Show GOV IS ON HIS WAY TO washington IN REGARD TO THE OCEANIC possessions OF THE UNITED STATES he rather Is inclined to wave aside senator kawlins opinions on the conditions and policies and advances statements of fact gov tuft of the philippine islands arrived in ogden at aj idia morning in the pullman special mayflower which wib to the first beetle of passenger train no 0 the car wd baile tracked on the depot ice house spur until when it taken east on the ulion pacific train gov taft was asleep when the reporter first approached the car in an d fort to obtain interview an and the colored porter refused to awaken the governor as he is just recovering from a severe spell of illness A second attempt however resulted in the reporter being admitted to the car and the governor still in his stateroom giving him an interview gov taft is quite a large man with a full broad face high forehead and massive profile his head may bo said to lay claim to that which is peculiar to the anglo saxon of power and achievement ho is approachable extremely so ditc itc seems to impress a reporter the fact that he is there to be interviewed and eliat the newspaperman is most derelict if tho interview is not secured govi taft did not like to bo personal he seemed rather to desire to be general in statements made in his talk hut when he was pinned down as to senator rawlins the only rawlins of utah alio has learnedly dilated upon the conditions in the philippines bov taft seemed amused decidedly amused his bulk of frame trembled in response to the amusement that seemed to ema nato from his entire being and then he volunteered the information that senator kawlins knew not what he was talking about this observation was couched in more polite phraseology but its meaning was clear As to the filipinos gov taft said some people return from the hands and say that the filipino is a savage while others tell you that he is highly cultured both these statements arc wrong alie only way to judge the filipino is by going over and seeing him yourself you must remember eliat only 10 per cent no make it 5 per cent of the natives speak spanish mst of bliem are hopelessly ignorant and it will take years and years to educate them so that they will understand our form of government and what constitutes real liberty they are like children looking up to their superiors one thing we feel assured of is eliat we can educate the filipino and make him loyal to this country we will have a much easier time educating him than the eng lish will have educating their subjects in india the filipino is a christian and there is where we form our bond of union i and then an to the military in alie islands gov taff seems to differ fron the famous democratic senator from utah ho saidi fifteen will be an ample force in the islands before tio celoso of the year J asi told this only a few days before enio officers thoroughly vers edyn the situation gave me the figures 7 1 I will explain to you allow peace can be maintained islands continued alie governor ve have organized a native constabulary which is working efficiently congress allows us to maintain a constabulary of men aliey are under the command of major alien who has 2500 men in this branch of iho service when the force ia fully organized the men will be distributed in the provinces one hundred and to each province the constables are commanded by four officers three of whom are retired volunteer officers and alia other a native filipino when the constabulary stab Is fully equipped it will be detailed in the field to clean out the la drones who intimidating arc the natives these filipino constables can be maintained by the government at a i oot of each a year while the soldiers in the islands cost uncle sam about a head in reference to the friars holding property in the islands and alie question as to f whether the united states government should buy their land gov taft saidi to thoroughly understand this question you must go back to the time when the spanish government secured possession of the islands the catholic church went to the islands with the spanish government and ita lias accomplished great work in converting the filipinos to christianity the natives dislike certain religious orders in the islands but that is simply because the friars being loyal to spain governed them as well as attended to their spiritual wants the priests were responsible to the spanish government for order and they maintained it the filipino is devoted to the Catli olic church but as I 1 said before he dislikes certain of the orders A bill is now pending before congress to buy the land holdings of alio church if the government acquires the property it will sell it to the natives who arc now tenants the land the land will be abold at a nominal price and alie allowed to pay for it in easy manta the civil government adopted A lar iff schedule which is working well but our internal revenue receipts arc not large when you tax a country too heavily you spoil it and eliat is ahe situation in the philippines you must remember eliat the entire assessed value of manila last year was under our present method of civil government we hayo two ay stema the municipal and the provincial each province has a governor alio ig elected by tho councillors councilors counci lors of ther province in each province there ia also a treasurer and a supervisor of roads and both of whom anro americana we also have a prosecuting attorney and a secretary but they aro natives the great trouble with tho native officer is that the moment he goes into office he thinks it part of his duties to terrorize hla frienda alie filipino ia to a certain extent deceitful ue will not say anything to our face to offend you but behind your back bo is merciless in hh denunciations ciati ons another peculiar trait in him is that if he haa a falling out with another native he will attempt to take the matter into the courts and anko a criminal action of it he to think that every little trouble must bo vanti in the courts tho report that there is friction be sato JL i aam tween the civil commission and the military in regard to administering the law said gov taft is entirely incorrect we have an understanding in regard to the detention of military prisoners should a person in the islands commit an act that necessitates an arrest by the army authorities a general or other high ranking reports to the civil authorities that such a person is under detention for breaking tho military law in case of treason or of tenses of that nature the prisoner is tried by a court martial |