volume 2, page 1165).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899-1900. Military operations against the Insurgents. Death of General Lawton.

"The enlargement of the field of operations and government in the Philippine Islands made it impracticable to conduct the business under the charge of the army in those islands through the machinery of a single department, and by order made April 7, 1900, the Philippine Islands were made a military division, consisting of four departments: The Department of Northern Luzon, the Department of Southern Luzon, the Department of the Visayas, and the Department of Mindanao and Jolo. The Department of Northern Luzon is subdivided into six, the Department of Southern Luzon into four, the Department of the Visayas into four, and the Department of Mindanao and Jolo into four military districts. …

"At the date of the last report (November 29, 1899 [see above]) the government established by the Philippine insurgents in central Luzon and the organized armed forces by which it was maintained had been destroyed, and the principal civil and military leaders of the insurrection, accompanied by small and scattered bands of troops, were the objects of pursuit in the western and the northern parts of the island. {386} That pursuit was prosecuted with vigor and success, under conditions of extraordinary difficulty and hardship, and resulted in the further and practically complete disintegration of the insurrectionary bands in those regions, in the rescue of nearly all the American prisoners and the greater part of the Spanish prisoners held by the insurgents, in the capture of many of the leading insurgents, and in the capture and destruction of large quantities of arms, ammunition, and supplies. There still remained a large force of insurgents in Cavite and the adjacent provinces south of Manila, and a considerable force to the east of the Rio Grande de Pampanga, chiefly in the province of Bulacan, while in the extreme southeastern portions of Luzon, and in the various Visayan islands, except the island of Negros, armed bodies of Tagalogs had taken possession of the principal seacoast towns, and were exercising military control over the peaceful inhabitants. Between the insurgent troops in Bulacan and the mountains to the north, and the insurgents in the south, communication was maintained by road and trail, running along and near the eastern bank of the Mariquina River, and through the towns of Mariquina, San Mateo, and Montalban and the province of Morong. This line of communication, passing through rough and easily defended country, was strongly fortified and held by numerous bodies of insurgents.

"On the 18th of December, 1899, a column, under the command of Major General Henry W. Lawton, proceeded from Manila, and between that date and the 29th of December captured all the fortified posts of the insurgents, took possession of the line of communication, which has ever since been maintained, and destroyed, captured, or dispersed the insurgent force in that part of the island. In the course of this movement was sustained the irremediable loss of General Lawton, who was shot and instantly killed while too fearlessly exposing his person in supervising the passing of his troops over the river Mariquina at San Mateo.

"On the 4th of January, 1900, General J. C. Bates, U. S. V., was assigned to the command of the First Division of the Eighth Army Corps, and an active campaign under his direction was commenced in Southern Luzon. The plan adopted was to confront and hold the strong force of the enemy near Imus and to the west of Bacoor by a body of troops under General Wheaton, while a column, under General Schwan, should move rapidly down the west shore of the Laguna de Bay to Biñang, thence turn southwesterly and seize the Silang, Indang, and Naic road, capture the enemy's supplies supposed to be at the towns of Silang and Indang, and arrest the retreat of the enemy, when he should be driven from northern Cavite by our troops designated to attack him there, and thus prevent his reassembling in the mountains of southern Cavite and northern Batangas. This plan was successfully executed. General Schwan's column moved over the lines indicated with great rapidity, marching a distance of over 600 miles, striking and defeating numerous bodies of insurgents and capturing many intrenched positions, taking possession of and garrisoning towns along the line, and scattering and demoralizing all the organized forces of the enemy within that section of country. From these operations and the simultaneous attacks by our troops under General Wheaton in the north the rebel forces in the Cavite region practically disappeared, the members either being killed or captured or returning to their homes as unarmed citizens, and a few scattered parties escaping through General Schwan's line to the south. By the 8th of February the organized forces of the insurgents in the region mentioned had ceased to exist. In large portions of the country the inhabitants were returning to their homes and resuming their industries, and active trade with Manila was resumed. In the course of these operations about 600 Spanish prisoners were released from the insurgents, leaving about 600 more still in their hands in the extreme southeastern provinces of Camarines and Albay, nearly all of whom were afterwards liberated by our troops. In the meantime an expedition was organized under the command of Brigadier General William A. Kobbé, U. S. V., to expel the Tagalogs who had taken possession of the principal hemp ports of the islands situated in Albay, the extreme southeastern province of Luzon, and in the islands of Leyte, Samar, and Catanduanes. This expedition sailed from Manila on the 18th of January and accomplished its object. All of the principal hemp ports were relieved from control of the insurgents, garrisoned by American troops, and opened to commerce by order of the military governor of the islands on the 30th of January and the 10th and 14th of February. The expedition met with strong resistance at Legaspi by an intrenched force under the Chinese general, Paua. He was speedily overcome and went into the interior. After a few days he reassembled his forces and threatened the garrisons which had been left in Albay and Legaspi, whereupon he was attacked, and defeated, and surrendered. Thirty pieces of artillery, a large quantity of ammunition, a good many rifles, and a considerable amount of money were captured by this expedition.

"On the 15th of February an expedition, under the supervision of Major-General Bates and under the immediate command of Brigadier General James M. Bell, U. S. V., sailed from Manila to take possession of the North and South Camarines provinces and Western Albay, in which the insurgent forces had been swelled by the individuals and scattered bands escaping from our operations in various sections of the north. The insurgent force was defeated after a sharp engagement near the mouth of the Bicol River, pursued, and scattered. Large amounts of artillery and war material were captured. The normal conditions of industry and trade relations with Manila were resumed by the inhabitants. On the 20th of March the region covered by the last-described operations was created a district of southeastern Luzon, under the command of General James M. Bell, who was instructed to proceed to the establishment of the necessary customs and internal-revenue service in the district. In the meantime similar expeditions were successfully made through the mountains of the various islands of the Visayan Group, striking and scattering and severely punishing the bands of bandits and insurgents who infested those islands. In the latter part of March General Bates proceeded with the Fortieth infantry to establish garrisons in Mindanao. The only resistance was of a trifling character at Cagayan, the insurgent general in northeastern Mindanao surrendering and turning over the ordnance in his possession. {387} With [the execution of these movements] all formal and open resistance to American authority in the Philippines terminated, leaving only an exceedingly vexatious and annoying guerilla warfare of a character closely approaching brigandage, which will require time, patience, and good judgment to finally suppress. As rapidly as we have occupied territory, the policy of inviting inhabitants to return to their peaceful vocations, and aiding them in the reestablishment of their local governments, has been followed, and the protection of the United States has been promised to them. The giving of this protection has led to the distribution of troops in the Philippine Islands to over 400 different posts, with the consequent labor of administration and supply. The maintenance of these posts involves the continued employment of a large force, but as the Tagalogs who are in rebellion have deliberately adopted the policy of murdering, so far as they are able, all of their countrymen who are friendly to the United States, the maintenance of garrisons is at present necessary to the protection of the peaceful and unarmed Filipinos who have submitted to our authority; and if we are to discharge our obligations in that regard their reduction must necessarily be gradual."

_United States, Secretary of War, Annual Report, November 30, 1900, pages 5-10._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (January). Report of the First Philippine Commission.

The First Commission to the Philippines returned to the United States in the autumn of 1899, and then submitted to the President a brief preliminary statement of its proceedings in the Islands and the opinions its members had formed, concerning the spirit and extent of the Tagalo revolt, the general disposition of the people at large, their capacity for independent self-government, etc. On the 31st of January following the commissioners presented a report which deals extensively with many subjects of investigation and deliberation. In Part I., it sets forth the efforts made by the commission "toward conciliation and the establishment of peace," through interviews with various emissaries of Aguinaldo, and others, and by means of a proclamation to the people. In Part II., it gives an extended account of the races and tribes of which the native population of the Islands is composed. In Part III., it details the provision that has heretofore been made for education, and states the conclusions of the commission as to the capacity of the people and their fitness for a popular government. In Part IV., a very full account of the Spanish organization of government in the Philippines, general, provincial and municipal, is given, and the reforms that were desired by the Filipino people are ascertained. From this the commission proceeds to consider the question of a plan of government for the Islands under the sovereignty of the United States, and concludes that the Territorial system of the United States offers all that can be desired. "What Jefferson and the nation did for Louisiana," says the report, "we are … free to-day to do for the Philippines. The fact that Bonaparte had provided in the treaty that Louisiana should in due time be admitted as a State in the Union, and that in the meantime its inhabitants should have protection in the free enjoyment of their liberty, property, and religion, made no difference in the relation of Louisiana to the Constitution of the United States so long as Louisiana remained a Territory; and, if it had made a difference, it should have constituted something of a claim to the immediate enjoyment of some or all of the benefits of the Constitution. Unmoved by that consideration, however, the Jeffersonian policy established once for all the subjection of national domain outside the States to the absolute and unrestricted power of Congress. The commission recommends that in dealing with the Philippines this vast power be exercised along the lines laid down by Jefferson and Madison in establishing a government for Louisiana, but with … deviations in the direction of larger liberty to the Filipinos. … The result would be substantially the transformation of their second-class Territorial government of Louisiana into a Territorial government of the first-class for the Philippine Islands." To this recommendation of the Territorial system of government the commission adds a strenuous plea for a closely guarded civil service. "It is a safe and desirable rule," says the report, "that no American should be appointed to any office in the Philippines for which a reasonably qualified Filipino can, by any possibility, be secured. Of course the merit or business system must be adopted and lived up to; the patronage or spoils system would prove absolutely fatal to good government in this new Oriental territory." Further parts of the report are devoted to the Philippine judicial system, as it had been and as it should be; to "the condition and needs of the United States in the Philippines from a naval and maritime standpoint"; to the secular clergy and religious orders; to registration laws; to the currency; to the Chinese in the Philippines; and to public health. Among the exhibits appended in volume 1 of the published Report are the constitution of Aguinaldo's Philippine Republic (called the Malolos constitution), and several other constitutional drafts and proposals from Filipino sources, indicating the political ideas that prevail.

_Report of the Philippine Commission, January 31, 1900, volume 1._

See, also (in this volume), EDUCATION: A. D. 1898 (PHILIPPINE ISLANDS).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (March). Institution of municipal governments.

By General Orders, on the 29th of March, 1900, the Military Governor of the Islands promulgated a law providing for the election and institution of municipal governments, the provisions of which law had been framed by a board appointed in the previous January, under the presidency of Don Cayetano Arellano, chief justice of the Philippines. The first chapter of the law reads as follows:

"ARTICLE 1. The towns of the Philippine Islands shall be recognized as municipal corporations with the same limits as heretofore established, upon reorganizing under the provisions of this order. All property vested in any town under its former organization shall be vested in the same town upon becoming incorporated hereunder.

"ARTICLE 2. Towns so incorporated shall be designated as 'municipios,' and shall be known respectively by the names heretofore adopted. Under such names they may, without further authorization, sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and hold real and personal property for the general interests of the town, and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred. The city of Manila is exempt from the provisions of this order.

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"ARTICLE 3. The municipal government of each town is hereby vested in an alcalde and a municipal council. The alcalde and councilors, together with the municipal lieutenant, shall be chosen at large by the qualified electors of the town, and their term of office shall be for two years from and after the first Monday in January next after their election and until their successors are duly chosen and qualified: Provided, That the alcalde and municipal lieutenant elected in 1900 shall hold office until the first Monday in January, 1902, only; and that the councilors elected in 1900 shall divide themselves, by lot, into two classes; the scats of those of the first class shall be vacated on the first Monday of January, 1901, and those of the second class one year thereafter, so that one-half of the municipal council shall be chosen annually.

"ARTICLE 4. Incorporated towns shall be of four classes, according to the number of inhabitants. Towns of the first class shall be those which contain not less than 25,000 inhabitants and shall have 18 councilors; of the second class, those containing 18,000 and less than 25,000 inhabitants and shall have 14 councilors; of the third class, those containing 10,000 and less than 18,000 inhabitants and shall have 10 councilors; of the fourth class, those containing less than 10,000 inhabitants and shall have 8 councilors. Towns of less than 2,000 inhabitants may incorporate under the provisions of this order, or may, upon petition to the provincial governor, signed by a majority of the qualified electors thereof, be attached as a barrio to an adjacent and incorporated town, if the council of the latter consents.

The qualifications of voters are defined in the second chapter as follows:

"ARTICLE 5. The electors charged with the duty of choosing elective municipal officers must be male persons, 23 years of age or over, who have had a legal residence in the town in which they exercise the suffrage for a period of six months immediately preceding the election, and who are not citizens or subjects of any foreign power, and who are comprised within one of the following three classes:

1. Those who, prior to the 13th of August, 1898, held the office of municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, lieutenant or cabeza de barangay.

2. Those who annually pay 30 pesos or more of the established taxes.

3. Those who speak, read, and write English or Spanish."

Succeeding articles in this chapter prescribe the oath to be taken and subscribed by each elector before his ballot is cast, recognizing and accepting "the supreme authority of the United States of America"; appoint the times and places for holding elections, and set forth the forms to be observed in them. In the third chapter, the qualifications of officers are thus defined:

"ARTICLE 13. An alcalde, municipal lieutenant, or councilor must have the following qualifications:

1. He must be a duly qualified elector of the municipality in which he is a candidate, of 26 years of age or over, and have had a legal residence therein for at least one year prior to the date of election.

2. He must correctly speak, read, and write either the English language or the local dialect.

"ARTICLE 14. In no case can there be elected or appointed to municipal office ecclesiastics, soldiers in active service, persons receiving salary from municipal, provincial or government funds; debtors to said funds, whatever the class of said funds; contractors of public works and their bondsmen; clerks and functionaries of the administration or government while in said capacity; bankrupts until discharged, or insane or feeble-minded persons.

"ARTICLE 15. Each and every person elected or appointed to a municipal office under the provisions of this order shall, before entering upon the duties thereof, take and subscribe before the alcalde or town secretary"—an oath analogous to that required from the electors.

Further articles in this chapter and the next define the duties of the alcalde, the municipal lieutenant, municipal attorney, municipal secretary, municipal treasurer, and the municipal councilors. The fifth chapter relates to taxation and finances; the sixth and seventh contain provisions as follows:

"ARTICLE 53. The governor of the province shall be ex officio president of all municipal councils within the province and shall have general supervisory charge of the municipal affairs of the several towns and cities therein organized under the provisions of this order, and in his said supervisory capacity may inspect or cause to be inspected, at such times as he may determine, the administration of municipal affairs and each and every department thereof, and may hear and determine all appeals against the acts of municipal corporations or their officers. He, or those whom he may designate in writing for that duty, shall at all times have free access to all records, books, papers, moneys, and property of the several towns and cities of the province, and may call upon the officers thereof for an accounting of the receipts and expenditures, or for a general or special report of the official acts of the several municipal councils or of any and every of them, or of any and every of the officers thereof, at any time, and as often as he may consider necessary to inform himself of the state of the finances or of the administration of municipal affairs, and such requests when made must be complied with without excuse, pretext, or delay. He may suspend or remove municipal officers, either individually or collectively, for cause, and appoint substitutes therefor permanently, for the time being or pending the next general election, or may call a special election to fill the vacancy or vacancies caused by such suspension or removal, reporting the cause thereof with a full statement of his action in the premises to the governor of the islands without delay. He shall forward all questions or disputes that may arise over the boundaries or jurisdictional limits of the city, towns, or municipalities to the governor of the islands for final determination, together with full report and recommendations relative to the same. He may, with the approval of the governor of the islands, authorize the cities and towns to form among themselves associations or communities for determined ends, such as the construction of public works, the creation and foundation of beneficent, charitable, or educational institutions, for the better encouragement of public interests or the use of communal property.

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"ARTICLE 54. It shall be the duty of commanding officers of military districts, immediately after the publication of this order, to recommend to the office of the military governor in which towns within their commands municipal governments shall be established, and upon approval of recommendations, either personally or through subordinate commanders designated by them, to issue and cause to be posted proclamations calling elections therein. Such proclamations shall fix the time and place of election and shall designate three residents of the town who shall be charged with the duty of administering electors' oaths; of preparing, publishing, and correcting, within specified dates, a list of electors having the qualifications hereinbefore set forth, and of presiding at and making a due return of the election thus appointed. The proclamation shall specify the offices to be filled, and in order to determine the number of councilors the commanders charged with calling the election shall determine, from the best available evidence, the class to which the town belongs, as hereinbefore defined; the classification thus made shall govern until the taking of an official census. The first alcaldes appointed under the provisions of this order shall take and subscribe the oath of office before the commanding officer of the military district or some person in the several towns designated by said commanding officer for the said purpose; whereupon the alcalde so sworn shall administer the said oath of office to all the other officers of the municipio there elected and afterwards appointed. The election returns shall be canvassed by the authority issuing the election proclamation, and the officers elected shall assume their duties on a date to be specified by him in orders.

"ARTICLE. 55. Until the appointment of governors of provinces their duties under this order will be performed by the commanding officers of the military districts. They may, by designation, confer on subordinate commanding officers of subdistricts or of other prescribed territorial limits of their commands the supervisory duties herein enumerated, and a subordinate commander so designated shall perform all and every of the duties herein prescribed for the superior commanding officer.

"ARTICLE. 56. For the time being the provisions of this order requiring that alcaldes be elected, in all cases shall be so far modified as to permit the commanding officers of military districts, in their discretion, either to appoint such officers or to have them elected as hereinbefore prescribed. The term of office of alcaldes appointed under this authority shall be the same as if they had been elected; at the expiration of such term the office shall be filled by election or appointment.

"ARTICLE 57. The governments of towns organized under General Orders No. 43, Headquarters Department of the Pacific and Eighth Army Corps, series 1899, will continue in the exercise of their functions as therein defined and set forth until such time as municipal governments therefor have been organized and are in operation under this order."

_United States, 56th Congress, 1st Session, House Document Number 659._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (April). Appointment of the Second Commission to the Philippines and the President's instructions to it. Steps to be taken towards the establishment of civil government, and the principles to be observed.

On the 7th of April, 1900, the President of the United States addressed the following communication to the Secretary of War, appointing a Second Commission to the Philippines, "to continue and perfect the work of organizing and establishing civil government" in the Islands, and defining the principles on which that work should proceed: "In the message transmitted to the Congress on the 5th of December, 1899, I said, speaking of the Philippine Islands: 'As long as the insurrection continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. But there is no reason why steps should not be taken from time to time to inaugurate governments essentially popular in their form as fast as territory is held and controlled by our troops. To this end I am considering the advisability of the return of the commission, or such of the members thereof as can be secured, to aid the existing authorities and facilitate this work throughout the islands.'

"To give effect to the intention thus expressed I have appointed the Honorable William H. Taft of Ohio, Professor Dean C. Worcester of Michigan, the Honorable Luke I. Wright of Tennessee, the Honorable Henry C. Ide of Vermont, and Professor Bernard Moses of California, Commissioners to the Philippine Islands to continue and perfect the work of organizing and establishing civil government already commenced by the military authorities, subject in all respects to any laws which Congress may hereafter enact. The Commissioners named will meet and act as a board, and the Honorable William H. Taft is designated as President of the board. It is probable that the transfer of authority from military commanders to civil officers will be gradual and will occupy a considerable period. Its successful accomplishment and the maintenance of peace and order in the meantime will require the most perfect co-operation between the civil and military authorities in the island, and both should be directed during the transition period by the same executive department. The commission will therefore report to the Secretary of War, and all their action will be subject to your approval and control.

"You will instruct the commission to proceed to the City of Manila, where they will make their principal office, and to communicate with the Military Governor of the Philippine Islands, whom you will at the same time direct to render to them every assistance within his power in the performance of their duties. Without hampering them by too specific instructions, they should in general be enjoined, after making themselves familiar with the conditions and needs of the country, to devote their attention in the first instance to the establishment of municipal governments, in which the natives of the islands, both in the cities and in the rural communities, shall be afforded the opportunity to manage their own local affairs to the fullest extent of which they are capable, and subject to the least degree of supervision and control which a careful study of their capacities and observation of the workings of native control show to be consistent with the maintenance of law, order, and loyalty. The next subject in order of importance should be the organization of government in the larger administrative divisions corresponding to counties, departments, or provinces, in which the common interests of many or several municipalities falling within the same tribal lines, or the same natural geographical limits, may best be subserved by a common administration. Whenever the commission is of the opinion that the condition of affairs in the islands is such that the central administration may safely be transferred from military to civil control, they will report that conclusion to you, with their recommendations as to the form of central government to be established for the purpose of taking over the control.

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"Beginning with the 1st day of September, 1900, the authority to exercise, subject to my approval, through the Secretary of War, that part of the power of government in the Philippine Islands which is of a legislative nature is to be transferred from the Military Governor of the Islands to this commission, to be thereafter exercised by them in the place and stead of the Military Governor, under such rules and regulations as you shall prescribe, until the establishment of the civil central government for the islands contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will include the making of rules and orders, having the effect of law, for the raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties, and imposts; the appropriation and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the establishment of an educational system throughout the islands; the establishment of a system to secure an efficient civil service; the organization and establishment of courts; the organization and establishment of municipal and departmental governments, and all other matters of a civil nature for which the Military Governor is now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative character. The commission will also have power during the same period to appoint to office such officers under the judicial, educational, and civil service systems and in the municipal and departmental governments as shall be provided for. Until the complete transfer of control the Military Governor will remain the chief executive head of the Government of the islands, and will exercise the executive authority now possessed by him and not herein expressly assigned to the commission, subject, however, to the rules and orders enacted by the commission in the exercise of the legislative powers conferred upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental governments will continue to report to the Military Governor, and be subject to his administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but that supervision and control will be confined within the narrowest limits consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively exercised and that law and order and individual freedom shall be maintained. All legislative rules and orders, establishments of Government, and appointments to office by the commission will take effect immediately, or at such times as it shall designate, subject to your approval and action upon the coming in of the commission's reports, which are to be made from time to time as its action is taken. Wherever civil Governments are constituted under the direction of the commission, such military posts, garrisons, and forces will be continued for the suppression of insurrection and brigandage, and the maintenance of law and order, as the military commander shall deem requisite, and the military forces shall be at all times subject, under his orders to the call of the civil authorities for the maintenance of law and order and the enforcement of their authority.

"In the establishment of Municipal Governments the commission will take as the basis of its work the Governments established by the Military Governor under his order of Aug. 8, 1899, and under the report of the board constituted by the Military Governor by his order of January 29, 1900, to formulate and report a plan of Municipal Government, of which his Honor Cayetano Arellano, President of the Audencia, was Chairman, and it will give to the conclusions of that board the weight and consideration which the high character and distinguished abilities of its members justify. In the constitution of Departmental or Provincial Governments it will give especial attention to the existing Government of the Island of Negros, constituted, with the approval of the people of that island, under the order of the Military Governor of July 22, 1899, and after verifying, so far as may be practicable, the reports of the successful working of that Government, they will be guided by the experience thus acquired, so far as it may be applicable to the conditions existing in other portions of the Philippines. It will avail itself, to the fullest degree practicable, of the conclusions reached by the previous commissions to the Philippines. In the distribution of powers among the Governments organized by the commission, the presumption is always to be in favor of the smaller sub-division, so that all the powers which can properly be exercised by the Municipal Government shall be vested in that Government, and all the powers of a more general character which can be exercised by the Departmental Government shall be vested in that Government, and so that in the governmental system, which is the result of the process, the Central Government of the islands, following the example of the distribution of the powers between the States and the National Government of the United States, shall have no direct administration except of matters of purely general concern, and shall have only such supervision and control over local Governments as may be necessary to secure and enforce faithful and efficient administration by local officers.

"The many different degrees of civilization and varieties of custom and capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very definite instruction as to the part which the people shall take in the selection of their own officers; but these general rules are to be observed: That in all cases the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the people, are to be selected by the people, and that wherever officers of more extended jurisdiction are to be selected in any way, natives of the islands are to be preferred, and if they can be found competent and willing to perform the duties, they are to receive the offices in preference to any others. It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with Americans which after a time may well be filled by natives of the islands. As soon as practicable a system for ascertaining the merit and fitness of candidates for civil office should be put in force. An indispensable qualification for all offices and positions of trust and authority in the islands must be absolute and unconditional loyalty to the United States, and absolute and unhampered authority and power to remove and punish any officer deviating from that standard must at all times be retained in the hands of the central authority of the islands. {391} In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are authorized to prescribe, the commission should bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands, and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their habits, and even their prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the accomplishment of the indispensable requisites of just and effective government.

"At the same time the commission should bear in mind, and the people of the islands should be made plainly to understand, that there are certain great principles of government which have been made the basis of our governmental system which we deem essential to the rule of law and the maintenance of individual freedom, and of which they have, unfortunately, been denied the experience possessed by us; that there are also certain practical rules of government which we have found to be essential to the preservation of these great principles of liberty and law, and that these principles and these rules of government must be established and maintained in their islands for the sake of their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict with the customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar. It is evident that the most enlightened thought of the Philippine Islands fully appreciates the importance of these principles and rules, and they will inevitably within a short time command universal assent. Upon every division and branch of the government of the Philippines, therefore, must be imposed these inviolable rules: That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; that the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as a punishment for crime; that no bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed; that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed.

"It will be the duty of the commission to make a thorough investigation into the titles to the large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by religious orders; into the justice of the claims and complaints made against such landholders by the people of the island or any part of the people, and to seek by wise and peaceable measures a just settlement of the controversies and redress of wrongs which have caused strife and bloodshed in the past. In the performance of this duty the commission is enjoined to see that no injustice is done; to have regard for substantial rights and equity, disregarding technicalities so far as substantial right permits, and to observe the following rules: That the provision of the treaty of Paris pledging the United States to the protection of all rights of property in the islands, and, as well, the principle of our own Government, which prohibits the taking of private property without due process of law, shall not be violated; that the welfare of the people of the islands, which should be a paramount consideration, shall be attained consistently with this rule of property right; that if it becomes necessary for the public interest of the people of the islands to dispose of claims to property which the commission finds to be not lawfully acquired and held, disposition shall be made thereof by due legal procedure, in which there shall be full opportunity for fair and impartial hearing and judgment; that if the same public interests require the extinguishment of property rights lawfully acquired and held, due compensation shall be made out of the public Treasury therefor; that no form of religion and no minister of religion shall be forced upon any community or upon any citizen of the islands; that, upon the other hand, no minister of religion shall be interfered with or molested in following his calling, and that the separation between State and Church shall be real, entire, and absolute.

"It will be the duty of the commission to promote and extend, and, as it finds occasion, to improve, the system of education already inaugurated by the military authorities. In doing this it should regard as of first importance the extension of a system of primary education which shall be free to all, and which shall tend to fit the people for the duties of citizenship and for the ordinary avocations of a civilized community. This instruction should be given in the first instance in every part of the islands in the language of the people. In view of the great number of languages spoken by the different tribes, it is especially important to the prosperity of the islands that a common medium of communication may be established, and it is obviously desirable that this medium should be the English language. Especial attention should be at once given to affording full opportunity to all the people of the islands to acquire the use of the English language. It may be well that the main changes which should be made in the system of taxation and in the body of the laws under which the people are governed, except such changes as have already been made by the military Government, should be relegated to the civil Government which is to be established under the auspices of the commission. It will, however, be the duty of the commission to inquire diligently as to whether there are any further changes which ought not to be delayed, and, if so, it is authorized to make such changes, subject to your approval. In doing so it is to bear in mind that taxes which tend to penalize or to repress industry and enterprise are to be avoided; that provisions for taxation should be simple, so that they may be understood by the people; that they should affect the fewest practicable subjects of taxation which will serve for the general distribution of the burden.

{392}

"The main body of the laws which regulate the rights and obligations of the people should be maintained with as little interference as possible. Changes made should be mainly in procedure, and in the criminal laws to secure speedy and impartial trials, and at the same time effective administration and respect for individual rights. In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the islands the commission should adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to which they are unable or unwilling to conform. Such tribal governments should, however, be subjected to wise and firm regulation; and, without undue or petty interference, constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous practices and introduce civilized customs. Upon all officers and employés of the United States, both civil and military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not merely the material but the personal and social rights of the people of the islands, and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect for their personal dignity which the people of the United States are accustomed to require from each other. The articles of capitulation of the City of Manila on the 13th of August, 1898, concluded with these words: 'This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its educational establishments, and its private property of all descriptions, are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the American Army.' I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred an obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and wise, firm, and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity to all the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this commission to labor for the full performance of this obligation, which concerns the honor and conscience of their country, in the firm hope that through their labors all the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands may come to look back with gratitude to the day when God gave victory to American arms at Manila and set their land under the sovereignty and the protection of the people of the United States. WILLIAM McKINLEY."

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (April). Speech of Senator Hoar against the subjugation and retention of the Islands by the United States.

See (in this volume) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (APRIL).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (May). Filipinos killed, captured and surrendered from the breaking out of hostilities with them to May, 1900. Losses of American army.

In response to a resolution of the United States Senate, May 17, 1900, the following report, by cable, from Manila, was made by General MacArthur:

"Filipinos killed, 10,780; wounded, 2,104; captured and surrendered, 10,425; number prisoners in our possession, about 2,000.

No systematic record Filipino casualties these headquarters. Foregoing, compiled from large number reports made immediately after engagements, is as close an approximation as now possible, owing to wide distribution of troops. More accurate report would take weeks to prepare. Number reported killed probably in excess of accurate figures; number reported wounded probably much less, as Filipinos managed to remove most wounded from field, and comparatively few fell into our hands. Officers high rank and dangerous suspicious men have been retained as prisoners; most other men discharged on field as soon as disarmed. Propose to release all but very few prisoners at early date."

_56th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Doc. 435._

For returns of casualties in the American army during the same period,

See (in this volume) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (JUNE).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (May-November). The question in American politics.

See (in this volume) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1900 (MAY-NOVEMBER).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 {July). Appeal of citizens of Manila to the Congress of the United States.

An appeal "to the Congress of the United States," dated at Manila, July 15, 1900, and signed by 2,006 of the inhabitants of the city, who were said by Senator Hoar and Senator Teller to be "the leading people of that section of country—lawyers and bankers and professional men generally" was presented to the Senate on the 10th of January, 1901. It opens as follows:

"The undersigned, Filipinos and peaceful inhabitants of this city, in their own name and in the name of the misnamed 'irreconcilables,' respectfully present themselves and submit to the worthy consideration of the Congress of the United States of America the following appeal: "The people of the Philippine Islands, in view of their calamitous condition, demand in the name of her sons, in the name of all races, in the name of humanity, that an end be put to the misfortunes which afflict them which, while they distress and agonize her, compel her to struggle for the rights that are hers, and for the maintenance whereof she must, if necessary, continue to pour out her blood as she has so constantly and generously done on battlefields, in the woods, on the mountains, in the city, everywhere! The blood which has been shed and that is still being shed, and which will continue to be shed until she has secured her rights, is not shed because of the intrigues of a few who, according to misinformed persons, desire to exploit the people and enrich themselves at the cost of their brother's blood. It has, gentlemen, sprung from the hearts of the people, who alone are the real strength of nations, the sovereign king of races, the producers of the arts, of science, of commerce, of wealth, of agriculture, of civilization, of progress, and of all the productions of human labor and intelligence, in all of which the people of the Philippine Islands had made great progress. The Filipinos were not sunk in lethargy, as some untruthfully assert. They suffered, but the hour to break their chains came to them in August, 1896, and they proclaimed to the world their emancipation."

{393}

The paper proceeds to review the circumstances of the revolt against Spanish rule which broke out in 1896, and the later circumstances of the conflict between Filipinos and Americans at such length that it cannot be given in full. Its aim and its spirit may be sufficiently shown by quotation of the following passages from the closing parts of the appeal:

"Even supposing that America should force us to submit, and after many years of war the country should submit, as the lesser evil, to the proclamation of an ample autonomy, that autonomy would not produce a sincere bond of friendship between the two people, because, having sacrificed herself for her independence, the country could not look with affection upon those who would be the only obstacle to her happiness. She would always retain her aspirations, so that autonomy would be a short 'interregnum' which the country would necessarily take advantage of to regain new strength to be used in the attainment of her high political ideals, happen what may, and perhaps in some hour of peril strike a fatal blow at a hated oppressor. … In giving this warning we do not forget the good Americans whom we sincerely respect; we are mindful of the rupture of our good relations with the United States; we are mindful of the blood which will again run on the soil of our country. We see in that autonomy a new and sorrowful page in the history of the Philippines, and therefore we can not but look upon it with horror. Our people have had enough of suffering. … They steadfastly believe that their independence is their only salvation. Should they obtain it, they would be forever grateful to whomsoever shall have helped them in their undertaking; they would consider him as their redeemer, and his name will be engraved with bright letters in the national history, that all the generations to come may read it with sublime veneration. America, consistent with her tradition, is the only one which could play that great rôle in the present and future of the Philippines. If she recognizes their independence, they could offer her a part of the revenues of the Philippine state, according to the treaty which shall be stipulated; the protection in the country of the merchandise of the United States, and a moral and material guarantee for American capital all over the archipelago; finally, whatever may bring greater prosperity to America and progress to the country will, we doubt not, be taken into account in the treaty which shall be celebrated.

"That the independence of the country will be attended with anarchy is asserted only by those who, offending the truth and forgetting their dignity, represent the Filipinos under horrible colors, comparing them to beasts. Their assertions are backed by isolated acts of pillage and robbery. What revolution of the world was free from such deeds? At this epoch passions are unrestrained; vengeance finds opportunity to satisfy itself; private ambitions are often favored by the occasion. Could such criminal deeds be avoided? Pythagoras said: 'If you like to see monsters, travel through a country during a revolution.' …

"In order to end our appeal we will say, with the learned lawyer, Senor Mabini: 'To govern is to study the wants and interpret the aspirations of the people, in order to remedy the former and satisfy the latter.' If the natives who know the wants, customs, and aspirations of the people are not fit to govern them, would the Americans, who have had but little to do with the Filipinos, be more capable to govern the latter? We have, therefore, already proven—

1. That the revolution was the exclusive work of the public;

2. That in preparing it they were moved by a great ideal, the ideal of independence;

3. That they are ready to sacrifice their whole existence in order to realize their just aspirations;

4. That in spite of the serious difficulties through which they are passing, they still expect from America that she will consider them with impartiality and justice, and will recognize what by right belongs to them, and thus give them an opportunity to show their boundless gratitude;

5. That the annexation of the Philippines to America is not feasible;

6. That the American sovereignty is not favored by the Philippine people;

7. That an ample autonomy can not be imposed without violating the Filipino will;

8. That the Filipinos are firm for self-government.

"From this it results that the only admissible solution for the present difficulties is the recognition by America of the independence of the Filipinos. In saying this we do not consider either the nullity or the legality of the Paris treaty on our country, but the well-known doctrine of the immortal Washington, and of the sons of the United States of America, worthy champions of oppressed people. Therefore we, in the name of justice and with all the energies of our souls, demand—

1. That the independence of the Filipinos be recognized;

2. That all the necessary information regarding the events which are taking place, concerning the peaceful towns and places which are supporting the arms of the revolution, be obtained from Filipinos who, by their antecedents and by their actual conduct, deserve the respect and confidence of the Filipino people."

_Congressional Record, January 10, 1901, page 850._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (September). Adoption of civil service rules.

See (in this volume) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1900.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (September-November). Civil government of the Islands by the President's Commission. Legislative measures. Report of the Commission.

"In April of this year the second Philippine commission, of which Honorable William H. Taft, of Ohio, Professor Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan, Honorable Luke I. Wright, of Tennessee, Honorable Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Professor Bernard Moses, of California, were members, sailed for Manila with the powers of civil government prescribed in the instructions of April 7, 1900 [see above]. After devoting several months to familiarizing themselves with the conditions in the islands, this commission on the 1st of September, 1900, entered upon the discharge of the extensive legislative powers and the specific powers of appointment conferred upon them in the instructions, and they have since that time continued to exercise all that part of the military power of the President in the Philippines which is legislative in its character, leaving the military governor still the chief executive of the islands, the action of both being duly reported to this Department for the President's consideration and approval. … On consultation with the commission, and with the President's approval, a note of amnesty was issued by the military governor, dated June 21, 1900, and supplemented by a public statement by the military governor, under date of July 2, 1900, based, in the main, upon the instructions to the commission. {394} … In pursuance of them something over 5,000 persons, of all grades of the civil and military service of the insurrection, presented themselves and took the following oath: 'I hereby renounce all allegiance to any and all so-called revolutionary governments in the Philippine Islands and recognize and accept the supreme authority of the United States of America therein; and I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to that government; that I will at all times conduct myself as a faithful and law-abiding citizen of said islands, and will not, either directly or indirectly, hold correspondence with or give intelligence to an enemy of the United States, neither will I aid, abet, harbor, or protect such enemy. That I impose upon myself this voluntary obligation without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help me God.' This number included many of the most prominent officials of the former Tagalog government. …

"The commission in its legislative action is following the ordinary course of legislative procedure. Its sessions are open, and its discussion and the proposed measures upon which it is deliberating are public, while it takes testimony and receives suggestions from citizens as if it were a legislative committee. Its first legislative act was the appropriation, on the 12th of September, of $2,000,000 (Mexican), to be used in construction and repair of highways and bridges in the Philippine Islands. The second act, on the same day, was an appropriation of $5,000 (Mexican) for a survey of a railroad to the mountains of Benguet, in the island of Luzon. The proposed railroad, about 45 miles in length, extending from the Manila and Dagupan road, near the Gulf of Lingayen, to the interior, will open, at a distance of about 170 miles from Manila, a high tableland exceedingly healthy, well wooded with pine and oak, comparatively dry and cool, and where the mercury is said to range at night in the hottest season of the year between 50° and 60° F. The value of such a place for the recuperation of troops and foreign residents will be very great. The third act of the commission was an appropriation for the payment of a superintendent of public instruction. They have secured for that position the services of Frederick W. Atkinson, recently principal of the high school of Springfield, Massachusetts, who was selected by the commission for that purpose before their arrival in Manila.

"Before the 1st of September a board of officers had been engaged upon the revision of the tariff for the islands in the light of such criticisms and suggestions as had been made regarding the old tariff. The commission has considered the report of this board, and after full public hearings of business interests in the island has formulated a tariff law which has been transmitted to the Department. … A civil-service board has been constituted by the commission [see, in this volume, CIVIL SERVICE REFORM: A. D. 1900). They have secured from the United States Civil Service Commission the experienced and capable services of Mr. Frank M. Kiggins, and a civil-service law has been enacted by the commission providing for the application of the merit system to appointments in the island."

_United States, Secretary of War, Annual Report, November 30, 1900, pages 25-27._

A report by the Commission, dated November 30, was received at Washington late in January, 1901. Of the legislative work on which it entered September 1st, and which, at the time of reporting, it had prosecuted during three months, the Commission speaks as follows:

"It adopted the policy of passing no laws, except in cases of emergency, without publishing them in the daily press after they had passed a second reading, and giving to the public an opportunity to come before the Commission and suggest objections or amendments to the bills. The Commission has likewise adopted as part of its regular procedure the submission of all proposed bills to the Military Governor for his consideration and comment before enactment. We think that the holding of public sessions furnishes instructive lessons to the people, as it certainly secures to the Commission a means of avoiding mistakes. … The Commission has now passed forty-seven laws of more or less importance. … A municipal code has been prepared and forwarded to you for the consideration of one or two critical matters, and has not yet been adopted, pending your consideration of it. A tariff bill … has been prepared. … A judicial and civil procedure bill is nearly completed. The same thing is true of a bill for provincial government organization. A new internal tax law must then be considered. The wealth of this country has largely been in agricultural lands, and they have been entirely exempt. This enabled the large landowners to escape any other taxation than the urbana, a tax which was imposed upon the rental value of city buildings only, and the cedula tax, which did not in any case exceed $37.50 (Mexican) a person. We think that a land tax is to be preferred, but of this there will be found more detailed discussion below. …

"The only legislation thus far undertaken by the Commission which bears directly on the conduct of municipal affairs in the city of Manila is a law regulating the sale of spirituous, malt, vinous or fermented liquors. It is provided that none of the so-called native 'wines' [said to be concocted by mixing alcohol with oils and flavoring extracts] shall be sold except by holders of native wine licenses, and that such holders shall not be allowed to sell intoxicants of any other sort whatever. … The selling of native wines to soldiers of the United States under any circumstances is strictly prohibited, because the soldiers are inclined to indulge in those injurious beverages to excess, with disastrous results. … The Filipino ordinarily uses them moderately, if at all. Fortunately, he does not, to any considerable extent, frequent the American saloon. With a view to preventing his being attracted there, the playing of musical instruments or the operation of any gambling device, phonograph, slot machine, billiard or pool table or other form of amusement in saloons, bars or drinking places is prohibited."

The report of the Commission urged strongly the establishing of a purely civil government in the Islands, for reasons thus stated: "The restricted powers of a military government are painfully apparent in respect to mining claims and the organization of railroad, banking and other corporations and the granting of franchises generally. It is necessary that there be some body or officer vested with legislative authority to pass laws which shall afford opportunity to capital to make investment here. This is the true and most lasting method of pacification. Now the only corporations here are of Spanish or English origin with but limited concessions, and American capital finds itself completely obstructed. {395} Such difficulties would all be removed by the passage of the Spooner bill now pending in both houses.

See below: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).

The far reaching effect upon the feeling of the people of changing the military government to one purely civil, with the Army as merely auxiliary to the administration of civil law, cannot be too strongly emphasized. Military methods in administering quasi-civil government, however successful in securing efficiency and substantial justice, are necessarily abrupt and in appearance arbitrary, even when they are those of the Army of the Republic; and until a civil government is established here it will be impossible for the people of the Philippine Islands to realize the full measure of the difference between a government under American sovereignty and one under that of Spain."

Another subject of great importance dealt with in the November report of the Commission was that concerning the employment of native troops and police, on which it was said: "The question as to whether native troops and a native constabulary are at present practicable has received much thought and a careful investigation by the Commission. … We have sought and obtained the opinions of a large number of Regular and volunteer officers of all rank, having their fields of operation in all parts of the islands, and there appears to be a general consensus of opinion among them that the time is ripe for these organizations, and this is also our conclusion. Assuming that Congress at its next session will provide for an increase of the Regular Army, it by no means follows that a large part thereof will, or should, be stationed here permanently. Considerations of public policy and economy alike forbid such a programme, nor in our judgment is it necessary.

"While the American soldier is unsurpassed in war, as it is understood among civilized people, he does not make the best policeman, especially among a people whose language and customs are new and strange to him, and in our opinion should not be put to that use when, as we believe, a better substitute is at hand. We therefore earnestly urge the organization of ten regiments of native troops of infantry and cavalry, the proportion between the two arms of the service to be fixed by competent military judges. These troops should in the main be officered by Americans. Certainly this should be the case as to their field officers and company commanders. Lieutenants might be Filipinos, judicially selected, and provision might be made for their promotion in the event of faithful or distinguished service.

"We further recommend that a comprehensive scheme of police organization be put in force as rapidly as possible; that it be separate and distinct from the army, having for its head an officer of rank and pay commensurate with the importance of the position, with a sufficient number of assistants and subordinates to exercise thorough direction and control. This organization should embrace every township in the islands, and should be so constituted that the police of several contiguous townships could be quickly mobilized. The chief officers of this organization should be Americans, but some of the subordinate officers should be natives, with proper provision for their advancement as a reward for loyal and efficient services. The main duty of the police would, of course, be to preserve the peace and maintain order in their respective townships, but occasion would, no doubt, frequently arise when it would be necessary to utilize the forces of several townships against large bands of ladrones."

With regard to the organization of municipal government in the townships (pueblos) of the Islands the report of the Commission says, in part: "The 'pueblos' of these islands sometimes include a hundred or more square miles. They are divided into so-called 'barrios' or wards, which are often very numerous and widely separated. In order that the interests of the inhabitants of each ward may be represented in the Council, on the one hand, and that the body may not become so numerous as to be unwieldy, on the other, it is provided that the Councillors shall be few in number (eighteen to eight, according to the number of inhabitants), and shall be elected at large; that where the wards are more numerous than are the Councillors the wards shall be grouped into districts, and that one Councillor shall be in charge of each ward or district, with power to appoint a representative from among the inhabitants of every ward thus assigned to him, so that he may the more readily keep in touch with conditions in that portion of the township which it is his duty to supervise and represent. …

"In order to meet the situation presented by the fact that a number of the pueblos have not as yet been organized since the American occupation, while some two hundred and fifty others are organized under a comparatively simple form of government and fifty-five under a much more complicated form on which the new law is based, the course of procedure which must be followed in order to bring these various towns under the provisions of the new law has been prescribed in detail, and every effort has been made to provide against unnecessary friction in carrying out the change.

"In view of the disturbed conditions which still prevail in some parts of the archipelago it has been provided that the military government should be given control of the appointment and arming of the municipal police and that in all provinces where civil provincial government has not been established by the Commission the duties of the Provincial Governor, Provincial Treasurer and Provincial 'Fiscal' (prosecuting attorney) shall be performed by military officers assigned by the Military Governor for these purposes. It has been further provided that in these provinces the Military Governor shall have power through such subordinates as he may designate for the purpose to inspect and investigate at any time all the official books and records of the several municipalities, and to summarily suspend any municipal officer for inefficiency, misconduct or disloyalty to the United States. If upon investigation it shall prove that the suspended officer is guilty, the Military Governor has power to remove him and to appoint his successor, should he deem such a course necessary in the interest of public safety. It is thought that where the necessity still exists for active intervention on the part of the Military Governor it will ordinarily be desirable to allow the towns to retain their existing organization until such time as conditions shall improve; but, should it prove necessary or desirable in individual instances to put the new law into operation in such provinces, it is felt that the above provisions will give to the Military Governor ample power to deal with any situation which can arise, and he has expressed his satisfaction with them.

{396}

"There are at the present time a considerable number of provinces which, in the judgment of the Commission, are ready for a provincial civil government. It is believed that in the majority of cases it will be possible to organize all the municipalities of a province, creating at the same time a civil provincial government. So soon as civil government is established in any province, power to remove officials for inefficiency, misconduct or disloyalty, and, should public safety demand it, to fill the offices thus made vacant, is vested in the civil authorities. The law does not apply to the city of Manila or to the settlements of non-Christian tribes, because it is believed that in both cases special conditions require special legislation. The question as to the best methods of dealing with the non-Christian tribes is one of no little complexity. The number of these tribes is greatly in excess of the number of civilized tribes, although the total number of Mahometans and pagans is much less than the number of Christianized natives. Still, the non-Christian tribes are very far from forming an insignificant element of the population. They differ from each other widely, both in their present social, moral and intellectual state and in the readiness with which they adapt themselves to the demands of modern civilization."

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (October). United States military forces in the Islands.

"At the date of my last annual report there were in the Philippine Islands 971 officers and 31,344 enlisted men; and there were en route for service in those islands 546 officers and 16,553 enlisted men—the latter force being principally in California. Since that time an additional force ordered to China was diverted to the Philippine Islands, making a total of 98,668 men sent to the archipelago. Of this number 15,000 volunteers, first sent to that country in 1898, together with the sick and disabled, have been returned to the United States, leaving at the present time in the islands, according to last report, 2,367 officers and 69,161 enlisted men. Fifteen hundred men have been left in China to act as a guard for the American legation in that country and for other purposes."

_United States, Annual Report of Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army, October 29, 1900._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (November). The problem of the Spanish Friars. Two contradictory representations of their work and influence. Views and recommendations of the United States Commission.

Of the character, work and influence of the Spanish religious orders in the Philippine Islands there are two diametrically opposite accounts given by different writers. Both are represented in two of the quotations below, and those are followed by extracts from a report made by the United States Commission, November 30, 1900, on the subject of the problem they present to the new government of the Islands. The first writer is condemnatory. He says:

"The better classes [of the Filipinos] have absorbed much of Spanish civilization in their three-century-old apprenticeship. They show extraordinary talent for music. The church of the mother land of Spain is much in evidence among them. It brought to them its blessings, but also incidentally a terrible curse. The mendicant orders—the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Augustinians, no longer poor preachers, thinking only of serving, blessing, loving men, but grown rich, domineering, and, in many cases, sadly corrupt in morals—ate up the land. They added field to field, house to house, till there was but little space left for the people. They charged enormous rents to those who to put bread in their mouths must till their fields. Just such cause for revolt existed as that which in France aroused the storm of the great revolution; the people taxed without mercy, the clergy untaxed, reaping the benefit. Had the Christ-like St. Francis of Assisi been endowed with the gift of prophetic vision to see this gross degeneracy of his followers, more than ever would he have felt the soundness of his intuition which made him set his face like flint against the acquisition of any property by his order. His beloved fair Lady of Poverty would have seemed to him more beautiful than ever. He would have been horrified with the knowledge of the cruel rapacity of monks bearing his name, who, nevertheless, grossly oppressed the Philippine peasantry in rents and taxes,—the very poor whom St. Francis founded his order to serve.

"Perhaps the most deep-seated cause of Filipino insurrection against Spanish authority was this unchecked growth of ignorant, cruel, and oppressive ecclesiasticism. It was this which weighed most heavily upon the people. It made the mere question of gaining a livelihood difficult, but especially did it strangle intellectual and moral growth. It not only oppressed the Filipinos, but it overawed and dominated the Spanish authorities. It was the power of the mendicant orders which drove out the just Condé de Caspe, and later the well-disposed and clement Blanco, which stimulated and supported the frightful atrocities of the cruel Polavieja during the revolution of 1896. Archbishop Nozaleda, a Spanish monk of the Dominican order, was a leader in urging wholesale and often wholly unjustifiable arrests, which were succeeded by the torture and execution of hundreds of persons. It is difficult for a mind reared in the freedom and culture of modern Europe, or still freer America, to realize the horrible excesses and actual mediæval cruelties which were committed in the prisons of Manila and elsewhere in the islands upon Filipino insurgents, or those accused of being in league with them, during the revolution of 1896. The actual story of these things as it is unfolded, not only from Filipino sources, but from the Spanish archives of Manila, is like a scene evoked from the long-buried and forgotten past in the middle ages. Indeed, the only intelligible interpretation of events which cast shame on the name of Spanish authority and Spanish Christianity is found by reflecting that affairs in the Philippines, just previous to the battle of Manila, were controlled by ideas and forces which existed generally in Europe previous to the Reformation,—ideas which slowly retreated before the dawn of the new learning and the liberation of the individual conscience."

_H. Welsh, The Other Man's Country,