Vol. XVI, No. 8 WASHINGTON August, 1905 



a 



THE 



ATHOHAL 

 ®(SISAPIHIE€ 



0 



THE PHILIPPINES* 



By the Secretary of War, Hon. William H. Taft 



WHEN your veracious commit- 

 tee came to see me to invite 

 me to address the National 

 Geographic Society I gathered from 

 what they said — possibly they did not 

 say it directly — that I was to have the 

 pleasure of sitting and talking in a par- 

 lor with a few ladies and gentlemen 

 much interested, in geography and the 

 far countries of the world ; who would 

 not require a speech or lecture, but 

 merely an informal talk. I said to 

 them that my engagements at present 

 were such as to make it altogether im- 

 possible for me to prepare anything 

 which would be worthy of an august 

 audience. They said, "That is en- 

 tirely unnecessary. Talk about the 

 Philippines, you know all about that, 

 and you can talk that in a parlor with- 

 out difficulty. ' ' And so I did not know 

 until this morning, when I was advised 

 where I would find the Rifles' Armory, 

 that I was to speak to so intelligent, 

 and, I may be permitted to say, *' terri- 

 fying " an audience as this. I make 

 this explanation both because of the des- 

 ultory character of the remarks which 

 you shall hear, and also to avoid the 

 charge which I am constantly receiving 



at home from my wife and my mother, 

 whose instructions I hope to follow, 

 that I should not harp on one string so 

 much. 



Those who are responsible for the 

 Philippine administration under this 

 government have had the disadvantage, 

 or advantage, of being subject to criti- 

 cism ever since they began, on all sides. 

 For a long time — if I may designate 

 what they said by so opprobrious a 

 term — the " noise " came from the anti- 

 imperialists, and we were attacked for 

 oppressing a people struggling for in- 

 dependence. We were attacked, after 

 we had taken control, for not giving at 

 once to that people all the liberties they 

 were entitled to. We were attacked for 

 proposing to stay any number of years 

 there in order to enable that struggling 

 people to get upon their feet. When 

 it was suggested that we should stay 

 and educate them, it was said to be al- 

 together too long. 



Well, we have fought out that fight, 

 if I understand it, with the American 

 people, and that people, being a sensible 

 people, have decided that, so far as the 

 issue raised by the taking of the Philip- 

 pines and our establishing a government 



*An address before tbe National Geographic Society, May 5, 1905 



