PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE WELFARE OF THE PEOPLE 205 
one poorly-trained Liberian physician at Monrovia, and one building called a 
hospital, in which there were two or three patients at the time we were in that 
city. 
Except for an appropriation of some $18,000 largely for the salaries of school 
teachers, the Liberian Government spends almost nothing on the improvement 
of the condition of the people. The greater part of the customs revenue, together 
with most of the hut taxes imposed on the natives of the hinterland, the second 
largest source of government revenue, is expended particularly on governmental 
salaries. 
It is interesting also to compare certain conditions in Liberia with those 
which exist in the Philippines. Anyone familiar with the state of affairs that 
existed in these Islands before 1898, and with conditions as they are today, cannot 
fail to appreciate the wonderful improvement that has taken place since Ameri- 
can intervention. The progress made in the last thirty odd years has recently 
been recorded in a dispassionate and most authoritative and convincing way by 
the Hon. W. Cameron Forbes in his history of ‘‘The Philippine Islands,’ 1928. 
In that work he has also told of the victories in sanitation which have been 
achieved there, and described the medical and sanitary care provided by the 
Government for the people throughout the Islands. 
It is true that occasionally one hears the question of independence for the 
Islands raised by a few Filipino politicians or by a handful of other persons 
interested in a public discussion of the matter. But the advisability of independ- 
ence of the Philippines sinks into insignificance when one considers the marvel- 
lous change, and the justice and freedom and contentment that have come about 
through American administration. Anyone who has resided for any length of 
time in the Philippines knows that an atmosphere of freedom prevails through- 
out the country, and that moreover, the people are virtually independent, and 
indeed enjoy more freedom than the people of the United States. Such a con- 
dition obviously does not exist in Liberia for the great majority of the in- 
terior people. 
It is worth while also to compare the conditions in Liberia with those which 
exist in the only other negro republic, Haiti. Although the class of Haitians who 
have dominated affairs in that country seem to have failed in establishing and 
maintaining a competent independent government, there is no question what- 
ever of the improvement in general conditions in the country, and in the welfare 
of the people, as well as in their health and in the better care of the sick and 
afflicted which has taken place in the Island since American intervention. These 
facts are convincingly set forth, not only by H. P. Davis in his ‘“‘ Black Democ- 
racy,’ 1928, but also in the annual reports of the Director-General of the Public 
Health Service of Haiti. 
The United States has met, and is continuing to meet the unavoidable prob- 
lems in connection with the welfare and development of the Philippine Islands 
and Haiti, in a highly satisfactory manner. 
In regard to Liberia, it also is clear, that even in recent years the United 
States has from time to time evinced not only a friendly but a protective interest 
