25 a
head, or more than three times As
much as of the Philippines: of Canada,
S1S.S9. and of Cuba in 1911. S2l SO.
Thus Cuba, under autonomous admin
istration, was spending more than nine
times as much as the Philippines were
under American administration, and
was getting less in return for It, Once
more: In that same 1912 the budget
OF New York City showed an cXpcndit-
ure of s34.37 a head, or more than
fifteen times as much as that Of the
Philippines. and it's payments Of in
tcftcb vi lio UOnueu u'DL were pN-N :
head, or more than three times the
entire expenses Of our Asian islands.
Truthfully and advisedly does OK
Governor w. Cameron Forbes. review
ing these statistics, declare that the
American administration of the Philip
pines has been economical and careful
and that the proportion Of benefits 70
expenditure has been high" Conf
IDENTIFY and securely does he "challergo
comparison of the Philippine Islands
with any government, whether In the
United States or elsewhere" Nowhere
in the world has there been a more
efficient and bcnefcent administration
at a less cost. Nowhere in the world
has the American ideal of government
of the people, for the people and, in n
steadily increasing degree, b. the peo-
ple been more superbly and trium-
phantly realized.