Evening star., 1925-09-09
BY EDWARD PRICE BELL,
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Daily News.

Chicago Daily News.
MANILA - Mai Gen. Leonard
Wood. Governor General of the Philip
pine Islands. is probably without a
rival. Caucasian or non-Caucasian. in
his knowledge of the archipelago and
the people for which he has supreme
immediate responsibility. Certainly
Gen. Wood is Americas greatest au-
thority on the Philippine question
one of the most peculiar. important
and difficult questions that ever pre-
occupied American craftsmanship.
Gen. Wood has come To know the
Philippines as IA result of prolonged
tirst-hand study. This study has
been unremittent for more than 20
years. Arriving in the islands in
1903, after his distinguished services
in Cuba as military governor of San
tiago and as governor general. he was
appointed governor of the Moro
province, comprising the southern
islands and Mindanao, populated prin-
Cipally by MoroS and paganS-in all
some IS tribes. Gen. Wood was
not only head of the civil govern
ment, with a legislative council, re-
sponsible for five districts, but COM
manding general of the troops in the
department of Mindanao and Sulu.
Made Intensive Study.
For three years, in the capacities
named, Gen. Wood was constantly
among the people, frequently visit
ing every tribe and settlement. Then
he became military commander of the
Philippine division, with headquarters
in Manila, whence he continued his
diliGent Investigations. Following
this work, he studied the Philippines
as chairman of the special mission of
investigation, together with w. Cam
eran Forbes and a staff of experts.
in 1921. This investigation lasted
four months and covered 4S of the
40 provinces into which the islands
are divided. 1t was a systematic and
thorough investigation of all phases
of Philippine conditions, geographic,
climatic, natural, human and govern
mental.
Out of these painstaking inquiries,
reaching into 449 cities and towns and
involving IL weeks of travel by sea,
rail, motor car and horse, sprang the
great classic on the Philippines-the
Wood-ForbeS report. In this report
are embodied the fundamentals of the
Philippine problem. 1t is full of IL
Elimination to the historical and
philosophical mind. It's discoveries
and conclusions were the priceless
possession of Gen. Wood when he
came to the Philippines as the chief
officer of the sovereign power, and his
knowledge of the islands and the
islanders has been ripened and ex.
tended by four years of further
travelling and by arduous admins
trative experience.
L. S. Control Must Continue.
Gen. Wood. gray. ruddy, sturdy
dignified, received me in the governor
generals private office, Malacanang
palace, Manila. He sat in a wide,
tall, dark hardwood chair, with bottom
and back of cane, and talked rapidly
in a low voice. His voice was so low
that now and again had difficulty in
catching every word. For the most
part the veteran soldier and admins
traitor Wore a look OF seriousness, If
not severity, but two or three times
during the conversation his features
relaxed, he smiled, and there was an
extremely pleasant look in his blue
eyes. He has character. He has
magnetism. He has brains. He is
not only a military man; he is a
thinker and a statesman.
What do all your inquiries, ex-
perience and thought tell you we
ought to do about the Philippines"
l asked the governor general.
That we ought TO see our great
enterprise through he replied.
THAT we ought to stay here in
definitely"
Indefinitely"
Why"
Because the work we set out to
do is only begun. How long it will
take no one can say. If we withdrew
now, all we have done would be un-
done. our investment of blood and
treasure would be wasted, % years
of idealistic labor would be thrown
away, the Filipino people would be
heartlessly betrayed and we should
do a criminal disservice to the sta
hility and the highest interest of the
world"
Places Education First.
YOU believe the Filipinos to be
potentially capable of self-govern-
ment?"
potentially, yes. But to translate
this potentiality into an actuality Will
take a long time-somewhere perhaps
between a quarter and half century.
1t is a matter of rearing and edu-
eating accidentally enough Filipinos
to govern the country. There are
far from enough now. Young edu-
Gated people are still small pro-
portion of the population. We need
more schools and teachers and a
great extension of the English Ian
guage, which alone can serve as
medium of psychological consolidation
among peoples dispersed over thou
sands of islands and divided by 81
different dialects"
What are some of the evidences
of latent Filipino capacity?"
"These people are property-loVing and
law-abiding. They are sympathetic,
intelligent, hospitable and neighborly
Their keenness for education is un-
surpassed. Parents are willing 10
make almost any sacrifice to keep
their children in school. Filipino teach
ers are Jealous and hardworking. n
tellectual activity is apparent in all
directions. Political affairs receive
more and more popular attention and
there is a growing interest in public
health and public works. Assim1-
liability to western ideans is marked
Aptitude for politics and desire to
participate in government are con-
spicuous Filipino qualities.
Folly Brought RetrogressiOn.
But all these things in the Philip
pines are merely tokens of what can
be-not what is-in the way of ca
pacity for government. 1ntellectu-
alism is not a sufficient qualification
for the tasks of statecraft and admin
istration. Intellectualism, indeed, may
be an evil rather than a good. 1t is an
evil if, as in the Philippines, it tends
TO run ahead of the more substantial
virtues of character. Before you have
a government you must have a coun-
try to govern; you must have agricul-
ture, industry, commerce and finance.
You must have credit. Too many edu-
Gated Filipino minds are dazzled by
political and professional ambition; too
few attracted by the harder and more
important tasks of maintaining a civil
lized society.
THAT the Filipinos have undevel