The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-01-23

varieties of Il than 1t has seen the lot
of mary men e,sss' 70 have placed up
on their es.Uulders.
Not long after this there came the
greater opportunities in Havana. It
was necessary t % re-write the election
laws to make them at the habits Of the
people. Production had to be stimu-
lated, for agriculture was the main
source Of the islands wealth. Here
again the same measures were follow
ed and as a result there were estab-
lished law and order. protection Of
life and property. and liberty with
in the law.
These were the foundation stones.
Wood knew that the government must
be u by the Cubans, and so 90 per
cent Of the officials engaged in the
great work Of reconstruction were
selected from the people Of the island.
The Cubans were taught government
while the government was being built
and thus they were able to run 1t when
the rule Of the island was turned over
to its inhabitants.
When It became necessary to reor-
ganize the Cuban railroads Wood Sc
cured the services Of Sir william Van
Horne. president Of the Canadian Pa.
ciiic, and OF Granville NJ. Dodge. build.
er of the Union Pacific.
The same general policy was fol-
lowed in dealing with the problem Of
caring for the tens of thousands of
orphans that had been left by the war.
Homer Folks. commissioner OF chart.
ties of the state Of New York, was
called to Cuba by Wood to aid in TIN
establishment Of a system for placing
and permanently caring for these lit.
tie d~esolates. Chief Justice White
Of the Supreme court Of the United
States, at that time an associate jus.
tice. was consulted as to the method to
be pursued In recognizing the courts
Leonard Wood was In Cuba about
four years. He left there a reorgan.
lied and sound banking system, o
good railroad system. no debts, nearly
100000 unincumbered money in the
treasury, a sugar crop of nearly 1000,
600 tons, sound municipal laws, fine
public works, a firm agricultural
foundation and an absolute respect
among the people for life and prop
erty. The school system which WOOD
established was founded on the laws
of Massachusetts, and Ohio. Roads
were built which made communication
speedy. The hospitals erected under his
supervision were Of the highest type.
Lord Cromer said he wished this
American officer was available to FOL.
low him in his reconstruction worb
in Egypt. Elihu Root said this work
never was paralleled in colonial pos
sessions anywhere. Theodore Roose
welt said that Leonard Wood 'has
rendered services to Cuba OF 4 kind
which. II performed three thousand
years ago, would have made him =
hero mixed up with the sun god in "a.
rious ways"
After the Cuban experience Wood
was for five years in the Philippines
confronted with the difficult labor OF
establishing Q civil government, this
time among I Mohammedan peopla
There he did the same successful
work he did In Cuba.
This period Of residence ID the Phil.
ipplnes gave Wood an opportunity to
study conditions ii the British colo
MES, Borneo, Singapore. and to keep
In close touch with conditions II
Japan and along the China coast.
Wood Travelled through India. spent
some time with the Dutch ID lava, and
with Lord Cromer In Egypt. He
gained and retained knowledge of al
which at that time came under his stu
diOus observation.
Then Leonard Wood became chie1
Of the general star Of the United
States .army. In whose hands resta
very largely the direction and admin
istration Of the military establishment
which after all y 90 per cent ! bosft1
ness matter.
Thes admlpistr&tivs career 9 Ioonl
ard .W0od btspread upon ~ recoS0ol
- ~ HCumffxs The work W11eA III
49, 1e1olp alneelnk Il ee
III ~ - 81