"The problems that force themselves upon the attention at the outset are those of government and of finance. The first question that naturally arises is, what shall be done with these possessions? How shall they, with their unassimilated populations, be cared for? The presence of a military force will doubtless be an immediate necessity. It should be administered in the mildest form, unless riot and disorder otherwise require, and be controlled by officers humane and intelligent, inclined to encourage at the earliest practical time the inauguration of a civil rule which shall gradually and as rapidly as may be found wise invite an official participation of representatives of the indigenous populations. Can this be done? Let the doubting and the timid recall what has been done, and is now doing toward improving the conditions of the peoples of the East and ask themselves whether America is not likely to be equally successful in caring for those whose destinies she has assumed to direct; whether it is not her duty to enforce order and to keep the peace among peoples who by her acts have been left disorganized and defenseless, a prey to the internecine strifes of barbarous chiefs and to the intrigues of roaming banditti? And have not experiences in assimilating Spanish territories hitherto successfully annexed or conquered proved abundantly our ability to do all this? "It is natural enough that conservative minds should adhere to the traditions of the past, but times are changed, and the wisest of our forefathers were not able to foresee what the workings of centuries might effect. The atrocities to which the inhabitants of Cuba have been subjected in the past two or more years aroused the indignation of the civilized world. "'Their moans, the vales redoubled to the hills, And they to Heav'n.' "The financial problem, which is already commanding the serious attention of the Government, is next in order. How are the great expenditures of the war to be recouped? Shall we, in addition to territory acquired, demand cash indemnity? If the care of these acquisitions is to be as costly as some suppose, it would not be an unreasonable requirement. While we shall lose the revenues derived from imposts upon importations into the United States from these possessions, which were not large, this will be more than compensated by the duties which we can impose upon importations from other nations into them. In making up the estimates of the whole financial situation it will be safe to assume that at first our Government outlays will exceed income; our people, however, will have the profit of furnishing products of the United States to an added population of 10,000,000 to 12,000,000, freed from the duty that we can impose upon the imports of other nations. Of the $10,000,000 in value of imports into the Philippines from all countries, we supplied less than $200,000, while we took from them nearly $5,000,000.