Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. IV.djvu/202

162 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS new congress would need expert counsel in shaping legislation for the colonies. Moreover, he was ill, and required a treatment he could not procure in Manila. During his visit, President Roosevelt mentioned a possibility that he might be offered a seat in the supreme court, but Mr. Taft would not consider the subject even tentatively, say ing that he had promised his "little brown broth ers," as he affectionately styled the Filipinos, to stay with them till they were sure of a stable administration. He was still an invalid when he boarded his steamer for the far east, and few of his friends expected to look upon his living face again. But by degrees he recovered his strength in spite of the trying climate and incessant hard work. Not the least of the difficulties with which he had to deal was the solution of the friar lands problem. Under Spanish rule, four great missionary orders managed the religious and charitable interests of the Roman Catholic church in the Philippines. Their members were in intimate relations with the Madrid government, for which they were suspected of acting as spies; and they had acquired title to large tracts of land, which they rented for revenue. Among them, doubtless, were both good and bad men; but their unregulated landlordism had given rise to a multitude of scandals, with or without foundation in fact. These reached in time a point