Show L THE COST OF THE PHIUPPINBS Some Figures in Addition to the Outlay That Make the Balances t More Nearly Level Manila An511 1901The statement published In the American papers last June affecting the cost of the operations Jn the Philippines for the earn 189S to 102 inclusive has Just reached the leaders of the Islands It would not perhapn have been Printer for Secretary Secre-tary Root to havu accompanied the figures fig-ures with an argument In Justification of the expenditure The cost of these operations Is fixed at nC9000000 In round numbers but what Is received In return io not Itemized The great bulk of this outlay was for tho maintenance of the army and ho I purchase of tools and Implements many of which have been returned to the Stales and arc valuable awscts Tt was hardly necessary to call attention to tho fact that the eoldlors would have to be fed and clothed no mutter where they inlRht he Thus were the credit and debit side slated thche ilguros would have to be materially reduced But if we accept theso figures without inductions it mlkcs the per capita cost of government In the Philippine islands whllo yet in a state of nirrpctlon much less than tho per capita cost In tho States So far as the present civil govern picnt ot the PbJUpplno inlands la con corned It Js entirely sustained by the people of the Island The national Government contributes nolhlng to this end All tho revenues art raised from customs does and Internal taxes It In noteworthy that there Is no liiHulor provincial or municipal indebtedness 1 Of the thirtyfive or forty provinces l not one has a bonded or other financial ob I llgaflon Salaries me paid and Im piovcments are made out of available cash The right to borrow now exists but none of the municipalities have thought wise to Issue bonds and are entirely free from the burden of interest Inter-est charges 4 In considering the cost oC the Philip pine Islands a significant fact Is often ovetlooked I refer to tho fact that tery part and parcel 1 of a country none n-one way or another contribute to the national wealth This is as true of the Philippine archipelago as it Is of New York or Texas This contribution it la true may hi grunt or small depending entirely upon circumstances In tho sumo way that Idaho or Washington for instance arr contributors to the prestige and substance of the whole country this archipelago is a contribu torTho Tho great wealth of the resources ot the Philippine Islands can scarcely be overstated Aa hau been pointed out 10 msfny times the sources of this wealth I aro varied and at this time no one can flay positively to what extent they rench It will require lime and infinite Investigation For centuries the leth argy and Inexcusable inactivity ot tho Spaniards In thin respect cannot be ex plainer Although an older settled coun try than our own the explorations whIch should have been made are only now begun t In addition to a resourceful country we have here S000000 people none of whom are Incapable of a higher civili I zation Many of them live ns do our own people eating food that In palata ble to Americana wearing modern cos luinea and fashioning their homos as American homcs are fashioned In fact as it I well known many of our people entertain so exalted un opinion of the Filipinos as to consider them at this time ablo to govern themselves as other people Although this la far fetched and not at all true It only shows that all parties must value the Fill pinos as cllixens AVc have therefore In the Philippine archipelago a most val uable territorial acquisition as well an a populace of great present and future I possibilities I 4 I I do not know how many Americans there are in civil life In these Islands I i Many hundreds aro In tho Government I service In the provincial and Insular deparbmcnts whoso salaries arc paid I from local revenues Many more hun dreds arc engaged in trade and commerce com-merce Upward of a thousand school teachers alone besides lawyers doc tors merchants tradesmen are every where scattered throughout the nrclil pelago These people are dally adding l to the mental moral and material ad vancement of the people of tho country By precept and example they are adding add-ing to the t strength and glory of tho Nation while at the same time earning a livelihood for themselves There Is a Held here for enterprise In many respects re-spects surpassing any one section to be found In the United States Homes are being established nin the Philippine Islands with the same Idea of permanency perma-nency as we build In the West Each year finds the newcomer more sails tied and charmed with the surroundings surround-ings He finds It easier lo live here as he lived at home The enterprising merchant has brought to his very door American food and American factory products The adoption of these has extended to the natives Churches of nil denominations lire now conducted by American preachers and dally the American life Is becoming more firmly established f YIn Y-In addition to all this Is the advantage advan-tage from an International standpoint of having a foothold In the great Orient So long as the Hag floats over the Philippine Phil-ippine archipelago we may deal with Asiatic powers we may Investigate Oriental trade conditions as one having an Interest and not merely as a spectator specta-tor It affords as nothing else could that coveted privilege of advertising our ability to supply the needs of this continent con-tinent No nation can do this at long range with the same success as it can while enjoying tcrrilorial possessions Already our trade statistics bear out this statement Our trade with Japan with China with the Malay countries I and even Australia Is on the Increase a B What Is here said Is not an isolated view hut is general with all whose opportunities op-portunities for investigation and observation obser-vation have not been absolutely denied Ninety per cent of the Filipino people aro perfectly loyal With Acaiccly an exception all of the better Informed arc true to the flag They see the Improved conditions under which they now live and are grateful to the country which has cast the only political sunshine Into In-to their lives they have ever known So that If a true balance should be struck It would appear that the money expended In the acquisition of the Philippine Islands has brought to the United States a gain In material wealth immeasurable by mathematical standards stand-ards Along with the archipelago has como a national eminence never before held by our county In the Eastern continent con-tinent As a world power our title is as clear as that of any other nation on earth The man who undertakes for political or other reasons to belittle the advantages growing out of our Eastern acquisitions has a task on his handn the magnitude of which can only be appreciated by those who live hero and know the people and conditions BARTLETT SINCLAIR |