Henry Jones Ford to Woodrow Wilson

Title

Henry Jones Ford to Woodrow Wilson

Creator

Ford, Henry Jones, 1851-1925

Identifier

WWP17717

Date

1913 April 30

Description

Henry J. Ford writes to Woodrow Wilson about his trip to the Philippines.

Source

Wilson Papers, Library of Congress, Library of Congress, Washington, District of Columbia

Subject

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence

Text

My dear President Wilson

I arrived at Manila on April 13th from the tour of the Southern Islands which I began on March 20th. I visited all the important points, my tour extending as far as Mati on the Pacific coast of Mindanao and as far South as Jolo, where I found a very strange situation. The American colony was virtually in a state of siege and we could not go outside of the walls without an armed guard. I arrived here at Baguio on April 16th and then for the first time I began to get information from official sources.

The notions with which I came from the States have long since been thrown overboard and I have acquired new ones that are now in such orderly shape, that I have been able to plan my report and I have it already partly prepared.

I expect to leave here on May 6th, for a trip of about a week along the western coast to the extreme North of Luzon. Speaker Osmeña will be one of the party. After that excursion I shall go to Manila, of which city I have as yet seen little. There I expect to get some idea of views and opinions in the business world.

After a good deal of suspense and after passing through periods of perplexity, I now feel that I understand the Philippine situation quite as well as I should be able to do by remaining any longer in the Islands, so I am planning to start for home on May 28th by the Prinz Ludwig of the North German Lloyd, taking the Suez route. I shall bring my report with me, as I shall probably get it to you in person as fast as I could by mail. I expect to arrive in New York some time between the 10th and the 15th of July.

A pretty thorough examination of the government departments has convinced me that in exactness of accounting and in integrity of official behavior, Philippine adminstration will compare favorably with anything we can show in the United States. Whatever else may be said about Governor General Forbes, he is a first rate business man, firm in his maintenance of high standards. This explains some of the bitterness of the attacks made upon him. One vendetta that is now operating against him in the United States is believed to arise from a transaction here in Baguio. An official who bought a lot, resold it in a few weeks to a Filipino at an advance of 650 pesos. Governor Forbes heard of the transaction and although the gain was small, ($325 in our money) he sent for the official and told him that for a person in his position to speculate in Baguio town lots was an impropriety that could not be tolerated and that he must turn over the profit to the town treasury. The official concerned did not comply until several months elapsed, when he finally succumbed to Governor Forbes’ insistence, although not admitting that he had done anything wrong or that Governor Forbes had any right to interfere.

The situation in the Philippines impresses me as being very grave, and I believe that it requires radical treatment, but I think it would be a great mistake to imagine that the defects are due to administrative misconduct or that they could be remedied by putting in a better class of men. The defects are such as arise naturally out of the policy adopted, and the remedy lies far more in a change of policy than in a change of men. I have not been able to discover anything in administrative conditions that calls for present action nor indeed any reason why you should not postpone any administrative change until you have decided what policy you shall adopt as regards the relations between the United States and these Islands.

I have been so absorbed in the study of conditions here that I have lapsed into opaque ignorance as regards home politics, but I presume that you are immersed in tariff problems. My cordial sympathy and fervent good wishes are with you in your attack on the Augean Stables.

Howard joins me in desiring that you present our compliments to Mrs. Wilson and your daughters.

Most faithfully yours,
Henry J. Ford


Hon. Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States.

Original Format

Letter

To

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Temp00156.pdf

Tags

Citation

Ford, Henry Jones, 1851-1925, “Henry Jones Ford to Woodrow Wilson,” 1913 April 30, WWP17717, First Year Wilson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.