Tomaso G. del Rosario likened Mr. Taft to a ship’s rudder adept at “avoiding shallows” and “bringing her safe into port.” Then he said the Philippines were “rising from the ashes of a momentous revolution and advancing toward the future with a heart full of enthusiasm and hope,” and that “a ruler lacking the qualifications so happily combined in Mr. Taft might faint by the wayside.”

There were other speeches, but the climax came when Pedro A. Paterno began by comparing Mr. Taft with Jesus Christ, saying that “as Christ had converted the cross into a symbol of glory and triumph, so had Governor Taft turned a dying people to the light and life of modern liberties.”