NATIVES SHOULD NOT GOVERN

Major J. P. Finley, U. S. A., speaking in the Living Room of the Union last night on "Moro Problems in the Southern Philippines, and the American Method of Solution," compared the inefficient rule of the Spaniards from 1580 to 1898, with that of the United States army during the last fifteen years in which remarkable industrial and educational development has taken place. The army, in fact, has done a greater work of civilization than all the other forces which have been working in the Islands for the last 350 years combined.

Methods by Which Reforms Have Been Secured.

These reforms have been secured largely by means of public markets and common schools at which the widely differing tribes could be brought together in peaceful intercourse. While these innovations were not looked upon with favor by the former chieftains, the natives accepted them with great readiness once they fully understood that thus they secured greater freedom than had ever previously existed. The United States Army, contrary to the custom of the Spaniards, has always adopted a policy of complete religious toleration and has directed its efforts almost entirely towards economic reform, a fact which has been of the first importance in holding the good will of the islanders.

In conclusion, Major Finley spoke of the immense importance of the Philippines to the United States both in their large area of over 800,000 square miles, immensely rich in natural resources, and as the key to our commercial expansion in the Orient. He said that for humanitarian, if for no other reasons, the army should remain in the Islands for many years to come, and that while the Moros were a race with many remarkable characteristics, they were in no way suited for self government, being accustomed to and respecting only a power which combined the civil and military control in the same hands.