only to consider the depth of distress into which the sugar industry in the neighboring island of Jamaica, a British colony, has descended and the complete failure of the British ministry to hit upon an adequate method. of relief, in order to realize the futility of expecting aid from that quarter. The other great nations of Europe are busy with the woes of their domestic sugar growers. A project for securing a large loan and advancing the money to the sugar planters has been considered by the Cuban government, but such action certainly should not be taken except as a last resort. Cuba's hope must rest with Washington, where the disregard by congress of the promises made to the Cubans by President McKinley which secured their acceptance of the Platt amendment must be a source of shame to Ameri cans. Cuba's JULIUS C. BURROWS. Meanwhile Cuba is doing the best it can. Reports of distress among the sugar planters are numerous and there seems to be no doubt that under present conditions sugar growing can be carried on only at a heavy loss. On many plantations, it is said, preparations for the next season's crop have been suspended through lack of money and credit, while on the others the working forces have been cut down as low as possible. The result is that large numbers of persons are out of employment. Disorder and suffering must result from this condition. General stagnation of business, because of the growing poverty of the people, gives the merchants great anxiety. To the best of its ability the Cuban government is struggling with the problems growing out of the public distress. A decline in imports, causing a serious falling off in customs receipts and reducing still further the republic's inadequate revenues, is expected because of the lack of profitable industries. The effort to encourage cattle raising as a desirable substitute for the growing of sugar and tobacco is being carried forward by the Cuban secretary of agriculture. It is not likely, however, that any real relief for the island will be supplied until the United States government supplies it. A visionary plan for trade reciprocity with Great Britain has been conceived by some sugar planters and urged upon the government. But one has Civil After each had passed its own Rule in bill for the establishment of civil the Phil- government in the Philippines, ippines. the house and senate committees in conference constructed out of the two a compromise measure which was adopted and promptly signed by the president. In somewhat indefinite terms which seem to give large discretion to the president, the law authorizes the establishment of a Philippine assembly two years after a census of the islands shall have been completed, provided peace shall have prevailed during that period. The Philippine commission of five Americans and three Filipinos, the members of which are appointed by the president, is to form the upper house of the assembly; the lower house will be composed of members elected by the votes of the civilized and Christian natives. No conclusion was arrived at regarding the monetary standard of the islands, the senate and house conferees having disagreed on that point, holding out for the silver and the gold standard respectively. Consequently the present unsatisfactory conditions are continued. Currency of fluctuating value composed mainly of Mexican silver dollars has proved a serious drawback to the commercial welfare of the Philippines. The purchase of the friars' lands is authorized and the sale of the public domain in small tracts is provided for. In the effort to prevent the forming of vast estates by corporations or individuals, the natives in a measure are denied the benefit that would come from the investment of capital on a large scale for the development of the islands' resources. Civilization and progress presumably must take the same forms in the Philippines that they do in other parts of the tropics. However, the safeguards thrown around the islanders are an earnest of the good intentions of congress, which has shown its abhorrence of any attempt at exploitation by capitalists to the injury of the Filipinos. The president is understood to approve highly of the law, believing the terms on which the natives are to obtain their legislature and representation at Washington to be better than those contained in the house bill. Amnesty The Philippine civil governfor Polit- ment bill was signed July 1. ical Pris- On the same day civil rule was oners. substituted for martial law in Laguna province, island of Luzon, "thus completing," in the words of Acting Governor Wright, "the establishment of civil government over all civilized people of the archipelago." On July 4 the president by proclamation abolished the office of military governor of the Philippines. By the same proclamation General Chaffee was instructed to continue to hold the military forces in the islands subject to the call of the civil authorities for the maintenance of order. Another proclamation of the same date declared a general amnesty applying to political prisoners held for offenses growing out of the revolt in the Philippines. In order to avail themselves of this pardon it was necessary merely for such prisoners to take the cath of allegiance to the United States. In view of the complete suppression of armed resistance to American authority, except in the Moro country, it was clear that the political prisoners in Manila, Guam and elsewhere, including Aguinaldo, would hasten to accept their liberty. Whether or not the Filipinos appreciate the sentiment attaching to this act of an American president on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence may be a matter for doubt; at least there can be no doubt as to the satisfaction felt by Americans over the pardon thus extended. It enables them to realize more clearly than they have realized before the marvelous celerity with which the army and the civil representatives of the American government have brought about the pacification of the Philippines. Considering the enormous difficulties of the task, a wonderful change has been wrought within a very brief period. The claim that In Praise of the Army. The proclamations of peace and amnesty give point to a general order issued to the American army on the same day by the secretary of war in the name of the president. In it the warmest possible praise is bestowed on the officers and enlisted men for their work in Cuba and the Philippines. In Cuba, the secretary says, after four years of service the American soldiers "have left a record of ordered justice and liberty, of rapid improvement in material and moral conditions and progress in the art of government which reflects great credit upon the peopie of the United States." In regard to the service performed by the army in the Philippines the secretary says, after dwelling upon the extraordinary difficulties attending that service: "Its splendid, virile energy has been accompanied by self control, patience and magnanimity. With surprisingly few individual exceptions, its course has been characterized by humanity and kindness to the prisoner and the non-combatant." This, then, is the verdict of the president and the secretary of war on the conduct of the army in the light of the criticisms showered upon it by oppo(Continued on page 1610.) A SCENE IN MODERN EGYPT-OUTSIDE AN EUROPEAN HOTEL IN CAIRO. The East and West touch one another in Cairo: the Cairo donkey stands next to the Western hall porter. The life of an Egyptian town is less romantic than it used to be, but it is much more safe. MOHAMMEDANS GATHERED FOR THE GREAT EED AL-KORBAN FESTIVAL AT DELHI, INDIA. The Mohammedans in India alone number 57,000,000, and this festival is a great occasion. THE PRESENT STATE OF THE GREAT NILE DAM. SEEN FROM THE NORTHEAST. The purpose of this dam is to regulate the annual flow of the Nile river (see vol. 1, page 248). It is a mile in length, The navigation channel with four locks is at the and has taken four years to construct. further end. The dam is now being used for the first time. nents of the administration's Philippine policy from Senator Hoar downward. The senate investigation, the courts martial, the floods of fervid oratory, have failed to convince the commander in chief of the American army that it has not shown itself as humane as it is brave. Not only in its two thousand combats, large and small, but in all its other trying tasks, the president declares, it has acquitted itself well. "The president," says Secretary Root, "feels that he expresses the sentiments of all the loyal people of the United States in doing honor to the whole army, which has joined in the WILLIAM H. TAFT. Governor of the Philippines, now in Rome representing the government in the negotiations with the Pope to remove the Friars from the islands performance and shares in the credit of these honorable services." Congress having adjourned, the public is denied the privilege of hearing the views of Mr. Carmack or Mr. Patterson on the floor of the senate in regard to this declaration. The administration in thus proclaiming that the army was not cruel to the Filipinos and that its achievements in the Philippines are glorious and almost without a stain, faces with boldness the issue which democratic senators have been at great pains to build up for use in the impending political canvass. Admiral Dewey's Testi Testimony given by Admiral Dewey before the Philippines. committee of the senate on mony. June 26, 27 and 28, dwelt on the relations existing between the admiral and Aguinaldo immediately after the battle of Cavite. The witness said that the Filipino leader and the other refugees from Hongkong and Singapore were forced upon him by the insistence of United States Consul General Pratt, stationed at the latter city. He did not care for any assistance which they could give him. Aguinaldo he regarded as a mere collector of loot and not at all as a liberator of his people. It did not enter his head, he asserted, that the restless young native was working for Filipinoindependence. The admiral had furnished arms to Aguinaldo in order that he and his associates might drive back the Spaniards into Manila and thus prepare the way for the city's capture. Aguinaldo furnished him herds of cattle for the ships and it is reasonable to suppose that the command by that ingenious native of a considerable area from which provisions might be drawn was desirable to the Americans who had to obtain a large part of their supplies from the friendly people. The admiral denied with positiveness that he had ever regarded Aguinaldo as an ally. Immediately after the naval battle the governor of Manila had displayed white flags on the walls and had offered to surrender the city. This offer could not be accepted because troops were lacking to hold Manila. At the suggestion of Senator Dietrich the admiral agreed that if he had actually placed confidence in Aguinaldo and his followers the surrender of the city would have been accepted and the Filipinos would have been given the task of guarding it. Continuing his testimony, the admiral said that when a sufficient number of American troops had arrived arrangements were completed with the Spanish governor for a spectacular attack upon the city, it having been agreed that the surrender should come after a little firing by the Americans, the Spaniards making no reply. This arrangement was carried out. In regard to Dewey's famous assertion that he believed the Filipinos more capable of self government than the Cubans he gave the explanation that while he still held to that opinion he did not think that either the Cubans or the Filipinos were capable of self government. It is well to have had these matters illuminated by the ad |