THE CABINET: A Governor's Back

In Manila, Governor General Leonard Wood turned his solid back on Manuel Quezon and the Collectivists howling in the Filipino Legislature and went off to look into the troubles of the Moros on the Island of Min- danao. Apparently he had forgotten the disputants behind his back. Apparently the War Department agreed perfectly that he should.

If the Collectivists refused to cooperate with him in governing the Islands, then there was no need of his presence during the session of the Legislature. He went to Mindanao where the Moros had massacred a detachment of Filipino constabulary. Instead of returning he sent for his aides and a hundred more constabulary. Then he set out on a tour of the disaffected region. His despatch to the War Department said: " Killing of constabulary grew out of alleged grievance against constabulary and local supervising teachers, all Filipinos.

"At the basis lies old antipathy between Moros and Christian Filipinos, and the objection of the former to being governed locally by the latter. This is the principal basic cause of unrest in the Moro Provinces. The Mohammedan period of religious devotion, which lasts from now until the tenth of the new moon, has served to accentuate the situation."

To further add to the belief that General Wood had deliberately turned his back on the malcontents of the Filipino Legislature, instructions were sent from the State Department that he should visit the Straits of Java to confer with the Governor of the Dutch East Indies.