Glass _IDi-_klii__ Rnok . A -f \ S 1 6 eu SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES TO THE PRESIDENT By WM. H. TAFT, Secretary of War January 23, 1908 and J. M. DICKINSON, Secretary of War November 23, 1910 (^C H^. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES TO THE PRESIDENT ^ .^- By WM. H. TAFT, Secretary of War January 23, 1908 and J. M. DICKINSON, Secretary of War November 23, 1910 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1919 ^^ df i. ^UL 2 J9|g K SPECIAL REPORT OF WM. H. TAFT, SECRETARY OF WAR, TO THE PRESIDENT ON THE PHILIP- PINES, JANUARY 2:3, 1908. CONTENTS. Page. Letter of transmittal 7 Condition as to law and order — Their restoration and permanent maintenance H Work of the United States Army 15 Promise of extension of self-government 16 Organization of the Federal partj'^ ^^1 16 Central government 17 Effect on permanent order of municipal and provincial governments and national assembly I'S Establishment of courts 18 Philippine constabulary 20 Friars' lands 21 Present condition 23 Political capacity and intellectual development of the Filipinos under Spain and the steps taken by the Philippine government for their general and political education ^ 23 Education in schools . 26 Filipino cadets at West Point 30 Practical political education 30 Municipalities and provinces 31 Civil service 37 Civil rights 38 National assembly 39 Sanitation 45 Benguet — A health resort 51 Comparative mortality from January 1, 1901, to September 30, 1907 — 53 Mortality compared with same period of previous years 53 Material progress and business conditions 53 . Value of Philippine exports, 1903-3907, of American occupation 54 Value of Philippine exports in Spanish times, calendar years 1885- 1894 55 Sugar and tobacco — Reduction of tariff 55 Fodder 56 New plants 57 Financial condition of the government 57 Friars' lands 59 Final settlement in respect to charitable trusts and Spanisli-Filipino Bank with Roman Catholic Church 59 Roads 60 Railroads in the Philippines 60 General business conditions 61 Business future of Philippines 61 Gold-standard currency 62 Need of capital — Agricultural bank 62 Postal savings bank 63 Post office and telegraphs 63 Mines and mining 64 United States coastwise trading laws 65 City of Manila 66 Political future of the islands 66 Cost of the present government of the islands 70 Recommendations 71 5 6 CONTENTS. Page. Address of Hon. William H. Tuft at Inauguration of Philippine Assembly- 74 Policy of the United States Government 76 Time necessary for political preparation 76 Criticisms of policy of United States 76 What has been accomplished 77 Establishment of civil government 77 Result of opposition 77 Impatience for further power 77 Obstacles that had to be overcome 77 Political 77 Novelty of task 78 Reluctance of capitalists to invest money 78 Failure of Congress to open markets of United States 78 Diseases of cattle 79 Cholera, plague, bubonic plague, and other diseases 79 Ladronism 79 How the difficulties have been met 79 Promises of Administration carried out 80 Establishment of the Assembly 80 Suppression of insurrection 80 Progress made 80 Peace and order 80, 81 Education 80 Health and sanitation 81 Judicial system 82 Constabulary, aid rendered by 82 Justices of the peace 82 Public improvements 82 Harbors 82 Road building 83 Benguet as a health resort , 83 Railroads 83 Municipal improvements 83 System of posts, telephones, and telegraphs 83 Civil-service law 84 American and Filipino employees 84 Tenure and pensions 84 Public land laws 85 Agricultural bank 85 Condition of agriculture 86 Financial condition > 86 Silver, value of 86 Business progress 86 Sale of the islands 87 Installation of the National Assembly 87 Organic act 88 Result of election 89 Advice to the members 91 To the Senate and House of Representatwes : I transmit herewitli the report of Secretary Taft upon his recent trip to the Philippines. I heartily concur in the recommendations he makes, and I call especial attention to the admirable work of Gov. Smith and his associates. It is a subject for just national gratifi- cation that such a report as this can be made. No great civilized power has ever managed with such wisdom and disinterestedness the affairs of a people committed by the accident of war to its hands. If we had followed the advice of the misguided persons who wished us to turn the islands loose and let them suffer whatever fate might be- fall them, they would have already passed through a period of com- plete and bloody chaos, and would noAv undoubtedly be the possession of some other power which there is every reason to believe would not have done as we have done ; that is, would not have striven to teach them how to govern themselves or to have deyeloped them, as we have developed them, primarilj^ in their own interests. Save only our atti- tude toward Cuba, I question whether there is a brighter page in the annals of international dealing between the strong and the weak than the page which tells of our doings in the Philippines. I call especial attention to the admirably clear showing made by Secretary Taft of the fact that it would have been equally ruinous if we had yielded to the desires of those who wished us to go faster in the direction of giving the Filipinos self-government, and if we had followed the policy advocated by others, who desired us simply to rule the islands without any thought at all of fitting them for self-government. The islanders have made real advances in a hopeful direction, and they have opened well wdth the new Philippine Assembly : they have yet a long way to travel before they will be fit for complete self-govern- ment, and for deciding, as it will then be their duty to do, whether this self-govermnent shall be accompanied by complete independence. It will probably be a generation, it may even be longer, before this point is reached ; but it is most gratifying that such substantial prog- ress toward this as a goal has already been accomplished. We desire that it be reached at as early a date as possible for the sake of the Filipinos and for our own sake. But improperly to endeavor to hurry the time will probably mean that the goal will not be attained at all. Theodore Roosevelt. The White House, January 27, 1908. SPECIAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. War Department, Washington^ D. C, January £3, 1908. Mr. President: By your direction I have just visited the Philippine Islands. I sailed from Seattle September 13, last; reached Manila October 15; remained in the islands until November 9, v,'hen I returned to the United States via Trans-Siberian Railway, reaching New York De- cember 20. The occasion for my visit was the opening of the Philip- pine Assembly. The members of the assembly were elected in Jvil}^ last, in accordance with the organic act of Congress, by the eligible voters of the Christian Provinces of the islands, divided into 80 dis- tricts. The assembly becomes a branch of the legislature of the islands coordinate with the Philippine Commission. This makes a decided change in the amount of real power which the Philippine electorate is to exercise in the control of the islands. If justified by substantial improvement in the political conditions in the islands, it is a monument of progress. It is more than nine years since the Battle of Manila Bay and the subsequent surrender of Manila by the Spaniards to the American forces. It is more than eight years since the exchange of ratifica- tions of the treaty of Paris, by which the Philippine Islands passed under the sovereignty and became the property of the United States. It is more than seven years since President McKinley, by written instructions to Mr. Root, Secretary of War, committed the govern- ment of the Philippine Islands to the central control of the Philip- pine Commission, subject to the supervision of the Secretary of War. It is more than six years since the complete installation of a quasi civil government in the islands, with a civil governor as executive and the commission as a legislature, all bj^ authority of the Presi- dent as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, It is more than five j^ears since tlie steps taken by President McKinley and yourself in establishing and maintaining a (juasi civil government in the islands were completely ratified and confirmed by the Con- gress in an organic act which, in effect, continued the existing govern- ment, but gave it needed powers as a really civil government that the President under constitutional limitations was unable to confer. The installation of the assembly seems to be, therefore, an appropri- ate time for a precise statement of the national policy toward the people of the Philippines adopted by Mr. McKinley, continued by you, and confirmed by Congress, for an historical summary of the conditions political, social, and material, existing in the islands when the United States became responsible for their government, and for a review of the results of governmental measures taken to improve the 10 SPECIAL EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. conditions of law and order, the political and intellectual capacity of the people, and their sanitary and material welfare. The policy of the United States toward the Philippines is, of course ultimately for Congress to determine, and it is difficult to see how one Congress could bind another Congress, should the second conclude to change the policy declared by the first. But we may properly assume that after one Congress has announced a policy upon the faith of wdiich a whole people has for some years acted and counted, good con- science would restrain subsequent Congresses from lightly changing it. For four years Congress in silence permitted Mr. Mckinley and yourself, as Commanders in Chief of the Army, to adopt and carry out a policy in the Philippines, and then expressly ratified everything which you had done, and confirmed and made part of the statute cer- tain instructions which Mr. McKinley issued for the guidance of the Philippine Commission in making civil government in the islands. Not only this, but Congress closely followed, in the so-called organic act, your recommendations as to provisions for a future change in the Philippine government. The national policy may, therefore, be found in the course pursued and declarations made by the Chief Executives in congressional messages and other state papers which have met the approval of Congress. Shortly stated, the national policy is to govern the Philippine Islands for the benefit and welfare and uplifting of the people of the islands and gradually to extend to them, as they shall show them- selves fit to exercise it,, a greater and greater measure of popular self- government. One of the corollaries to this proposition is that the United States in its government of the islands will use every effort to increase the capacity of the Filipinos to exercise political power, both by general education of the densely ignorant masses and by actual practice, in partial self-government, of those whose political capacity is such that practice can benefit it without too great injury to the efficiency of government. What should be emphasized in the statement of our national policy is that w^e wish to prepare the Filipinos for popular self-government. This is plain from Mr. Mc- Kinley's letter of instructions and all of his utterances. It was not at all within his purpose or that of the Congress which made his letter part of the law of the land that we were merely to await the organiza- tion of a Philippine oligarchy or aristocracy competent to administer government and then turn the islands over to it. On the contrary, it is plain, from all of Mr. McKinley's utterances and your own, in interpretation of our national purpose, that we are the trustees and guardians of the whole Filipino people, and peculiarly of the ignorant masses, and that our trust is not discharged until those masses are given education sufficient to know their civil rights and maintain them against a more powerful class and safely to exercise the politi- cal franchise. This is important, in view of the claim, to wdiich I shall hereafter refer, made by certain Filipino advocates of imme- diate independence under the auspices of the Boston anti-imperialists, that a satisfactory independent Philippine government could be es- tablished under a governing class of 10 per cent and a serving and obedient class of 90 per cent. Another logical deduction from the main proposition is that when the Filipino people as a whole, show themselves reasonably fit to SPECIAL REPORTS OX THE PHILIPPHSTES. 11 conduct a popular self-goveinment, maintaining law and order and offering equal protection of the laAvs and civil rights to rich and poor, and desire complete independence of the United States, the.>' shall be given it. The standard set, of course, is not that of perfec- tion or such a governmental capacity as that of an Anglo-Saxon peo- ple, but it certainly ought to be one of such popuhir political capacity that complete independence in its exercise will result in progress rather than retrogression to chaos or tyranny. It should be noted, too, that the tribunal to decide whether the proper political capacity exists to justify independence is Congress and not the Philippine electorate. Aspiration for independence may well be one of the elements in the make-up of a people to show their capacity for it, but there are other qualifications quite as indispensable. The judgment of a people as to their own political capacity is not an unerring guide. The national Philippine policy contemplates a gradual extension of popular control, i, e.. by steps. This was the plan indicated in Mr. McKinley's instructions. This was the method indicated in your recommendation that a popular assembly be made part of the legis- lature. This was evidently the view of Congress in adopting your recommendation, for the title of the act is " For the temporary gov- ernment of the Philippine Islands " and is significant of a purpose or policy that the government then being established was not in perma- nent form, but that changes in it from time to time would be necessary. In the historical summary of conditions in the islands when the United States assumed responsibility for their government and the review of measures adopted by the present Philippine government to improve conditions and the results, it will be convenient to con- sider the whole subject under the following heads : 1. The conditions as to law and order. The way in which they have been restored and are now permanently mai?itained. 2. The political capacity and intellectual development of the Filipinos under Spain and the steps taken by the Philippine govern- ment for their general political education. 3. Conditions of health under Spain. The sanitary measures under the Philippine government. 4. The material and business conditions. Progress made under present government. 5. The future of the Philippines. 6. The cost of the Philippine Government to the United States. THE CONDITIONS AS TO LAW AND ORDER— THEIR RESTORATION AND PERMANENT MAINTENANCE. In 1896 occurred the first real insurrection against the Govermnent of Spain in the Philippine Islands. The idea of a more liberal gov- ernment than that which Spain gave the islands had taken root in 1871 with the opening of the Suez Canal, the flocking of Spaniards to Manila, and the spread of republican doctrines that had had a short triumph in the mother country about that time. In the measures of repression which were adopted from time to time by Spanish govern- ors-general the aid of Spanish parish priests was thought by the peo- ple to be actively enlisted in ferreting out those suspected of sedition and too liberal political views. The priests were largely from the 12 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. four religious orders — the Dominicans, the Augustinians, the Fran- ciscans, and the Recoletos. There was a considerable body of native priests also, but they were of the secular clergy, held the less desirable posts, and were hostile to the Spanish friars. Three of the religious orders held large bodies of rich agricultural lands situate, much of it, in Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Morong, Bataan, and Bulacan, all thickly populated Provinces close to Manila. Their tenants numbered sixty or seventy thousand persons. The insurrection of 1896 was not only against the Spanish Government to secure a more liberal regime but it was also for the elimination of the friars as a controlling political element in the community. It was largely confined to Cavite, La- guna, Manila, and Bulacan, where lay the large friars' estates. It had an agrarian aspect. There was much fighting, and the losses on both sides were very heavy, especially in the Province of Cavite. Ulti- mately the drastic measures of the Spaniards drove Aguinaldo and the forces which he led out of Cavite into Bulacan and led to what was known as the treaty of Biac-na-Bato. This was an arrangement by which many of the insurrecto chiefs, including Aguinaldo, agreed, in consideration of the payment of a large sum of money, to end the insurrection and withdraw from the islands. The money was to be paid in three installments. The first payment was made, and many of the chiefs, including Aguinaldo, withdrew from the islands and went to Hongkong. There was much dispute as to what the agreement was, and it was strenuously insisted by each side that the other failed to comply with its stipulations. It is not material now to consider this mooted question. Suffice it to say that in 1898, when Admiral Dewey attacked the Spanish fleet in Manilla Bay, the embers of dis- satisfaction on the part of the former Filipino insurgents with the Spanish Government were still aglow, and it was not difficult for Aguinaldo to raise a force of insurrectos to aid the Americans in surrounding Manila and in driving Spain from the islands. Between 1896 and 1898 the conditions which had been brought on by the first insurrection continued, and trade was much interrupted, agriculture did not flourish, and conditions as to the maintenance of order were by no means favorable. As an index to this, it may be said that the managers of the friars' estates collected no rents from the tenants after 1896. The Battle of Manila Bay and the defeat of the Spanish fleet destroyed the prestige of Spain throughout the islands and created insurrection in nearly every Province. The re- fusal of Gen, Merritt to permit Aguinaldo's troops to enter Manila created a resentment on the part of the Filipino soldiers, and the relations between the Americans and the Filipinos soon became strained. The situation was not relieved at all by the signing of the treaty at Paris, transferring the sovereignty of the islands to the Americans. Meantime, as the Americans were confined to the occu- pation of Manila, Aguinaldo and his military assistants attempted the organization of a government throughout the islands. A so-called constitutional convention was held at Malolos and a constitution was adopted. At the same time the Visayan republic was organized, to embrace the Visayan Islands, under certain Visayan leaders. It professed allegiance to Aguinaldo's government. Neither Agui- naldo's government nor the Visayan government was able to main- tain order, and the whole country was subject to the looting of preda- SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 13 lory bands, and cliaos roi^ned. Where the Agiiinahio f>-o^ernnieiit liad authority, it was exercised with military severity and with much local oppression and corruption. On the 4th of February, 1899, there was an attack by tlie Filipino forces surrounding Manila upon the American troops, which was successfully resisted. Later on, upon the 23d of February, there was an outbreak in Manila itself, and an attempt to burn the city, which was suppressed by the American troops with a heavy hand. On the 11th of April the treaty ceding tlie Philippine Islands to the United States was ratified and ratifications exchanged. From that time \uitil the s]n*ing of 1900 a campaign was carried on by the American forces against the regularly organized troops under Agui- naklo. Aguinaldo's forces were defeated and scattered, and then in 1900 there succeeded a guerrilhi warfare in nearly every Province on the islands, which was continued with more or less vigor until July, 1902. The guerrilla warfare was carried on only because of tlie encouragement received by the insurrectos from speeches of the so- called "anti-imperialists" and the assurances publicly given b}^ po- litical leaders in the United States of immediate severance of the relations between the islands and the United States in case the admin- istration were defeated in the election. At times the warfare would seem to cease and the insurrections seem to be at an end, and then it would revive again, apparentlj^ with a view to influencing elec- tions in America. It can readily be inferred from this statement that from the break- ing out of the insurrection in 1896, with the new insurrection in 1898, and the war with the Americans beginning early in 1899 until the close of the guerrilla warfare in June, 1902, the conditions of the country were not peaceable and agriculture could not flourish. Not only did the existence of actual war prevent farming, but the spirit of laziness and restlessness brought on by a guerrilla life affected the willingness of the native to work in the fields. More than this, the natural hatred for the Americans which a war vigorously conducted by American soldiers was likely to create did not make the coming of real peace easy. But in addition to these disturbed conditions, due directly to war, there are certain features of Philippine civilization always present, war or no war, that do not tend to permanent tranquillity and can not be ignored. In the first place the Philippines have been infested with ladrones, or robber bands, since their earliest history. The Spanish Govern- ment maintained a large force, called " la guardia civil," to suppress the evil. In some provinces, blackmail was regularly paid by large landoAvners to insure themselves against the loss incident to attack and destruction of their property. In the province of Cavite, for in- stance, ladronism was constant, and it was understood that the man- agers of the friars' estates, which amounted in all in that province to 125,000 acres, usually paid blackmail to ladrones in the form of money or provisions. The province of Cavite was known as " the mother of ladrones," and there was certainly a sjanpathy between the lower classes and the ladrones who mulcted the landlords. But besides the ladrone habit, which makes for continued disorder, there is another quality of the ignorant masses of the Philippine 14 SPECIAL EEPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. people that is a constant danger to tranquillity. More than 80 per cent of the Philippine people are illiterate. Their ignorance is dense. They speak some 15 or 16 different Malay dialects. Knowledge of one dialect does not give an understanding of another. Each dialect has a limited vocabulary, which offers no medium of communication with modern tliought or civilization. Their ignorance makes them suspicious of all educated persons but those of their own race who know their dialect and are well to do. The result is that in rural communities in the Philippines whole townships of people are completely subject to the will of any educated, active-minded person living in that community, who knows the local dialect and is willing or able to arouse either the fears or cupidity of his neighbors into the organization of a band either to resist fancied dangers or oppression, to satisfy vengeance, or to achieve a living and comfort without labor. This is the central and most important fact in the make-up of the local Philippine communities. It has led to the abuse of caciquism, i. e., local bossism, to which I shall refer in the question of the organization of municipalities and provincial govern- ments. The history of the insurrection and of the condition of law- lessness which succeeded the insurrection is full of instances in which simple-minded country folk at the bidding of the local leader, or cacique, have committed the most horrible crimes of torture and mur- der, and when arrested and charged with it have merely pleaded th^t they were ordered to commit the crime by the great man of the community. This irresponsible power possessed by local leaders over their ignorant neighbors, in case of an independent Filipino govern- ment lacking the moral strength which the United States Government derives from its power and resources and its determination to punish disturbance and maintain order, would, under present conditions, lead, after a short period, to a chaos of ever-recurring revolt and in- surrection to satisfy the vengeance of disappointed bosses and local leaders. Whenever Filipino municipal officials come in contact either with non-Christian tribes or with inferior peoples of their own race like those who live in the mountains of Sam.ar and Leyte, known as " pulahanes," they are likely to exercise official authority for their own profit and to the detriment of the inferior people. Thus in Samar and Leyte the mountain people raise a good deal of hemp. The municipal authorities of the lowlands and the local caciques conspire to prevent the disposition of this hemp to anyone but their own agents at an unjustly low price, using duress and a show of official authority for the purpose. This fraud and mistreatment ultimately creates among the mountain peoples a just sense of indig- nation. Then it is that some religious fakir invites them to organize against their enemies, under the charm of some religious token, and some lowland village is sacked and its people are murdered. The central and provincial authorities intervene and a war ensues, which lays waste much of the interior of the islands, to suppress a disorder that had its inception in a just cause of complaint. Of course the frequency of such disturbances is reduced as educa- tion spreads, as the poor and oppressed begin to understand their rights and the lawful method of asserting them, and as the real cause of such outbreaks are more clearly understood and suppressed. But SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 15 no account of the difficulty of maintaining peace and order in the Philippines Avould be accurate or just which did not make clear this possible recurring' cause of trouble and disturbance under present conditions, due to the ease with which simple-minded, ignorant people of a community can be aroused by one or more of the better educated of their own race viciously inclined to deeds of murder and cruel violence. Such disturbances are generally heralded as the evidence of seething sedition and discontent with the American Government, whereas they are generally but the effect and symptom of mere local abuses entirely Filipino in origin. Having thus described the conditions of disorder, actual and poten- tial, in the Philippines, due not only to the four or five years of inter- mittent and recurring war, the rancor and race hatred it tended to create, the unfounded hopes held out by American anti-imperialists, and all the other sequelae of war, but also to certain normal features and qualities of the present Philippine civilization, I come to review the measures taken and policy adopted by the American Government to bring the islands to their present state of complete tranquillity. THE WOKK OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY. The agency of the Army in bringing about order in the islands must never be minimized. The hardships of the campaign which it had to carry on were very great. The responsibility which was thrown upon captains, lieutenants, and sergeants in command of small detachments into which it was necessary to divide the Army to meet the exigencies of guerrilla warfare was met with courage and intelligence and great fertility of resource under most trying and unusual conditions. It is not too much to say that no other anny of the same size could have accomplished the results which were accomplished by the American Army. At times there were some memliers of this Army who were tempted, in the eagerness of pursuit, into indefensible and cruel practices for the obtaining of informa- tion — practices which had been common among the Spaniards and the Filij^inos themselves. Revelations of these cruelties led to severe indiscriminate criticism and attacks on the Army as a whole, which were calculated to discourage and dishearten, but in spite of al] difficulties the work went on. At one time in the campaign against guerrilla warfare there were more than 500 different posts and more than 65,000 men in arms. Certain it is that order would have never been restored without the efficient and courageous service rendered by the Army, and in spite of all the stories that were told of the cruelties inflicted by the Americans upon Filipinos, only a small part of which were true, any candid observer of the conditions at the time must admit that the American soldiers as a body exhibited toward the Filipinos a self-restraint and a sympathy with the benevolent ])urposes of the administration which the circumstances and the char- acter of the Filipino Avarfare carried on were not calculated to invite. Not only did the Armj^ do most efficient work in the suppression of the insurrection when war was rife, but the presence of 12,000 Ameri- can soldiers in the islands since has been a moral force of great weight to secure peaceful conditions. Occasionally they have been called on for active work in subduing disorders in particular Provinces which had gone beyond the control of the local and insular peace officers and 16 SPECIAL KEPORTS 01^ THE PHILIPPINES. they have rendered prompt and effective service in such cases. They are now being concentrated in larger and larger posts for economical, educational, and disciplinary purposes, but their presence anywhere in the islands is beneficial to the cause of order. They are now popu- lar with the Filipinos, and we find the same objection to abandonment of posts by neighboring Filipino communities that we meet in the United States. PEOMISE Ot EXTENSION OE SELF-GOVERNMENT. President McKinley announced as his policy that the Philippine Islands would be taken over by the American Government to be governed for the benefit of the Filipinos, and that as they developed fitness for partial self-government it should be gradually extended to them. In order to enforce and give evidence of this purpose, he appointed a commission in 1899, known from its chairman, Hon. J. G. Schurman, as the " Schurman Commission," to visit the Philippine Islands and extend local self-government as rapidly as possible. The commission was able only to investigate conditions and to report that in its judgment the Filipinos were not fit for self-government. It was able to be present at- the organization of municipal government in a few towns which had been captured by the Americans, but it prac- tically was able to do no constructive work, in view of the conditions of war that existed while it was there. It returned to the United States and made its report. In February of 1900 a new commission was appointed by Presi- dent McKinley, who gave it much more ample powers than its pred- ecessor, for the purpose of organizing civil government in the wake of war as rapidly as conditions would permit. The powers conferred Avere set forth in a letter of instructions delivered by President McKinley to Mr. Eoot, Secretary of War, for his guidance and that of the commission in respect of the policy to be pursued in the Philippines. The commission arrived in June, 1900. The com- mission was not authorized to assume any authority until the 1st of September and spent its time from June until September, 1900, in making investigations. It then took over the power and duty of en- acting legislation to make a government for that part of the islands in which war had ceased to exist and to make appropriations from funds raised by taxation for civil purposes. The preparation and enactment of a municipal and a provincial code for the organization and maintenance of municipalities and provinces in the islands occu- pied much of the attention of the commission during the remainder of the year 1900. For the three or four months prior to the presidential election in November, 1900, it was impossible to proceed with the actual organi- zation of civil government. The insurgents were assured that the administration of Mr. McKinley would be defeated and that his de- feat would be immediately followed bv a separation of the islands from the United States. Everything hung on the election. The re- election of Mr. McKinley was a great blow to the insurrectos. ORGANIZATION OF THE FEDERAL PARTY. It is a mistake to suppose that the war by the Filipinos against the Americans had the sympathy of all the Filipinos. On the contrary, SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 17 there were many intelligent and conservative men who favored American control and who did not believe in the capacity of their people immediately to organize a government which would be stable and satisfactory, but in the face of a possible independence of the islands, they were still. Upon Mr. McKinley's second election many of these persons reached the conclusion that it was time for them to act. Accordingly, they formed the Federal Party, the chief platform of which was peace under American sovereignty and the acceptance of the American promises to govern the islands for the benefit of the P^'ilipinos and gradually to extend popular self-government to the people. The Federal Party received accessions by thousands in all parts of the islands and in every Province, so that the commission was enabled during the year 1901, and under the auspices, and with the aid of, the Federal Party, to organize civil government in some 32 or 33 provinces- or in substantially all of them. The proof of the purposes of the American Govermnent, given in the popular features of the provincial and municipal codes, which bore out in every re- spect the general promises of President McKinley, had much to do with the ending of the war. From November 1, 1900, until July 1, 1901, when military government was declared to be ended and a civil governor appointed, the men and guns surrendered exceeded that of any similar period in the history of the war. THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT. The somewhat anomalous creation of the Philippine Commission, as a civil legislature in a purely military government established by the President by virtue of his powers as Commander in Chief, pre- sented some difficult questions of jurisdiction between the military governor and the commission and led to considerable friction. The commission, however, held the purse strings, and as is usual in such cases the control of appropriations ultimately left the powers of the commission substantial and undisputed. Another difficulty arose in respect to jurisdiction of the courts established and appointed by the commissioners to issue writs of habeas corpus to inquire into the legality of the detention of civilians by the general commanding. This, too, subsequently was worked out in favor of the civil courts. The differences between the military and civil authorities did not es- cape the attention of the Philippine public, and of course the sym- pathy of the Filipinos went with the civil side of the controversy, and the appointment of a civil governor July 1, 1901, and the cloth- ing him Avith extensive authority had the popular approval. This was increased by the appointment to the commission of three Fili- pino members. They were the most prominent members of the Federal Party. The commission now consisted of the civil governor, four other Americans, and three Filipinos. The four American members, in addition to their legislative work, were made, respec- tively, the heads of four departments — one of finance and justice, the second of the interior, the third of commerce and police, and the fourth of public instruction. To these departments were assigned the appropriate bureaus by which the business of the central govermnent was directly carried on. The presence of the Filipinos in the con- trolling body of the government offered an excellent opportunity for 117376—19 2 18 SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. Filipino influence to affect legislation and brought to the new quasi civil government a sympathetic support from the Filipino public that included most of those but recently in arms against American sovereignty. In some Provinces civil government proved to have been prema- turely established, notably in Batangas, Cavite, Cebu, and Samar^ and in the fall of 1901 the services of the Army were again required in those Provinces. But ultimately they became peaceful. The guer- rilla forces which continued in arms were finally subjugated or brought in through the vigor of the Army and the influence of the Federal party, before July 1, 1902, when peace was officially declared to exist by your proclamation of amnesty. EFFECT ON PERMANENT ORDER OF MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERN- MENTS AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. Under the head of political education I shall describe the initiation and maintenance of municipal and provincial governments in some detail, and shall consider them and the assembly as instruments in the political education of the Filipinos and comment on their effi- ciency and defects as government agencies. I now wish to refer to them as part of the so-called policy of " attraction." The Filipino people did not expect the liberal and popular provisions of the mu- nicipal and provincial codes, and their enactment created the revul- sion of feeling that enabled the Federal party to bring on peace. The part the people were given in governing both towns and Prov- inces stimulated them to efforts in behalf of order that became greatly more sympathetic and effective, when, as I hereafter point out, the officers of the insular constabulary learned their real func- tion of assistance and not independent command. The giving con- trol of the provincial board to two elected officials added to their sense of responsibility as to order in the Province and was convincing of the sincerity of American promise to extend popular control by gradual steps. The provisions of the organic act passed by Congress in July, 1902, confirming President McKinley's policy and the promise of an as- sembly if good order was maintained, had a great effect to make the Filipino people anxious to preserve order, and no act of the Ameri- can Executive was more convincing to the people of the good faith of the Administration than your proclamation of the elections at a time when an excuse for delay within the law might easily have been found in some of the disturbances then existing. The existence and influence of the assembly are important continuing factors in the maintenance of law and order. ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS. Even under the purely military administration before the appoint- ment of the commission a military governor had established civil courts for the purpose of disposing of civil cases and for such viola- tions of law as were not more conveniently disposed of by military tribunals. The commission early passed a law dividing the islands into some 15 districts, establishing a court of first instance in each dis- SPECIAL, KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 19 trict, together with a supreme court of seven to consider appeals from the courts of first instance. This system was recognized and adopted by Congress in the organic act of July 1, 1902. The policy was pur- sued of appointing a Filipino, the first lawyer of the islands, the chief justice of the supreme court, together with two Filipino col- leagues and four Americans. About the same proportion between Americans and Filipinos was observed in the appointment of judges of the court of first instance. There was great difficulty in finding proper material for the Amer- ican judges because there were so few American lawyers in the United States who spoke Spanish, and it greatly interfered with the conven- ience of hearings if the judge did not know Spanish. However, time cured this difficulty, because the American appointees rapidly ac- quired a knowledge of the Spanish language sufficient to take testi- mony and hear arguments without interpreters. The first years of the courts, especially in the country, were almost entirely occupied in hearing criminal cases. The civil government very soon adopted the position that after a state of peace had been declared in 1902, men in arms engaged in looting and robbery should be treated not as insur- rectos or as enemies under the laws of war, but merely as violators of the local law. In the early days of the insurrection if a body of insurrectos was organized in any Province and was captured, their guns were taken and after a short imprisonment the men were released. This practice had led to a feeling on the part of the igno- rant people that they might with impunity resort to arms, and if caught thereafter that they would be imprisoned for a short time only and then released. The imposition of long sentences, 15 or 20 years, and the confinement of men in Bilibid prison and the require- ment that they should work at hard labor was a most eifective method of teaching the ignorant and easily led members of a community the difference between a political revolution and the crime of robbery and living on one's neighbors by^ force. A great number of persons in various provinces were prosecuted for banditism. A statute was passed to cover these cases providing that a man might be convicted of a felony by conclusive proof that he was a member of a band organized to commit robberies, even though no evidence was adduced to show any particular robbery in which he Avas personally concerned. This has been hailed as a departure from the usages of the common law and the spirit of our institutions. It is nothing of the kind. It is merely the denunciation of a particular kind of conspiracy. It Avas entirely impracticable to identify the per- petrators of particular robberies, but it was entirely practicable to prove conclusively the existence of a band to commit the robberies, and the membership of the particular defendant in that band, although his presence at the commission of an overt act it was often impossible to show. There is not the slightest reason in hiAv or morals why a man thus proved to be a robber should not be punished and punished just as severely as the men who were actually taken in the commission of the act. The effect of this laAv a\ as to bring to justice a great number of criminals in various provinces, and its vigorous administration by both the Filipino and American judges under active prosecution by Filipino prosecutors did much toward the suppression of ladronism. The difficulty was that the number of couA'icted per- 20 SPECIAL EEPORTS OlST THE PHILIPPINES. sons became so large as to strain the capacity of the jails and peni- tentiaries in the islands. This congested condition has been met. however, now, first, by the establishment of a penal colony in the island of Palawan, and, second, by the use of prisoners in several vprovinces for the construction of roads. After manj^ of those sentenced for highway robbery had served two years the Governor (xeneral appointed a commission to go over the cases to recommend for pardon those persons who, while guilty of the crime charged, were not of the criminal class, but had been led into it by duress and undue influence of neighboring brigand chiefs and caciques. Quite a large number of these persons were paroled and sent back to their homes to give them an opportunity to become good citizens. The changing condition of the country and the maintenance, of laAv and order are evidenced b}' the fact that the proportion of civil cases to criminal cases in the courts of first instance and the supreme court is rapidly increasing. It is becoming much easier to dispose of criminal cases, while it is the crvdl cases that now clog the dockets. The standard in the administration of justice in the islands is high. It has been sometimes charged by irresponsible 13ersons that some of the judges were subject to executive influence. An investigation into the matter discloses nofilie slightest evidence of the existence of any such evil, and the whole charge rests on the easily spread rumor of disappointed litigants or political enemies of the gov- ernment. On the Avhole, I am quite sure that throughout the islands the judges of the courts, and especially the members of the supreme court, have the entire confidence of the public in the justice and sin- cerity of their conclusions. No distinction has been made in the hear- ing of causes by a Filipino or American judge, and the system moves on quietly and effectivelj^ to accomplish the purpose for which it was adopted. The influence of the courts in the restoration of order has been very important. THE PHILIPPINE CONSTABULARY. Another step most necessary and useful in the restoration of order was the organization of a body of upward of 5,000 men, Filipinos officered by Americans, into a constabulary divided into companies and organized by Regular Army officers. But little difficulty was found in the organization of this body as an efficient fighting and scouting force, but it took several years of training, of elimination, and of severe discipline before the subordinate, officers, those assigned to each Province, were made to understand the proper policy to be pursued by them in respect to the native governors and presi- dentes of the municipalities who had been elected by the people under the municipal and provincial codes. At first there was constant friction and suspicion between them, and this did not aid at all the work of suppressing ladrones and other disreputable and vicious ele- ments of the comnnniity. Year by year, however, improvement has been made in this regard, and the lesson has been taught that the constabulary are not a military force, but a force of police organized by the central government and paid out of its treasury to assist in a sympathetic way the native local officers in the work of suppression of disorder and lawlessness of their particular localities. When I SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 21 \\ as in the islands two years ago the native papers were full of con- demnation of the constabulary and its severity. During the last two years a most renuirkable change lias taken place in the relations be- tween the officers and men of this force and the i)i'ovincial governors and officers of the towns, and now there is nothing more popular iu the islands than the constabulary. PRIARS' LANDS. A most potential source of disorder in the islands was the owner- ship of what were called the " friars' lands " by three of the religious orders of the islands — the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the so-called bare-footed Augustinians, known as " Recoletos." These lands amounted in all to 425,000 acres, of which 275,000 were in the immediate neighborhood of Manila, 25,000 in Cebu, and 125,000 in the remote Provinces of Isabela and Mindoro, The tenants on those Mdiich were close to Manila numbered some sixty or seventy thousand, persons. The attitude of the people toward the friars' lands was shown by the fact that the so-called constitutional convention assem- bled b}^ Aguinaldo at Malolos nationalized the friars' lands — that is, appropriated them to the so-called " Republic of the Philippines.'^ With the restoration of order and the establishment of courts the representatives of these religious bodies were entitled to go into court and recover from tenants the rents which had been in arrears since 1896, and to eject them from the lands which they had occupied un- less they admitted title and continued to pay rent. The occupants of the friars' lands resolutely refused to do either, and the Philippine government was confronted with the immediate prospect of suits to evict 60,000 tenants in those Provinces prone to disturbances and insurrection. The situation was further strained by the fact that the church, for lack of other competent priests, showed every inclination to send back to the parishes from which the}^ had been driven as manj^ of the friars who had been parish priests as it could. Every parish to which a friar priest returned at once began to seethe with popular indignation, and threats of violence were constantly made toward him. The only solution possible, consistent with the preser- vation of vested property rights on the one hand, and the right secured by treat}^ to the friars of freedom of religion and freedom of speech in any part of the islands, was some arrangement by which the land could be taken over by the Government and the church induced not to send friars as parish priests to those parishes where riot and disturbance were likely to follow. A visit to Rome for consultation with the head of the Roman Catholic Church resulted in the Pope's sending an apostolic delegate to the islands with adequate powers and in subsequent negotiations which ultimately led to the purchase of the lands for seven millions of dollars and induced a practice on the part of the hierarchy of the church by wdiich they send no friars as parish priests into any parish in which the Governor-General makes final objection. The price paid for the lands was a good round sum. It had to be in order to secure them. Congress, convinced of the necessity for their acquisition, had provided, in the organic act for the establish- 22 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. ment of a government in the Philippines, either for their purchase or in the alternative for their condemnation by the Government and their subsequent disposition on long, easy terms to the occupants. The representatives of the Dominican order objected to the con- demnation of their lands and employed able counsel to test the valid- ity of the provision for condemnation for such a purpose. The point made was a serious one and increased the importance of securing the lands by purchase, if possible. With the Government as a landlord the tenants manifest no disposition to contest its title, save in a few isolated cases. I shall not stop now to discuss the present value of the lands or their management. I shall refer to that later. It is enough for my present purpose to point out that the acquisition of these lands by the Government and the adjustment of differences as to the use of friars as parish priests have removed a fruitful source of disturbance in the Provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Manila, Bataan, Morong, and Cebu. By another compromise, to which I shall refer in detail later, a con- troversy between the Government and the Roman Catholic Church as to charitable and educational trusts and in respect to the Spanish- Filipino Bank has been settled. At one time this controversy prom- ised to contribute to the disorder of the islands. There are no other questions between the Government and the Roman Catholic Church, unless it can be said that questions of pos- session and title to church property arising from the Aglipayan schism can be said to involve them. Immediately after our negotiations with Leo XIII at Rome were found not to include an absolute agreement to withdraw the friars from the islands, Aglipay, a former Catholic priest under excom- munication, organized a schism from the Roman church. He called his church the Independent Filipino Catholic Church. At first the schism spread far and wide through the islands, and as the number of priests of the Roman Catholic Church by reason of the expulsion of the fi'iars had been reduced so that many churches lay open and idle, the priests of the Aglipayan schism, with the acquiescence of the townspeople in the various villages where the Aglipayans were in the majority, assumed possession of land and church buildings which had been occupied in Spanish days by the Roman Catholic Church. Possession was taken under a claim that the churches belonged to the people of the municipality and that they were able to dispose of the use of the churches to such religious purposes as they saw fit. This course of procedure led to innumerable controversies and to fre- quent breaches of the peace and to a bitterness of feeling that did not make either for the tranquillity of the islands or their prosperity. The executive consistently and properly declined to decide the question of title or the right to possession which arose in each case after peaceable possession had been taken. This was regarded as unreasonable by the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, but was the only possible course which the civil executive could take without arrogating to itself judicial powers. Instead of attempting to decide these questions the commission passed a law providing for their early settlement by suits brought originally in the supreme court. One set of these cases has been decided in favor of the Roman Catholic Church and others are now nearly ready for decision, so SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 23 that we may reasonably expect that within six months tlie whole matter may be disposed of, and when this is done the religious ob- stacles that seemed so formidable when the Philippine government was assumed by the United States will have been disposed of per- manently and that fruitful source of disturbance and riot and dis- content will have ceased. I have given in detail the steps taken to restore and maintain order in the islands. I have mentioned the vigorous campaign of the Army and the moral restraint of its presence in the islands, the promises of President McKinley as to gradual extension of self-government, the organization of the Federal Party, the institution of municipal and provincial governments on a popular plan, the confirmation of President McKinley's policy by the act of Congress establishing a Philippine government, assuring a national assembly, and your ful- fillment of the assurance, the establishment of courts with partly American and partly Filipino judges, the punishment of predatory bands as civil felons, the establishment and growth of the insular constabulary as a sympathetic aid to Filipino municipal and pro- Adncial officials in suppressing lawlessness, and, finall}^, the removal by satisfactory compromises of the irritating church questions which had much to do with causing the original insurrection and, if un- settled, were pregnant with disorder. PRESENT CONDITION. Peace prevails throughout the islands to-day in a greater degree than ever in the history of the islands, either under Spanish or American rule, and agriculture is nowhere now impeded by the fear on the part of the farmer of the incursion of predatory bands. Under the policy already stated, inaugurated by the instructions of President McKinley to Secretary Eoot, in reference to the establish- ment of a temporary government in the Philippines, a community consisting of 7,000,000 people, inhabiting 300 different islands, many of whom were in open rebellion against the Government of the United States for four years, with all the disturbances following from robber and predatory bands which broke out from time to time, due to local causes, has been brought to a state of profound peace and tranquillity in which the people as a whole are lo5''ally supporting the government in the maintenance of order. This is the first and possibly the most important accomplishment of the United States in the Philippines. THE POLITICAL CAPACITY AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FILIPINOS UNDER SPAIN AND THE STEPS TAKEN BY THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR GENERAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION. Very little practical political education was given by the Spaniards to the Filipinos. Substantally all the important executive offices in the islands were assigned to Spaniards, and the whole government was bureaucratic. The provincial and municipal authorities were appointed and popular elections were unknown. The administration of the municipalities was largely under the supervision and direction of the Spanish priest of the parish. No responsibility for govern- 24 SPECIAL KEPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. ment, however local or unimportant, was thrust upon Filipinos in such a way as to give them political experience, nor were the examples of fidelity to public interest sufficiently numerous in the officeholders to create a proper standard of public dutJ^ The greatest difficulty that we have had to contend with in vesting Filipinos with official power in municipalities is to instill in them the idea that an office is not solely for private emolument. There was an educated class among the Filipinos under the Spanish regime. The University of St. Thomas, founded by the Dominican Order early in the seventeenth century, has furnished an academic education to many graduates. The same order, as well as the Jesuits and the Augustinians, maintained secondary and primary schools for the well-to-do. Quite a number of Filipinos were educated in Spain or France. As compared with the youth and young men of school and college age in the islands, the number, however, was very small. These men were educated either as lawyers, physicians, pharmacists, or priests. In politics their knowledge was wholly theoretical. They imbibed liberal ideas from the spread of republican doctrines in Spain, and the repressive policy of the Spanish Government, of course, operated only to encourage them. They were patriotic, and soon conceived of the Philippines as a nation. Eizal, a leader of Philippine thought, a poet, and a political writer, did not favor independence, for he believed his people not yet fitted, but he sought reform in the Spanish government of the Philippines and som& popular voice in it. As the protest against Spanish domination grew, the aspiration for complete independence took possession of many, and in the in- surrections which followed there were many patriots moved by as high ideals as those which have led to revolutions in any country. Their conception of liberty, of independence, of government were whoUj^ ideal, however. When in the course of events they came to actual government they were unable to realize their conceptions, and only a one-man power or an oligarchy with class privilege and no real civil rights for the so-called serving or obedient class fol- lowed. They needed as much education in practical civil liberty as their more ignorant fellow countrymen in reading, writing, and arith- metic. The efforts of the American Government to teach the ignorant their ci^dl rights and to uplift them to self-governing capacity finds only a languid sympathy from many of the "ilustrados." From them comes the only objection to teaching English to the common people, lest they lose their national character ; as if it were necessary to keep the people confined to 16 barbarous dialects in order that they should be dis- tinctly Filipino. The real motive for the objection, whether con- scious or not, is in the desire of the upper class to maintain the rela- tion of the ruling class to the serving and obedient class. The educated Filipino has an attractive personality. His mind is quick, his sense of humor fine, his artistic sense acute and active ; he has a poetic imagination; he is courteous in the highest degree; he is brave; he is generous; his mind has been given by his education a touch of the scholastic logicism; he is a musician; he is oratorical by nature. The educated Filipino is an aristocrat by Spanish association. He prefers that his children should not be educated at the public schools, SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 25 and this accounts for the large private schools which the religious orders and at least one Filipino association are able to maintain. In arguing that the Philippines are entirely fit for sejf-government now, a committee of educated Filipinos once filed with the civil governor a written brief in which it w\as set forth that the number of " ilus- trados " in the islands was double that of the offices — central, pro- vincial, and municipal — and therefore the country afforded two " shifts" of persons competent to run the government. This, it was said, made clear the possibility of a good government if inde])endence was granted. The ignorance of the remainder of the people, admitted to be dense, made no difference. I cite this to show of how little importance an intelligent public opinion or an educated constituency is regarded in the community and government which many of the educated Filipinos look forward to as a result of independence. I do not say that there are not notable exceptions to this among leading Filipinos, but such persons are usually found among those who are not so impatient to lose American guidance in the government. In- deed, I am gratified to hear that the first bill which passed the assem- bly was an appropriation of a million pesos for barrio schools. On the whole, however, there is reason for believing that were the gov- ernment of the islands now turned over to the class which likes to. call itself the natural ruling class, the movement initiated by the present government to educate the ignorant classes would ultimately lose its force. The candor with which some of the representatives of the independista movement have spoken of the advantage for governmental purposes of having 80 per cent of the people in a serv- ing or obedient class indicates this. No one denies that 80 per cent of the Filipino people are densely ignorant. They are in a state of Christian tutelage. They are child- like and simple, with no language but a local Malay dialect spoken in a few Provinces; they are separate from the world's progress. The whole tendency under the Spaniards was to keep them ignorant and innocent. The Spanish public school s.ystem was chieflj^ on paper. They were for a long time subject completely to the control of the Spanish friar, who was parish priest and who generally did not encourage the learning of Spanish or great acquaintance with the world at large. The world owes to the Spanish friar the Christiani- zation of the Filipino race. It is the only Malay or oriental race that is Christian. The friars beat back the wave of Mohammedanism and spread their religion through all the islands. They taught the people the arts of agi'iculture, but they believed it best to keep them in a state of innocent ignorance. They did not encourage the coming into the Filipino local communities of Spaniards. They feared the influence of world Imowledge. They controlled the people and preached to them in their own dialects. They lived and died among them. The friars left the people a Christian people — that is, a people with •western ideals. They looked toward Rome and Europe and Amer- ica. They were not like the Mohammedan or the Buddhist, who despise western civilization as inferior. They were in a state of tutelage, ripe to receive modern western conceptions as they should be educated to understand them. This is the reason why I believe that the whole Christian Filipino people are capable by training and 26 SPECIAL REPORTS 01^ THE PHILIPPHSTES. experience of becoming a self-governing people. But for the present they are ignorant and in the condition of children. So, when the revulsion from the Spanish domination came, as it did, the native priest or the neighboring " ilustrado " or " cacique " led them into the insurrection. They are a brave people and make good soldiers if properly led. They learn easily, and the most striking fact in our whole experience in the Philippines is the eagerness with which the common Filipino agricultural laborer sends his children to school to learn English. There is no real difference between the educated and ignorant Fili- pinos that can not be overcome by the education of one generation. They are a capable people in the sense that they can be given a normal intellectual development by the same kind of education that is given in our own common-school system. Now they have not intelligence enough to exercise the political franchise with safety to themselves or tlteir country ; but I do not see why a common-school education in English, with industrial teaching added, may not make the children of these people capable of forming an intelligent public opinion needed to sustain a popular government if, at the same time that the oncoming generations are being educated in schools, primary and industrial, those who are intelligent are being given a political educa- tion by actually exercising the power of the franchise and actually taking part ill the government. As will be seen hereafter, the Philippine government has not funds enough to educate in primary and industrial schools all the present generation of school age, and unless some other source of funds than governmental revenues is found it will take longer than a generation to complete the primary and industrial education of the common people. Until that is done, we ought not to lift our guiding hand from the helm of the ship of state of the Philippine Islands. With these general remarks as to the present unfitness of the Filipino people for popular self-government and their capacity for future development so that they may, by proper education, general and political, become a self-governing people, I come to the methods pur- sued by the Philippine government in furnishing to the Filipinos the necessary education. I shall consider the subject under two heads : 1. Education in schools for the youth of school age. 2. Practical political education by the extension, step by step, of political control to an eligible class. first: education in schools. Reference has already been made to the fact of the very great ignorance and illiteracy that prevails among the Filipino people. It is not too much to say that knowledge of Spanish is a fairly good indication whether an individual can be said to be educated. Sta- tistics show that but 7 per cent of the people of the islands speak Spanish; all the others speak in the varying dialects, which among the civilized people number some 16. The Philippine people should be educated sufficiently to have a common medium of communica- tion, and every man, woman, and child should have the benefit of the primary education in that common medium. Reading, writing. SPECTAT. REPORTS ON THE PHTLTPPTNES. 27 and arithmetic are necessary to enable the rural laborer and the small hemj^, coconut, or tobacco farmer to make contracts for the sale of his products and to know what price he sliould receive for that which he has to sell. With this knowledge, too, he will soon be able to know his own rights and to resist the absolute control which is now fre- quently exercised over him by the local cacique. The necessit}^ for a common-school system was emphasized in the instructions of President McKinley to Secretary Eoot, and those re- sponsible for the government of the islands have been earnest and active in seeking to establish one. The language selected for the schools is English. It is selected because it is the language of busi- ness in the Orient, because it is the language of free institutions, and because it is the language which the Filipino children who do not Icnow Spanish are able more easily to learn than they are to learn Spanish, and it is the language of the present sovereign of the islands. The education in English began with the soldiers of the American Army, one of whom was detailed from each company to teach schools in the villages which had become peaceful. When the commission assumed authority it sent to the United States for 1,000 American teachers, and after the arrival of these pioneers in the islands a system of primary schools was inaugurated together with normal schools. Public educational work in the islands is performed under the bureau of education, with the central office located in Manila, having 37 divisions, each in charge of a division superintendent, embracing in all 379 school districts each in charge of a supervising teacher. The total number of schools in operation during the past year was : Primary schools, 3,435; intermediate schools, 162; arts and trades schools, 32 ; agricultural schools, 5 ; domestic-science schools, 17 ; and provincial high schools, 36 ; making a total of 3,687 and an increase from the previous year as follows: 327 primary schools, 70 inter- mediate schools, 15 arts and trades schools, 3 agricultural schools, and 9 domestic-science schools. There are engaged in the teaching of these schools at present 717 permanent American teachers and 109 temporary appointees, and all of these are paid out of the central treasury. In addition to these there are what are known as Filipino insular teachers, numbering 455, who are paid out of the central treasury. In addition to these there are 5,656 municipal Filipino teachers, all of whom speak and teach English and who are paid out of the treasuries of the municipalities. The 6,000 Filipino teachers who are now teaching English have received their English education from our normal schools or our American teachers. Their number is growing, and they represent and are the most valuable educational asset we have acquired in work- ing out our school system. The average annual salary of the Filipino insular teacher is 533.2 pesos a year, while that of municipal teachers is 210.36 pesos. The Filipino insular teachers are drawn from gradu- ates of normal schools and also from the students sent by the Govern- ment and at the expense of the Government to the United States to be educated there. Forty-six of these students have recently returned from the United States and have been appointed as insular teachers at salaries ranging from 840 to 960 pesos per annum. The average paid to the American teacher is about $1,200 per annum. The total 28 SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. enrollment for the year, inclusive of the Moro Province — the schools in which are conducted under a separate system — was 479,978. This was in the month of March at the close of the school year, when the enrollment reached its highest point. The average enrollment total by months was 346,245, of whom 62 per cent were boys and 38 per cent were girls. The average daily attendance was 269,000, or a per- centage of attendance of about 85 per cent. The highest percentage of attendance was 94, in the city of Manila. The lowest percentage in some of the provinces w^as 78. The attendance and enrollment in schools begins in August, which is the beginning of the school year, and ends in March. As August is one of the wet months, the attend- ance begins at the lowest figure and increases gradually into the dry season until its highest point at the close of the school year in March. The central government this year for school purposes and construc- tion of schools has appropriated 3,500,000 pesos. The maintenance of primary schools is imposed by law" upon the municipalities, and in- volves a further expenditure of nearly a million and a half pesos. In order to relieve distress incident to agricultural depression, it was found necessary to suspend the land tax, a part of the proceeds of which by mandatory provision of law was appropriated to the support of municipal schools. The central government in the first year appro- priated a sufficient sum from the internal revenue to meet the deficit caused by the failure to impose the land tax, but in 1907-8 it was only able to appropriate 50 per cent of the amount which would have been raised by the land tax, and next year no such appropriation will be made, and it will be left optional with the province whether the land tax shall be imposed or not. The great difficulty in the matter of education in the islands is the lack of funds to make it as extended as it should be. The suspension of the land tax is subjecting the educational system to a crisis, but the revival of agriculture in many parts of the islands leads to the hope that the crisis may be successfully passed. It would be entirely possible to expend for the sole benefit of the Philippine people, w^ith- out the least waste, upward of two or three millions of dollars annu- ally in addition to all that the government of the Philippine Islands- central, municipal, and provincial — can afford to devote to this object We are not able to educate as they should be educated more than a half of the youth of school age in the islands. The government, Avhile contributing to the maintenance of high schools in each province, is devoting its chief attention to the spread of primary education, and in connection with primary education, and, at its close in the inter- mediate schools, to industrial education. Primary and industrial education carried on until the child is 14 or 15 years old is thought to be the best means of developing the Filipino people into a self-sus- taining and self-governing people, and the present governinent has done all that it has been possible to do in developing and maintaining a proper system for this purpose. The tendency toward the develop- ment of industrial education the world over lias created such a de- mand for industrial teachers as to make it impossible for the Philip- pine government to secure as many as are needed for the purpose in the islands, and in order to have these industrial teachers it must take the time to educate them as such, just as it did the Filipino primary teachers in English. SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 29 There are now in the ishmds, including art and trade schools, agri- cultural schools, and domestic-science schools, at least one industrial school to every Province, and it is the ])urpose to increase this number as rapidly as resources and opportunity will permit. Under the in- fluence of the traditions of the Spanish regime, when manual labor seems to have been regarded as an evidence of servitude, it was at first impossible to secure pupils for the great manual training school in Manila. Boys preferred to be " escribientes " or clerks and gentle- men rather than to learn to Avin a livelihood by the skill of their hands, but this has been rapidly overcome. In the insular school of arts and trades in Manila, wdiere the plant and equipment is quite satisfactory, instruction is now given some 3.50 pupils in English, arithmetic, geography, mechanical drawing, Avoodworking (bench work, carving, turning, and cabinet making), ironworking bench work, filing, blacksmithing, and iron machine work), and finishing, including painting and varnishing, to which will be added next year boat building and wheelwrighting. At the present time there are on the waiting list some 200 pupils who seek admission but for Avhom no places are available. A large insular agricultural school is to be established in Manila for giving instruction in practical agricul- ture, and the money, 100,000 pesos, necessary for the building and construction has already been appropriated. The influence of the primary instruction in English is shown throughout the islands by the fact that to-day more people through- out the islands, outside of Manila and the large cities, speak Eng- lish than speak Spanish. A noticeable result of the government's activity in the establishment of English schools has been the added zeal in teaching English in private educational establishments. A Filipino school managed and taught only by Filipinos, called " Liceo," has some 1,500 pupils in Manila, and English is regularly taught as part of the curriculum of that school; the Dominican order of friars, which is primarily an educational order, has schools in and about Manila with upward of 2,000 students, and English is now made a very important part of the curriculum of those schools. The Jesuits also have tAvo A^ery large schools in Manila, embracing some 1,000 or 1,500 pupils draAvn from all parts of the islands, in AAliich English is made an important branch of the study. There is considerable com- 23etition in this matter and there seems noAv to be a united effort to spread the knoAvledge of English in accordance with the government's policy. At times, as already intimated, a cliscordant note is heard in the suggestion that the American Government is seeking to deprive the Filipino of his native language. As his natiA^e language is really 15 or 16 different dialects, this does not seem a great deprivation. It is possible that some effort will be made to include in the primary instruction the reading and writing of the local dialect in the local schools. Xo objection can be macle to this unless it shall interfere Avith the instruction in English, Avhich it is hoped it may not do. Should Congress be anxious to facilitate and hurry on the work of redeeming the Philippine Islands and making the Filipino people a self-governing community, it could take no more effective step than a permanent appropriation of two or three millions of dollars for ten or fifteen years to the primary and industrial education of the Filipino people, making it conditional on the continued appropria- 30 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. tion by the Philippine government. of the same amount to educa- tional purposes which it has devoted and is now devoting; annually to that purpose. The influence of the educational system introduced has not only been direct in the spread of education among the younger of the present generation, but it has also been an indirect means of convincing the Filipino people at large of the beneficent purpose of the American Government in its remaining in the Philippine Islands and of the sincerity of its efforts in the intei-est of their people. FILIPINO CADETS AT WEST POINT. Section 36 of the act of Congress, approved February 2, 1901, referring to Philippine Scouts, provides that — When, in the opinion of the President, natives of tlie Philippine Islands shall, by their services and character, show fitness for command, the President is authorized to make provisional appointments to the grades of second and first lieutenants from such natives, who, when so appointed, shall have the pay and allowances to be fixed by the Secretary of War, not exceeding those of corresponding grades of the Regular Army. As it is thought that better results will be obtained if a few young Filipinos, especially selected, be appointed to the United States Mili- tary Academy with a view to their being commissioned officers of scouts upon graduation, I strongly recommend that Congress, by appropriate legislation, authorize the appointment of seven young Filipinos, or one for about every million of inhabitants of those islands, as cadets at the Military Academy at West Point. This action on the part of Congress would, in my judgment, tend to fur- ther increase the zeal and efficiency of a body of troops which has always rendered faithful and satisfactory services. second: practical political education. There is no doubt that the exercise of political power is the best possible political education and ought to be granted whenever the pupil has intelligence enough to perceive his own interest even in a rude practical way, or when other competent electors are sufficiently in the majority to avoid the injury likely to be done by a government of ignorance and inexperience. The Philippine government con- cluded that the only persons in the Philippines who had intelligence enough to make their exercise of political power useful to them as an education and safe as a governmental experiment were those who spoke and wrote English or Spanish, or who paid $7.50 a year taxes, or whose capacity had been recognized in Spanish times by their appointment as municipal officials. Adult males who came within these classes, it was thought, ought to begin their political education by assuming political responsibility, and so they were made electors in municipal, provincial, and assembly elections, and embraced, as near as it can be estimated, about 12 to 15 per cent of the adult male population. Of course, as the common school education spreads, the electorate will increase. Let us now examine the political education which has been given in practice to these eligible electors and the results. SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 31 JlUNlCH'AhlTlES AND Pl<()\ INCES. By the municipal code the okl municipalities under the Spanish regime, which resembled the townships of the West and the towns of Xew England, were authorized to reorganize under the American Government. The^y consisted generally of the poblacion, or the most centrally located and most populous settlement, with a number of barrios or outlying wards or villages, all within the municipality and under its control. The provisions of the code did not differ materially from those of similar codes in the United States, except that wherever possible and practicable the unobjectionable customs of the country were recognized and acquiesced in formally in the law. The towns were divided into classes and the salaries of the officials were lim'ited accordingly. The provincial code provided for the organization of governments in the provinces which had been recognized as Provinces under the Spanish regime. Under the original provisions of that code the government of the Province — legislative and executive — was under a provincial board, consisting of a governor and treasurer and a supervisor of roads and buildings. Other appointed officers were provided, as the prosecuting attorney and the secretary of the Prov- ince, who did not sit on the provincial board. The governor was originally elected by the councilmen of all the towns of the Province assembled in convention, they themselves having previously been elected by the people. The treasurer and supervisor were each selected and appointee! under the rules adopted in accordance with the merit system provided in a civil-service law, which was among the first passed by the commission. One of the early difficulties in the maintenance of an efficient gov- ernment in the Provinces was the poverty of the Provinces and the lack of taxable resources to support any kind of a government at all. It was soon found that the provincial supervisor, who, it was hoped, might be an American engineer, was too expensive a burden for the Province to carry. For a time the district superintendent of educa- tion of the Province was made the third member of the provincial board instead of the supervisor, whose office was abolished. This, however, did not work well, because the time of the superintendent was needed for his educational duties. Subsequently, therefore, it was thought wise to provide a third member of the board, who served with but little compensation and who was elected as the governor was elected. The system of electing the governor by convention of coun- cilmen of all the towns of the Province was changed, so that now the governor and the third member of the board are elected by direct popular vote, while the treasurer is still appointed. It will be seen that, in this way, the government of the towns is completely autonomous, subject only to visitation and disciplinary action of the governor of the Province and of the Governor General on appeal. The provincial government now, though not originally, is completely autonomous in the sense that a majority of the board which governs the Province are elected by the people. The duties of the provincial treasurer are burdensome, complex, and important to such a degree as to make it impossible thus far to find Filipinos who have been able to master the duties of the office and to give satisfaction therein, al- though there are quite a number of Filipino assistant treasurers and 32 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. subordinates in the office of treasurer who give reasonable ground to expect that the American treasurers may be in a reasonable time supplanted by Filipino treasurers. The question now arises what has been shown in the government of these municipalities and of the provinces in respect to the capacity of the Filipinos for complete self-government in local matters? It is undoubtedly true that the municipalities would be much more effi- cient had the policy been pursued of appointing Americans to the important offices in the municipalities, but there would have been two great objections to this course, one that the municipal govern- ment would not have attracted the sympathetic attention of the peo- ple as the present municipalities have — and we would thus have lost a valuable element in making such government a success — and the other that the educational effect upon the people in training them for self-government would have been much less. When I say that the development of municipal government in the Philippines has been satisfactory, I am far from saying that it has been without serious defects. All I mean is that considering the two- fold object in view — first governmental, second educational — the re- sult thus far, with all its shortcomings, shows progress toward both ends and vindicates the course taken. Up to the time of our occupation, the government had represented to the Filipino an entity entirely distinct from himself, with which he had little sympathy and which was engaged in an attempt to obtain as much money as possible from him in the form of taxes. He had been taught to regard an office as the private property of the person holding it and in respect to which ordinary practice justified the holder in making as much profit from it as he could. The idea that a public office is a public trust had not been implanted in the Filipino mind by experience, and the conception that an officer who fails in his dut}^, by embezzlement or otherwise, was violating an obligation that he owed to each individual member of the public he found it difficult to grasp. He was apt to regard the robbing of the government by one of its officers as an affair in which he had little or no interest and in which, not infrequently, his sympathies were against the government. As a consequence, the chief sense of restraint felt by municipal offi- cials in handling public funds comes from a fear of inspection by the central government and its prosecution. The fear of condemnation by the public opinion of the local community has a much less deter- rent force, even if the official is to seek reelection. The sense of re- sponsibility for the government they control and whose officers they elect is brought home to the people of a municipality with slowness and difficulty. This is the political education that is going on in the Filipino municipalities. We are making progress, but we must be patient, for it is not the task of a day to eradicate traditions and ideas that had their origin in a system of government under which this people lived for centuries. Hence when we find that there is still a considerable percentage of Filipino municipal officers who have to be removed and prosecuted for embezzlement, we must not be discouraged. Early in the Ameri- can occupation we had to prosecute 16 or 17 American provincial treasurers for defalcations in public funds. It was bitterly humili- ating for the dominant race to furnish such an example, when we SPECIAL, REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 33 were assuming to teach the Filipinos tiie art of self-government. The American embezzlers were all promptly sent to Bilibid Peniten- tiary for long terms. This had an excellent eft'ect npon both Ameri- cans and Filipinos in the islands. T\m defalcations were due to a lack of good material available for these positions in the islands. To-day the American provincial treasurers are of the highest order of public servants and are a credit to the American name. Their example has been of the utmost benefit in the training of Filipino municipal and provincial officials. Another difficulty arising from a sindlar cause that we have had to meet and overcome has been the disposition of municipal councils to vote all of the available funds for the payment of their own salaries and leave nothing for the improvement or repair of roads, the con- struction of buildings, or the payment of school-teachers, and this although the law nuiy, by mandatory provision, have set aside certain definite shares of the public funds for such purposes. These evils have had to be remedied by placing the funcls in the hands of the provincial treasurer so as to secure the payment of the amount re- quired by law to be dexoted to educational purposes and by imposing upon the discretion of connnon councils to vote salaries from their funds a limitation that the total of salaries shall not exceed a certain percentage of the total funds in control of the town. Tlie people of the towns seeui fully to appreciate the value of roads, but when it comes to exerting themselves and denying themselves for the purpose of securing the great benefit of good roads, they have not thus far ner\ed themselves to the sacrifice. Many miles of road have been constructed by the central government and then turned over to the municipalities for maintenance, with the result that in one or two years of the torrential rains the roads have become nothing but quagmires without any work of maintenance or repair done on them. One of the common means throughout the United States lor building roads or repairing them is to require all male adults to work upon the roads four or five days of the year, or jDerhaps a longer period, or to commute the work by payment of a tax. This would be the natural method of repairing roads in the Philippines; but the diffi- culty is that it was the method adopted by the Spaniarcis, and in the Spanish times the power of the local authorities to direct free labor upon the roads for a certain period of time was so greatly abused and perverted to the seeking of personal vengeance and the private profit of the local authorities that it has been impossible to obtain any popular support for a system based on the same principle, and good roads have been allowecl to go to destruction rather than to run the risk of a recurrence of the old abuses. A difficulty in connection with the maintenance of roads may be mentioned here. The old-time method of transportation in the Phil- ippines was by a carabao or oxcart with a rigid axle and with solid wheels, the rims of which were so narrow as to cut like a knife into any road over which they traveled. Laws have been passed from time to time imposing a penalty for using wheels on public roads with tires less than a certain width, but it has not been possible to secure such an administration of the law by the provincial govern- ments as to prevent the continuance of this abuse, although means have been taken to furnish at a very reasonable rate sets of wheels 117376—19 3 34 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. with tires of sufficient width to aA^oid road destruction. Local officials have been loath, when dependent for their continuance in office upon the votes of their fellow citizens, to enforce a law the wisdom of which they fullj^ recognize, but the unpopularity of which they also know. It has been found that sanitai*y measures can not be safely in- trusted to municipal authorities for enforcement whenever emer- gencies arise, but that some local agency of the central government must be created for the purpose. At first full power was given to the municipality to determine by ordinance where cemeteries might be established, having regard to the health of the town. This proved a most convenient instrument for partisan abuse in the religious controversies arising between the Eoman Catholics and the Agli- payans. An Aglipayan municipal council would require by ordi- nance the immediate closing of a Roman Catholic cemetery, although it was not in the least dangerous to health, and then would permit an Aglipayan cemetery much nearer the town and in a really objec- tionable place. Partisans of the Roman Church in control of other municipalities would abuse their powers in the same way. The con- sequence was that the central and provincial authorities had to be given direct supervisory control of this matter. Another defect in many Filipino towns I have already referred to is the evil of caciquism. Too often the presidente and other town officers use their offices to subject the ignorant residents of their re- spective towns to their business control in the sale of farm products. The officer acts as the middle man in the sale and takes most of the profit from his constituent. The evil is hard to reach because the same power which compelled the sale can usually compel silence and no complaint is heard from the victims until, dimly realizing the injustice done them, they resort to criminal outbreaks and bloody vengeance. While it is too much to hope for the complete eradication of this abuse until the laborer shall acquire enough education to know his rights before the law and how to assert them, there has been much improvement in this regard since the American occupation. The evil of caciquism shows itself in a more flagrant form when Filipino municipal or even provincial officials are vested with gov- ernmental control over non-Christian tribes, or others not of their own race, scattered through the Christian Filipino provinces. These people living in small settlements are slowly working toward a bet- ter civilization under the influence of education and are capable of much greater progress if properly treated. Such settlements were originally placed under the regular Filipino provincial and munici- pal governments within whose territorial jurisdiction they happened to be, but the abuses and oppression to which they were subjected necessitated an entirely different policy with respect to them and the organization of separate governments controlled directly from Ma- nila under the interior department. Mr. Worcester, the secretary of the interior, has given especial attention to the care and development of these non-Christian tribes. It has been necessary to organize in Northern Luzon three or four subprovinces within the territorial limits of the Filipino Provinces and to secure the protection of the non-Christians by the appointment generally of an American lieu- tenant governor. This is also true in the Province of Misamis and SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 35 of Siirigao, in Mindanao, where it was found impossible to induce the provincial officers to spend the money appropriated out of the insular treasury for the benefit of the people for educational and road improvements directed by the central authority. The fact that the recent, and for a time seemingly incurable, tendency to disturb- ance in Samar has grown out of a similar cause in that island I have already commented on in connection with another subject. The city of Manila has not been given autonomous government. It is under the control of a municipal board of five persons appointed by the central government, and is governed therefore as Washington or the City of Mexico is governed. In the proper improvement of Manila some six or eight millions of dollars had to be expended, and much business experience and foresight were required to build the new waterworks and the new sewer system, to repave the streets, to canalize the esteros, or creeks, to organize an effective police force and a new fire department. It was thought that it would not be safe to intrust the conduct of such important business matters to a body selected by the electrorate of Manila for the first time. The city of Manila has been well governed. Very large sums of money have been expended in most extensive improvements, and not the slightest scandal or dishonesty has been charged in any of the city adminis- tration. It has offered a most useful model for other municipalities in the islands to follow, and has lent her engineers, her policemen, and her firemen to other towns to help the latter to better organization. This review of shoi'tcomings in municipal governments in the Philippines should not have the effect of discouraging those who are interested in the success of the experiment. They should be reminded that in the United States municipal government has not been such a shining success. Moreover, the defects pointed out are not found in all Filipino towns. They have been referred to only to qualify prop- erly the statement, M'hicli I do not hesitate to make, that autonomous municipal governments are maldng good progress and are gradually accomplishing the purposes for which they were created, though not so efficiently as with a people more used to governing themselves, more trained and educated in the assertion of their rights, and imbued with a higher standard of public duty. • When those responsible for the policy of autonomy in municipal and provincial governments as- sert that it is progressing successfully, they find their words to be construed by enthusiastic theorists, who are convinced a priori of the comj^lete fitness of the Filipinos to govern themselves, as completely establishing the correctness of their view ; and when, on the other hand, they point out the defects in such local governments they meet the ciT made by pessimists and by thick and thin adherents of the English crown-colony system that this is an admission of failure and a concession that we ha^e gone far too fast in intrusting local gov- ernmental power of the Filipinos. The truth, as I conceive it, lies between the two extreme positions, and while the policy adopted does not secure the best municipal gov- ernment which might be secured under American agents, it does ijro- vide a fairly good government, with a training and experience and educational influence upon the people which is slowly but progres- sively curing the defects incident to a lack of political training and proper political ideals. The result indicates neither that the Filipinos 36 SPECIAL EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. are fitted at once for coniplete self-government nor does it justify the view that they nia.y not be ultimately made capable of coniplete self-government by a gradual extension of partial self-government as they may become more and more fit to execise it. When we come to the provincial governments, we naturally have to deal with a higher order of public servants, and although we here and there find the defects I have described as occurring in municipal g-Qvernments, they are less glaring and less discouraging. The truth is, that with the guidance of the provincial treasurer, who is an American, and the sense of added responsibility that the presence of two Filipinos in the provincial board has instilled in them, the pro- vincial officials begin to take pride in- the good condition of their Province. This has been stimulated by close and constant correspond- ence between them and the central government at Manila, repre- sented by the assistant executive secretary, Mr. Frank Carpenter, in Avhich provincial matters are discussed, hj an annual conference of provincial governors at Manila, and by conditional contributions from the central government to provincial funds for various forms of provincial efficiency, and is evidenced by the greater amounts devoted by the Provinces to the construction of public buildings, the repair and construction of roads and bridges, and by the husbanding of resources and the keeping down of salaries. The system of examination of the finances of the municipalities and of the Provinces is now, as conducted in the islands, very com- plete, and in one large printed volume is published the balance sheet of every Province and of every municipality in the islands for each fiscal year, so that it is possible to take a bird's-eye view each year of the financial progress made in the management of each Province, and town. The improvement in the financial condition of the Provinces over and above what it was four or five years ago itself speaks forcibly in favor of the progress which has been made by Filipinos in provincial government. One of the early difficulties in provincial government already pointed out was the lack of tax resources, which prevented payment of adequate salaries or the making of much-needed improvements. With the sympathetic aid and suggestion of the central government, and by the voluntary assumption of greater taxes by the people, all the Provinces, save two or three, have made themselves self- supporting and have been enabled to pay good salaries. They differ largely in the amomit of money that they have been able to devote to the construction of public buildings and to roads and bridges, but they are certainly beginning to appreciate the necessity for effort in this direction, and while they have refused thus far to adopt the system of a few days' enforced labor commutable by taxes, they are gradually coming to the adoption of a poll tax for public roads which in its essence and its alternatives will ultimately be an equiva- lent of such a system. The report of the auditor of the islands shows a most gratifjdng improvement in the financial condition of the towns and Provinces for the last five years. While the financial condition is not invariably" indicative of the general character of a municipal or provincial gov- ernment a steady improvement in it from year to year is reasonably good evidence that matters of government are mending in every way. SPECIAL REPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 37 The question of roads tind bridges has not yet been solved in the Philippines. There remains yet an enormous amount of labor and capital to be expended for this purpose, but the seeds have been sown which I am convinced will lead, under the executive force and great interest of Mr. W. Cameron Forbes, the secretary of com- merce and police, to the adoption of a caminero system of road re- ]iairs and maintenance which will make the intercommunication by \\ao-on road between the various parts of the ^•arious islands satis- factory. I shall not stop to dwell on the great inherent difficulty that there is in the construction and repair of roads in the Philip- pines. The absence of suitable material and the destructive effect of evei-y wet season sufficiently account for the present unsatisfactory condition in this respect. The principle rigidly adopted and en- forced now is, however, that no bridge and no public building shall be constructed of anything but permanent materials — either con- crete, hardwood, or metal — or iron or steel, and that no road shall be built except in a manner which shall enable local authorities, with reasonable expense, to keep it in permanent repair. In times past the necessity for haste and supposed economy has led to the use of softer woods and temporary methods of construction, which are now tui-ning out to be much more costly than if the original expenditure had been greater. ^ CIVIL SERVICE. V The organization and maintenance of the central government were directed not only with a view to its efficiency but also to its educa- tional effect upon the Philippine people. This is shown in the ap- pointment of three Filipinos to constitute three-eighths of the insu- lar legislature, as well as by the opportunity offered to Filipinos to enter the civil service under a civil-service law embodying the merit system. In the beginning it was difficult to work Filipinos into the bureaus of the central government, because few of them knew Eng- lish and fewer understood the American business and official methods, which, of course, obtained in the new government. As the years went on, however, under great pressure from the commission, the proportion of Filipinos in the service was increased from year to year. Many natives had learned English and had shown an in- creasing aptitude for the work of the civil service. Still in many of the bureaus the progress of Filipinos to the most responsible places is necessarily slow, and the proportion of them to be found in the positions of high salaries is not as large as it ought to be in the near future. The winnowing-out process, however, is steadily reduc- ing the American employees in the civil service. It has become a. body of highly deserving, faithful public servants, whom, it is hoped, the Philippine Government will make permanent provision for by secure tenure for a certain number of years with a reasonable retiring pension. As was inevitable in the complete organization of a government effected within a few months, experience indicated that greater eccr.- omy might be secured b}^ a reduction in the number of bureaus and bureau chiefs, by the consolidation of offices and bureaus, and by the still further substitution of competent Filipinos for higher-priced Americans. 38 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. It is now nearly three years ago, therefore, since a committee of insular officials with Commissioner Forbes as chairman was appointed to make a vigorous investigation into the entire governmental sys- tem. The committee made radical recommendations as to curtail- ment, most of which were adopted and resulted in a very material decrease in the cost of government and increase in the proportion of Filipino employees. In the department of justice, including the judiciary, the propor- tion of Filipinos had always been high. The chief justice of the supreme court and two of his associates were Filipinos, while nearlj^ half of the judges of the courts of first instance were also natives. All but two of the prosecuting attorneys in the 35 provinces, all the justices of the peace, and nearly all the court officers were Filipinos. For two years the attorney general of the islands has been a Filipino. The changes in the proportion of Filipino civil servants to the whole number from year to year can be seen in the following table : Americans. Filipinos. 1901 2,044 2,562 1902 1 1903 2,777 3,228 3,307 2, 697 3,377 1904 -- 1905 A 4,023 1906 1 1907 2,6i6 3,902 1 statistics not available. CIVIL RIGHTS. Before discussing the provision for the national assembly and its influences, educational and otherwise, I must refer to the effort of President McKinley to extend to the Filipinos the guaranties of life, liberty, and property, secured by the Federal Constitution to those within Federal jurisdiction. The guaranties assured in the instruc- tions of Mr. McKinley included all those of the Federal Constitution except the right to bear arms and to trial by jury. The right to bear arms is one that can not safely j^et be extended to the people of the Philippines, because there are among those people men given to violence, who with the use of arms would at once resort to ladronism as a means of livelihood. The tempta- tion would be too great and ought not to be encouraged. Nor are the people fit for the introduction of a jury system. Not yet has any considerable part of the community become sufficiently imbued with the sense of responsibility for the government and with its identification with the government. This responsibility and identi- fication are necessary before jurors can sit impartially between society and the prisoner at the bar. Without it they are certain al- ways, to release the prisoner and to sj^mpathize with him in the prosecution against him. The fair treatment of the prisoner is suffi- ciently secured in a country never having had a juiy trial by the absolute right of appeal from the decision of a single judge to the decision of seven judges, with a writ of error thence to the Supreme Court of the United States. It may be that in the future it will seem wise gradually to provide for a jury in various classes of cases, but at present it would be premature. SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 39 The civil rights conferred by Mr, McKinley's instructions were expressl}^ confirmed by the organic act of July 1, 1902. It has been the purpose of the Philippine government to make the extension of these rights a real thing and a benefit for the poorer Filipino, and progress is being made in this direction. The great obstacle to it arises from the ignorance of the people themselves as to what their rights are and their lack of Imowledge as to how those rights may be asserted. The work of impressing a knowledge of these things upon the people goes, however, rapidly on, and with the education in English of a new generation and their succession to the electorate, we can be certain that the spread of education as to popular rights and the means of maintaining them will be wider and wider, until' we can have a whole connnunity who know their rights and, knowing, dare maintain them. Charges have been made that the existing Philippine government has not properly preserved these guaranties of civil rights. It is true that the commission has, in effect, suspended these guaranties in a condition equivalent to one of war in some of the provinces, and has been sustained in so doing by the supreme court of the islands and of the United States. It is also true that during a condition equiv- alent to war the commission provided that no one should advocate independence, even by peaceable means, because agents of insurrec- tion were inciting actual violence under the guise of such peaceable propaganda. With the coming of peace, the statute ceased to have effect. To-day, however, the writ of habeas corpus runs without obstruction. The liberty of the press and of free speech is real. There is no censorship of the press and no more limitation upon its editors than there is in the city of Washington. The publication of criminal libel or seditious language calculated and intended to cause public riot and disturbance is punishable in Manila and the Philip- pines as it is in many of the. States of the Union. This freedom of discussion and this opportunity to criticize the government educate the people in a political way and enable them more intelligently to evercise their political rights. THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. In recommending to Congress the provision for a national assem- bly contained in the organic act of the Philippine government. Sec- retary Root and the commission were moved by the hope and belief that the promise in the act, conditioned, as its fulfillment was, on the existence of peace in the islands, would stimulate activity on the part of all Filipinos having political ambition to bring about tran- quility. In this respect, as already pointed out, the result has abundantly vindicated their judgment. They were further moved by the conviction that this step toward greater popular self-gov- ernment would strengthen the hands of the govermnent by securing from the people readier acquiscence in, and greater obedience to, measures which their repr.esentatives had joined in passing, than when they were the decrees of an alien government. They further believed that by means of the assembly much more exact and prac- tical knowledge of the needs of the country would be brought to the 40 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. law-making power than in any other way. Finally, they thought that the inauguration of such an assembly would be a most impor- tant step in the main plan or policy of educating Filipinos in the science and practice of popular representative government. They were aware of the possible danger that this was a step too far in ad- vance. They did not deny that on the part of a number elected there would be a strong inclination to obstruct the smooth working of exist- ing government on lines of political and material progress. They anticipated the probability that in the first assembly elected the ma- jority would be in favor of immediate independence ; but in spite of all this they were clear in their forecast that the responsibilities of power would have both a sobering and educational effect that would lead ultimately to conservatism of action and to strengthen the existing government. Let us now consider what has happened in the electoral campaign for the assembly' and in its early life as a legislative body. The powerful influence for good and for peace exercised by the Federal Party in the period just after Mr. McKinley's second election I have dwelt upon at another place. The main purpose and prin- ciple of the party was peace under the sovereignty of the United States. In drafting a platform its leaders had formulated a plank favoring the organization of the islands into a Territory of the United States, with a view to its possibly becoming a State. From this plank it took its name. In the first two or three years after its successful effort to bring on peace many prominent Filipinos having political ambition became members, and in the gubernatorial elec- tions the great majority of governors elected were Federals. And so substantially all who filled prominent offices in the government by appointment, including the judges, were of that party. Then dissen- sion arose among prominent leaders and some withdrew from the party. The natural opposition to a government party led to the organization of other parties, especially among those known as In- transigentes. The Federal Party had founded an organ, the Demo- cracia, early in its existence. The opponents of the government, look- ing to immediate independence, founded a paper called the Eenaci- miento. The latter was edited with especial ability and with a parti- san spirit against the American Government. For two years before the election of the assembly the Filipinos who sympathized with the Renacimiento were perfecting their or- ganization to secure a majority in the assembly. Many groups were formed, but they all were Imown as the Partido Nacionalista. There was some difference as to whether to this title should be added the word " inmediatista," but the great majority favored it. The party is generally known as the Nacionalista Party. During much of these same two years the Federal Party was dormant. The proposition for statehood did not awaken enthusiasm anywhere. Many of the leaders were in office, and felt no necessity for vigorous action. The quarrel between some of the directors had given the party paralysis. The party was not organized for political controversy with another party at the polls. It was merely an organization to give effective resultant force to the overwhelming feeling in favor of peace under United States sovereignty, and it was not adapted to a political fight on issues that were not in existence when it was at the height of its power SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 41 for usefulness. (3n the other hand, in the Federal Party were many of the ablest and most conservative of the Filipinos, and its seemed wise that this nucleus should be used to form a party that represented conservatism on the issue as to independence, which the opponents of the government determined to force into the campaign for members of the assembly. It was an issue hardly germane to the subject matter within the jurisdiction of the assembly, but it had to be met. The issue whether the islands should have immediate independence turned on the question whether the Filipino people are now fit for complete self-government. Upon this question it was entirely natu- ral that the burden should fall upon those who asserted the nega- tive, and it is not strange that the electors, or a majority of them, should believe themselves and by their votes decide themselves to be competent. , Some six months before the elections there sprung from the ashes of the Federal Party a part}^ which, rejecting the statehood idea, de- clared itself in favor of making the Philippines an independent nation by gradual and progressive acquisition of governmental con- trol until the people should become fitted by education and practice under American sovereignty to enjoy and maintain their complete independence. It was called the Partido Nacionalista Progresista. It is generally known as the Progresista Party. The Progresista leaders were late in the field and were somewhat at a disadvantage on this account; but after they entered the fight they were ener- getic and vigorous. They did not mince words. They took the position fully and flatly that the people of the Philippines were not fitted for immediate independence and complete self-government and needed much education and experience before they should become so. It was natural to suppose that the cry of complete fitness for self-government was the popular one and that it would attract votes. This impression showed itself in a somewhat amusing way. The first independence party, as I have said, called itself the Partido Nacionalista Inmediatista. The title and organization were not rad- ical enough for a group that broke away and called itself Partido Nacionalista Urgentissima, which was supposed to indicate a party whose yearning for independence was greater than that of those who wished it immediately. This was followed by the organization of a new group who showed that they were not to be outdone in the fervor and anxiety with which they sought independence and votes for their candidates by calling their party Partido Nacionalista Explosivista. The campaign in the last two or three months was carried on with great vigor. The Nacionalistas had the advantage of being under- stood to be against the government. This, with a people like the Filipino people, who had been taught to regard the government as an entity separate from the people, taxing them and prosecuting them, was in itself a strong reason for popular sympathy and support. The Progresistas were denounced as a party of officeholders. The government was denounced as extravagant and burdensome to the people. In many districts the Nacionalista candidates promised that if they were returned immediate independence would follow. There were quite a number of candidates in country and remote districts where the controversy was not heated who did not declare them- 42 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. selves on the main question, and maintained an independence of any party. They were known as Independientes. Then, there were other Independientes who declared themselves independent of party, but in favor of immediate independence. The elections were held on July 30. Members were elected from 80 districts into which the Christian Filipino Provinces were divided. The result of the canvass was the election of 16 Progresistas, 1 Ca- tolico, 20 Independientes, 31 Nacionalistas, 7 Inmediatistas, 4 Inde- pendistas, and 1 Nacionalista Independiente, in all 80 members. The total vote registered and cast did not exceed 104,000, although in previous gubernatorial elections the total vote had reached nearly 150,000. The high vote at the latter elections may be partly explained by the fact that at the same elections town officers were elected, and the personal interest of many candidates drew out a larger number of electors. But the falling off was also in part due, doubtless, to the timidity of conservative voters, who, because of the heat of the campaign, preferred to avoid taking sides. This is not a permanent condition, however, and I doubt not that the meeting of the assembly and the evident importance of its functions when actually performed will develop a much greater popular interest in it, and the total vote will be largely increased at the next election. I opened the assembly in your name. The roll of the members re- turned on the face of the record was called. An appropriate oath was administered to all the members and the assembly organized by selecting Seiior Sergio Osmeiia as its speaker or presiding officer. Seiior Osmena has been one of the most efficient fiscals, or prosecuting attorneys, in the islands, having conducted the government prosecu- tions in the largest Province of the islands, the Province and Island of Cebu. He was subsequently elected governor, and by his own ac- tivity in going into every part of the island he succeeded in enlisting the assistance of all the people in suppressing ladronism, which had been rife in tine mountains of Cebu for 30 or 40 years, so that to-day there is absolute peace and tranquillity throughout the island. He is a young man not 30, but of great ability, shrewdness, high ideals, and yet very practical in his methods of dealing with men and things. The assembly could have done nothing which indicated its good sense so strongly as the selection of Seiior Osmena as its presid- ing officer. Many successful candidates for the assembly seem to have embraced the cause of the Inmediatistas without having thought out deliber- ately an}^ plan by which a policy of immediate independence could be carried out. They joined the party and united in its cry because it was a popular one and because they thought that this was an easy method of being elected, or rather because they thought that without this, election would be difficult. When the assembly met it was quite apparent that the great majority were much more anxious to vindi- cate their election as a dignified, common-sense, patriotic branch of the legislature by a conservative course than to maintain consistency between their acts as legislators and their anteelection declarations. There are, of course, some members who are likely at times to make speeches containing violent language, but on the whole there seemed to be during my stay in the islands, of two or three weeks after the organization of the assembly, a very earnest wish that the assembly SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 43 should show fhe conservatism which many of us believe exists in- the Philippine people, rather than it should orive a weapon to the enemies of the people and popular government by extravagance and useless violence of speech. Since I left the islands the assembly has voted for two resident commissioners to re]:>resent the islands at Washiugton as provided in the organic act of the Philippine government. These commissioners are elected by the assembly and the commission sitting in separate session. The two candidates tendered by the assembly to the com- mission and acce]:)ted by the latter were Mr. Benito Legarda, at pres- ent one of the Filipino Commissioners, and Mr. Pablo Ocampo, of Manila. Mr. Legarda is one of the founders of the Federal Party and a Progresista. He has been many times in the United States and speaks English. He is one of the most prominent and successful business men in the islands and a public-spirited citizen of high character. Mr. Ocampo was an active sympathizer with the insurrec- tion and acted as its treasurei'. He was deported to the island of Guam by the military authorities in the days of the military govern- ment. He is a prominent and able member of the bar of the islands and a man of high character. He took part in the organization of the Nacionalista Party, Avhich he wished to have called Unionista. He is understood to have objected to the world " inmediatista " and to have withdrawn from the party on that account. As a shibboleth — as a party cry — immediate independence has much force, because it excites the natural pride of the people, but few of their number have ever worked out its consequences, and when they have done so they have been willing to postpone that question until some of the immediate needs of the people have been met. I may be wrong, but my judgment is that the transfer of real power by giving to the people part of the legislative control of the Christian provinces sobers their leaders with the sense of responsibility and teaches them some of the practical difficulties of government. They wish to vindicate their view in respect to their fitness to govern them- selves completely by exercising the powei" of the Government which has been accorded to them in a way to make the people of the United States and of the world believe that when greater power is extended, they may be trusted to exercise that with equal discretion and con- servative common sense. They are now a real part of the govern- ment of the islands. Nothing can be done affirmatively without the consent of the assembly. They have been through one election and have made election promises. Many of those promises, such as the promises of immediate independence, were of course entirely beyond the authority of the promisers. When they go back to their con- stituents at the next election they will find facing them not only their anteelection promises, but also responsibility for legislation and fail- ure to legislate which will introduce ncAv issues of a practical char- acter, and will necessitate explanation and a caution of statement that was entirely absent in the first campaign. All this can not but have a wholesome effect upon the i)olitics of the Filipinos and the Philippines. I do not for a moment guarant-ee that there will not at times be radical action by the assembly, which can not meet the approval of those W'ho understand the legislative needs of the islands, but all I wish to say is that the organization and beginning of the 44 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. life of the assembly li people have to be educated in the effectiveness of such methods before they can become reconciled to them, and the work of the health depart- ment since the beginning of the civil government in 1901 has been obstructed, first, by the inertia and indifference of the people in res]3ect to the matter and, second, by their active resistance to affirm- ative restraints upon them necessary to prevent disease. The fight against smallpox has been so successful that in the past year not a single death from it occurred in Manila, and in the Provinces of Cavite, Batangas, Cebu, Rizal, La Bataan, La Laguna, and La Union, where heretofore there have been approximately 6,000 deaths per year, not one was reported. In the few places in other Provinces where smallpox appeared it made little headway. More than 2,000,000 vaccinations against smallpox were performed last year, and vaccination is being carried on so that it will reach every inhabitant of the islands. In 1902 Asiatic cholera appeared. The loss the first year by reason of the methods introducecl was much less than it had been 15 or 16 years before, but great difficulty was encountered in putting into force the health regTilations and a futile attempt was made to estab- lish quarantine between localities in the islands. Since that time a better system of isolation and stamping out the disease in the locality where it appeared has been followed, and it is gTatifying to note that, although the dread disease appeared each year, it was finally brought to an end on November 27, 1906, and the authorities now feel that the people have been so thoroughly roused to the best methods of treating the disease that any local reappearance of it can be readily suppressed. In 1902 or 1903 the bubonic plague appeared in the islands. This has been suppressed by the isolation of all persons suffering from the disease and the destruction of plague-infected rats so that dur- ing the last year there were no cases of bubonic plague whatever. When the Americans first began government in the Philippines it was reported that leprosy was so widely extended in the islands that there were probably from 25,000 to 50,000 lepers to be cared for. After many unsuccessful efforts a leper colony has finally been estab- lished at Culion, a healthful and attractive island between Panay and Pahawan, to which all the lepers of the islands are now being gradually removed. The number probably does not exceed 3,000. The course pursued is to take each Province separately and by thorough investigation of the reported cases of lepers determine those of true leprosy and to remove them thence to the colony of Culion. The experiment at first was a doubtful one because of the SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPHJTES. 49 objection of the lepers to being taken so far away from tlieir homes, and some of the friends of lepers made vigorous objections to this course. After the removal of the first 500, however, and when they found how comfortable and agreeable life at Culion was, the objec- tions ceased. Leprosy, as a disease, usually does not directly kill its victims, but it so weakens the powers of their resistance that the rate of mortality from other causes among lepers is very high. The sys- tem of isolation and withdrawing lepers from the thickly populated communities has been at once justified by the reduction in the number of new cases. The number of known lepers in the archipelago on September 1, 1905, was 3,580; on June 30, 1907, it was 2,826, a de- crease of 654, due to the death of the known lepers without any spread of the disease as had been the case in previous years and under different conditions. The policy of removal of lepers is one which can only be carried out graclually and has been applied onlj^ to a part of the Provinces, but it will probably be completed in three or four years when all the lepers will be removed to Culion and the effect of this isolation will certainly be to reduce the infection of healthful persons with the awful disease to a minimum. The fruitful source of the spread of amoebic dysentery is the drink- ing of impure water. The water supply of Manila is drawn from the Mariquina River after it has passed through three or four thickly populated towns, and an immense amount of trouble and labor has been expended in trying to preserve the river from contamination by these towns. Military forces have been picketed along the banks and the most stringent regnilations have been enforced against the inhabit- ants. Much has been accomplished in this matter, but still the water is dangerous to drink unless boiled and filtered. With a view to the removal of this difficulty, new waterworks are in the process of build- ing at a cost to the city of Manila of about two millions of dollars. The water is to be drawn from a point, very much farther up the Mariquina Eiver, at a distance of about 25 miles from Manila, and is to be accumulated in a reservoir by damming the river at a point where nature apparently intended a dam to be put. Pure mountain water will thus be obtained, which is to be carried to the city of Manila simply by the power of gravity. The new improvement is 80 p«r cent done and water will flow into the city probably by July of 1908. In addition to this a new sewer system has been projected and is under construction in the city of Manila and 18 miles of the deep and main trunk sewers have been laid in the city. The mileage of the remainder of the sewers is very much greater, but the engineer esthnates that about half of the work has been done. The project contemplates the establishment of reservoirs and the pumping of sewage out into the bay at such a distance as to prevent its retaining any noxious character. The difficulty of sewering Manila can be understood when it is known that the level of the ground in the city is only a few feet above high-water mark. With the completion of the water and sewer systems and the canalization of the esteros or canals, with which the city is threaded, a work which is projected and which will cost about $400,000, there is no doubt that Manila will become as healthful a tropical city as there is in the world. ■ The very high death rate in the city is due to the frightful mortal- ity among the native infants under 1 year of age already alluded to. , 117376—19 4 50 SPECIAL REPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. The absence of pure milk for babes in the Philippines accounts for a good deal of this mortality, and a charitable organization has been established for the circulation at reasonable cost of milk for infants among both the poor and rich classes. The destruction of all the horned cattle by rinderpest has reduced the supply of milk and made it expensive. This adds greatly to the difficulty presented. The lack of nourishment makes the child an easy victim to any disease, and until Filipino mothers are taught properly to bring up their chil- dren we may expect this infant mortality to continue, but it is subject to cure, and the methods adopted by the government and the charitable organizations, including the churches, whose interest is aroused, may be depended on to bring about a reform in this matter. It is a fact that throughout the islands too, a great deal of the mortality, among both children and adults, is due to water-borne diseases. The supply of water in each village is generally contami- nated and noxious. The government has taken steps to induce every town to sink artesian wells for the purpose of giving its inhabitants pure water. Several well-boring machines have been purchased by the government and have been offered to the towns for use by them on condition of their supplying the fuel and the labor necessary. Wherever artesian wells have been sunk and a good supply of water found, the death rate in the town has been reduced 50 per cent. With a knowledge of the effectiveness of this remedy, it is certain that the government will continue to press upon the towns the necessity of the comparatively small ' expenditure necessary to secure proper water, for it appears that in most towns in the islands artesian water is available. There is no reason why the whole Filipino race may not be made stronger and better by the pursuit of proper sanitary methods with respect to the ordinary functions of life. The spread of education, the knowledge of cause and effect in this matter, together with the sympathetic assistance and regulation of the government are all that is needed to rid the Filipino of the obstructions to bodily growth and strength which injurious microbes and bacteria living in the body now create. The bureau of health and the bureau of science, which has actively aided the bureau of health in the investigations made, have now commended themselves to the Filipino people in such a way that there is every reason to hope that the foundation for better health in the islands has been permanently laid. The Government has this year established and begun a Government medical school, the faculty of which is made up partly of Filipinos and partly of Americans, and the most modern methods of instruc- tion are projected. A fine laboratory, already erected near the place where the medical school building is to be constructed, and a general government hospital in the immediate neighborhood will furnish a nucleus for the study of tropical diseases and the proper methods of sanitation. The graduates of this college as they grow in number and spread all over the islands into regions most of which have never known a physician at all will greatly contribute to the physical change and development for the better of the Filipino. The health department has been exceedingly expensive, and the arnount taken from the treasury each year has been subject to much criticism, but the results are so gratifying that even the most cap- SPECIAL REPORTS OlST THE PHILIPPHSTES. 5X tious seems now willing to admit that the expenditure was wise, prudent, and justified. A most thorough quarantine has been estab- lished and maintained under the auspices of the United States Pub- lic Health and Marine Hospital Service in the ports of entry in the islands. As is well understood now, the mosquito is the means of communi- cating malaria and yellow fever and other diseases. It is supposed that the Stegomyia mosquito, which carries the yellow fever, is found in the Philipj)ines, although no case of the fever has ever occurred in the islands. The importance of the mosquito in the Philippines is confined to malaria at present. Varieties of the insect carrying most malignant malaria are found to generate in the salt-water marshes, though ordinarily it has been supposed that the Anopheles mosquito conveying malaria generated only in fresh water. The wet season seems to interfere with the operations of the mosquito by throwing so much water into the streams as to prevent the stagnation necessary to their successful propagation. A singular instance of this is found in the old walled city of Manila. The old walled city has a sewer system for storm or surface-water drainage. During the wet season there is practically no malaria in the walled city, but during the dry season there is a great deal. It has been found that in the dry season in the absence of rainy weather the sewers contain stagnant pools in which the Anopheles mosquito is generated in great numbers and thus carries on his business of conveying malaria from one in- habitant of the walled city to another, whereas in the rainy season the sewers are flushed all the time and there is no opportunity for the mos- quito to propagate. Measures have now been taken to flush the sewers of the walled city in the dry season and rid the inhabitants of this pest until the new sewer system shall be put in operation, when the evil can be entirely eradicated. BENGUET, A HEALTH RESORT. In all the tropical countries in which civilized government has been established and progress made toward the betterment of conditions of human life, places have been found and settlements effected in high altitudes where the conditions approximate in atmosphere and climate those of the Temperate Zone. This is true in India, in Cey- lon, in Java, and wherever there are neighboring mountains which offer the opportunity. The Philippines are fortunate in having a territory in Luzon in the mountains of an altitude ranging from 4,500 to 7,000 feet, a rolling country filled with groves of pine trees and grass, in which the temperature rarely goes below 40° and never goes above 80° in the shade. The Province containing most of this territory is called " Benguet." Similar climate is found in the adjoining Provinces of Lepanto and Bontoc. The railway from Manila to Dagupan has now been extended to what is called " Camp No. 1," a distance of 22 miles from Baguio, the chief town in Benguet, where is the govei'::- ment sanitarium and other places of resort and cure. At the cost of about two millions of dollars, the Government has constructed a fine road up the gorge of the Bued Eiver to a height of 5,000 feet. The work would probably never have been entered upon, had it been 52 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. supposed that it would be so costly, but now that it is done, and well done, the advantages accruing and soon to accrue justify the ex- penditure. The representatives of all the churches in the islands have taken lots and are putting up buildings, hospitals of various kinds are to be erected, there is a sanitarium, the commission holds part of its ses- sions there, and it is hoped that the assembly will see fit to do the same thing. A great many Filipinos recuperate by going to Japan or Europe, but here within easy distance of Manila will be offered an opportunity wdiere the same kind of revitalizing atmosphere may be found as in a temperate climate. The Filipinos were at first dis- posed to criticise the expenditure on the ground that the road was built solely for the few American officials who expected to live there a large part of their time. The lots were offered at public auction and a great many were purchased by Filipinos,, and now it is generally understood that the value of such a place in the Philippine Islands has impressed itself upon the Filipino public at large. The present necessity is the construction ,of a railroad from Camp No. 1 directly into Baguio and steps have been taken to bring this about. A large military reservation has been set aside which it is hoped may be made into a i3rigade post for the recuperation of our soldiers while in the Philippines. The railroad is likely to have the patronage ,of those who spend part of their time at Baguio, going and coming from Manila and other parts of the islands, and also with the construction of a good hotel in Manila and another one at Baguio there is not the slightest reason to doubt that a large tourist patronage will be invited for both places. Meantime the health-giving influence of the climate at Baguio can not but exercise a good effect upon the young Filipinos who may be sent there to be educated and upon those Filipinos who have been subject to tropical diseases and have the time and means for visiting this mountain resort. With the con- struction of a railroad, transportation to Baguio may be made ex- ceedingly reasonable and sanitariums built which will furnish for very moderate cost a healthful regimen and diet. Benguet is really a part of the system of government sanitation and may properly be mentioned in connection with it here. Comparative mortality from Jan. 1, 1901, to Sept. 30, 1907. 1901 1902 1903 1904 Month. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. January February March April 753 689 885 886 903 621 608 702 767 855 848 858 1 36. 25 136.72 142.66 144.07 143.47 1 30. 89 129.27 1 33. 79 1 38. 15 141.16 1 42. 18 141.30 760 706 770 1,327 1,688 1,418 2,223 1,712 1,132 927 1,035 753 136.58 137.63 1 37. 06 1 66. 01 1 81. 26 170.54 1 107. 02 1 82. 42 156.31 144.62 151.48 1 36. 25 602 511 539 549 770 592 620 862 1,228 1,217 974 894 1 28. 98 1 27. 23 1 25. 94 1 27. 31 1 37. 06 129.45 2 33. 21 2 46. 17 2 67. 97 2 65. 19 2 63. 91 2 47. 89 796 709 751 748 766 800 866 1,032 1,064 1,018 957 794 2 42. 64 2 40. 59 2 40. 23 2 41.40 2 41.03 June 2 44.28 July 2 46.39 August September... October November. . . December 2 55.28 2 58. 89 2 54.53 2 52. 97 2 42. 53 1 Death rate computed on population of 244,732 (health department's census). 2 Death rate computed on population of 219,941 (official census, 1903). SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 53 Comparative mortality from Jan. 1, 1901, to Sept. 30, 1907 — Continued. Month . 1905 Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. 1906 Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. 1907 Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. January... February . March April May June July August September October... November December. 685 608 563 530 526 593 747 841 1,013 850 944 841 1 36. 69 1 36. 05 1 30. 15 1 29. 32 1 28. 16 1 32. 81 1 40. 00 1 45. 03 156.06 1 45. 51 152.24 1 45. 03 737 595 600 555 600 693 1,451 1,182 835 684 653 597 1 39. 47 1 35. 28 1 32. 13 1 30. 27 1 32. 13 1 36. 72 1 77. 72 1 63. 31 1 46. 22 136.64 1 36. 14 131.98/- 632 473 464 416 462 402 515 653 768 2 33. 31 2 27. 59 2 24.45 2 22. 65 2 24.35 2 21.89 2 27. 14 2 34. 41 2 41. 82 1 Death rate computed on population of 219,941 (official census, 1903). 2 Death rate computed on population of 223,542 (health census, 1907). Mortality compared loith same period of previous years. First quarter. Second quarter. Third quarter. Fourth quarter. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Nimiber of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. Number of deaths. Annual death rate per 1,000. 1901 2,327 2, 236 1,652 2,256 1,856 1,932 1,569 42.93 41. 25 30.48 41.16 34.24 35.64 28.48 2,410 4,433 1,911 2,314 1,649 1,848 1,280 43.97 80.89 34.87 42.22 30. 09 33.72 22.98 2,077 5,067 2,710 47.49 91.46 48.91 2,561 2,715 3,085 2,769 2,635 1,934 46.22 1902 29.00 1903 55.68 1904 2,962 53.46 49.98 1905 . . 2,601 3,468 1,936 46.94 62.59 34.38 47.56 1906 34.90 1907 MATERIAL PROGRESS AND BUSINESS CONDITIONS. I come now to material conditions in the islands and the progress that has been made in respect to them. While there is reason to hope that the mining industry may be very much improved and developed, the future of the islands is almost wholly involved in the develop- ment of its agricultural resources, and the business of the islands must necessarily depend on the question of how much its inhabitants can get out of the ground. Jn bringing about the reforms and mak- ing the progress which I have been detailing, the Government has had to meet disadvantageous conditions in respect to agriculture that can hardly be exaggerated. The chief products of the islands are abaca, or Manila hemp, as it is generally called, the fiber of a fruitless variety of banana plant; coconuts, generally in the form of the dried coconut meat, called " copra ; " sugar, exported in a form having the lowest degree of po- larization known in commerce ; and tobacco exported in the leaf and also in cigars and cigarettes. There are other exports, of course, but these form the bulk of the merchantable products of the islands. In addition to these, and in excess of most of them except hemp, is the production of rice, which constitutes the staple food of the inhabit- ants. Some years before the Americans came to the islands the pro- duction of rice had diminished in extent because the hemp fiber grew so much in demand that it was found to be more profitable to raise 54 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. liemp and buy rice from abroad. In the first few years of the American occupation, however, during the insurrection and the con- tinuance of the guerilla warfare, and finally the prevalence of ladronism, many of the rice fields lay idle, and the importation of rice reached the enormous figure of $12,000,000 gold, or about four- tenths of the total imports. With the restoration of better condi- tions, the production in rice has increased so that the amount of rice now imported is onlj^ about $3,500,000 in gold, and the differ- ence between the two importations doubtless measures the increased native production of the cereal. During the six years of American occupancy under the civil gov- ernment agriculture has been subject to the violent destruction which is more or less characteristic of all tropical countries. The typhoons have damaged the coconut trees, they have at times de- stroyed or very much affected the hemp production, and drought has injured the rice as well as the coconuts. The character of the tobacco leaf has deteriorated much because of a lack of care in its cultivation, due to the loose and careless habits of agriculture caused by war and ladronism, and locusts have at times cleared the fields of other crops without leavir g anything for the food of the cultivators. The great disaster to th' i islands, however, has been the rinderpest, which carried away in two or three years 75 or 80 per cent of all draft cattle in the islands. This was a blow under which the agricul- ture of the islands has been struggling for now four or five years. Attempts were made, under the generous legislation of Congress ap- propriating $3,000,000 to remedy the loss, if possible, to bring in cattle from other countries, but it was found that the cattle brought in, not being acclimated, died, most of them before they could be transferred to the farm, and then, too, they only added to the diffi- culty of the situation by bringing new diseases into the Philippines. It has been found that nothing can restore former conditions except the natural breeding of the survivors, and in this way it will certainly take five or six years more to restore matters to their normal condi- tion. Meantime, of course, other means are sought and encouraged for transportation and for plowing. The difficulty in the use of horses is that an Indian disease, called the " surra," which it has been impossible to cure, has carried off 50 per cent of the horses of the islands. Considering these difficulties, it seems to me wonderful that the exports from the islands have so far exceeded the exports in Spanish times and have been so well maintained that last year there was more exported from the islands than ever before in the history of the Philippines, as will be seen from the following table : Value of PhiUpj ine expoi ts, 1903- /.907, of American occupation. Fiscal year. Hemp. Sugar. Tobacco and manu- factures. Copra. AD other. Total. 1903 Dollars. 21,701,575 21,794.960 22: 146; 241 19, 446, 769 21,085,081 Dollars. 3,955,568 2, 668, 507 4,977,026 4, 863; 865 3, 934, 460 Dnllora. 1,882,018 2, 013, 287 1,999,193 2, 389, 890 3, 129, 194 Dollars. 4,473,029 2, 527, 019 2, 095, 355 4,043,115 4, 053, 193 Dollars. 1,107,709 1,246,854 1,134,800 1,173,495 1,511,429 Dollars 33,119,899 1904 .30, 2.50, 627 1905 32,352,615 1^06 31,917.134 1907 33, 713, 357 21,234,925 ■ 4,079,885 2,282,716 3, 438, 342 1,234,857 32,270,726 Note. — Total exports do not include gold and silver coin. SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 55 The largest export showing in Spanish times, during years for which there are official statistics, was as follows: Value of PhiUppine exports in Spanish times, calendar year's 1885-1894. Calendar year. Hemp. Sugar. Tobacco and manu- factures. Copra.i Total, in- cluding all other arti- cles. 1885 Dollars. 5,509,757 4, 340, 058 8, 161, 550 8,099,422 10,402,614 Dollars. 8, 669, 522 7,019,978 6,156,709 6, 271, 030 9, 101, 024 Dollars. 2,297,358 2, 010, 093 1,559,070 2,449,181 2,255,494 Dollars. Dollars. 20, 551, 434 1886. 5,781 36,809 131,347 209,820 20, 113, 847 19,447,997 19, 404, 434 1887 1888 1889 25, 671, 322 7,302,680 7,443,653 2, 114, 240 76,752 21,037,807 1890 6,925,564 10, 323, 913 6,886,526 7,697,164 7, 243, 842 7,265,030 5, 696, 746 7,768,595 10,368,883 5,476,617 2,469,033 2,150,306 2,535,740 2, 433, 304 1,576,175 85,764 21, 547, 541 1891.. . 20, 878, 359 1892 743,918 414, 652 1, 172, 191 19, 163, 950 1893 22, 183, 223 1894 16, 541, 842 7,815,402 7,315,174 2, 232, 912 483,305 20, 062, 983 I Value of cocoanuts included. Note. — Figures are taken from "Estadistiea general del comercio exterior de las Islas FOiplnas," issued by the Spanish Government. Total exports include gold and silver cohi. The chief export in value and quantity from the Philippines is Manila hemp, it amounting to between 60 and 65 per cent of the total exports. Its value has increased very rapidly of late and the result has been that much inferior hemp has been exported, because it could be produced more cheaply and in greater quantity. That which has made the hemp expensive and has reduced the export of it — for large quantities of it rot in the field still — is the lack of transportation and the heavy expense of the labor involved in pulling the fiber and free- ing it from the pulp of the stem. Several machines have been in- vented to do this mechanically and it seems likely now that two have been invented which may do the work, although they have not been sufficiently tested to make this certain. Should a light, portable, and durable machine be invented which would accomplish this, it will revolutionize the exportation of hemp and will probably have a ten- dency to reduce its cost, but greatly to increase its use and develop the export business of the Philippine Islands most rapidly. SUGAR AND TOBACCO REDUCTION OF TARIFF. There is a good deal of land available for sugar in the Philippines, but there is very little of it as good as that in Cuba, and the amount of capital involved in developing it is so great that I think the pos- sibility of the extension of the sugar production is quite remote. The moment it expands, the price of labor, which has already increased 50 to 75 per cent, will have another increase. All that can really be ex- pected is that the sugar industry — and this is also true of the tobacco industry— shall be restored to their former prosperity in the earlier Spanish times, when the highest export of sugar reached 265,000 tons to all the world. The tobacco industry needs a careful cultivation, which, under present conditions, it is very difficult to secure. The carelessness with 56 SPECIAL REPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. which the plant is grown and the defective character of the leaves is such as to make the manufacturers of cigars and tobacco in Manila despair of using the Philippine product without the addition of the wrappers either from Sumatra or the United States. All that a friend of the Philippines can hope for is that the sugar and tobacco industries shall regain their former reasonably prosper- ous conditions. The development of the islands must be in another direction. The question of labor and capital both must always seri- ously hamper the growth of sugar production. Nor would I regard it as a beneficial result for the Philippine Islands to have the fields of those islands turned exclusively to the growth of sugar. The social conditions that this would bring about would not promise well for the political and industrial development of the people, because the cane- sugar industry makes a society in which there are wealthy landowners holding very large estates with most valuable and expensive plants and a large population of unskilled labor, with no small farming or middle class tending to build up a conservative, self-respecting community from bottom to top. But, while I have this view in respect to the matter, I am still strongly of the opinion that jus- tice requires that the United States should open her sugar and tobacco markets to the Philippines. I am very confident that such a course would not injure, by way of competition, either the sugar or the tobacco industries of the United States, but that it would merely substitute Philippine sugar and tobacco for a comparatively small part of the sugar and tobacco that now comes in after paying duty. Their free admission into this country would not affect the prices of sugar and tobacco in the United States as long as any sub- stantial amount of those commodities must be imported with the full duty paid in order to supplj^ the markets of the United States. So confident am I that the development, which the sugar and tobacco interests of the United States fear in the Philippines from an admission of those products free to the United States, will not ensue to the injury of those interests that I would not object to a lim- itation on the amount of sugar and tobacco in its various forms, manu- factured and unmanufactured, which may be admitted to the United States from the Philippines, the limitation being such a reasonable amount as would admittedly not affect the price of either commodity in the United States or lead to a great exploitation of the sugar and tobacco interests in the islands. The free admission of sugar and tobacco up to the amount of the proposed limitation, for the purpose of restoring the former prosperity in these two products to the islands, is very important. There are two or three Provinces, notably Occi- dental Negros and the island of Panay, the prosperity of which is bound up in good markets for sugar, and this is true also of some parts of Laguna, Cavite, Bulacan, and Pampanga, where sugar was raised in the old days with success and profit. In respect to tobacco, the need is not so pressing, because the territory in which marketable tobacco culture prevails is by no means so great. Still it does affect three Provinces — Cagayan, Isabela, and La Union. FODDER. The agricultural bureau of the government has been devoting a great deal of effort and time and money to experimenting in agri- SPECIAL, REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 57 culture. They have made many failures and have not yet succeeded certainly in sowing a grass which will properly cure and may be used for hay. It is hoped that in certain of the higher altitudes alfalfa, and especially clover, may be raised successfully; and, if so, the very high price which has now to be paid for fodder imported from America may be avoided. This is a question which seriously affects the cost of the Army in the Philippines. NEW PLANTS. Through the agricultural bureau a new industry has been de- veloped, that of raising maguey, a plant, the fiber of which is much less valuable than that of Manila hemp, but which has a good market whenever it is produced in quantities. The rapidity with which a great deal of land in the Philippines that heretofore has not been capable of profitable use is now taken up with the planting of maguey is most encouraging. The plants are being distributed by the agri- cultural bureau in the islands. THE FINANCL4L CONDITION OF THE GOVERNMENT. The financial condition of the government is as good to-day as it ever has been. The following table shows what it is, and the sur- plus on hand for emergencies as satisfactory : General account halance sheet of the government of the Philippine Islands for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907. Debit. Credit. Surplus and deficiency account: Balance from previous years Excess revenue? over expendittires. Excess resources over liabilities Carried from suspense account Total. Insular revenues and expenditures: Customs revenues Internal revenue Miscellaneous revemies Insular expenditures Payments to Provinces Losses under section 41, act 1402 Allowances under section 42, act 1402. Interbureau transactions Total Excess revenues over expenditures. Resources and liabilities: The insular treasurer's cash balance . Gold-standard fund Surplus on customs auction sales Invalid money orders Outstanding liabilities Loans to Provinces Refundable export duties City of Manila Outstanding warrants Friar lands funds Moro Province Depositary fund Silver certificate redemption fund . . . Refundable internal revenues $7, 500, 782. 29 7, 500, 782. 29 6, 968, 724. 86 1,4:38,440.40 34fi. 20 501.38 8,408,012.84 2, 741, 606. 41 11,149,619.25 $4,439,974.02 2, 741, 606. 41 319,201.86 7, 500, 782. 29 7,990,376.57 2,684,579.24 389, 440. 25 85, 223. 19 11,149,619.25 11,149,619.25 25, 033, 490. 93 1,006,753.13 481, 137. 55 '3,661, 25.5.'3i 466. 84 2,047.14 5, 229. 40 6, 670, 548. 06 45,646.13 413, 698. 89 'i39.'i36.'45 3,956,263.00 10,770,3.54.00 331,970.30 58 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. General account balance sheet of the government of the Philippine Islands for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1,907 — Continued. Debit. Credit. Resources and liabilities— Continued. Public worlcs and permanent improvement fund Congressional relief fund Sewer and waterworks construction fimd Insular treasurer's liability on luiissued silver certificates. Unissued silver certificates Miscellaneous special funds ' Provincial governments Philippine money-order account United States money-order account Bonded indebtedness O utstanding postal drafts Friar land bond sinking fund Sewer and waterworks construction bond sinking fund. . . Rizal monument fund Baeuio town-site improvement fund Collecting and disbursing officers Total Excess resources over liabilities $2, 19S, 249. 70 "9,'762,'5o6'6o' 106, 216. 92 2,384,404.42 51, 290, 202. 15 Total. 51,290,202.15 Suspense account: Transfer of funds. General account deposits Accountable warrants Carried to surplus and deficiency account . Total 319,201.86 319, 201. 86 Treasury account: Balance from previous fiscal years Receipts at the treasury Withdrawals from the treasurj' Available for appropriation Approriations undrawn Available for refimdment or redemption . 22,461,858.40 112,780,022.27 $236,934.79 1,855,081.84 9,702,500.00 387,095.17 1, 132, 743. 62 182, 576. 54 128,201.86 14,500,000.00 2, 283. 29 39,898.34 1,413.20 1,525.19 43, 789, 419. 86 7, 500, 7S2. 29 51, 290, 202. 15 7, 674. 49 195, 263. 24 116,264.13 319, 201. 86 110,347,526.19 5,218,817.54 4, 948, 919. 94 14, 726, 617. 00 Total. 135, 241, 880. 67 135,241,880.67 The following statement of revenues and expenditures of the Philippine government, exclusive of all items of a refundable char- acter, covers the period from the date of American occupation, August 18, 1898, to June 30, 1907. Revenues. Fiscal year ended June 30— Insular. Provincial. Citv of Manila. Total. 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1908 1907... Total. $3, 558, 6, 899, 10, 753, 9,371, 10, 757, 10, 249, 11, 549, 11, 468, 11, 149, 682. 83 340. 53 459. 95 283. 11 455. 63 263. 98 495. 37 067. 16 619. 25 S2, 008, 480. 88 2, 527, 252. 93 3,295,839.47 3,107,912.91 4, 509, 572. 02 4,604,528.31 SI, 199, 593. 21 1,541,5«75.85 1,931,129.97 1,441,165.82 1, 995, 289. 85 1,691,341.93 $3, 558, 682. 83 6, 899, 340. 53 10, 753, 459. 95 12,579,357.20 14. 826. 284. 41 15. 476. 233. 42 16,098,574.10 17, 972, 929. 03 17,445,489.49 85,756,667.81 20, 053, 586. 52 9,800,096.63 115,610,350.96 Expenditures. 1899 182,376,327.12 4,758,793.66 6,451,528.37 8, 189, 404. 59 10, 249, 533. 40 11, 122, 562. 38 12, 248, 857. 33 10,146,779.12 8, 408, 012. 84 $2, 376, 327. 12 1900 4, 758, 793. 66 1901 6,451,528.37 1902 U, 633, 158. 22 1,981,261.22 2, 339, 826. 10 1, 474, 320. 43 4,335,091.32 4,736,038.20 $622,294.81 1,177,611.67 1,578,303.50 2,574,102.78 2, 492, 392. 23 1,560,801.40 10, 444, 857. 62 1903 13,408,406.29 1904 15,040,691.98 1905... 16,297,280.54 1903 16, 974, 262. 67 1907 14,704,852.44 Total 73,951,798.81 16,499,695.49 10,005,506.39 1 100.457.000.69 SPECIAL REPORTS OX THE PHILIPPINES. The bonded indebtedness is as follows: 59 1 Title of bonds. Authorized by Congress. Amoimt of issue. Date issued. Redeem- able. Due. Land purchase bonds PhiUppine public improve- ment bonds: First issue Act of July 1. 1902 S7, 000, 000 2, 500, 000 1,000,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 Jan. 11,1904 Mar. 1, 1905 Feb. 1, 1906 June 1, 1905 Jan. 2, 1907 1914 1915 1916 1915 1917 1934 Act of Feb. 6, 190.5 1935 . .do 1936 Manila sewer and water supply bonds: Act of July 1, 1902, as amend- ed bv act of Feb. 6, 190.5. do. 1935 1937 Total . . 13, 500, ODD To meet the interest and principal on these bonds ample sinking funds have been provided, and the bonds are now held on the market, notwithstanding- the present depression, at prices well above those for which they were originally sold. friars' lands. The question of the disposition of the friars' lands is one which is occupying the close attention of the Secretary of the Interior and the director of lands. The price of the lands was about $7,000,000. Much delay has been encountered in making the necessary surveys and the disposition of them for the present has largely been tempo- rary and at small rents in order to secure an attornment of all the tenants and the clear definition of the limits of the leaseholds claimed by them. This has involved considerable time and expense in mak- ing the necessary surveys. The injury to the sugar industry and the destruction of draft cattle has affected the price and character of the sugar lands, and they have been allowed to grow up in cogon grass. This will require the investment of considerable capital to put them in sugar-producing condition. It is estimated that the salable lands would amount in value to something over $5,000,000 and that the lands, mostly sugar, which are not now salable, and the plants which were bought with the lands, represent the other $2,000,000 of the pur- chase price. It will take some years to work out the cost, and it is possible, as already prophesied, that there will be a considerable loss to the islands, but as the purchase was based on political grounds and for the purpose of bringing on tranquillity, such a loss as that which was thought not improbable at the time of the purchase is amply compensated for in the general result. FINAL .SETTLEMEJs^T IN RESPECT TO CHARITABLE TRUSTS AND SPANISH- FILIPINO BANK WITH ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. I have spoken in previous reports of the controversies arising be- tween the Roman Catholic Church and the Philippine government in reference to the administration of certain charitable trusts. The same church was interested as a majority stockholder in the Spanish- Filipino Bank and a dispute had arisen as to the right of the bank to exercise the power conferred on it by its original charter of issuing bank notes in an amount equal to three times its capital stock. A 60 SPECIAL, EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. compromise was finally arranged last June with Archbishop Harty, of Manila, and was consummated during my visit to the Philippines. I submitted to you a full report of this compromise. It received your approval and was then carried into effect by the Philippine Conmiission. ROADS. The construction of roads by the central government has gone on each year, but the roads have not been kept up by the numicipal governments charged with the duty as they ought to have been. The commission has now established a system by which it is hoped ulti- mately that the whole matter of roads may receive a systematic im- petus throughout the islands. Roads can not be kept up in the. Tropics except by what is known as the " caminero " system, in which a small piece of each road shall be assigned to the repair and control of a road repairer to be known as the " caminero." The truth is that good roads will develop as the people develop, because the people can keep up the roads if they will, and it is not until they have a large sense of political responsibility that they are likely to sacrifice much to maintain them. RAILROADS IN THE PHILIPPINES. In my last annual report I set forth in detail the concessions granted for the construction of railroads in Luzon, Panay, Cebu, and Negros, and showed that within five years we might expect that, in- stead of a single line of railway 120 miles in length, which was all that we found when we occupied the islands, we would have a system with a mileage of 1,000 miles. Work has gone on in full compliance with the terms of the concessions of the two companies. Only one of these companies took advantage of the provision for the guaranty of bonds, and they have built about 40 miles of road and have earned, under the terms of the concession, the guaranty of $973,000 of bonds, which has already been signed and delivered by the Philippine Government. Of course, in this financial panic these com- panies are likely to have difficulty in securing investors in their securities. The roads as constructed have been well constructed and are admirably adapted to resist the climatic conditions in the islands. There is no leason in my judgment why these roads when con- structed should not pay a reasonable percentage upon the investment. It is of the utmost difficulty to secure the coming of capital to the islands, and it would greatly aid us if the dividends earned by these roads were very large. In the Orient two-thirds of the income of railways comes from passenger earnings and one-third from freight. .Of course, the railroads are very essential to the agricultural inter- ests of the country and will directly affect the amount of exports of agricultural products — so we may count on a steady increase in the freight receipts from the moment of their beginning operation. As I say, however, the chief hope for profit in the railways is in the passenger traffic. In the three Visayas in which the railroads are to be constructed the density of population is about 160 per square mile, whereas the average population per square mile in the United States in 1900 was but 26. The island of Cebu has a population of 336 per square mile, or a greater density than Japan, France, Germany, ot" SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 61 British India. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that the pas- senger earnings on these railroads will be very large. It was antici- pated that the labor problem would be a difficult one to solve in the construction of these roads. This has not proved to be true. The Philippine labor has shown itself capable of instruction, and by proper treatment of being made constant in its application. Of course, the prices of labor have largely increased, but the companies constructing the roads have found it wise to increase wages, and thereby secure greater efficiency. Even with increased wages the cost of unit of result is less in the Philippines in the construction of rail- ways than it is in the United States. Of course, the drain on the labor supply of sugar plantations and other places where agricultural labor is employed is great and the effect upon raising sugar and other products is to increase the cost. But I think the lesson from the construction of the railroads is that Philippine labor can be improved by instruction and can be made effective and reasonably economical by proper treatment. The coming into the islands of the Capital to construct railways, of course, has had a good effect in the improve- ment of business conditions, but it is to be noted that in the estimate of importations the railroad material and supplies which are brought in free under the statute are not included in the totals, and there- fore are not to be offered as an explanation for the verj^ good show- ing in respect to the amount of imports to the islands for the last fiscal year. GE^'ERAL BUSINESS CONDITIONS. Of course, tlie depression in certain business branches of agricul- ture, like sugar, tobacco, and rice, due to lack of markets for the first two, and to a lack of draft animals in the production of sugar and rice has had a direct effect upon the business of the islands of a de- pressing character. Gradually, however, business has grown better. In spite of adverse conditions the importations of rice have decreased from $12,000,000 gold to $3,500,000 gold, and, while the imports as a whole have increased not to their highest previous figure, they have been maintained within four and a half millions of their highest mark, and, as already said, the exports are higher than ever in the history of the islands, the balance of trade in their favor for the last fiscal year being about $5,000,000, exclusive of gold and silver and government and railway free entries. I found in the islands a disposition on the part of both American and Philippine business men and of the leaders of all parties in the Philippine Assembly to make a united effort to improve business and general conditions. BUSINESS FUTURE OF PHILIPPINES. I do not hesitate to prophesy that during the next 25 years a de- velopment will take place in the agriculture and other business of the Philippine Islands, which will be as remarkable in its benefits to the United States and the Philippine Islands as was the development of Alaska during the last 10 or 15 years. Hope of this is not what has actuated the government in pursuing the policy that it has pursued in the development of the islands, but this is as inevitable a result as 62 SPECIAL REPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. if it had been directly sought, and perhaps the absence of selfishness in the development of the islands is a greater assurance of profitable return than if business exploitation by the United States hacl been the chief and sole motive. The growth in the production of hemp and other fiber products, in coconuts, in rubber and many other tropical crops and in peculiar manufactures of the islands may be looked for- ward to with certainty. GOJA) SIAXnAUD CURRENCY. One of the great benefits conferred upon the islands by the iVmeri- can Government has been the introduction of the gold standard. This has doubtless prevented the larger profits which were made in the old days by the purchasers of hemp and other agricultural prod- ucts in the islands, who sold again in European and American mar- kets, because under the system then prevailing they bought in silver and sold in gold, and by watching the markets they were able to add very much to the legitimate profit of the middlemen by what consti- tuted a system of gambling in exchanges. The same features char- acterized the banking in the islands. Now, however, with the gold standard the gambling feature in business is very largely elimi- nated. The coinage is satisfactory to the people, the silver certifi- cates circulate well and are popular, and there seems to be no ground for complaint of the currency. NEED OF XTAPITAI/ — AGRICULTURAL BANK. One of the crying needs of the Philippines is capital, and this whether it be for the development of railroads, wagon roads, manu- factures, or in the promotion of agriculture. The usurious interest which has to be paid by the farmers is so high as to leave very little for his profit and maintenance, and ever since we entered the islands the cry for an agricultural bank which would lend money for a reasonable interest, say, 10 per cent, has been urged upon the com- mission. Last year Congress authorized the government to guar- antee the interest at 4 per cent on a certain amount of capital in- vested in such a bank, but up to this time no one has embraced the opportunity thus offered to undertake the conduct and operation of a bank although negotiations are pending looking to such a result. It is now proposed that the government shall undertake this instead of a private individual. Experimentation has been attempted on the friars' lands by the appropriation of $100,000 for loans to the friar tenants to encourage them to improve agriculture, and the result of this experiment will be awaited with great interest. The reduction of the amount of silver in the silver peso for the pur- pose of keeping it within the 50-cent gold value, which is the legal standard, has gone steadily on and will result ultimately in the accu- mulation in the treasury of a fund of $3,000,000 gold. It is thought that part of this monej^ might be taken to establish an agricultural bank on a governmental basis. The treasurer of the islands, Mr. Branagan, who has had large experience in banki-ng in the islands, because his office has brought him closely into contact with it and be- cause he has had to examine all the banks, is confident that an agricul- tural bank of $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 might be established by the SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 63 g-overnment and managed by the treasury department, together with the provincial treasurers in such a way as greatly to aid the cause of agriculture in the islands. One great dificulty in the operation of an agricultural bank is the uncertainty that prevails to-day in the islands in respect to the titles of the lands which are held. The land law provided a method of perfecting titles through what is called the land court founded on the Torrens land system, which was introduced by law some years ago in the islands. The expense of surveying the lands, due to the shortness of supply of surveyors, and the time taken has made the process of settling titles rather slow, but as defects have appeared the commission has changed them and it is hoped that this system of preparing for the business of an agricultural bank may go on apace. POSTAL SAVINGS BANK. A postal savings bank has been established and was first more patronized by Americans than Filipinos, but Filipinos are now tak- ing it up and the deposits therein amount to upward of 1P1,000,000. There have been practically no banking facilities throughout the islands, except in Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu, and this establishment of postal savings-bank offices in a large proportion of the post offices throughout the islands oifers an opportunity to the people of moder- ate means to put their money in a secure place and to derive a small revenue therefrom. The insecurity of savings b^^ Filipino farmers and others in the country has certainly reduced the motive for saving which an opportunity to deposit their money will stimulate. The exchange business of the islands has also been facilitated by statutory provisions authorizing the sale of exchange by provincial treasurers on the central treasury at Manila and vice versa. POST OFFICE AND TELOSGRAPHS. The post office department, considering the conditions that exist and the difficulties of reaching remote parts of the islands, has been very well managed and the offices are increasing in " encouraging proportion each year. The following table shows the increase in postal facilities from year to year of our occupation : For fiscal year ending June 30. Number post offices. Money-or- der offices. Number employees. Stamp sales. 1900 19 24 90 209 291 414 476 505 113 130 331 570 579 612 1,003 1,091 y228 178 36 1901 24 31 33 63 62 60 63 233' 182 96 1902 238' 418 40 1903 248' 414 36 1904 224' 354 61 1905 222' 701 36 1906 425' 261 50 1907 607'203 44 Under a system devised by Mr. Forbes, secretary of commerce and police, mail subsidies were granted to commercial lines on condition that good service at reasonable rates of transportation should be fur- nished upon safe and commodious steamers. The Government vessels which had previously been purchased in order to promote intercourse 64 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. between the islands are now used on outlying routes where commercial lines will not take up the traffic, but are used in connection with the commercial lines, and in this way additional routes are being tested and the marine commerce between all the islands is made to increase. By consent of the Secretary of War and on the recommendation of the commanding general of the Philippines and the agreement of the civil government all the telegraph lines in the islands have now been transferred to the post-office department of the civil gov- ernment of the Philippines. These telegraph lines reach into the remotest Provinces and to all the principal islands of the large archi- i^elago. While there were some telegraph lines in the Spanish times, the system has grown to such proportions now as to be almost an entirely new system. It has made the government of the islands much more easy because it brings everj^ Province within half a day's communication of Manila for information and instructions from the central authority. It has furnished a most profitable instru- ment for business communications, and while it entails considerable burden on the civil government it is well worth for governmental and business purposes all that it costs. I ought to say that the post- office department is rapidly training Filipinos to fill all the positions of telegraph operators, and that this materially reduces the cost of operation and at the same time furnishes an admirable technical school for great numbers of bright Filipino young men. I submit a statement of the mileage of the cables and telegraph lines operated by the government. 1906. Miles. Lines transferred to the insular government by the Signal Corps up to June 30 : Telegraph lines 3. 780 Cable lines 328 Telephone lines_. 2, 137 Total . 6, 245 Lines operated, by the Signal Corps on June 30 : Telegraph lines 1, 406 Cable lines - 1,452 Telephone lines 338 Total 3, 196 Total mileage of telegraph, cable, and telephone lines in operation June 30 9, 441 Number of telegraph offices 161 Number of telephones in operation 450 1907. Lines transferred to the insular government by the Signal Corps since July 1, 1907 1,914.5 Total mileage of telegraph and cable lines in operation by the insular government to date 6, 9.51 MINES AND MINING. There has been a good deal of prospecting in the islands and gold and copper have been found in paying quantities in the mountains of northern Luzon, the Provinces of Benguet and Bontoc and Le- SPECIAL KEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 65 panto, as well as in the Camarines in southeastern Luzon, and in Masbate, an island lying directly south of Luzon ; but great complaint is made, and properly made, of the limitations upon the mining law which prevent the location by one person of more than one claim on a lode or vein. Mining is such a speculative matter at any rate, and the capital that one puts into it is so generally lost that it would seem that, in a country like the Philippines where development ought to be had, there should be liberal inducements for the invest- ment of capital for such a purpose. Secretary Worcester of the inte- rior department has frequently recommended that this limitation of the law be repealed. The commission joins in this recommendation, and I cordially concur. While I do not favor large land holdings, I also concur in the recommendation of the secretary of the interior and the Commission that the prohibition upon corporations holding more than 2,500 acres of land be also stricken out. It certainly might well be increased to 10,000 acres if any limitation is to be imposed at all. UNITED STATES COASTWISE TRADING LAAVS. It is proposed by some to put in force the coastwise trading laws in respect to the navigation between the United States and the islands. I think this a ^ery shortsighted policy. To-day the trade between the United States and the islands, export and import, is about 28 per cent of the total. The proportion of the total export trade from the Philippines to the United States is growing and is certain to grow more rapidly in the future, especially if proper legislation is adopted in respect to sugar and tobacco. Now, a coastwise trading law will exclude altogether the use of foreign bottoms between the ports of the LTnited States and the ports of the Philippine Islands and will confine that commerce to United States vessels. There is very grave doubt whether there are enough United States vessels to carry on this trade as it is, and even if there were they could not carry on the trade without a very great increase in freight rates over what they now are. The minute that these rates are advanced, while the rates to other countries remain the same, the trade between the islands and the United States will cease to be. There will be no trade for the vessels of the United States to carry, no one will have been benefited in the United States, and the only person who will reap advantage is the foreign exporter to whom the Philippine busi- ness house will naturally turn for exchange of products. The only method possible by which the United States vessels can be given the Philippine trade is by voting a reasonable subsidy for United States vessels engaged in that trade. Any other prohibitive or exclusive provision of law will be merely cutting off the nose to spite the face of the interest which attemjots it. I feel certain that when the ques- tion of applying the coastwise trading laws to the business between the United States and the islands is fully investigated, even those representing the shipping interests that need and ought to have much encouragement will conclude that the coastwise trading laws ax^plied to the American Philippine trade would merely destroy the trade without benefiting the shipping interests. In the criticisms upon the Government's Philippine policy to be found in the columns of the newspapers that favor immediate sepa- 117376—19 5 66 SPECIAL REPOKTS ON THE PHILIPriNES. ration it has been frequentl.y said that the coastwise trading laws of the United States apply as between islands of the Philippines. The truth is that the restrictions upon shipping between ports in the Philippine Islainds are what the legislature of the islands imposes, and Congress has made no provision of limitation in respect to them. The coastwise regulations in force within the archipelago are as lib- eral as possible. CITY or MANILA. The city of Manila is the social, political, and business center of the islands. It is the only large city in the islands. Its population is about 250,000, while there is no other city that exceeds 40,000 in population. By Avhat now has been proven to be a mistake the com- mission purchased a building which was known and used as the Oriente Hotel. It was a hotel not very well conducted, but it was the onl}^ important hotel in the city of sufficient size and dignity to induce the coming of tourists. It was hoped that the purchase of this build- ing, which was not particularly adapted as a hotel, might lead to the construction and maintenance of a better hotel. Such has not been the result, and although there are hotels in the city of Manila its reputation is that of being unable to furnish to the traveling public a comfortable hostelry for a short stsij. This has driven away many travelers of our own country and other countries from a city that in historical interest, in beauty, and in comfort of life Avill compare favorablj^ with any. Mr. Burnham, the well-known landscape architect of Chicago, some years ago, without compensation, visited the Philippines and mapped out a plan for the improvement of the city and laid out a plan of construction for Baguio in Benguet as the summer capital. To both of these plans all improvements which have been attempted in the city have conformed, and if the present efficient city govern- ment continues there is every reason to believe that Manila will be- come a most attractive city. A contract has been made for the leas- ing of ground immediately upon the Luneta and facing the bay to a firm of capitalists for the construction of a hotel to cost ^500,000. It is doubtful, however, whether this capital can be raised at the present time, and if it falls through it is proposed — and I think with wisdom proposed — -that the government shall erect a hotel as a public investment for the development of the city and the islands and lease it to the best bidder. There is no city in the world better governed than Manila. The streets are well cleaned, are well policed, there is a most excellent fire department, the parks are being enlarged and improved, the street car system is as good as any anywhere, and with the improvements in the water supply the sewerage system and esteros or canals, which are now under foot and part of which are quite near accomplished, the face which the Filipinos turn toward the world in the city of Manila will be a most pleasing one. POLITICAL FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS. There are in the Philippines many who wish that the government shall declare a definite policy in respect to the islands so that they may know what that policy is. I do not see how any more definite SPECIAL KEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 67 policy can be declared than was declared by President McKinley in his instructions to Secretarj^ Eoot for the guidance of the Philippine Commission, which Avas incorporated into law by the organic act of the Philippine government, adopted July 1, 1902. That policy is de- clared to be the extension of self-government to the Philippine Islands by gradual steps from time to time as the people of the islands shall shoAv themselves fit to receive the additional responsi- bility, and that policy has been consistently adhered to in the last seven years now succeeding the establishment of civil government. Having taken some part and sharing in the responsibility for that government, of course my Adews of the result are likelj^ to be colored by my interest in having the policy regarded as successful, but elim- inating as far as is possible the personal bias, I believe it to be true that the conditions in the islands to-day vindicate and justify that policj''. It necessarily iuA^olves in its ultimate conclusion as the steps- toAvard self-goA^ernment become greater and greater the ultimate inde- pendence of the islands, although of course if both the United States and the islands Avere to conclude after complete self-government Avere. possible that it would be mutually beneficial to continue a govern-^ mental relation between them like that between England and Aus- tralia, there would be nothing inconsistent with the present policy in- such a result. Any attempt to fix the time in Avhich complete self-government may be conferred upon the Filipinos in their own interest is, I think,, most unwise. The key of the whole policy outlined by President McKinley and adopted by Congress was that of the education of the masses of the people and the leading them out of the dense ignorance- in which they are noAV, Avith a view to enabling them intelligently to exercise the force of public opinion without Avhich a popular self- government is impossible. It seems to me reasonable to say that such a condition can not be reached until at least one generation shall have been subjected to the ijrocess of primary and industrial education, and that Avhen it is considered that the people are divided into groups speaking from: 10 to 15 different dialects, and that they must acquire a common, medium of communication, and that one of the civilized languages^, it is not unreasonable to extend the necessary period beyond a genera- tion. By that time English Avill be the language of the islands and we can be reasonably certain that a great majority of' those living there wjll not only speak and read and write English, but will be affected by the knoAvledge of free institutions, and will be able to understand their rights as members of the community and to seek to enforce them against the pernicious system of caciquism and local bossism, which I haA^e attempted in this report to describe. But it is said that a great majority of the people desire immediate independence. I am not prepared to say that if the real wish of the majority of all the people, men, Avomen, and children, educated and uneducated, were to be obtained, there would not be a A^ery large majority in favor of immediate independence. It would not, how- ever, be an intelligent judgment based on a knowledge of what in- dependence means, of what its responsibilities are or of what popular government in its essence is. But the mere fact that a majority of all the people are in fa\"or of immediate independence is not a reason 68 SPECIAL, EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPHSTES. why that should be granted, if we assume at all the correctness of the statement, which impartial observers can not but fail to acquiesce in, to wit : That the Filipinos are not now fit for self-government. The policy of the United States is not to establish an oligarchy, but a popular self-government in the Philippines. The electorate to which it has been thought wise to extend partial self-government embraces only about 15 or 20 per cent of the adult male population, because it has been generally conceded by Filipinos and Americans alike that those not included within the electorate are wholly unable to exercise political responsibility. Now, those persons who de- manded and were given a hearing before the delegation of Congress- men and Senators that visited the islands in 1905, to urge immediate independence, contended that the islands are fit for self-government because there are from 7 to 10 per cent of intelligent people who are constituted by nature a ruling class, while there are 90 per cent that are a servile and obedient class, and that the presence of the two ■classes together argues a well-balanced government. Such a propo- sition thus avowed reveals what is known otherwise to be the fact that many of those most emphatic and urgent in seeking indepen- dence in the islands have no thought of a popular government at all. They are in favor of a close government in which they, the leaders of a particular class, shall exercise control of the rest of the people. Their views are thus wholly at variance with the policy of the United States in the islands. The presence of the Americans in the islands is essential to the due development of the lower classes and the preservation of their rights. If the American Government can only remain in the islands long enough to educate the entire people, to give them a language which enaJoles them to come into contact with modern civilization, and to extend to them from time to time additional political rights :so that by the exercise of them they shall learn the use and respon- sibilities necessary to their proper exercise, independence can be granted with entire safetj^ to the people. I have an abiding convic- tion that the Filipino people are capable of being taught self-govern- ment in the process of their development, that in carrying out this policy they will be improved physically and mentally, and that, as they acquire more rights, their power to exercise moral restraints upon themselves will be strengthened and improved. Meantime they will be able to see, and the American public will come to see, the enormous material benefit to both arising from the maintenance of some sort of a bond between the two countries which shall preserve their mutually beneficial business relations. No one can have studied the East without having been made aware that in the development of China, Japan, and all Asia are to be pre- sented the most important political questions for the next century, and that in the pursuit of trade between the Occident and the Orient the having such an outpost as the Philippines, making the United States an "Asiatic power for the time, will be of immense benefit to its merchants and its trade. While I have always refrained from making this the chief reason for the retention of the Philippines, be- cause the real reason lies in the obligation of the Unitect States to make this people fit for self-government and then to turn the govern- ment over to them, I don't think it improper, in order to secure SPECIAL, KEPORTS 01^ THE PHILIPPINES. 69* support for the polic}'^., to state such additional reason. The severe^ criticism to which the policy of the Government in the Philippines has been subjected by English colonial statesmen and students should not hinder our pursuit of it in the slightest. It is, of course, opposed to the policy usuallj^ pursued in the English Government in dealing' with native races, because, in coinmon with other colonial powers, most of England's colonial statesmen have assumed that the safest course was to keep the native peoples ignorant and quiet, and that any education which might furnish a motive for agitation was an inter- ference with the true and proper course of government. Our policy is an experiment, it is true, and it assumes the risk of agitation and sedition which may arise from the overeducation of ambitious poli- ticians or misdirected patriots, in order that the whole body of the people may acquire sufficient intelligence ultimately to exercise gov- ernmental control themselves. Thus far the policy of the Philippines has worked. It has been, attacked on the ground that we have gone too fast; that we have given the natives too much power. The meeting of the assembly and the conservative tone of that body thus far disclosed makes for our view rather than that of our opponents, but had the result been en- tirely different with the assembly, and had there been a violent out- break at first in its deliberations and attempts at obstruction, I should not have been in the least discouraged, because ultimately I should- have had confidence that the assembly would learn how foolish such- exhibitions were and how little good they accomplished for the mem- bers of the assembly or the people whom they represented. The fact that this natural tendency was restrained is an indication of ther general conservatism of the Filipino people. Though bearing the name of inunecliate independistas, the mem- bers of the controlling party of the assembly are far from being in favor of a policy which those words strictly construed would mean.- Moreover, the recent election held, since the assembly was organized^, in which 15 progresista and 15 nationalista governors were electecl,^ is an indication that the nationalist feeling is by no means so over- whelming as was at first reported when the returns from the election, of the assembly were published in the press. The fact that Filipinos are given an opportunity now to take part in the forming of the governmental policies in the islands will, I. hope, satisfy manj?" of them that the United States is in earnest in attempting to educate them to self-government, will so occupy their ambitions and minds as to make the contention for immediate in- dependence more of an ideal than of a real issue, will make more permanent and lasting the present satisfactory conditions as to peace and tranquillity in the islands, and will turn their attention toward the development of the prosperity of the islands by improvement of its material conditions and the uplifting of the people by their educa- tion, sanitation, and general instruction in their political, social, and material responsibilities. There has been in the United States in the last year a recurring- disposition on the part of many of the press and many public men to speak of the Philippine policy as if foredoomed to failure, and the condition of the islands as a most deplorable one. No one who knew the islands in 1900, and who has visited them during the present year^ 70 SPECIAL EEPORTS OX THE PHILIPPINES. and especially during the meeting of the assembl}-, can honestly and fairly share such views. To one actually responsible in any degree ior the present conditions by reason of taking part in the government of those islands, the changes made and the progress made under the circumstances are most gratifying. COST OF THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLANDS. The most astounding and unfair statements have appeared in the press from time to time and have been uttered by men of political prominence who should know better in respect to the cost to the United States of the Philippine Islands. The question of the cost of the islands to the United States as affecting its future policy can not of course include the cost of a war into which the United States was forced against its will, and which, whether it ought to have been car- xied on or not, was carried on and was finished more than five years ago. The only question of cost that is relevant to the present dis- cussion is the cost to the United States of the maintenance of the present Philippine government, including in that the cost of the maintenance of that part of the Army of the United States which is in the Philippine Islands. Nor is it fair to include the entire cost of the Army of the United States in the Philippine Islands for the rea- son that even if we did not have the Philippines, we should certainly retain the present size of our standing Army, which hardly exceeds 60,000 effective men, a very small army for 80,000,000 people. More- over, it is worthy of note that the greatest increase in the Army of recent years has been in that branch of the service — to Avit, the Coast Artillery — ^which has not been used in the Philippines for some jears. The only additional cost, therefore, that the maintenance of the Army can be said to entail upon the United States is the additional 'Cost of maintaining 12,000 soldiers in the islands over what it would be to maintain the same number of soldiers in the United States. This has been figured out, and roughly stated amounts to about $250 a man, or $3,000,000, together with the maintenance of 4,000 Philip- pine Scouts at a cost of $500 a man, or in all $2,000,000, which makes a total annual expenditure of $5,000,000. The United States at present contributes something, perhaps $200,000, to the expense of the coast survey of the islands. With this exception, there is not one cent expended from the Treasury of the United States for the maintainance of the government in the islands. The additional cost of the 12,000 men in the islands, figured above at $250 a man, includes the cost of transportation and the additional cost of food supplies and other matters. There is an item of cost which perhaps may be charged to the Philippine Islands. I refer to the expense of fortifying the Bay of Manila, the port of Iloilo, and the port of Cebu, so that in holding the islands the United States shall not be subject to sudden and capricious attack by any ambitious power. This may reach a total of ten millions. But it is hardly fair to charge this to the Philip- pine policy, for almost everyone concedes the necessity of maintain- ing and fortifying coaling stations in the Orient whether we have the Philippines or not. SPECIAX, KEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 71 The question is therefore whether, in order to avoid the expendi- ture of $5,000,000 a year, the United States should pursue the humili- ating policy of scuttle, should run away from an obligation which it has assumed to make the Philippines a permanently self-governing community, and should miss an opportunity at the same time of building up a profitable trade and securing a position in the Orient that can not but be of the utmost advantage in obtaining and main- taining its proper proportion of Asiatic and Pacific trade. From time to time there has been quite severe criticism of the present Philippine government on the ground that it is such an expensive government as to be burdensome to the people. The facts are that the taxes which fall upon the common people are much less than they ever were under the Spanish regime. The taxes which fall upon the wealthy are considerably more, because as a matter of fact the Spanish system of taxation was largely devised for the purpose of avoiding taxation of the wealth of the islands. I have not at hand and am not able to insert in this report the figures and statistics which demonstrate this fact. They are now being pre- pared in Manila, and I hope at some future date to submit them for your consideration. Not only is the comparison to be instituted with the conditions existing under the Spanish regime but also with the taxation of other dependencies. The data with respect to these are difficult to get, and frequently liable greatly to mislead when the conditions of each particular colony are not fully under- stood and stated. But my information is derived from Gov. Smith and Mr. Forbes that the cost per capita of the government of the Philippines will com]3are most favorably with that of colonial gov- ernments presenting substantially similar conditions. The reports from the Governor General, the heads of departments and of bureaus have not reached Washington. I was able before I left the islands to read informal drafts of some of them, and much of the information as to the last year's operations I have derived from them. I shall submit the reports immediatel}' upon their arrival. RECOMMENDATIONS, I therefore recommend: First. That legislation be adopted by Congress admitting the products of the Philippine Islands to the markets of the United States, with such reasonable limitations as may remove fear of interference with the tobacco and sugar interests in the United States ; Second. That the present restrictions be removed as to the acqui- sition of mining claims and the holding of lands by corporations in the Philippines; Tliird. That further legislation be passed authorizing the Philip- pine government, if it chooses, to open and conduct an agricultural bank with a capital not exceeding $2,000,000; and Fourth. That the coastwise laws of the United States be made permanently inapplicable to the trade between the ports of the islands and the ports of the United States. Sincerely, yours, Wm. H. Taft. The President. ADDRESS BY WM. H. TAFT, SECRETARY OF WAR, AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE PHILIPPINE ASSEMBLY, OCTOBER 16, 1907. 73 ADDRESS BY WM. H. TAFT, SECRETARY OF WAR. Gentlemen of the Assembly: President Roosevelt lias sent me to convey to you and the Filipino people liis congratulations upon another step in the enlargement of popular self-government in these islands. I have the greatest personal pleasure in being the bearer of this message. It is intended for each and every member of the assem- bly, no matter what his views upon the issues which were presented in the late electoral campaign. It assumes that he is loyal to the gov- ernment in which he now proposes, under oath of allegiance, to take part. It does not assume that he may not have a wish to bring about, either soon or in the far future, by peaceable means, a transfer of sovereignty; but it does assume that while the present govern- ment endures he will loyally do all he lawfully can to uphold its authority, and to make it useful to the Filipino people. I am aware that, in view of the issues discussed at the election of this assembly, I am expected to say something regarding the policy of the United States toward these islands. JBefore attempting any such task it is well to make clear the fact that I can not speak with the authority of one who may control that policy. The Philippine Islands are territory belonging to the United States, and by the Constitution the branch of that Government vested with the power and charged with the duty of making rules and regula- tions for their government is Conarress. The policy to be pursued with respect to them is, therefore, ultimately for Congress to deter- mine. Of course, in the act establishing a government for the Philip- pine Islands passed by Congress July 1, 1902, wide discretion has been vested in the President to shape affairs in the islands, within the limitations of the act, through the appointment of the governor and the commission, and the power of the Secretary of War to supervise their work and to veto proposed legislation, but not only is the transfer of sovereignty to an independent government of the Filipino people wholly within the jurisdiction of Congress, but so also is the extension of any popular political control in the present government beyond that conferred in the organic act. It is embarrassing, there- fore, for me, though I am charged with direct supervision of the islands under the President, to deal in any way with issues relating to their ultimate disposition. It is true that the peculiar develop- ment of the government of the islands under American sovereignty has given to the attitude of the President upon such issues rather more significance than in most matters of exclusively congressional cognizance. After the exchange of ratifications of the treaty of Paris in April of 1899, and until the organic act of July 1, 1902, Con- gress acquiesced in the government of the islands by the President as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy without interference, 75 76 SPECIAL EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. and when it passed the organic act it not only confirmed in every respect the anomalous quasi civil government w^hich he had created^ but it also made his instructions to the Secretary of War part of its statute and followed therein his recommendation as to future exten- sion of popular political control. This close adherence of Congress to the views of the Executive in respect to the islands in the past gives ground for ascribing to Congress approval of the Philippine policy, as often declared by President McKinley and President Roose- velt. Still, I have no authority to speak for Congress in respect to the ultimate "disposition of the islands. I can only express an. opinion as one familiar with the circumstances likely to affect Con- gress in the light of its previous statutory action. The avowed policy of the national administration under these two Presidents has been and is to govern the islands, having regard to the interest and welfare of the Filipino people, and by the spread of gen- eral primary and industrial education and by practice in partial political control to fit the people themselves to maintain a stable and well-ordered government affording equality of right and opportunity to all citizens. The policy looks to the improvement of the people both industrially and in self-governing capacity. As this policy of extending control continues, it must logically reduce and finally end the sovereignty of the United States in the islands, unless it shall seem wise to the American and the Filipino peoples, on account of mutually beneficial trade relations and possible advantage to the islands in their foreign relations, that the bond shall not be com- pletely severed. How long this process of political preparation of the Filipino peo- ple is likely to be is a question which no one can certainly answer. When I was in the islands the last time, I ventured the opinion that it would take considerably longer than a generation. I have not changed my view upon this point; but the issue is one upon which opinions differ. However this may be, I believe that the policy of the administration, as outlined above, is as definite as the policy of any government in a matter of this kind can safely be made. We are engaged in working out a great experiment. No other nation hag at- tempted it, and for us to fix a certain number of years in which the experiment must become a success and be completely realized would be, in my judgment, unwise. As I premised, however, this is a ques- tion for settlement by the Congress of the United States. Our Philippine policy has been subjected to the severest con- demnation by critics who occupj^ points of view as widely apart as the two poles. There are those who say that we have gone too fast,^ that we have counted on the capacity of the Filipino for political development with a foolish confidence leading to what they regard as the disastrous result of this election. There are others who assert that we have denied the Filipino that which is every man's birth^ right — to govern himself — and have been guilty of tyranny and a violation of American principles in not turning the government over to the people of the islands at once. With your permission, I propose to consider our policy in the light of the events of the six years during which it has been pur- sued, to array the difficulties of the situation which we have had to meet and to mention in some detail what has been accomplished. SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 77 The civil government was inaugurated in 1901 before the close of a war between the forces of the United States and the controlling elements of the Philippine people. It had sufficient popular support to overawe many of those whose disposition was friendly to the Americans. In various Provinces the war was continued inter- mittently for a year after the appointment of a civil governor in July, 1901. This was not an auspicious beginning for the organi- zation of a people into a peaceful community acknowledging alle- giance to an alien power. Secondly, there was, in the United States, a strong minority party that lost no opportunity to denounce the policy of the Government and to express sympathy with those arrayed in arms against it, and declared in party platform and in other ways its intention, should it come into power, to turn the islands .over to an independent gov- ernment of their people. This not only prolonged the war, but when peace Jfinally came, it encouraged a suUenness on the part of many Filipinos and a lack of interest in the progress and development of the existing government that were discouraging. It offered the hope of immediate independence at the coming of every national election by the defeat of the administration at the polls. This was not of assistance in carrying out a policj^ that depended for its work- ing on the political education of the people by their cordial partici- pation, first, in the new municipal and provincial governments, and finally in the election of a National Assembly. The result has been that 'during the educational process there has been a continuing con- troversy as to the political capacity of the Filipino people. It has naturally been easy to induce a majority of the electorate to believe that they are now capable of maintaining a stable government. All this has tended to divert the people's attention from the existing government, although their useful participation in that must measure their progress toward fitness for complete autonomy. The impatience of the popular majority for further power may be somewhat mitigated as the extent of the political control which is placed in the hands of the people increaises, and as they become more familiar with the responsibilities and the difficulties of actual power. The difference between the attitude of an irresponsible critic who has behind him the easily aroused prejudices of a people against an alien government and that of one who attempts to formulate legislation which shall accomplish a definite purpose for the good of his own people is a healthful lesson for the ambitious statesman to learn. Other formidable political obstacles had to be overcome. There still remained present in the situation in 1901 the smoldering ashes of the issues which had led the people to rebel against the power of Spain — I mean the prospective continuance of the influence of the regular religious orders in the parochial administration of the Roman Catholic Church in the islands and their ownership of most valuable and extensive agricultural lands in the most populous Provinces. The change of sovereignty to a government which could exercise no control over the church in its selection of its agents made the new regime powerless, by act or decree, to prevent the return of the friars to the parishes, and yet the people were disposed to hold the government responsible whenever this was proposed. It would have 78 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. been fraught with great danger of political disturbance. It was also essential that the religious orders should cease to be agricultural landlords in order to eliminate the agrarian question arising between them and 60,000 tenants which had played so large a part in the previous insurrections against Spain. These results were to be attained without offending, or infringing upon the rights of, the Roman Catholic Church, the influence of which for good in the islands could not be denied. Other political difficulties attending th& transfer of a sovereignty from a government in which the interests of the state and the church were inextricably united to one in which they must be absolutely separated, I need not stop to elaborate. The religious and property controversies arising out of the Aglipayan schism, and the disturbances caused, added much to the burden of the government. The novelty of the task for the United States and her people, the lack of the existence of a trained body of colonial administrators and civil servants, the dependence for a time upon men as government agents who had come out in a spirit of adventure to the islands and some of wdiom proved not to be fitted either by character or experience for the discharge of responsible public duties, gave additional cause for discouragement. Another great difficulty in working out our policy in these islands has been the reluctance of capitalists to invest money here. Political privileges, if unaccompanied by. opportunities to better their condi- tion, are not likely to produce permanent contentment among a peo- ple. Hence the political importance of developing the i'esiA'iJ^ees of these islands for the benefit of its inhabitants. This can -only be done by attracting capital. Capital must have the prospeclt- of security in the investment and a certain return of profit before it will become available. The constant agitation for independence in the islands,, apparently supported by the minority party in the United States, and the well-founded fear that an independent Philippine Government now established would not be permanent and stable have made capi- talists chary of attempting to develop the natural resources of the islands. The capital which has come has only come reluctantly and on terms less favorable to the public than would have been exacted under other conditions. Another difficulty of the same character as the last in preventing material progress has been the failure of Congress to open the markets of the United States to the free admission of Philippine sugar and tobacco. In every other way Congress has shown its entire and gen- erous sympathy with the policy of the administration; and in this matter the popular branch of that body passed the requisite bill for the purpose by a large majority. Certain tobacco and sugar interests of the United States, however, succeeded in strangling the measure in the Senate committee. I have good reason for hope that in the next Congress we may be able to secure a compromise measure which shall restore the sugar and tobacco agriculture of the islands to its proper prosperity, and at the same time by limitations upon the amounts of importation allay the fears of injury on the part of the opponents of the measure. Still, the delay in this much-needed relief has greatly retarded the coming of prosperous times and has much discouraged supporters of our policy in America who have thought SPECIAL REPORTS OiT THE PHILIPPHsTES. 79 this indicated a lack of national purpose to make the present altru- istic policy a success. But the one thing- that interfered with material progress in the islands, more than all other causes put together, was the rinderpest, which carried awa}^ from 75 to 80 per cent of the cattle that were absolutely indispensable in cultivating, reaping, and disposing of the agricultural products upon which the islands are wholly dependent. The extent of this terrible ciisaster can not be exaggerated and the islands have not yet recovered from it. Attempts to remedy the evil by the importation of cattle from other countries have proved futile, and the islands can not be made whole in this respect except by the natural reproduction of the small fraction of the animals that es- caped destruction. This is not a matter of a year, or of two years or of three years, but a matter of a decade. Then, too, there were in these years surra, locusts, drought, destructive typhoons, cholera, bu- bonic plague, and smallpox, ladronism, and pulajanism. The long period of disturbance, of guerrilla warfare and unrest, which inter- fered for years with the carrying on of the peaceful arts of agricul- ture and made it so easy for those who had been used to work in the fields to assume the wild and loose life of predatory bands claiming to be liberating armies, all made a burden for the community that it was almost impossible for it to bear. When I consider all these difficulties, which I have rehearsed at too great length, and then take account of the present conditions in the islands, it seems to me that thej^ present an occasion for profound satisfaction and that they fully vindicate the policy which has been pursued. How have we met the difficulties ? In the first place, we have car- ried out with entire fidelit}^ the promises of Presidents McKinle^^ and Roosevelt in respect to the gradual extension of political control in the government as the people should show themselves fit. In 1901 the commission adopted the municipal code, which vested complete autonomy in the adult male citizens of every municipality in the islands, except that of Manila, which for special reasons, like those which have prevailed with respect to the government of the city of Washington, was preserved for control by the central government. The electorate was limited to those who could speak English or Spanish, or who paid a tax of ^15 a 5^ear, or who had filled munici- pal office under the Spanish regime, and did not exceed 20 per cent of the total adult males of the population. Very shortly after this a form of provincial government w^as established in which the legisla- tive and executive control of the province was largely vested in a provincial board consisting of a governor and treasurer and super- visor. Provision was made for the election of a governor and the appointment under ciAdl-service rules of a treasurer and supervisor. Subsequently it was found that the government was too expensive and the office of supervisor was finally abolished, and after some four years the board was made to consist of a governor and treasurer and a third member elected as the governor was, thus effecting pop- ular autonomy in the provincial governments. And now comes the assembly. It is said by one set of critics, to whom I have already referred, that the franchise is the last privilege that ought to be granted in 80 SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. the development of a people into a self-governing community, and that we have put this into the hands of the Filipinos before they have shown themselves to be industrially and in other ways capable of exercising the self-restraint and conservatism of action which are essential to political stability. I can not agree with this view. The best political education is practice in the exercise of political power, unless the subject is so ignorant as to be wholly blind to his own interests. Hence the exercise, of a franchise Avhich is conferred only on those who have qualifications of education or property that prove intelligence and substance, is likely to teach the electorate asefid political lessons. The electorate under the Philippine law are suf- ficiently alive to their own interests to make the exercise of political power a useful training for them, while the power to be exercised is subject to such limitation as not to be dangerous to the community. More than this, the granting of the franchise was most useful in pro- ducing tranquillity among the people. The policy has been vindi- cated by the fact. The importance of the agency of the Army of the United States in suppressing insurrection I would not minimize in the least; but all who remember clearly the succession of events from 1901 to 1903 will admit that the return to peace and the acquiescence of the Fili- pino people in American sovereignty we^e greatly influenced and aided by the prospect held out to the Filipinos of participation in the government of the islands and a gradual extension of popular self-control. AVithout this and the confidence of the Filipino people in the good purposes of the United States and the patience with which they endured their many burdens that fate seemed to increase, the progress which has been achieved would have been impossible. Let us consider in some detail what progress has been made. First. To repeat what I have said, the islands are in a state of tranquillity. On this very day of the opening of the national assem- bly there has never been a time in the history of the islands when peace and good order have prevailed more generally. The difficulties presented by the controversies arising with and concerning the Koman Catholic Church have either been completely settled or are in process of satisfactory adjustment on a basis of justice and equity. Second. Most noteworthy progress has been made in the spread of general education. One of the obstacles to the development of this people speaking half a dozen or more different native dialects was a lack of a common language, which would furnish a medium of sympathetic touch with modern thought and civilization. The dense ignorance of a very large proportion of the people emphasized, the necessity for a general educational system. English was the language of the sovereign power, English was the business language of the Orient, English was the language in which was thought and written the history of free institutions and popular government, and English was the language to which the common people turned with eagerness to learn. A system of education was built up, and to-day upward of half a million children are being taught to read, write, and recite English. It is not an exaggeration to assert that now more native Filipinos speak English than Spanish, although Spanish was the language of the ruling race in these islands for more than 250 years. English is not so beautiful as the Spanish language, but SPECIAL REPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 81 it is more likely to prove of use to the Filipinos for the reasons I have given. The strongest basis for our confidence in the future of the Filipino people is the eagerness with which the opportunities extended for education in English have been seized by the poor and ignorant parents of these islands for their children. It is alike pathetic and encouraging. I am not one of these who believe that much of the public money should be expended here for university or advanced education. Perhaps one institution merely to form a type of higher education may be established at Manila or at some other suitable place in the islands, and special schools to develop needed scientific professions may be useful, but the great part of the public funds expended for education should be used in the spread of primary education and of industrial education — that education which shall fit young men to be good farmers, good mechanics, good skilled laborers, and shall teach them the dignity of labor and that it is no disgrace for the son of a good family to learn his trade and earn his livelihood by it. The higher education is well for those who can use it to advantage, but it too often fits a man to do things for which there is no demand and unfits him for work which there are too few to do. The enlargement of opportunity for higher education may well await private benefi- cence or be postponecl to a period when the calls upon the island treasury for other more important improvements have ceased. We have laid the foundation of a primary and industrial educational system here which, if the same spirit continues in the government, will prove to be the most lasting benefit which has been conferred on these islands by Americans. Third. We have introduced here a health department which is gradually teaching the people the necessity for sanitation. In the years to come, when the great discoveries of the world are recited, that which will appear to have played as large a part as any in the world's progress in the current hundred years will be the discovery of proper sa:''%ry methods for avoiding disease in the Tropics. The introduction of such methods, the gTadual teaching of the people the simple facts affecting hygiene, unpopular and difficult as the process of education has been, will prove to be another one of the great benefits given by Americans to this people. The efforts of the government have not been confined to preserving the health of the human inhabitants of these islands, but have been properly extended to doing what can be done in the matter of the health of the domestic animals, whi di is so indispensable to the mate- rial progress of the islands. The destruction hj rinderpest, by surra, and by other diseases to which cattle and horses are subject, I have already dwelt upon. Most earnest attention has been given by men of the highest scientific attainment to securing some remedy which will make such widespread disasters in the future impossible. Much time and effort and money has been spent and much has been accom- plished in this matter. The people are being educated in the necessity for care of their cattle and for inviting in public aid at once when the dread rinderpest shows its presence. Serums have been dis- covered that have been effective to immunize cattle, and while the disease has not disappeared, it is not too much to say that such an 117376—19 6 82 SPECIAL, REPORTS OX THE PHILIPPINES. epidemic as that which visited the islands in 1900, 1901, and 1902 is impossible. Fourth. A judicial system has been established in the islands which has taug-ht the Filipinos the possibility of the independence of a judi- ciary. This must be of enduring good to the people of the islands. The personnel of the judges is divided between Americans and Fili- pinos, both for the purpose of aiding the Americans to learn and administer civil law and of enabling the Filipinos to learn and admin- ister justice according to a system prevailing in a country where the judiciary is absolutely independent of the executive or legislative branches of the Government. Charges have been made that individ- ual judges and particular courts have not been free from executive control and have not been without prejudices arising from the race of the particular judge who sat in the court, but, on the whole, an impar- tial review of the six years' history of the administration of justice will show that the system has been productive of the greatest, good and that right has been sustained without fear or favor. It is entirely natural that a system which departs from the principles of that in which one has been educated should at times attract his severe an- imadversion, and as the S3'stem here administered partakes of two systems, it is subject to the criticism of those trained in each. Another agency in the administration of justice has beBn the con- stabulary. When I was here something more than two years ago, the complaints against that body w^ere numerous, emphatic, and bitter. I promised, on behalf of the Philippine government and the Wash- ington administration, that close investigation should be made into the complaints, and that if there was occasion for reform that reform would be carried out. It gratifies me on my return to the islands now to learn that a change has come, that the complaints against the con- stabulary have entirely ceased, and that it is now conceded to be discharging with efficiency the function which it was chiefly created to perform, of sympathetically aiding the provincial governors and municipal authorities of the islands in maintaining t;Vlpeace of each Province and each municipality, and that there is a,\iiorough spirit of cooperation between the officers and men of the constabulary and the local authorities. In respect to the administration of justice by justices of the peace, reforms have been effected, but I am not sure that there is not still great room for improvement. This is one of the things that come home close to the people of the country and is a subject that will doubtless address itself to the wise action and consideration of the national assembly. Fifth. We come to the matter of public improvements. The port of Manila has been made into a harbor which is now as secure as any in the Orient, and which, with the docking facilities that are now being rapidly constructed, will be as convenient and as free from charge and burden as any along the Asiatic coast. The improve- ments in Iloilo and Cebu JHarbors, the other two important ports of the islands, are also rapidly progressing. Road building has pro- ceeded in the islands, both at the instance of the central government and through the agency of the Provinces. The difficulties of road building and road maintaining in the Philippines are little under- stood by those not familiar with the difficulty of securing proper SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 83 material to resist the enormous wear and tear caused by the torrential downpours of the rainy season. Progress in this direction must nec- essarily be gradual, for the islands are a poor country, comparatively speaking, and roads are expensive. Early in the history of the islands we began the construction of a road from Pangasinan to the mountains of Benguet, in order to bring within the reach of the people of the islands that healthful region, where the thermometer varies from 40 to 80 degrees and in which all the diseases of the Tropics are much more easily subject to cure than in the lowlands. Had it been supposed that the road thus to be con- structed would involve an expense of nearly $2,000,000, the work would not have been begun, but, now that the road has been con- structed, I would not undo what has been done, even if it were pos- sible. As time progresses the whole Province of Benguet will be settled; there w^ill be made the home of many educational institu- tions, of manj^ sanitariums, and there will go, as transportation be- comes cheaper, the Filipino people to obtain a change of air and acquire a renewed strength that is given to tropical peoples by a visit to the Temperate Zone. When the Americans came to the islands there was one railroad 120 miles long, and that was all. In spite of circumstances, which I have already detailed, making capital reluctant to come here, contracts have now been entered into, that are in the course of fulfillment^ which in five years will give to the islands a railroad mileage of 1,000 miles. The construction of these roads Avill involve the invest- ment of twenty to thirty millions of dollars, and that in itself means an added prosperity to the country, additional demands for labor^ and the quickening of all the nerves of trade. When the work is finished, it means a great additional profit to agriculture, a very great enlargement of the export capacity of the islands, and a sub- stantial elevation of the material condition of the people. In the matter of municipal improvements, which directly concern the people, that w:hich has taken place in Manila is most prominent. The improvement of the streets, the introduction of a satisfactory street railway s^^stem 35 miles in length, the improvement of the general appearance of the city and its hygienic condition, the con- struction of new waterworks and a new sewage system, all strike one who knew the city in 1900. The improvements of other municipali- ties in the islands have not kept pace with those in Manila, and of course they were not so imperatively needed; but the epidemics of cholera and plague and smallpox which have prevailed have con- vinced those in authority of the necessity of bettering the water sup- ply of all municipalities and for improving this by the sinking of artesian wells and other means, so that bad water, that frightful source of the transmission of disease, should be reduced to a mini- mum. The Government now maintains and operates a more complete sys- tem of posts, telephones, and telegi'aphs than ever before in the history of the islands. Seventy-five per cent of the 652 municipali- ties now established in these islands have post offices, in 235 of which there are now opened for business postal savings banks. The telegraph or telephone now connects all of the provincial capitals with Manila and more than 90 offices are now open for business. 84 SPECIAL REPORTS OX THE PHILIPPINES. Appropriation has been made to provide for a system of rural free delivery. In less than one year of operation the Postal Savings Bank has deposits exceeding ?600,000, and the nnmber of Filipino depositors now exceeds 1,000, and the proportion of their deposits is steadily increasing. Sixth. We have inaugurated a civil-service law for the selection of civil servants upon the merit system. On the whole it has worked well. It has grown with our experience and has improved with the disclosure of its defects. One of the burning questions which constantly presents itself in respect to the civil service of a Government like this is, how far it shall be American and how far Filipino. In the outset it was es- sential that most of the civil servants of the Government should be Americans. The Government was English speaking, and the prac- tical difficulty of having subordinates who did not speak that lan- guage prevented large employment of Filipinos. Then their lack of knoAvledge of their American governmental and business methods had the same tendency. The avowed policy of the Government has been to employ Filipinos wherever, as between them and Americans, the Filipinos can do equally good work. This has given rise to fre- quent and bitter criticism, because it has been improperly assumed that every time that there has been a vacancy it could be filled by a Filipino. There are two great advantages in the employment of F'ilipinos — one is that this is the Government of the Filipinos and they ought to be employed where they can be, and the other is that their employment is a matter of economy for the Government, be- cause they are able to live more cheaply and economically in the islands than Americans and so con afford to receive less salary. There has, therefore, been a constant reduction of American em- ployees and an increase of Filipinos. This has not been without its disadvantage because it makes competent American employees feel «n uncertainty of tenure, and materially affects their hopes of pro- motion and their interest in the Government of which they are a part. This disadvantage I believe can be largely obviated. There are many American civil servants in this government who have rendered most loyal, difficult, and efficient service, in season and out of season, through plague and epidemic, in sickness and in health, in full sympathy with the purposes and policy of the govern- ment. Without them our government would have been a complete failure. They will never receive adequate reward. Their interest in their work has prevented their return to their native land, where the same energy and efficiency would have earned them large return. They are most valuable public servants who have done a work that, had they done it in the English colonial service or at home, would have been certain to secure to them a permanent salary and entire free- dom from anxiety as to the future. I would be glad to see adopted a system of permanent tenure and retirement on pensions for the small and higher classes of civil employees. Their continuance in the government indefinitely is a public necessity. I sincerely hope the Philippine Assembly will exhibit its spirit of justice and public interest to the point of concurring in such a measure, even though this, at present, will be of benefit to more Americans than Filipinos. Seventh. In the progress which has been made I should mention the land system, the provision for homestead settlement, for free SPECIAL EEPOETS OlST THE PHILIPPINES. 85 patents, and for perfecting of imperfect titles by land registration. The homestead settlements under the law were very few for several years, but I am delighted to learn that during 1907 they reached 4,000 and the free patents applied for were 10,600. It is probable that the machinery for land registration, though necessary, is too expensive, and it will be for you to decide whether, in view of the great public benefit that good land titles will bring to the country^ it may not be wise to reduce the cost of registration to the landowner and charge the expense to the government. Capital will not be ad- vanced to the farmer unless his title is good, ancl the great benefit of an agricultural bank can never be realized until the registration of titles is greatly increased. This naturally brings me to the subject of the agricultural bank. After much effort Congress was induced to pass an act which author- izes the Philippine government to invite the organization of such ai bank with private capital by guaranteeing an annual income of a certain percentage on the capital invested for 30 years. Negotiations- have been opened and are pending with some American capitalists. in the hope of securing the establishment of such a bank. The condition of agriculture in the islands, while generally muclr improved in the last three years, is still unsatisfactory in many parts of the islands, due not only to the continued scarcity of cattle but also to the destructive effect of the typhoon of 1905 upon the hemp culture. This has properly led to the suspension of the land tax for another year and the meeting of half the deficit in provincial and municipal treasuries thus produced out of the central treasury. The production of rice has, however, materially increased. It is also a source of satisfaction to note that the isxports from the islands,, which are wholly agricultural, are larger in value by half a million gold dollars than ever in the history of the islands. One of the chief duties of this assembly is to devote its attention and practical knowl- edge to measures for the relief of agriculture. Eighth. The financial condition of the Philippine government is quite satisfactory, and so, too, is the state of the money and cur- rency of the islands. There is a bonded indebtedness for the pur- chase of friar lands amounting to $7,000,000, for the waterworks and sewage of Manila of $3,000,000, and for public works amounting to $3,500,000. Sinking funds have been established for all of these. The price paid for the friar lands was a round one, and may result^ after the lands are disposed of, in some net pecuniary loss to the government, but the political benefit of the purchase was a full justi- fication. The lands will be disposed of to the tenants as rapidly as the public interest Avill permit. The only other permanent obliga- tion of the government is the contingent liability on the guaranty of interest for 30 years on the bonds issued to construct 300 miles of railroad in the Visayas. We may reasonably hope that this obliga- tion will soon reduce itself to nothing when the roads come into suc- cessful operation. The governor general reports to me that the budget for 1908 will show an income and surplus from last year^ without any land tax, from which it will be possible to pay all the interest on the bonds and guaranties, all the insular expenses, the proper part of the expenses of Manila, $2,000,00.0 in permanent im- provements, and still have on hand for contingencies $1,000,000. I 86 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPHSTES. am further advised that the condition of most of the Provinces is excellent in respect to income and surplus. It has been necessary to reduce the silver in the Philippine peso to keep its intrinsic value within the value of 50 cents gold, at which it is the dutj^ of the government to maintain it, and this change is being rapidly carried through without much difficulty. The benefit to the people, and especially the poorer and working classes, in the establishment of the gold standard is very great. It eliminates a gambling feature from the business of the islands that always worked for the detriment of the Philippine people. We are just carrying through a settlement with the Spanish-Filipino Bank which I hope will provide a means of safely adding to the currency of the country and increasing its elasticity. In recounting these various evidences of progress in the last six years I am not unmindful that the business of the islands is still far from prosperous. Indeed, it is noteworthy that so much progress has been made in the face of continued business depression due to the various causes I have elsewhere enumerated; but it is a long lane that has no turning, and I look forward to the next decade in the history of the islands as one which will be as prosperous as this one has been the reverse. Business is reviving, the investment of foreign capital is gradually increasing, and only one thing is needed to insure great material improvement and that is the continuance f conservatism in this government. I feel confident that the inauguration of this assembly, instead of ending this conservatism as the prophets of evil would have it, will strengthen it. Before discussing the assembly I wish to give attention to one report that has been spread to the four corners of the globe, and which, if credited, might have a pernicious etfect in these islands. 1 refer to the statement that the American Government is about to ■sell the islands to some Asiatic or European power. Those who •credit such a report little understand the motives which actuated the American people in accepting the burden of this government. The majority of the American people are still in favor of carrying out our Philippine policy as a great altruistic work. They have no selfish object to secure. There might be a grim and temporary* satisfaction to those of us who have been subjected to severe criticism for our alleged lack of liberality toward the Filipino people and of sympathy with their aspirations, in witnessing the rigid govern- mental control which would be exercised over the people of the islands under the colonial policy of any one of the powers to whom it is suggested that we are about to sell them; but that would not excuse or justify the gross violation, by such a sale, of the implied obligation which we have entered into with the Filipino people. That obligation presents only two alternatives for us — ^one is a permanent maintenance of a popular government of law and order under American control, and the other a parting with such control to the people of the islands themselves after they have become fitted to maintain a government in Avhich the right of all the inhabitants to life, liberty, and property shall be secure. I do not hesitate to pronounce the report that the Government contemplates the transfer of these islands to any foreign power as utterly without foundation. It has never entered the mind of a single person in the Government SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPIl^ES. 87 responsible for the administration. Such a sale must be the subject of a treaty, and the treaty power in the Government of the United States is exercised by the President and the Senate, and only upon the initiative of the President. Hence an Executive declaration upon this subject is more authoritative than an Executive opinion as to probable congressional action. Coming- now to the real occasion of this celebration, the installa- tion of the national assembly, I wish, for purposes of clearness, to read the section of the organic act under which this assembly has been elected : That two years after tlie comliletii)n and pulilication of the census, in case sufh condition of general and com]>lete peace ^Yith recognition of the authority of the United States sliall have continued in the territory of said islands not inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes and such facts shall have been certified to the President by the Philippine Commission, the President upon being satisfied thereof shall direct said commission to call, and the com- mission shall call, a general election for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly of the people of said territory in the Philippine Islands, which shall be known as the Philippine Assembly. After said assemljly sliall have convened and organized, all the legislative power heretofore conferred on the Philippine Commission in all that part of said islands not inhabited by Moros or other non- Christian tribes shall be vested in a legislature consisting of two houses — the Philippine Commission and the Philippine Assembly. Said assembly shall con- sist of not less than 50 nor more than 100 members, to be apportioned by said commission among the provinces as nearly as practicable according to popula- tion : Provided, That no province shall have less than one member : And provided further. That provinces entitled by population to more than one member may be divided into such convenient districts as the said commission may deem best. Public notice of such division shall be given at least 90 days prior to such election, and the elections shall be held under rules and regulations to be pre- scribed by law. The qualification of electors in such election shall be the same as is now provided by law in case of electors in municipal elections. The mem- bers of assembly shall hold office for two years from the 1st day of January next following their election, and their successors shall be chosen by the people every second year thereafter. No person shall be eligible to such election who is not a qualified elector of the election district in which he may be chosen, owing allegiance to the United States, and 25 years of age. The legislature shall hold annual sessions, commencing on the first Monday of February in each year and continuing not exceeding 90 days thereafter (Sundays and holidays not included) : Provided, That the first meeting of the legislature shall be held upon the call of the governor within 90 days after the first election : And provided further, That if at the termination of any session the appropriations necessary for the support of the government shall not have been made, an amount equal to the sums appropriated in the last appropriation bills for such purposes shall be deemed to be appropriated ; and until the legisla- ture shall act in such behalf the treasurer may, with the advice of the governor, make the payments necessary for the purposes aforesaid. The legislature may be called in special session at any time by the civil gover- nor for general legislation, or for action on such specific subjects as he may designate. No special session shall continue longer than 30 days, exclusive of Sundays. The assembly shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members. A majority shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members. It shall choose its speaker and other offi- cers, and the salaries of its members and officers shall be fixed by law. It may determine the rule of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly be- havior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member. It shall keep a journal of its proceedings, which shall be published, and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, on the demand of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. I can well remember when that section was drafted in the private office of Mr. Root in his house in Washington. Only he and I were 88 SPECIAL EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. present. I urged the wisdom of the concession and he yielded to my arguments and the section as then drafted differed but little from the form it has to-day. It was embodied in a bill presented to the House and passed by the House, was considered by the Senate, was stricken out in the Senate, and was only restored after a conference, the Sena- tors in the conference consenting to its insertion with great reluctance. I had urged its adoption upon both committees, and, as the then governor of the islands, had to assume a responsibility as guarantor in respect to it which I have never sought to disavow. I believe that it is a step and a logical step in the carrying out of the policy an- nounced by President McKinley and that it is not too radical in the interest of the people of the Philippine Islands. Its effect is to give to a representative body of the Filipinos a right to initiate legislation, to modify, amend, shape, or defeat legislation proposed by the Com- mission. The power to obstruct by withholding appropriations is taken away from the assembly, because if there is not an agreement as to appropriations between the commission and the assembly, then the appropriations of the previous year will be continued; but the power with this exception, absolutely to veto all legislation and initiate and shape proposed laws is a most substantial one. The con- currence of the assembly in useful legislation can not but command popular suji/port for its enforcement ; the discussion in the assembly and its attitude must be informing to the executive and to the other branch of the legislature, the commission, of what are the desires of people. The discharge of the functions of the assembly must give to the chosen representatives of the Philippine electorate a most valuable education in the responsibilities and difficulties of practical govern- ment. It will put them where they must investigate not only the theoretical wisdom of proposed measures, but also the question whether they can be practically enforced and whether, where expense is involved, they are of sufficient value to justify the imposition of a financial burden upon the people to carry them out. It will bring the members of the assembly as representatives of the people into close relations with the executiA^e, who will be most anxious to preserve a harmony essential to efficient government and progressive, useful measures of reform. Critics who do not sympathize with our Philippine policy, together with those who were reluctant to grant this measure of a legislative assembly to the Philippine people at this time, have not been slow to comment on the result of the election as an indication that we are going too fast. I differ entirely from the view of these critics as to the result of this election and the inferences to be drawn from it. The small total vote as compared with the probable number of the total electorate shows that a considerable majority of those enti- tled to vote did not exercise the privilege. This indicates either an indifference or a timidity that we would not find in a people more used to the wielding of political power; but it affords no reason for supposing that as the assembly proves its usefulness and important power the ratio of votes to the total electorate will not rapidly increase. The election was held without disturbance. In many districts there were bitter controversies, but the complaints of fraud, violence^ or bribery are insignificant. Although the Government was sup- SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 89 posed to favor one party, and was subject to much, criticism in the campaign, no one has been heard to say that the power of the Execu- tive was exerted in any way improperly to influence the election. This furnishes a good object lesson. A popular majority of those who exercise the franchise have voted for representatives announcing a desire for the immediate separation of the islands from the United States. This majority is a small one when the returns are carefully considered and is much less than the ratio between the party representatives in the assembly would lead one to suppose. However, assuming a decided majority for imme- diate independence, the result is one which I thought possible even while I was urging the creation of the assembly. It is not a disap- pointment. If it indicated that a majority of the representatives elected bv the people were a body of irreconcilables determined to do nothing but obstruct the present government, it would indeed be discouraging ; but I am confident from what I know and hear of the gentlemen who have been elected that, while many of them differ with me as to the time in which the people of the islands will become fit for complete self-government, most of them have an earnest desire that this government shall be carried on in the inter- ests of the people of the Philippines and for their benefit, and shall be made for that purpose as effective as possible. The}^ are thus generally conservative. Those whose sole aim is to hold up the government to, execration, to win away the sympathy of the people in order to promote disturbance and violence, have no proper place in this assembly. Had the Filipino people sent such a majority, then I should have to admit that the granting of the assembly was a mistake and that Congress must abolish it. It has been reported in the islands that I was coming here for the purpose of expressing, in bitter and threatening words, my disap- pointment at the result of the election. Nothing could be further from my purpose, nothing could be less truly descriptive of my con- dition of mind. I am here, filled with a spirit of friendship and encouragement for these members who now enter upon a new field in which they have much to learn, but where everything can be learned and this duty most efficiently discharged if they are led by an earnest desire to assist and guide the government in aiding the people. I have no right to appeal to the members of this assembly to conduct themselves in the discharge of their high duties in a manner to vindicate me in the responsibility I assumed in urging Congress to establish this assembly, because they should find a stronger reason for so doing in their sworn duty ; but it is not inap- propriate for me to touch on this personal feature of the situation, because my attitude has been misconstrued and my sympathetic interest in, and hope for, the success and usefulness of this national assembly have not been properly stated. I venture to point out a number of things that you will learn in the course of your legislative experience. One is that the real object of a legislature is to formulate specific laws to accomplish specific pur- poses and reforms and to suppress specific evils ; that he makes a use- ful speech who studies the question which he discusses and acquires and imparts practical information by which the remedies offered can be seen to be applicable to the evil complained of ; that the office of a 90 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. legislator for a great country like this is one that can be discharged conscientiously only by the use of great labor, careful, painstaking- investigation and hard work in the preparation of proposed meas- ares. One of the most necessary traits in a successful legislator or executive is jjatience. Where the sudden change in that which is re- garded as a Avrong system may paralyze a necessary arm of the gov- ernment, ways and means must be devised to bring about the change gradually. There will be a temptation to take up measures which will invite the support of popular prejudice rather than measures which will really accomplish good for the body politic. Snch a temptation exists in older legislative bodies than this, and we can not hope that it will be absent from here; but, in the end, the man who exerts the most influence in this body and among the people will be the man who devotes most conscientiously his time to acquiring the information upon which legislation should be based and in explain- ing it to his colleagues and his people. The man who is seeking to put his adversary or the government in an embarrassing situation may win temporary triumph; but the man who himself feels re- sponsibility of government, and who, while not concealing or failing to state the evils which he considers to exist in the government, is using every effort to reform those evils, will ultimately be regarded as the benefactor of his countr3^ I have not the time and doubtless not the information which would justify me in pointing out to the assembly the various subjects matter to which they may profitably devote their attention with a view to the formulation of useful legislation. They will properly feel called upon to devote their attention to public economy in the matter of the numerous governmental bureaus which have been made the subject of criticism. It is quite possible that they may find in their investigations into these matters reasons for cutting off officers and bureaus, but I sincerely hope that no such effort will be made until a full investigation is had into the utility of the functions which the bureau performs and the possibility of dispensing with them. I can remember that while I was governor there was much outcry against the extravagance of maintaining certain bureaus which in subsequent crises in the public welfare proved their great usefulness beyond cavil. Of course we shall encounter in this investigation and discussion a radical difference between legislators and others as to the function which a government in these islands ought to perform. It is entirely easy to run an economical government if all that you do is to maintain order and if no steps are taken to promote health, to promote education, and to promote the general welfare of the inhab- itants. It is, of course, the object of the person charged with the duty of governing a country to reach the golden mean — that is, to make governmental provisions for the w^elfare of the people without imposing too great a tax burden for the purpose. The taxes in this country are imposed partly by the legislature and partly by Congress. The former will constantly have your attention. In so far as the welfare of the country is affected by the latter, to wit, the customs duties, and can be improved by ^ change of them, it would be wise « for the legislature to devote much time and thought to recommenda- tions to Congress as to how they should be changed, for I doubt not that Congress will be willing and anxious to take such steps as may SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE :^HILIPPINES. 91 commend themselves to the people of the islands in the matter of adjustment of duties, having regard to the raising of sufficient revenue on the one hand and to as little interference with useful freedom of trade as possible on the other. As you shall conduct your proceedings and shape your legislation on patriotic, intelligent, conservative, and useful lines, you will show more emphatically than in any other way your right and capacity to take part in the government and the wisdom of granting to your assembly and to the people that elected you, more power. There are still many possible intervals or steps between the power you now exercise and complete autonomy. Will this assembly and its suc- cessors manifest such an interest in the welfare of the people and such clear-headed comprehension of their sworn duty as to call for a greater extension of political power to this body and to the people whose representative it is? Or shall it, by neglect, obstruction, and absence of useful service, make it necessary to take away its existing powers on the ground that they have been prematurely granted? Upon you falls this heavy responsibility. I am assured that you will meet it with earnestness, courage, and credit. In closing I can only renew my congratulations upon the auspi- cious beginning of your legislative life in a fair election, and to express to you my heartfelt sympathy in the work which you are about to undertake, and my confidence that you will justify in what you do, and do not do, the recommendations of those who are respon- sible for that section in the organic act that has given life to this assembly. SPECIAL REPORT OF J. M. DICKINSON, SECRETARY OF WAR, TO THE PRESIDENT ON THE PHILIPPINES, NOVEMBER 23, 1910. 93 C O N T E N T S . I'age. Itinerary 97 Inspections - 98 Philippine Independence "8 Law and order 102 Legislative Assembly 102 Education 104 Philippine Constabulary 104 Friar lands 105 Filipinization of the public service 206 Percentage of American and Filipino employees Ill Artesian wells 112 Animal diseases 112 Rinderpest * 112 Surra 112 Roads 112 Lepers 113 Lands in Manila occupied for Army purposes 113 Penal Institutions 114 Penal colony 114 Prisons - 115 Financial condition 115 Agricultural Bank 116 Railroads 117 Exports and imports l 119 Health and sanitation 120 Coal 121 Hotel 122 Hospital in Manila 123 Fodder 123 Agricultural College 123 Agricultural conditions 125 Government of the Philippine Islands ■ 125 Recommendations 126 Appendixes — 127 A.— List of petitions submitted to the Secretary of War during his visit to the Philippines and of the petitioners 129 B. — Hearings before the Secretary of War, held in Marble Hall, Ayuntamiento, Manila, on September 1, 1910 131 0. — Letter of the Nacionalista Party , 152 D. — Memorandum from both political parties 176 E. — Message of the Popular Nacionalista Leagxie of the Philippines 180 F. — Letter of Hon. Manuel Quezon 185 G. — Statement of American and Filipino employees 186 95 SPECIAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR. War Department, Washington, D. C, November 23, 1910. Mr. President: In pursuance of your direction I vistecl the Philippine Islands, sailing from San Francisco on the 28th day of June last and return- ing to Washington on the 7th day of November. I reached Manila on Sunday, the 24th day of July, 1910, and remained in the islands until September 3, 1910. Of this time, I spent 13 days in Manila, the remainder of the time being devoted to visiting vgirious portions of the islands. My itinerary was substan- tially as follows : 1910. July 24. Manila. 25. Manila. 26. Manila. 27. Fort William McKinley and Manila. 28. Inspection of Corregidoi* and Cavite. returning in evening to Manila. 28. Manila, leaving about midnight by boat for Olongapo. 30. Inspection of Olongapo and Subic Bay, leaving in afternoon by boat for Tagudin. 31. Overland trip by horse from Tagudin to Cervantes. Aug. 1. Overland trip by horse from Cervantes to Bontoc. 2. Bontoc. 3. Overland trip by horse from, Bontoc to Cervantes. 4. Overland trip by horse from Cervantes to Tagudin ; leaving Tagudin in evening by boat for San Fabian. 5. Arrived in early morning at San Fabian ; train from San Fabian to Camp No. 1 ; automobile from San Fabian to Bagnio, arriving at Baguio before luncheon. 6. Baguio ; Camp John Hay. 7. Baguio and vicinity ; Mirador Observatory ; stock farm. 8. Left Baguio about 8.30 a. m. ; automobile to Camp No. 1; automobile inspection of Province of Pangasinan ; inauguration of two bridges at Dagupan and trade school at Lingayen ; spent night at Lingayen. 9. Left Lingayen by automobile early morning of August 9 ; arriving at Dagupan, took train, returning to Manila, stopping en route at San Fernando, Province of Pampanga, and Camp Stotsenberg. 10. Manila. 11. Manila. 12. Manila. 13. Manila, leaving by boat about midnight for southern trip. 14. Arrived in afternoon at Lucena, spending night there. 15. Morning ; by automobile to Antimonan, stopping short time for recep- tion and leaving same day by boat for Tabaco. 16. Tabaco to Legaspl by automobile ; inspection of Batan coal mine, island of Batan ; return to Legaspl and Albay ; afternoon and evening at Albay ; left same night for Catbalogan by boat. 17. Arrived Catbalogan afternoon, short stop ; left by boat for Cebu. 18. Arrived in morning at Cebu; afternoon, inspection of railroad to Danao, returning by automobile ; spent night in Cebu. 117376—19 7 97 98 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 1910. Aug. 19. Cebu ; iiisiiectioii of railroiul to Argno, returning by train to (Jelm ; left Cebu for Camp Overton. 20. Arrived in morning at Camp Overton ; started on overland trip to Malabang inspecting Camp Keithley and spending night there. 21. Continued trip to Malabang, spending night there. 22. Left Malabang ; trip by boat up Cotabato River to town of Cotabato ; evening, left for Zamboanga. 23. Arrived on morning of August 23 at Zamboanga ; left about midnight for Jolo. 24. Arrived at Jolo in morning ; spent day there ; left Jolo for Puerto Princesa. 26. Arrived in morning at Puerto Princesa ; inspection of Army post : trip up Iwahig River to Iwahig penal colony ; evening left Puerto Prin- cesa for Iloilo. 27. Arrived in evening at Iloilo ; spent night there. 28. Iloilo ; left Iloilo about noon for Capiz, arriving in Capiz in evening ; left Capiz about midnight for Manila. 29. At sea. 30. Arrived in morning at Manila. 31. Manila and visit to Los Bahos. Sept. 1. Manila. 2. Manila. 3. Sailed from Manila about 5 o'clock a. m. Practically all of the public institutions at places visited by me were examined. I went into the details of administration with as much care as the time permitted. Both in public and private audi- ences, opportunities were given everywhere to all who desired to freely discuss any questions with me. Several public hearings were held by previous announcement in Manila and all were free to attend. At all points visited the Army posts were inspected. I gave special attention to Corregidor and its defenses, spending a day there. In all that I said, both publicly and privately, I held steadily in view the statement made by you to the President in your special report of January 23, 1908, that— the national policy is to govern the Philippine Islands for the benefit and wel- fare and uplifting of the people of the islands and gradually to extend to them, as they shall show themselves fit to exercise it, a greater and greatei' measure of popular self-government. The work of preparing the Filipinos for popular self-government is steadily progressing along the lines which have been approved by you. I shall refer more particularly to the various kinds of adminis- trative work, but will here say that the administration of the various departments is in a generally satisfactory condition, and that the best results are being attained with the means at hand and under the con- ditions that must be ccmtended with. On the whole I believe that the administration of the islands is such that it should give satisfaction to the American people. PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE. In your report above referred to you say (p. 7) : What should be emi^hasized in the statement of our national policy is that we wish to prepare the Filipinos for popular self-government. This is plain from Mr. McKinley's letter of instructions and all of his utterances. It was not at all within his purpose or that of the Congress which made his letter part of the law of the land that we were merely to await the organization of a Philip- pine oligarchy or aristocracy competent to administer government and then turn the islands over to it. On the contrary, it is plain, from all of Mr. McKinley's utterances and your own, in interpretation of our national purpose, that we SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 99 are the trustees and guardians of the whole Filipino people, and peculiar. y of the ignorant masses, and that our trust is not discharged until those masses are given education sufficient to know their civil rights and maintain them against a more po\^•erful class and safely to exercise the political franchise. Yoli also stated (p. 8) : Another logical deduction from the main proposition is that when the Fili- pino people as a whole show themselves reasonably fit to conduct a popular self- government, maintaining law and order and offering equal protection of the laws and civil rights to rich and poor, and desire complete independence of the United States, they shall he given it. The standard set, of course, is not that of perfection or such a governmental capacity as that of an Anglo-Saxon people, but it certainly ought to be one of such popular political capacity that complete the independence in its exercise will result in progress rather than retrogression to chaos or tyranny. By the standard thus laid down, the Filipino people are-substan- tially in the same attitude as when you visited them in 1907. Train- ing in administrative work and education is doing much, but they have affected such a small percentage of the population that the change is hardly sensible. The results will manifest themselves in a rapidly increasing ratio when those who are now being educated reach an age when their influence can be felt in public life. There are very many highly educated Filipinos, many men of talent, ability, and brilliancy, but the percentage in comparison with those who are wholly untrained in an understanding of, and the exercise of, political rights inider a republican form of government is so small, and under the best and most rapid development possible under existing conditions will for a long period continue so small that it is a delusion, if the present policy of control of the islands by the American people shall con- tinue, to encourage the Filipino people in the hope that the adminis- tration of the islands will be turned over to them Avithin the time of the present generation. The only inhabitants of the islands that are making any marked progress in preparation for self-government are the Filipinos proper, and, as stated, but a small percentage of these are sufficiently educated to understand and administer repub- lican institutions. The masses of them have no knoAvledge or con- ception of self-government, take no real interest in and have no knowledge of general "administration, and are under the control of leaders whose Avill is practically their law. Caciquism, i. e.. local " bossism," is just as potential now as ever. A keen interest is manifested in education and the people cheer- fully submit to the burden of taxation imposed, both for general education and for manual training. It can not, however, be expected that mere education in schools will give that training to a people which is necessary for sustaining the fabric of a constitutional govern- ment. The Filipino people proper present the most encouraging phase of the question. They constitute about 91 per cent of the entire population of the islands. Of the remaining population about 40 per cent are wild tribes who inhabit northern Luzon. These people haVe absolutely no conception of government except that of force, to which, if justly administered, they cheerfully submit. Until recently many of them were heaclhunters, and now they are only restrained from savage practices by military control. It is more than doubtful if any kind of training will make them capable, as a mass, of intelligently participating in the administration of self-govern- 100 SPECIAJL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES, iiient. Certainly no such transformation can be expected, imcler the most favorable conditions, within a century. If the withdrawal by the United States from the administration of political affairs of the Filipinos shall be postponed until these people are fit for participation in self-government, then the time therefor will necessarily be in the very remote future, if it shall ever arrive. My judgment is that if the masses of the Filipino people shall attain to that degree of fitness that will warrant the turning over to them of political autonomy they can be intrusted to take over the control of these wild tribes, and that the realization of their own political independence should not be substantially retarded by having their political fate linked with people so backward and comparatively so small in nimiber inhabiting the same island with them. The Moro Province presents greater difficulty. There are about 500,000 Moros and Pagans living in the area confined geographically to the Sulu group, the Lake Lanao Basin, the Eio Grande Valley, and inhabiting numerous points near the mouths of small riv^ers and in protected bays along the coast line of the Zamboanga Peninsula and the southern coast of Mindanao, reaching to the Gulf of Davao. In this area, principally in the vicinity of Zamboanga and Dapitan. with small villages at Iligan, Jolo, Cotabato, Davao, Caraga, Ba- ganga, and Catcel, there are about 50,000 Christian Filipinos, many of whom have gone there in recent j^ears. The Moros are Mohammedans, and are firmly fixed in their religious belief. They are warlike, manly, independent, and have a strong hostility for the Filipinos. They have no conception of a republican form of government. The only government which they know is autocratic. They are peaceful noAv, because they have been subjected to military power and are con- trolled with firmness and justice, which they appreciate. The main province of our army among the Moros is merely to keep the peace among them. Thej^ would have to be essentially re-created to make of them an integral governing part of a republican government unit- ing them with the Filipinos. If Filipino independence is to be post- poned until such a condition can be brought about, then its realization is so remote as to make it not worth while now being contemplated. If, on the other hand, a separate government for and by the Moros be erected, it is certain that it would be but a short time before the}^ Avoulcl be taken by some other nation, unless the United States should extend its protectorate over them. Advantage was taken of the announcement of my coming by politicians, through the press and in other ways, to stimulate a general demand for immediate independence. The impression was made upon the minds of many of the masses that the Secretary of War had either the power to grant immediate independence or that reconmiendations made by him would result in the granting of immediate independence. In Manila and throughout my journey, wherever Filipinos were established in any numbers, the result of this teaching was made manifest by the erection of numerous arches with inscriptions, either asking or demanding independence, some of them using the term " immediate independence," and by the speeches of the orators and the presentation of petitions and letters. The similarity in the movements everywhere and the form of expression indicated very clearly that a concerted campaign had been made to SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 101 elicit such demonstrations. I do not mean by this to indicate that these were not exponents of their genuine feeling, for the nature of our relations to the Philippines and our purpose in respect to them as defined in all authoritative utterances are not only compatible with, but a stimulant to, the growth of such sentiments. The sig- nificant and questionable feature was that stirring up the people to such demonstrations was calculated to engender expectations as to immediate* independence which would certainly be disappointed, and thereby result in discontent with the present administration of affairs, and operate as an encouragement to those who are sowing the seeds of discord between the American Government and the Filipino people, all of which tends to retard the development for which we are striving. Inasmuch as I promised all who addressed communications to me on the subject of Philippine independence and other matters of a public nature to bring their views and wishes directly to your atten- tViU, I append herewith a list, marked " Appendix A," setting forth the names of the petitioners and the subjects of the petitions. I also append the report, marked " Appendix B," of the public hearing at Manila in the Marble Hall of the Ayuntamiento, on Sep- tember 1, 1910, which was largely attended and attracted much notice in the public prints. Inasmuch as they are not merely expressions of personal views, but are authoritative expressions of the two political parties in the Philippines, I call your special attention to the memorials of the Nacionalista. of the Nacionalista and Progresista parties, and of the popular Nacionalista League, attached hereto and marked Appen- dixes " C," " D," and "E," respectively. There is no doubt that so far as publicly expressed, the general desire of the Filipinos is for what they denominate " immediate independence.'' Those who are intelligent do not expect immediate independence, even if their views should be acceded to on the part of the American people, but rather that steps shall be taken as early as practicable which will result in the near future in turning over to the Philippine people the administration of their own affairs. ^Vliile, as stated, these are the only views publicly expressed, I became convinced from reliable evidence that many of the most substantial men, while not openly opposing the demands publicly voiced, would regard such a consummation with consternation. They realize that the govern- ment would fall into the hands of a few who would dominate the masses; that the administration, even without outside interference, could not be successfully carried on; that there would be internal dissensions and probably civil war; and that if the United States did not interfere they would fall an easy prey to some foreign power. I took prompt steps to undeceive, so far as I could, those who had formed a misapprehension either as to my power or mission, and reiterated in public speeches that the future relations between the Philippines and the United States would be determined by Congress, and that there had been no authoritative departure from the doc- trines laid down by you in your utterances upon that subject when Secretarv of War. 102 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. LAW AND ORDER. At the present Avriting peace, law, and order prevail tliroiighout the islands. There is no organized opposition anywhere to the United States Government. Within the last year only two out- breaks have occurred, and they were insignificant. In the island of Palawan some Moros had been lawless, and Gov. Miller, now de- ceased, had notified them that they must surrender. After the un- fortunate drowning of Gov. Miller, Commissioner Worcester w^ent to the island and he and his party were met as friends and after- wards were treacherously attacked by these Moros. The attack Was repelled, resulting in the death of 10 Moros. A number of these people were fugitives from justice from Mindanao and Borneo. There w^as no general outbreak. While I was in Manila, Mandac, who had been convicted of killing and fled the country, forfeiting his bond, returned to the islands and w^ent to the Province of Nueva Vizcaya and captured the town of Solano, looted the treasury, and carried off several priests. There was a slight engagement with the constabulary and his forces were routed. He himself was captured by the natives and turned over to the authorities, which is an evidence of good will on the part of the people toward the government. The ladrones or robber bands are almost if not entirely suppressed. One of their leaders, Felipe Salvador, was captured while I w-as in Manila. His followers had long since deserted him and he was a fugitive from justice. There is no disorder at present in the northern provinces. At Bontoc, the headhunting tribes, who a year w^ere engaged in taking heads, met together while I was there, in a parade and general fes- tivities. There have been no hostilities between these people within the last year. I talked with the chief men and they expressed them- selves as satisfied with the administration of the governors of these provinces. Now that they feel safe in their lives and property thev are devoting themselves with a feeling of security to agriculture and are enjoying more of the comforts of life than at an^^ previous time. Substantially the same state of peace prevails in the Mountain and the Moro Provinces, containing the non- Christian tribes, and the same content with the government. All of these wild people have found olit that the United States are not exploiting them, but that everything that is done in the way of control results to their imme- diate benefit, and that what is exacted from them in taxation is spent hi their midst for roads, educational and other public purposes, the result of which they see and appreciate. THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. Although the legislative assembly is controlled by the Nacional- ista Party, which was organized in opposition to those who favored American control, aucl it was anticipated that they would use their }.>ower to obstruct administration, the result has demonstrated that responsibility steadies action. So far from raising captious oppo- sition, they have enacted laws for the promotion of development and progress along the lines advocated by the Governor General. They have been liberal in their support of education and internal improve- ments. SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 103 Laws on the following subjects were passed at the last session of the ^hilipjDine Legislature : To transfer the bureaii of agriculture from the department of the interior to that of public instruction. To increase the appropriation for current expenses of the bureau of education for the fiscal year 1910, and appropriating ?=150,000 therefor. To provide for the construction of barrio schools upon public lands or lands of the municipal, provincial, or insular government, and to prohibit their sale or use for other than school purposes. To establish classes for the instruction are many difficulties in the way of obtaining a Torrens title. There are many minute requirements on the part of the bureau of lands relating to the making of plans. This is a requirement which paralyzes the work, as there are very few agriculturists who can get these plans. Before the enactment of a recent law, which regulates the practice of surveying in the islands, there were over a thousand surveyors who were duly qualified by colleges and institutions of learning as such. This law, which was enacted about two years ago, has disqualified all of these qualified surveyors who, as SPECIAL, REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 117 1 liave already said, numbered over a thousand, and I can now assure your honor that there are probably not more than 100 qualified-hy-the-government surveyors at the present time in the islands. They ai'e the only persons who are competent to survey land, whose plans will be admitted by the court of land registration in the acquisition of Torrens titles. This, then, is the tirst ob- stacle that a man finds who is not in possession of a Torrens title, in tlie making of the plans, survey of the land, etc. In addition to the other obstacles that are put in the \\ay of the survey of Ihe land by the bureau of lands, this fact alone, this lack of surveyors, is of itself sufficient to make it impossible, or at least very difficult, for the agri- culturist to acquire a Ton-ens title. If all of these obstacles are obviated and a Torrens title is acquired, a land- owner in Surigao, for example, after making a trip of from S to 16 days in order to secure a loan from the agricultural bank in ^Manila, and after negotiating with the bank will be able to secure only one-tenth of the value of the property as a loan. That is to say, if the property is worth ?=10,000.^ he may secure a loan for ¥^1,000. As you can understand, a property owner who has property worth i*'10,000 <'an scarcely hope to find a remedy for his present condition by the loan of ?=1,000. Really, we do not understand why, the re- striction being so great as regards the amount of the loan that will be given with relation to the value of the property, there are so many other restrictions, if it is the purjiose of the liank to find a cure for the present conditions of affairs as regards agriculture. It is for this reason that scarcely one-tenth of the a'rable hinds of the Philip- pines are under cultivation. Delay has been occasioned by the inadequacy of skilled surveyors to survey lands for establishing titles. For this reason the work of makino- loans has proceded slowly. The bank was opened for business on October 1, 1908. Up to the 30th day of June, 1910, the number of applications received from each Province was as follows: Ambos Camarines 25 Albay 49 Antique 2 Bataan 1.3 Batangas 3 Benguet 1 Bohol 2 Bulacan 30 Capiz _"__ 6 Cagayan 3 Cavite 5 Cebu 2 Ilocos Norte 5 Ilocos Sur 10 Iloilo 8 Isabela 30 Laguna 11 Le.vte 1.5 ftlanila city 4 Misamis 22 Mindoro 3 Moro 4 Nueva Ecija 34 Nueva Vizcaya 2 Negros Occidental 54 Negros Oriental 4 Palawan i Pampanga 21 Pangasinan 71 Rizal 11 Samar 5 Sorsogon 7 Tarlac 88 Tayabas 4 Union 8 Zam'bales 2 Total 565 Of the 565 applications, 453 were refused, principally on account of defective titles. The total amount loaned up to June 30, 1910, aggregated ?^284,450 ($142,225). The law limits the amount which can be loaned on prop- erty to 40 per cent of its value. An agency of the bank has been established at Zamboanga. RAILROADS. I personally inspected the following lines: Those of the Manila Railroad Co. from San Fabian to Camp 1, 12.23 miles ; from Dagu- pan to Manila, 122.15 miles ; and from Manila to Los Banos, 40 miles ; ^ One peso, Philippine currency, is equivalent to 50 cents United States currency. 118 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. of the Philippine Railway Co. from Cebu to Danao, and from Cebu to Carcar, a total of 60 miles, and from Iloilo to Capiz, 71 miles. All of them were well constructed and well maintained. The road- bed, ties, and bridges were in first-rate condition. I was particularly impressed by the effort being made by the management of the Philip- pine Railway Co. in Cebu and Panay to promote agricultural prog- ress along its lines. At every station there is an exhibit of the products, and instructions are published for the best methods of agri- culture. They have induced large planting of maguey upon lands not well adapted for other crops. A strong effort is being made to build up the agricultural industry in sections tributary to its lines, thus laying the foundation not only for its own prosperity but for that of the people. I was particularly impressed with the shops of the company at Iloilo, which are extensive and of a high order. The machinery is all modern. Except the foremen, the operatives are Filipinos. They show a high degree of industry and capacity for mechanical work. These shops represent a large part of the cost of the road and their construction account should be distributed over the road in estimating its cost per mile. The number of miles of road now in operation by the Philippine Railway Co. is 131 and that by the Manila Railroad Co. 362. The Philippine people take deep interest in railroad construction, appreciate the benefits therefrom, and are eager for extensions. At public meetings at Albay and Legaspi I was urged to bring about the speedy building of the road from Batangas through Lucena to Albay. The original contract with the Manila Railroad Co. did not call for any guaranty, but by a subsequent agreement the company is to construct some 150 miles of additional track and the Philippine gov- ernment is to guarantee interest on first-lien bonds of the lines south of Manila and also on the extension to BagT.iio, subject to the annual contingent liability fixed by Congress. The guaranteed system is to consist of the following lines, viz : 8ottthern or guaranteed system. , Miles. Belt Line- 6. Manila-Batangas-Bauan 67). 8 Port Line Batangas .9 Spur Camp McGrath 1. 1 Cavite Sliort Line and Naic extension 32. 7 Calamba-Magdalena-Santa Oruz 30. Tanto Tomas-Lucena 39. 3 East coast extension and connection between the line now under construc- tion in Tayabas Province and that in Ambos Camarines (estimated) 135.0 Legf.spi-Neuva Gaceres 60. 7 Nueva Caceres north 7. Pili-Lagonoy 3L Legaspi-Tabaco extension 19. 3 Port Line Legaspi . 7 Port Line Tabaco . 8 Ligao east 4. Tabaco west 4. Camp No. 1-Baguio , 22.0 New port connection, Manlhi ^ ^ 2.0 Total length of guaranteed system in Luzon 464. 3 SPECIAL REPORTS OlsT TPIE PHILIPPINES. 119 Construction is proceeding as rapidly as practicable. The survey is now in progress on the Benguet road. From such investigation as I was able to make, I am of the opinion that the road from Camp No. 1 to Baguio can be constructed on a route which will involve less expense than hitherto was contemplated. Bonds on which interest is guaranteed by the Philippine govern- ment have been issued as follows : By the Philippine Railway Co :_ $7, 835, 000 By the Manibi Railroad Co 2,108,000 All of the lines will probably in time become paying properties, but some of them must await very extensive development and increase of commerce, which they will promote. EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. The foreign business of the islands has greatly increased since 1907, notwithstanding the prostration suffered by the main industry, agri- culture, on account of the loss of work animals by rinderpest. By far the greatest increment has been during the last year, and this is directly due to the operation of the Payne bill. The prices for sugar and tobacco products have largely increased, and these industries are in a flourishing condition. The price of labor has also increased. If modern culture and machinery shall be introduced, thus insur- ing the maximum of crops and their yield of marketable products, the sugar industry will be yet more profitable and largely increased, and that without an increase of sugar acreage. A first-class plant of the most modern type is being erected upon the Mindoro estate. This will prove an object lesson and will lead to the abandonment of old methods and the waste incident to them. The following table shows the value of exports and imports for the years set out : Fiscal year. Imports. Exports. 1903 - S25, 799, 290 28, 786, Oe 3 30, 918, 745 27, 794, 482 37,061,925 $31, 918, 542 1907. 33, 721, 767 1908 32, 829, 816 1909. 31, 044, 458 1910 .... 39, 886, 852 Since 1904 the balance of trade has been in favor of the Philippines. Value of imported commodities with proportion from the United States shoion separately, fiscal years 1909 and 1910. Commodities. 1909 Total. United States. 1910 Total. United States. Wh^at flour Cars, carriages, and other vehicles Cement Chemicals, drugs, and dyes Cotton, and manufactures of Fish and fish products, including shellfish Iron and steel, and manufactures of Leather, and manufactures of Meat and dairy products Oil, illuminating Painis, pigments, and colors Paper, and manufactures of Tobacco, and manufactures of Miscellaneous Total 172, 322 168, 520 247, 425 440, 207 944, 978 332, 710 933, 032 494, 138 176, 943 614, 334 130, 941 457, 543 38,294 643, 095 .■5601, 947 45, 652 276 106, 666 590, 635 86, 987 818, 548 354, 185 221, 266 386, 692 18, 300 120, 339 2,211 1,340,127 $1, 534, 442 331, 637 416,815 539, 743 8, 522, 307 612, 765 3, 305, 695 760, 463 2, 377, 466 1, 142, 250 217, 039 638, 833 208, 475 16, 453, 995 $1, 098, 823 197, 004 103, 078 193, 713 2, 120, 587 338, 631 1, 970, 490 575, 730 333, 298 942, 734 91,823 227, 951 177, 627 2, 404, 639 27, 794, 482 4, 693, 831 37,061,925 10,776,128 120 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. HEALTH AND SANITATION. Progress in promoting better health conditions lias gone steadily on. Except for care in the use of water and uncooked vegetables and during the hot hours, life is pursued in Manila just as in the United States. The official census of 1903 showed the population of the city of Manila as 219,911. The health department census of 1910 gives the following population of the city of Manila : Americans 4, 174 Filipinos 211, 8.39 Spaniards 2, 364 Otlier Europeans ? 644 Chinese . 14. 093 All others 1. 27.1 Total 234, 409 For the quarter ended June 30, 1910, the death rate among people thus classified was as follows (annual average per 1,000) : Americans 13. 88 Filipinos 33.24 Spaniards IS. 54 Other Europeans 11. 91 Chinese 16. 22 All others lo. 46 Average 31. 5') It is thus seen that the death rate of Americans and Europeans living in Manila compares favorably with the rate among such people in any of our American and European cities of equal size. The death rate among the Filipinos and oriental people living in Manila com- pares in a like favorable manner with the death rate among oriental people in any of the Asiatic cities. The large death rate among the Filipinos in Manila is still largely due to the great death rate among children under 3 years of age. Though much progress has been made in improving this condition, there yet remains a great deal to be done. A¥hile I was there an asso- ciation was formed to begin an active campaign against tuberculosis. During the period of my stay in the islands the general health con- ditions Avere good. In Pangasinan and other places cholera had pre- ^ailed, but it had been almost entirelj^ stamped out when I went tiirough that province. Wherever artesian water is used this and other diseases of the stomach and bowels no longer prevail. The department of health is excellently administered. Some com- plaints were made to me, but on investigation I was satisfied that they were not well founded and that some of them arose from oppo- sition of medical men who had not adjusted themselves to the new order of things. The condition of our soldiers in the Philippines is good. The men appear healthy and vigorous. The following table shows a comparison between localities : SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 121 Numerical view of the effect of disease and injury on United States troops serv- ing at Jiome and abroad in the year 1909, compared with corresponding data for the year J908, hy countries — Proportionate numbers per thousand. American troops (enlisted). Admitted. Discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. Mean strength. United States . /1909. \1908. /1909. ""'""^" (1908. Cuba /19°9- Philippine Islands jJgQg- Hawaii g9- fl909 Army transports 1X908" Total. /1909. U908. Regular Army, American troops, 1899 to 1908 Total. 57, 124 46,316 1,064 1,015 604 4.694 12,844 11,971 1,014 255 1,669 1,155 1,024.37 1,148.59 390.04 419.70 I 798.01 I 1,201.75 I 1,348.02 1,439.65 I 1,180.47 1 1,282.35 ' 644. 70 ' 760.17 : Disease. 821. 77 921. 91 281. 95 270. 94 672. 19 949. 30 1, 156. 49 1,207.84 839.25 1,027.45 599. 16 716. 02 74,319 65,406 1,062.99 1,188.03 865. 92 962. 88 65,500 I 1,596.65 ; 1,379.25 Injury. Total 202. 59 226. 68 108. 08 148. 77 125.83 252. 45 191. 53 231. 81 341. 22 254. 90 45.54 44.16 Dis- ease. 18.87 21.35 4.36 3.67 3.31 21.46 11.43 8.65 13.80 39.15 17.01 19.15 .87 2.75 3.31 20.83 10.52 6.84 12.88 35.59 Injury. 1.87 2.21 3.49 .92 .63 .91 1.81 .92 3.56 1.64 1.97 American troops (en- listed). United States ^^^ ^^^^^^ \1908 C,in.„ /1909 ^^'^^ \1908 Philippme Islands/Jg^g Hawaii qs Army transports. . l\gQ^ Total. /1909 "11908 Regular Army, American troops, 1899 to 1908 Died. Total losses. Total. 4.84 5.35 1.75 9.17 1.66 4.63 6.43 9.31 1.84 7.12 1.45 8.31 4.91 6.13 10.85 e^se. jl^J'^^y- Total. 2.97 3.10 2.75 1.66 2.53 4.09 5.03 .92 3.56 .96 7.48 1.87 2.25 1.75 6.42 "i'io" 2.35 4.28 .92 3.56 23.71 26.70 6.11 12.84 4.97 26.09 17.86 17.96 15.64 46.27 1.45 8.31 3.02 3.48 1.88 2.65 21.75 24.62 3. 50 34. IS F^fe. i^^j^^y- 19.98 22.24 .87 5.50 4.97 23.36 14.61 11.87 13.80 39.15 .96 7.48 3.74 4.46 5.24 7.34 2.73 3.26 6.09 1.84 7.12 .48 .83 18.22 19.99 27.79 3.52 4.62 6.36 Constantly noneffec- tive. 39.70 41.19 16.22 12.99 29.59 38.53 52.27 53.35 52.56 37.61 30.97 35. 75 Days treated. Each soldier. 41.48 42.68 14.49 15.08 5.92 4.75 10.80 14.10 19.19 19.53 19.18 13.76 11.30 13.08 Each case. 14.15 13.13 15.18 11.33 13.54 11.74 14.24 13.56 16.25 10.73 17.53 17.21 15.14 15.62 14.24 13.15 The above table is from the report of the Surgeon General, United States Army, for 1910, and deaths occurring in the United States from disease contracted in the Philippines are credited to the station of the regiment to which the soldier belonged. COAL. The coal supply for the Philippines and ships coaling there come mainly from Japan and Australia. The only mines operated in the archipelago are on the island of Batan. The coal is comparativelj^ light and is inferior to that of Japan and Australia. It will not, except in emergency, be used by the Navy, as the zone of movement would be too limited on account of the proportion of bulk to the energy evolved. It has, however, been tried on the transport Dix, being used with fairly satisfactory results from Manila to Seattle. It will answer well for interisland transportation. The deposits have not been determined sufficiently by expert examination. A mine is being operated on the island by the East Batan Coal Co. at a cost of 122 SPECIAL REPORTS OjST THE PHILIPPINES. approximately 40 cents gold per ton, not including the cost of ad- ministration nor interest on the investment. This coal is sold to the trade at $3.25 gold per ton, f. o. b, ship. I visited and examined carefully the mine and plant which has been operated by the War Department. As near as I could get the figures, the cost of actual operation was $3,400 a month and, excluding that part of the force there engaged in taking care of material in the old entries and storing property, is approximately $2,500 a month, and this is as low a figure as the operations can be carried on for with the present output. , The officer in charge informed me that the approximate cost is $10 a ton on board ship. This cost per ton can not be materiallj" reduced without further development of entries. While the general opinion seems to be that there is sufficient coal on the government property to warrant further development, there is no reliable evi- dence. It is largely a matter of conjecture. If such development could be carried on so that the total cost of production would not exceed the cost of coal to the government by purchase, I would feel justified in using the Army transportation fund which has hitherto been used for that purpose ; but, in view of the present actual cost and the problematic results of further attempts at development, I did not feel justified in continuing the work and directed it to be immedi- ately shut down. A topographical survey is now being made, with a view of getting data for expert examination. The cost of the plant there up to the present time to the government amounts to $379,640.59 and there has been used from the mine coal to the value of $85,000. There are valuable houses and much valuable machinery, much of which would be a loss if the work should be abandoned. On account of the vital importance to the islands of ascertaining definitely as to the coal supply and to the Army and Navy of having, especially in case of war, a supply near the scene of possible operations, and also in view of the expenditures that have been made, I recommend that compe- tent experts be employed to investigate the coal deposits on the gov- ernment lands at this point and elsewhere where there are outcrops or other indications of coal and that Congress be asked to make an appropriation for this purpose. HOTEL. Manila, one of the most attractive cities in the world, has not had its just share of travelers because it has not possessed those accom- modations demanded by the wealthier class who travel for pleasure. There is much to attract and interest in the Philippines. On the 1st day of September, 1910, a memorial tablet was placed for a first-class hotel upon the site designated by Mr. Burnham, and the building, modern in all of its features, will be pushed to a speedy completion. Knowing how largely foreign cities draw upon the capital of travelers, and what large benefits they derive from this source, the establishment of a first-class hostelry which can cater to the tasted of such people in a city which has for the lack of such accommodations repelled them, is an event of no small significance. The estimated cost of the building and furnishing is ^900,000, of which ^600,000 were loaned by the insular government upon bonds secured by mortgage. SPECIAL REPORTS O'S THE PHILIPPINES. 123 HOSPITAL IN MANILA. The opening of the general hospital for patients took place while I was in Manila, and I had the pleasure of attending. The event justly attracted great attention. The buildings are handsome, com- modious, and constructed of stone and concrete upon the best modern type. The appointments are in every way up to date. Except in size it is, in all essentials, not in any way inferior to the best of such institutions constructed upon the most approved plans in America. Too much credit can not be given to Dr. Victor G. Heiser for the skill and knowledge with which he has directed this monumental work. It is an institution of which Manila can justly be proud, for it is a conspicuous exponent of its civic progress. FODDER. Attention was directed to this subject in your special report. No substantial results have been obtained in producing clover or alfalfa. Experiments have been made by the Agricultural Department in curing a native hay, but up to this time it has not been utilized by the Army. The cost of provender brought from the United States is enormous and constitutes a large part of the extra expense of main- taining our soldiers in the Philippines over that in the United States. The cost of delivering American haj^ at Camp Keithley is estimated to be in excess of $40 per ton. A horse ordinarily consumes 14 pounds a day, which makes the cost about 28 cents per day. The cost of oats is proportionately high. I saw Army horses and mules at Jolo mainly sustained hj native produce. No effort should be spared to promote such culture as will supersede a large part of, if not all, importation of provender. This would result not only in a large saving in the Army expenses, but would add to the agricultural pros- perit}^ of the islands. I was so much impressed with the necessity of taking more vigorous steps than had hitherto been taken for such development that I appointed a board consisting of the secretarj^ of public instruction of the Philippine Islands, the director of agricul- ture of the Philippine Islands, one officer of the Quartermaster's De- partment, and two officers of the Cavalry arm of the United States Arm}'^, said officers to be designated by the commanding general of the Philippines Division, with instructions to investigate the subject of raising forage for horses and mules in the Philippines, and to de- vise and recommend plans for the economical production of forage for draft animals of the Army and other branches of the Govern- ment, with permission to said board to avail itself of the services of experts connected with the insular bureau of agriculture and other branches of the insular government and of the Philippines Division of the United States Army. At Camp Stotsenberg guinea grass is being used to some extent in lieu of the hay ration. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. A visit to the agiicultural college at Los Banos and an examination of the work it is doing and the care and success characterizing it give confidence that benefits will come from it to agriculture in the Philippines like those which have come in recent years from such institutions in America. Original investigations are being made as 124 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. to insects which are noxious to plant life, and already gratifying success has attended them. The beetle, which has been so destructive to the coconut trees, will be brought under control and great sums will thus be saved yearly to this large industry, upon which the li^dng of so many of the inhabitants depends. Much of this research work is being done by the students under the able direction of Edgar M. Ledyard. Experiments are being made in plants, seeds, and trees and their adaptations. Undoubtedly improvement in agricultural methods and an increase in yield from the propagation from selected seeds will follow. All the work, including that of farming, is done by students. The cost is so small as to bring the benefits of the institution within the means of those in moderate financial condition. It is popular and patronized by the wealthier classes who are inter- ested in agriculture. The idea has prevailed, and not without war- rant, that the Filipinos of the better class, on account of their training under Spanish ideals, contemn manual labor. A healthy change is becoming manifest. Here I saw working in the fields several sons of men of wealth, and they took great pride in their work. The insti- tution was opened in June, 1908. and now there are 90 students. Dr. Copeland has under him experts from America in the various lines of specialties in agriculture. The mainstay of the islands is, and doubtless always will be, agriculture. The want of iron, the character of timber, and the quality and limited supply of coal preclude the expectation that manufacturing will ever become a very prominent feature of indus- try. While broadly speaking this is true, yet capital can develop a great variety of profitable industries that will diversify the prod- ucts of the islands and give lucrative employment to many of the inhabitants. Copra and hemp, instead of being shipped in their crude form, from which the lowest profit is derived, should be manufactured in the islands. All of the copra is shipped in its raw state. Some hemp is made into cordage, but the amount is inconsiderable. The condition is very much the same as that which obtained in our Southern States when practically all of the cotton was shipped out to be manufactured. A vast change has come to the prosperity of those States since they have extensively developed home manufac- tures. Much of the profit which should accrue to the agriculturist in the islands is lost, owing to the want of proper care in preparing copra and hemp for market. The copra from Java brings a higher price by $8 per ton than that exported from the Philippines, owning to its better preparation for market. The bureau of agriculture is sending experts to the farmers to instruct them in better methods. Hemp-stripping machines which are regarded as successful are now being used in Davao, Albay, and Leyte. If they shall prove to be what is claimed for them, a great economy will follow in hemp pro- duction and better prices will be realized on account of the improve- ment in grade. The price of hemp has been low for the last two years. The prostration of agriculture in certain sections on account of the loss of carabao from rinderpest is gradually recovering. _ It is thought that in three or four years the normal condition in this respect will be restored. SPECIAL KEPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 125 The sugar planters in the southern islands have, on account of good crops and the rise in price in sugar owing to the Payne bill, been so prosperous that they are making large importations of carabao from China, and at the present rate of progress will be s,ufficiently supplied. Periodically the locust pest has inflicted serious losses upon the farmers. The bureau of agriculture has ascertained their breeding places and a systematic war of extermination is being successfully carried on. In this work the constabulary give valuable assistance. On the whole the agricultural condition is good. When the plans for transportation now contemplated are carried out, wider markets are opened, animal diseases and noxious insects are brought under control, land titles are settled so that farmers can avail themselves of their lands as a basis of credit, and the irrigation system now planned is completed, agriculture will be on a more sub- stantial basis and will not be subject to the prostrating conditions which hitherto have affected it. The following table gives a comparison of the fiscal years from 1907 to 1910, inclusive : Articles. Hemp tons . Copra pounds . Sugar do . . . Tobacco, and manufactures of: Leaf do... Cigars thousands . All other Miscellaneous 1907 Quantities. 112, 889 108, 206, 130 265,189,835 29, 910, 788 116,719 i Values. $21,085,081 4,053,193 3,934,460 1,957,488 1,051,621 120, 085 1,519,839 1908 Quantities. Values 113, 999 168,474,820 334,464,646 23, 187, 231 117, 564 33, 721, 767 $17, 311,808 461,680 664,666 581, 741 084,078 48,727 677, 116 32,829.>'l(i Articles. Hemp tons . Copra poiuids . . Sugar do Tobacco, and manufactures of: Leaf do Cigars. thousands. . All other Miscellaneous 1909 Quantities. 147, 621 232, 728, 116 247, 752, 186 23,603,142 116, 278 Values. $15,833,577 6, 657, 740 4,373,338 1,668,234 1,083,702 40, 317 1,387,550 31,044,458 1910 Quantities. Values 168, 090 256, 559, 997 281,564,991 21, 417, 722 196,592 $17, 9; 7, 1, 2, 404, 922 153,951 040, 690 598, 557 973,630 65, 308 649, 794 39,886,852 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. I heard while in the Philippines various criticisms of the insular administration. This was to have been expected and necessarily arises whei-e people are interested in and understand public affairs. It has been a source of satisfaction to me that, although full oppor- tunity has been given, charges of official dishonesty have been few. In my judgment, the administration in the Philippine Islands will compare favorably with that given either by the United States or by the several States in America, and I am of the opinion that more numerous complaints and of a more serious character are made in the United States than in the islands. 126 SPECIAL REPORTS 0:S THE PHILIPPINES. I am satisfied and I believe that anyone who makes a careful study of the personnel of the Philippine government will feel that the United States has just reason to be proud of the government it has established in the Philippine Islands. I have confidence in the integrity and ability of the Governor General, who is giving his whole mind and heart to his work. RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) I beg to refer to what I have heretofore said with reference to the coal mines on the island of Batan, owned by the United States Government and operated by the Quartermaster's Department of the Army. I renew the recommendation that an appropriation of $250,000 be made for the exhaustive study and development of this property. This recommendation was submitted in the estimate of appropriations for the fiscal year 1910. (h) I renew the recommendation made in raj annual report as Secretary of War in 1909, that provision be made for the retirement of American civil employees kfter long and faithful service under the Philippine government. (c) On March 22, 1910, after a careful study of the recommenda- tions of the Philippine Commission and after conference with you, I recommended : First. That the limit of indebtedness which may be incurred by the Philippine government for public works and improvements be increased from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. A bill providing for this has passed the Senate and has been favorably reported by the Com- mittee on Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives. I recom- mend that the passage of this bill be urged. Second. I repeated the recommendation made by you for the amendment of the mining laws in accordance with several recom- mendations of the Philippine Commission. A bill to make this recommendation effective was introduced in the Senate and was sub- sequently referred to a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Philippines. I recommend that this bill be given early consid- eration. Third. Following the recommendation of the Philippine Commis- sion, I recommended the enactment of legislation to enable certain classes of Filipinos now excluded and aliens to become " citizens of the Philippine Islands." A bill effecting this was introduced in the Senate but did not, in the form presented, meet the approval of the Committee on the Philippines. I recommend that this matter be given further consideration. Fourth. I also recommended certain amendments to the organic act to increase the amount of land which may be homesteaded and the amount which may be sold to individuals. I am, after further study, still of the opinion that the legislation in this regard recom- mended was conservative and wise, but, in view of the fact that there is to be an investigation of the general subject of the handling of the public lands of the Philippine Islands by a committee of the House of Representatives, I withhold any recommendation as to this matter pending the conclusion of said investigation. Respectfully submitted. J. M. Dickinson, Secretary of Wa7\ The President. APPENDIXES. 127 Appendix A. List of petitions submitted to the Secretary of War during his visit to the Philippines and of the petitioners. Petitioner. NEGEOS OCCIDENTAL. 14 municipal councils 4 municipal councils and provincial board. 5 municipal councils 3 municipal councils 2 municipal councils 4 municipal councils. 2 municipal councils . 1 municipal council. . 2 municipal councils. 1 municipal council. . 1 municipal council. . 1 municipal council. . 2 municipal councils. 3 municipal councils. 1 municipal council. . Municipal council of Calumpit, Bula- can, Aug. 15, 1910. Subject. 2 municipal councils Municipal council, Pontevedi'a, Aug. 1, 1910. Same body, Aug. 16, 1910 -P Provincial board Provincial board OTHER PROVINCES. Filomeno O.Zafra and 278 others, Min- glanilla, Cebu, Aug. 10, 1910. 117376—19- Investigation of charges by Representative Martin. Sale of San Jose estate declared by them illegal. Immediate establishment railroad line in Negros Occidental. Establishment Filipino senate. lilipinization all public offices in islands. Congress formally declare intention to grant independence to Philippines, and not to retain, cede, or alienate any part thereof. Immediate independence all Philippine Islands. Discontinuance government Moro Province and establishment of civil government similar to that elsewhere in islands. Equalization of salaries in public offices as between Americans and Filipinos. That Secretary of War obtain from Congress a money prize for person discovering efficient remedy for cattle diseases in islands . That bureau of lands facilitate homesteading by preparing map of lands which may be homesteaded, and furnish copy to each municipality. Extend period of study of Filipino students in United States to 6 years. That Congress extend term of office of all elective officials in islands to 4 years. Reduction of salaries and wages of government officials and em- ployees in Philippine Islands. Applauding work of Messrs. Legarda and Quezon in Congress. Removal of limitations on importation of sugar, tobacco, and other Philippine products into United States free of duty. Power to Philippine Legislature to enact laws regulating emigra- tion of labor from the islands. Protesting against sale of friar lands in large tracts and requesting abolition of customs tariff between United States and Philip- pines. Asking Secretary Dickinson to support Commissioner Quezon's recommendation to Congress for an elective senate and empow- ering the assembly to enact legislation restricting immigration. Authority for province to issue $500,000 in bonds, proceeds to be used for construction of public roads and bridges. Power of Philippine Legislature to legislate for entire Archipelago, including Moro Province. Right to make commercial treaties with foreign nations. Right to di'aw up their own constitution. An elective senate. Appointment of a Filipino Vice Governor General. One-half of secretaryships of executive departments. Greater representation on supreme court. Authority for assembly to legislate for Moro and non-Christian provinces. Power to assembly to investigate and censure, and impose upon administration policy of majority. Congress to fix area of friar lands that may be sold at same limit as that fixed for pubUc lands. Homestead law be not amended as to area. Appeals to United States Supreme Court in amounts of $12,500 instead of $25,000, as at present. Law regulating emigration of laborers to foreign countries. Trial by jury. Independence as soon as possible. Creation of an elective senate. Appointment of a lilipino as Vice Governor General. Appointment of Filipinos to half or more of the secretaryships of executive departments. Greater Filipino representation on the supreme court. Extension of authority to the assembly to legislate for the Moro and other non-Christian provinces. Legislation by Congress restricting sale of friar lands to occupants, or if unoccupied, to Filipinos and corporations, and limiting area to that of public lands. Provisions of homestead law relating to area be not amended. Appeals to United States Supreme Court in amount of $12,500 instead of $25,000, as at present. Power to assembly to enact legislation prohibiting, restricting, and favoring the immigration of laborers. 129 130 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. Lint of petitions submitted to the Seeretanj of War during his visit to the Philippines and of the petitioners — Continued. Petitioner. Subject. OTHER PROVINCES— continued. Presidents of the various committees of Nacionalista Party of Iloilo, Aug. 27, 1910. Municipal council, Cebu, Aug. 17, 1910 Municipal council of Naga, Cebu, Aug. 17, 1910. Municipal council of Cebu, Julj' 28,1910 Mimicipal council, Cebu, Julj^ 28, 1910. T6mas Arejola, deputy from Ambos Camarines, Aug. 11, 1910, to Secre- tary of War. Municipal council of Talisay, Ambos Camarines, Aug. 6, 1910. Mass meeting of ueople of Capiz, Aug. 23, 1910. Convention of municipal presidents of Pangasinan, Aug. 27, 1910. Convention of municipal presidents of Cavite, July 23, 1910. Mimicipal coxmcil, Sorsogon, July 21, 1910. Municipal council, Dingle, Iloilo, Aug. 24, 1910. Mimicipal presidents, Pangasinan Province, Aug. 27, 1910. Mimicipal council, Mulanay, Tayabas, Aug. 5, 1910. Municipal president, councilmen, and residents of Arevalo, Iloilo, Aug. 26, 1910. Municipal council, Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, Aug. 1, 1910. Matias Hilado, delegate of the Nacion- alista Party, Negros Occidental, and Fernandez" Yanson and Salvador Laguda, representatives of the Na- tional Progresista Party in that prov- ince, to Secretary of War, Aug. 25, 1910. Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Manila, Sept. 1, 1910. Province of Bulacan. Certain Christian inhabitants of the island of Mindoro. Immediate independence. That the resolution introduced in Congress by Senator Crane is in accord with sentiments of people of Naga, and provides that copy of this resolution be sent to Senator Crane and Secretary Dickinson. Indorsing resolutions adopted at mass meeting at Manila Opera House, May 22, 1910, protesting against sale of friar lands to the trusts Applauding Senator Crane for resolution calling for Philippine independence, and providing that a copy be forwarded to Sec- retary Dickinson. Expressing accord with action taken by Representatives Martin and Slayden regarding sale of friar lands. Requesting him to faithfully interpret to the Government the aspirations of the Filipino people for immediate independence and, preliminary thereto, the granting of an elective Senate. Immediate independence. Immediate independence, and, in lieu thereof, (1) power to make their own constitution, (2) an elective senate, (3) the Filipin- ization of the public service. Immediate independence. Protesting against sale of friar lands in amounts greater than 1,024 hectares, and expressing accord with Representative Martin's action. Applauding Representative Martin for his resolution calling for investigation of friar land sales, and requesting Government to sell friar lands only to occupants, or if unoccupied, to Filipine individuals or corporations. Protesting against sale of friar lands to the trusts. Asking the Secretary to endeavor to obtain for the Philippine Islands and elective senate, to be purely Filipino, and trial by jury. Congratulating Senator Crane and Commissioner Quezon, and welcoming the Secretary. Suspension for one year of customs duty on rice imported from Saigon, or the reduction thereof on account of poor crop in islands this year. Applauding action of Representative Martin; and requesting that the Secretary report to the Government that sale of San Jose estate is illegal and should be aimulled. Requesting him to endeavor to obtain for the Filipinos greate participation in the more important affairs of their government Objects to rate and system of taxation and to the budget and burden of expense oif running the government. Complains of insufficient currency; of the miserable condition of agriculture through loss of work animals and insufficient capital that the government shipyards, machine shops, bureau of sup- ply, prison workshop, ice "and printing plants present an unfair competition to manufacture by individuals; that the govern- ment revenue cutters come into ( ompetition with coastwise vessels, which endangers the continuance of some navigation companies; of the difficulties and hardships experienced by tobacco factories and distilleries in conducting their business; and that the Filipino has little chance of success in competition with foreigners. Suggests the necessity of reducing the expenses of administration of'the government, and that the Filipino should be trained in commerce. Notwithstanding their aspiration for immediate iudependence, petition for an elective senate, independent of the judicial power, increase of provincial autonomy, restoration of municipal autonomy, reduction of tax on alcohol, and reduction of the budget. Protesting against the extension to that island of the regime for the government of non-Christian tribes. Note.— These petitions arc in the department and will be submitted to you or to Congress, if desired. Appendix B. Heakii\-gs Befoep: the Seceetary of Wak, Held ix Marble Hall. Ayunta- MiEXTO, Manila, on September 1. 1910. The public session was opened by tlie honorable the Secretary of War at 10 o'clock a. m. The addresses were delivered in Spanish, interpreted by Mr. Rupert D. Pergusson, chief of the translating division, executive bureau, and reported stenographically. The Secretary of War. It has been erroneously stated that during my stay in this country I ^^-ould at all times be surrounded by public officials and by Americans who would' not allow me to hear the voice of the people. That is not true. In proof thereof, in my journey to the northern Provinces and in my recent journey to the southern Provinces, as well as during my stay in Manila. I have at all times endeavored to come in contact with the people without any official intermediary. In order to do so more efficiently I have accepted the hospitality of Filipino homes for some days, where persons desiring to do so were at liberty to visit me. I have always believed in a full and free discussion of public matters. My life work has been that of a la^vyer. and part of the time that of a juch have been written and published by the defendants ; and that, while the plaintiff has received in- formation from various sources that the real motive which has actuated many., of not all, of the defendants in their conduct is the desire to secure political preferment and notoriety, the ostensible reasons for the said acts on the part of the defendants are those heretofore set forth in this paragraph. IV. That none of the defendants, nor all of them together, have property sufficient to reimburse the plaintiff for the loss and damages which will naturally and probably follow from the aforesaid intended conduct of the defendants ; that such loss and damages can not be definitely proven as to amount, and that thwj commission or continuance during the pendency of this action, of the acts herein- before complained of will probably work an injustice to the plaintiff. Wherefore plaintiff prays : 1. That a preliminary injunction be issued by this honorable court, requiring the defendants, and each of them, to refrain from urging, requesting, or ad- vising any person, or the public generally, whether by word of mouth or by •written or printed communication, or otherwise, to boycott the electric street- railway system of the plaintiff, or to desist or refrain from becoming passengers for hire on such street-railway system. 2. That, in accordance with the provisions of act No. 1427, this complaint be received by the court in Englisli alone, and that the plaintiff be granted a period of 10 days within which to serve and file a translation thereof into Spanish. 3. That, after a trial herein, the preliminary injunction to be granted in ac- cordance with paragraph 1 of this prayer be made perpetual. 4. That the plaintiff recover the costs of this action of the defendants, and have such other and further relief as may be just and proper. Betjce & Laweence, Attorneys for plaintiff, No. 15 Plaza Moraga, Manila. Manila, P. I., May 29, 1909. Philippine Islands, City of Manila, ss.: C. B. Graves, being first duly sworn, deposes and says : That affiant is the second vice president and general manager of the plaintiff in the above-entitled cause ; that affiant has read the foregoing complaint, and is conversant with the facts. 150 SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. tlierein recitfd : that the allegations (»f Ihe foregoiu^- cumplaiiit are true, except as to those made upon information and belief, and as to such the affiant be- lieves them to be true. C. B. Graves. Subscribed and s^^•orn to before me, in Manila, P. I., tliis 29th day of May, 1909, the said C. B. Graves exhibiting to me liis personal cedula No. F-1539001. issued at Manila, P. I., on the 26th day of May, 1909. [seal] W. H. Lawrence, Notari/ Public. My commission expires December 31, 1910. I Translation.] United States of America, Philippine Islands. In the Court of First Instance of the city of Manila. Manila Electric Railroad & Light Co., complainant, v. Patricio Mariano, Ligorio Gomez, Pio Santa Ana, Jose Turiano, Perfecto del Kosario, Arcadio Ginko, Antonio Montenegro, Gregorio Clemente, Sotero Morales, Timoteo Ansures, Diosdado Alvarez, Pio del Pilar, Tomas Santiago. Joaquin Balmori, Pedro Gil, Eugenio Galvez, Mariano Paguia, Aurelio Rus&a, Aurelio Tolentine, J. Ernesto del Rosario, defendants. Civil, No. 7154. Sum- mons. To the defendants aliove mentioned: By these presents you are required to appear at the office of the clerk of this Court of First Instance of the city of Manila within tlie twenty (20) days after the service of this summons if it shall have been served in this city, and if not, within forty (40) days, to answer the complaint which is attached to this, in the period fixed by the regulations of this court ; And, if within the time fixed, you shall fail to appear, the plaintiff: shall have the right to ask that judgment by default be rendered, and may claim from this court the remedy which it asks in its complaint. Given by the Hon. A. S. Crossfield, judge of tMs Court of First Instance, on the 29th day of May, 1909. J. McMlCKING, Clerk of the Court of First Instance of the City of Manila. Copy. J. McMlCKING, Sheriff of Manila. [Translation.] United States of America, Philippine Islands. In the Court of First Instance of the city of Manila. Manila Electric Railroad & Light Co., plaintiff, v. Patricio Mariano, Ligorio Gomez, Pio Santa Ana, Jose Turiano, Perfecto del Rosario, Arcadio Ginko, Antonio Montenegro, Gregorio Clemente, Sotero Morales, Timoteo Ansures, Diosdado Alvarez, Pio del Pilar, Tomas Santiago, Joaquin Balmori, Pedro Gil, Eugenio Galvez, Mariano Paguia, Aurelio Rusca, Aurelio Tolentino, J. Ernesto del Rosario, defendants. Civil, No. 7154. Greetings: The plaintiff having entered a complaint before this Court of First Instance of Manila in the case above entitled, against the defendants, Patricio Mariano, Ligorio Gomez, Pio Santa Ana, Josg Turiano, Perfecto del Rosario, Arcadio Ginko, Antonio Montenegro, Gregorio Clemente, Sotero Morales, Timoteo Ansures, Diosdado Alvarez, Pio del Pilar Tomas Santiago, Joaquin Balmori, Pedro Gil, Eugenio Galvez, Mariano Paguia, Aurelio Rusca, Aurelio Tolentino, and J. Ernesto del Rosario, who are mentioned above, and having likewise prayed for the issue of a preliminary injunction against said defendants, so that each of them shall refrain from continuing to perform certain acts mentioned in the complaint and more particularly detailed further on in this mandate ; hav- ing viewed said complaint, the oath as to its truthfulness taken by the com- plainant, through its second vice president and general manager, C. B. Graves, and being satisfied that this is a case in which an injunction should be issued on account of the alleged motives being sufficient, and the complainant having given the bond required by the law, to the amount of five thousand (?=5,000) pesos, Philippine currency. By these presents, it is ordered by the undersigned, judge of this Court of First Instance, that until further orders you, the ^aid Patricio Mariano, SPECIAL REPOETS ON THE PHILIPPHSTES. 151 Ligorio Gomez, Pio Santa Ana, Jos§ Turiano, Perfecto del Rosario, Arcadio Ginko, Antonio Montenegro, Gregorio Clemente, Sotero Morales, Timoteo Ansures, Diosdado Alvarez, Pio del Pilar, Tomas Santiago, Joaquin Balmori, Pedro Gil, Eugenio Galvez, Mariano Pagnia, Aiirelio Rusca, Aurelio Tolentino, and J. Ernesto del Rosario, and all of your lawyers, attorneys, agents, and the rest of the persons who work in your behalf, shall refrain from soliciting, praying, or advising any person at all, or the public in general, whether ver- bally or by means of printed communication or by writing, or in any other manner whatever, to take part in a boycott against the electric tramway system of the plaintiff or to refrain or abstain from becoming passengers ' on said electrical tramway system. Given in Manila, on May 29, 1909. A. S. Ckossfield, Judge of First Instance of Manila. Appendix C. [Translation.] Letter of the Nacionalista Party. Manila, September 1, 1910. Mr. Secretary : The Nacioualista Party believing that it Interprets the feel- ings of all its members honors itself in directing to you this statement of facts to call your attention to the true general aspiration of the people of these islands, whose interests, well-being, and happiness the United States has assumed control of in establishing its sovereignty over the Philippine Archi- pelago. The Nacionalista Party was organized in the year 1906, and promptly ol)- tained popular favor. It has committees established in almost all the towns of the archipelago, and represents approximately 81 per cent of the popular suffrage. At present of SI members of the Philippine Assembly it has 66, and of 31 provincial governors it has 23. This party aspires to the immediate independence of the country, because it believes the Filipino people endowed with those conditions necessarj^ to establish and maintain a stable government of law and order, as has been proven by the existence of what was the government of the Filipino republic in the years 1898 and 1899. The period of experiment which has passed during the American sovereignty is ample to demonstrate that the Filipinos know how to make use of civil and political liberty, and to comply with and to force compliance with the laws, to avoid disorders, prevent abuses, and live in accordance with the practices of civilized communities. It is for this reason that we believe that the transfer of political control to the Filipinos can not signify any sort of disturbance within the country, or danger to the life, prop- erty, or liberty of residents therein, but on the contrary the maintenance and preservation of the essential principles for which are established governments, law and order, and guaranties of liberty and justice for everybody. The independence of the Philippine people will be a due satisfaction for the efforts and sacrifices made by Filipinos in acquiring cultivation and western civilization, and a compliance with the sacred principles of equality and liberty of the people consecrated in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of North America. The indefinite retention of the Philippine Islands tends to produce racial antagonism, misunderstanding, and reciprocal jealousy among a people whose interests in the extreme Orient should be allied, makes difficult the rapid development of the national aptitude of the Filipinos in the management and defense of their own interests, and sacrifices the future of a young people desirous of following the examples of the oldest in their fruitful work for the good of progress and of the life of humanity. In this brief exposition in which we v/ill review the accomplishments and facts which have revealed the aptitude of Filipinos for independent self-govern- ment and will consider some questions which affect the problem of the rela- tions between America and the Philippine Islands, it will be necessary to separate all the matters into various chapters with the following headings : I. Capacity demonstrated by the Filipinos in the organization of a popular self-government. II. The capacity of the Filipinos demonstrated during American control. III. Alleged obstacles to independence ; their consideration. IV. Obstacles to the indefinite retention of the Philippine Islands preparatory to their independence. I. Capacity Demonstrated by the Filipinos in the Organization of a Popular Self-Government. It is im]wrtant to set forth some historic facts which bear on the aspiration of the Filipinos for independence, and makes patent the aptitudes of the people in sustaining a popular independent government. 152 SPECIAL, REPOKTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 153 The Philippine Ishmds were under the domination of Spain from the 19th of May, 1571, when Legaspi took possession of them in tlie name of 'Philip II. The laws approved in the beginning for tlie administration of insular aifairs were beneficent and protective in an extreme degree for the natives of the colonies. The Spanish people in the greatness of its then power felt itself impelled to carry the light of Christianity and of civilization to the inhabitants of tlie darkest places of the earth. It believed, honestly, that it was called by Provi- dence to govern foreign people, even by means of violence, with the object of making them happy, bringing to them knowledge of the true God and to ad- minister their interests paternally. The Philippine Islands were governed in accordance with this altruistic sentiment, and the Filipinos were effectively converted to Christianity and educated in what progress and European -'iviliza- tion means. The Filipinos at the end of 300 years constituted a homogeneous people, M'ith national aspirations, political ideals, and love of progress and liberty. Nevertheless, the paternal regime continued as at the beginning, based on the false idea that the people was a child whose will and opinion should not be taken into account to determine matters bearing on its own interest. The people understood on the other side that the colonial regime in force did not favor its rapid progress to place it at the height of the civilized people of the earth. The doctrines relating to the right of man and citizenship had advanced in the conscience of the Filipinos, and as such rights were not recognized under the colonial regime, they were consequently demanded. The people by public • subscription and in other ways paid for the sending of various Filipinos to Madrid to beg necessary reforms in the insular administration. The idea that the Filipino people should have the same political and civil rights as the Spanish people and some voice in the administration of its own affairs was the limit of the campaign intrusted to the Filipinos sent to Spain. The denial by the Spanish authorities of the petitions of the people began to produce discontent among the Filipinos, and the idea that they were an object of political abuse was readily accepted. The distance from the place where this colony was governed, the intrigues of the insular officials to create the belief in the governing authority of the metropolis of the inadvisability of reforming the policy and insular administration, and tlie suspicions of which those Filipinos who begged reforms were the object were so many causes to prevent an appreciation of the justice of the popular demands and contributed to maintain and increase the general discontent and provoked hatred toward that regime. The hatred of what was considered political tyranny culminated in 1896, when Andres Bonifacio, a man coming from the working mass, started an insurrec- tional movement against Spain which acquired great proportion, and ended in the so-called treaty of " Biak-na-bato." In virtue of this treaty the leaders of the insurrection promised to accept the program of reforms which, as they were made to understand, would be brought about if they laid down their arms, but as nothing was subsequently done, the insurrection continued, and on the opening of the Spanish-American war in April, 1898, the Filipinos believed there had arrived an opportunity of fighting determinedly for independence, expecting to count for this purpose on American aid. The American naval forces destroyed the Spanish fleet, occupied the Bay of Manila and the port of Cavite, while the Filipinos under the orders of Aguiualdo organized an army and took all the provinces of the archipelago from the power of the Spanish. This ended practically the Spanish sovereignty in the islands. TYPE OF POPULAR GOVEENMEKT. There was immediately organized a Philippine government in all the occu- pied places. The government was dictatorial at the beginning, but this condi- tion only lasted a month, or, that is. the absolutely necessary time that Agui- naldo employed in exciting th,e spirits of his compatriots in favor of Philip- pine independence. During this time Aguinaldo, " understanding that the first duty of all government is to interpret faithfully the popular aspirations," and understanding further " the present necessity of establishing in each town a solid and robust organization, the firmest bulwark of public security and only measure of assuring union and discipline indispensable for the implantation of the republic, or, that is, the government of the people for the people," pub- lished a decree giving instructions to the people that were liberated from the Spanish control to change the form of government in their respective localities. 154 SPECIAL, KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. The before-mentioned instructions outlined a type of popular government simple and suitable to those moments of transition. It was provided that " so soon as the town is free from the Spanish domination those residents most distin-- guished by their learning, social position, and honorable conduct, as well in the center of the towns as in the barrios, should unite in a general meeting and elect by majority votes a chief of the municipality and three delegates, one of police and interior order, another of .iustice and civil register, and another of taxes and property, and a chief or head of each barrio," all of whom will form the popular junta. " The chiefs of the municipalities after having ob- tained the views of their respective juntas will unite and will elect by majority votes a chief of the province and three councilors for the three departments above named." These officials with the chief of the provincial capital .will form the provincial council. There was no difficulty in the application of these instructions, and the towns and provinces AA-hich were under the jurisdiction of the dictatorial government worked in conformity therewith. On June 23, 1898. Aguinaldo resigned his dic- tatorial powers in the revolutionary government, " whose object is to struggle for the independence of the Philippine Islands until the free nations, including Spain, recognized it expressly, and to prepare the country for the implantation of a true republic." The evident object of Aguinaldo in resigning his dictator- ship was to give promptly to the people guaranties of a civil government as most conformable to the character of the new institutions implanted. The revolutionary government preserved the popular form of provincial and muni- cipal governments under conditions heretofore stated. The central government was organized with the president as chief of the government and executive power, assisted by four department secretaries, namely, foreign relations, ma- rine and commerce ; war and public works ; police and interior order ; treasury, agriculture, and industry, with a revolutionary congress as the legislative power, whose members were to be elected in the same manner prescribed for the election of the provincial officials. To this revolutionary congress was given true indpendence, since " the president of the government may not prevent in any way whatever a reunion of congress, nor interfere with sessions thereof," and with a commission of the congress presided over by the vice-president, and assisted bj^ one of the secretaries of the same, as supreme court to take cog- nizance on appeal of criminal matters passed on by the provincial councils. The popular juntas and provincial councils Avere at the same time competent tribunals to take cognizance of civil and criminal matters, Avith their respective jurisdictions well defined. It is important to take note of these details to understand properly Avhat Avas the object of the government that the Filipinos by themselves, Avithout aid or council of anyone, proposed to adopt, having in mind their conditions and po- litical vieAvs. The fact that the Filipinos had refused to reestablish the old institutions, and that they had created others — neAV ones — made it clear that the Filipinos not only had their OAvn political ideas, but likCAA-ise that their ideals are the most advanced that the progress of time has shoAvn. The revolu- tionary government Avas. as has been seen, in its essence popular. In all the governmental divisions the people Avere represented by officials elected by them. This is especially shoAvn if we refer to the organization of the judicial poAver AA'hich Avas from top to bottom officered by elected officials. THE CONSENT OF THE GOVEENED. The authority of the revolutionary government was extended in a feAv months to all the islands composing the archipelago by express recognition of their in- habitants. It v^^as questioned in no part of Luzon, of the Visayas, or of Min- danao after the people Avere delivered from the Spaniards. The chiefs of the various non-Christian tribes of the north of Luzon Avho never submitted to Spanish domination sent messages acknoAvledging the goA^ernment then estab- lished. Prominent Mohammedan chiefs of the island of Mindanao gave their spontantous and sincere adhesion. The different grades of civilization, the accidental differences of religion, habits, and dialects, AA^hich are ahvays exag- gerated by those who are interested in presenting the Filipinos as incapable of instituting an independent self-government, Avere no obstacle to make difficult in any way the establishment of said Philippine government or the normal exercise of its authority over all the islands. The Filipinos on displaying their national unity under that government consecrated likeAvise its legitimacy under SPECIAL REPORTS ON" THE PHILIPPINES. 155 the principle that tlie power of the government comes from the consent of the governed. THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION. In September, 1S9S, the revolutionary congress opened its sessions. All the provinces of the archipelago were represented therein. After the work of or- ganization, congress devoted all its time to drawing up a constitution. On the 20th of January, 1899, the Filipino constitution was approved and placed in force immediately thereafter. If the spirit and letter of this constitution be considered, it will be seen that its provisions contain all the principles of law, order, and liberty contained in the modern constitutions of the world. Title I defines the Philippine republic, and declares that the sovereignty resides exclusively in the people. Title II establishes the form of popular representative government, alternative and responsible, with three distinct and independent powers. Title III recognizes the separation of the church and state and the liberty and equality of all religions. Title IV contains the declaration of indi- vidual rights to life, property, freedom of thought, reunion and association, foundation of schools, and petition to authorities, the exercise of profession or Industry, and prescribes the guaranties of these rights. Authorizes the same rights and guaranties to foreigners and permits the latter to acquire Philippine citizenship by naturalization papers and residence during two years in any territory of the republic. Establishes obligatory military service, popular gratuitous and obligator-y instruction, civil trial for all crimes ; prohibits insti- tution of primogeniture and the entailing of property, the accepting and author- izing decorations and titles of nobility. Title V establishes a representative assembly in which resides the legislative power. Representatives will be such of the nation, and may not receive any imperative mandate from their electors. They may not be molested for their opinions or votes nor imprisoned without authority of the assembly. The assembly may try the highest officials of the government for crimes against the state. Title VI constitutes a permanent com- mission of the assembly during the closing of the sessions to decide on certain specific matters. Title VII declares the president of the republic chief of the executive powder which he exercises tiirough his secretaries. Questions relating to private interests of the municipalities correspond to the provincial and popular assemblies and to the central administration on the base of the amplest decentralization and economy. Title VIII provides the election of the president of The republic by means of a constituent assembly by absolute majority of votes. The term is for four years with reelection. The president may initiate laws and is obliged to promulgate those which have been approved. Title IX provides for a council of government composed of a president and seven secre- taries, who are collectively responsible before the assembly for the general policy of the nation, and ijadividually for their personal acts. Title X declares that the judicial power rests in the supreme court and other tribunals provided by law, empowering any citizen to bring action against the individuals of the judi- cial power for crimes committed in the exercise of their oflices. Title XI provides that the organization and powers of the provincial and popular assem- blies will be fixed by law under certain conditions. Title XII regulates the administration of state. Title XIII provides methods and form of amending the constitution. Title XIV provides that all officials must swear to support the constitution. Adopts as official language the Spanish. Temporarily places in force the Spanish laws and regulations as to the exercise of civil rights of citizens. There can be no doubt that this constitution not only represents the grade of cultivation of men that drew it up, but that it shows likewise that the Filipinos considered a system of popular government as that most suited to their condi- tions and the experiences of the country. They did not think of copying and imitating the institutions with which they were most familiar. On the contrary, they constructed a system radically contrary to that which had been in force here for several centuries. In none of the lines of this constitution is observed a tendency to maintain any sort of oligarchy, but in all of them are imprinted democratic principles more accentuated, perhaps, than in many of the republican constitutions of the day. The Philippine constitution, as it was drawn up by representatives of the revolutionary congress, portrays with fidelity more than any other act of the Filipinos of that time the aspirations and political ideals of the people of the islands. 156 SPECIAL KEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. CONDITIONS WHICH PKEVAILKU UNDER THAT GOVEKNiMENT. Ill the conditions of order, tranquillity, and progress wliicli prevailed under the authority of the revolutionary government, there was clear, y displayed the good dispositions of these people for the direction of their own affairs. A decree of Aguinaldo abolishing all gambling privileges and cockfighting taxes, " because they tend only to ruin the people, with slight advantage to the public treasury," was sutticient that the people should give up completely their ancient favorite practices. Crimes and ordinary misdemeanors diminished notably in number. There were enjoyed as in no time entire security, well-being, and content. The parties of bandits which from the most remote periods were accustomed to dis- turb the order voluntarily disappeared. The spirit of cooperation of the people in the measures of the government for good order and progress was evidenced by the liberal treatment of the Spanish prisoners, the respect to foreigners, the attendance at school, and the return to customary field work in those places In which the revolutionary condition had ceased. The government on its part, without neglecting provisions for war, consecrated itself to organize the most important and urgent public services. The corps of civil physicians to watch over sanitary conditions, hygiene, and urbanization of the provinces was established. There was created a civil register in all the municipalities. The chiefs of the municipalities were authorized to act pro- visionally as notaries in the authentication of documents and extra.iudicial acts. There was' founded a university to teach law, medicine, pharmacy, and notary- ship, and the institution "Burgos " for studies of the general high-school class, and there was ordered the reopening of all the municipal primary schools. All the provincial councils and popular juntas were ordered to proceed to the repair and preservation of roads, bridges, and public buildings, because " the ways of communication were one of the causes which contribute to material and moral progress of every country." There was created an institute for vaccination to prepare and distribute vaccine to all the provinces. There was established a bureau of census and statistics. There was organized a corps of communications to regulate the sending of correspondence and telegraphic dispatches between the towns and provinces. The government not only organized practically all the public services which existed under the Spanish government, but likewise adopted various pr(jvislons which showed its good desire to watch over the general interest, prohibiting the sale of copra which is not thoroughly dry "as prejudicial to the credit of com- mercial articles," and the slaughtering of carabao useful for agricultural pur- poses, " Ijecause they might be better used in the fields.'' THE OPENING OF HOSTILITIES. On the 23d of January, 1899, in accordance with the constitution, proclama- tion of the Philippine Republic was made in the town of'Malolos; Aguinaldo was proclaimed chief of said republic. But shortly thereafter, that is, on the 4th of February, occurred the opening of hostilities between Americans and Filipinos. This outbreak was a surprise for the Filipinos. But the moral union of the people and Philippine Government was displayed during the new condition of war. Aguinaldo published a proclamation ordering the war and his order was obeyed in all sections. The American forces encountered open resistance wherever they were, and had to forcibly capture or force the Philip- pine forces to surrender by superiority of resources. The spirit of resistance terminated toward the end of 1901 and the Filipinos, through the efforts made by some of their compatriots, agreed to recognize American domination. II. The Capacity of the Filipinos Shown During American Control. Nothing can indicate better the capacity of the people for independent gov- ernment than the spontaneous adhesion that the same people is giving to the essential democratic principles which inspire the present government and its cooperation in the many steps that have been taken for the betterment of the intellectual, moral, social, and material conditions of the people. If this people should be lacking in those conditions necessary for progress, erience of others. The colonial experience of the United States has occurred only since the war with Spain. The political experience of American statesmen has been limited before this time to domestic affairs. When the American Nation, through the declaration of their prominent men, and in other ways, congratulates itself in saying that its colonial administration of the new people, subject to its domina- tion, has been carried on with success, we can not do less than infer from this the truth from our point of view that a previous practical experience is not necessary to a country when it shows good judgment and disposition in other affairs to obtain the success of an undertaking. We are glad to be able to say that the good sense and the good disposition shown by the Filipino people in adapting its life and customs to the practice of the civilized nations of Europe and America permit the well-founded hope that with this actual practical experience it will have success in its work in the experiment of an independent government. A COMMON LANGUAGE. The lack of a common language spoken and written in the relations of the Filipinos among themselves has been likewise mentioned a number of times in discussing the problem of our independence. It has caused the teaching of English in the schools and its diffusion by all possible means among different people of the country, with the object that the Filipino people may acquire not only a common medium of communication but likewise the advantages that the possession of the English language would give for commerce and the study of free institutions. The existence of various dialects within a single country is certainly an im- pediment to easy communications, and to the communication of thought and word between men of the same country, but the fact that there exists a like condition in many independent nations of old Europe makes us believe that it is not an indispensable condition to the independence of nations. The number of dialects of the country, and the importance of the difficulties which this variety of dialects creates has been much exaggerated. But to be accurate, we must say that properly there are three dialects : One which domi- nates in the north, that is the Ilocano ; another that dominates in the center, that is the Tagalog ; and another that dominates in the south, that is the Visayan. The other dialects are varieties of one of these three principal ones, so that after a period of a few weeks in a place the Filipinos may speak and under- stand the dialect of the locality. Obstacles to the Indefinite Retention of the Islands Pkeparatoey to their Independence. The present policy was explained by President Taft in his special report as Secretary of War to the President relating to the Philippine Islands, dated the 23d of January, 1908, as follows : " I do not see li,ow any more definite policy can be declared than was de- clared by President McKinley in his instructions to Secretary Root for the guidance of the Philippine Commission, which was incorporated into law by the organic act of the Philippine government, adopted July 1, 1902. That policy is declared to be the extension of self-government to the Philippine Islands by gradual steps from time to time as the people of the islands shall show them- selves fit to receive the additional responsibiliy, and that policy has been con- 170 SPECIAL, EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPINES. sistently adhered to in the last seven years now succeeding the establishment of civil government. * * * * H= * H= " It necessarily involves in its ultimate conclusion as the steps toward self- government become greater and greater the ultimate independence of the islands, although, of course, if both the United States and the islands were to conclude after complete self-government were possible that it would be mutually bene- ficial to continue a governmental relation between them like that between Eng- land and Australia, there would be nothing inconsistent with the present policy in such a result. ****** H: "Any attempt to fix the time in which complete self-government may be con- ferred upon the Filipinos, in their own interest, is, I think, most unwise. The key of the whole policy outlined by President McKinley and adopted by Congress was that of the education of the masses of the people and the leading them out of the dense ignorance in which they are now, with a view to enabling them intelligently to exercise the force of public opinion without which a popular self- government is impossible." This policy nevertheless has not yet been sanctioned by Congress in all its parts. Congress, which is the power in which resides the regulation of aftairs referring to the Philippine Islands, has until the present refused to express its opinion with reference to the future political status of the islands. CONTBAEY OPINIONS AND POSITIONS. This indefiniteness as to the political future of the country results in two con- trary movements of opinion as well among Americans as among Filipinos — some who believe that independence must be conceded after some years, and others who believe that it is never to be conceded. The doubts which arise from this state of indefiniteness result in all and each one working without a fixed direc- tion, producing a lack of general agreement, which is far from favoring the progress and well-being of all the residents of the islands. In the attitude, idea, and actions of many Americans in the islands appears to be indicated the con- viction held by them that the Filipinos are not to be, nor will ever be, inde- pendent ; that the American flag will never be lowered there, where it has once waved. So that, notwithstanding the repeated declarations made by high author- ities in the United States that the government implanted in the islands is for the interest and benefit of the Filipinos, there are many American residents of the islands who conduct themselves in the contrary sense, animated apparently with the idea that the government has been established here exclusively for their interest and benefit. It is observed, for example, .that there are few Ameri- cans of those who come to the islands who have endeavored to intimately know the Filipinos or to gain the friendship of the latter by socially and personally uniting with them, but many of them have displayed egotistic and personal motives; sometimes publicly indicating that the Americans have come to the islands to better their purses and interests, and at other times depreciating the association of the Filipinos, or in a thousand ways treating them depreciatingly. Few of the Americans who deal with the Filipinos can hear with calmness the demands of the Filipinos for their independence, but many of them laugh jokmgly at it as at a thing impossible. On the other hand, the Filipinos who accept in good faith and sincerity the carrying out of this policy, in view of those examples given by the Americans, can with difficulty induce a ray of hope into the mmds of their compatriots, and not a few come to establish in their minds the belief that the American Government is not disposed to specify to-day or at any time the political aspirations of the Filipinos. HARMONY AND GOOD UNDERSTANDING MADE DIFFICULT. From this naturally come many difficulties which do not contribute to create that healthful harmony, that close relation, between Americans and Filipinos which is necessary for the fulfilling of the mission which the American people desires to fill with respect to the natives of the islands. The American Govern- ment needs the cooperation of the people, needs the support of the Filipinos to convince the country as to the generous and altruistic designs which have moved it to remain in the islands, but every day the Filipino politicians are denounced to the government as propagators of evil doctrines ; as obstacles to SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPHSTES. 171 the execution of the plans of the government ; as hostile to the sovereignty and mission of North America in the islands ; in general, as the most dangerous enemies of its own people. It would even seem that there is an effort to make the government believe that it should suspect all Filipino politicians; that ear should not be given to their proposals and complaints ; that it should entirely ignore them or do the contrary of what they ask or propose, because in this manner they might administer more justly and efficaciously the interests of the people in these islands. In this manner the labor of the government for a closer union with the people is strongly embarrassed on the one side by the voice of a portion of the American press which clamors constantly against the policy and the Philippine politicians, and on the other side by the voice of a portion of the Filipino press which, rendered hostile by that, considers it neces- sary to take the defense of the Filipinos, censuring the Americans, and making them responsible for the violation of its own principles and policy in the islands. There is observed on this account frequently a low struggle of individuals whose judgments are engaged in presenting an antagonism of interest between American and Filipino people, relaxing the bonds of cordial and mutual intelli- gence which the government extremely desires to see established. The efforts of men of good faith of both people are always directed in avoiding the break- ing out of this struggle, of the reestablishing in a short time courtesy and mutual consideration. The frequent injury that this occasions in the cordiality of the relations of the Filipino people and government is great. Meantime, the government can not remain aloof from this struggle, and as it is composed in its majority of Americans it is obliged to act in accord with the dominating spirit in the American community. From which, in their turn, the Flipinos complain and form among themselves the opinion that the government does not listen to the voice of the Filipinos, but gives consideration only to the interests and satisfaction of the Americans. DIFFICULTIES IN ADMINISTRATION. The difficulties of administering the interests of a completely different race are revealed by the fact that the government judges many times very errone- ously the attitude of the people and its representatives, and in its turn the people misunderstands the intentions and dispositions of the government. In 1902 there appeared for the first time since the American occupation cholera in Manila and the surrounding provinces. The government was obliged to adopt precautions and measures to protect the health of the inhabitants. There was put in force various regulations drawn up to avoid the propagation of the evil and there was increased the number of the sanitary corps who had to carry into effect said regulations. The people was not accustomed to the methods adopted and believed itself persecuted by the representatives of the govern- ment and refused, in many cases, to submit to the methods prescribed by the official science. The violence in the execution and enforcement of such methods resulted in the hiding of cases and to secret burial of corpses in such cases. The native press criticized some of the regulations emanating from the gov- ernment and the manner of putting them into execution. The government understood then that the representatives of the press were impeding the meas- ures for the repression of the evil until the knowledge of some facts made the government understand the necessity of reforming the processes, and it then took advantage of the cooperation of the Filipinos themselves in the sanitary measures adopted from which were obtained better results. In 1904 the con- stabulary was the object of severe criticism on the part of the native press for the commission of abuses and other excesses in the performance of its •duties. The government saw in such criticisms as always a spirit of party and hatred on the part of those who criticized the government and its institu- tion. It believed that these sympathized with and aided the ladrones who dis- turbed peace and order. The publication of certain facts in El Renacimiento gave rise to a prosecution of this newspaper. The evidence in the case proved the commission of acts of violence and torture by officials of the constabulary^ The court acquitted the editors of El Renacimiento and since then the appoint- ment of the chiefs and officers of said corps are made with greater care and there has been observed a higher standard of efficiency in the service of the corps and better cooperation of the people with its officers and men. These facts serve to illustrate the difference of judgment which always appears when a people has not a government composed of men of its own race that can understand clearly its method of life and peculiar habits. This lack 172 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. of comprehension by a foreign government, aggravated bj^ the difference of language, contributes not a little to the fact that the people view with doubt or lack of conlidence the acts of said government. This government needs the faith and the complete confidence of the people in order that every one of its acts should be accepted by the people with the satisfaction and certainty that it is to better their interests and make them happy and prosperous. Great principles or great men are not so necessary in order that the adminis- tration of the interests of a people attain the advancement or well-being of the pec'ple, but it is absolutely necessary that the people have entire faith in those to whom are confided its interests, because without that faith every effort of intention or of act that those who govern take will encounter passiveness and iudift^erence on the part of the people. In consequence of this our goverment attributes at times to ignorance or lack of understanding of its own interest tlie indifference which the people displays toward many good acts or laws, made in its favor, as, for example, the homestead law. POLITICAL ECONOMY. These symptoms of doubt manifest themeselves markedly in the consideration of economic subjects. All Filipinos believe necessary the development of the natural resources of its to-day unproductive soil. They understand the necessity of the assistance of foreign capital, but they complain at the same time against the policy of selling great tracts of land to corporations, against perpetual franchises for railroad companies, and against the predominance of corporations and commercial interests ; and this, which appears a very grave confusion of ides, has its origin in the rooted belief that the future of the people is threatened by the invasion of that capital which, once rooted here, will be opposed, when the moment arrives, to all change of sovereignty, because it would not believe itself sufficiently secure and protected except under its own sovereignty. If this government were the image and work of the people, these fears would not be felt and the cries of protest of the present would be converted into cries of praise and blessing, because the people would have entire faith and complete security that its interests and its future in the hands of such government would be under the protection of guaranties such as would permit the development of native capital on equal terms with that from abroad. It is believed generally among the Filipinos that this government has given no attention to favoring with some stimulus the development of Filipino capital and has used all its efforts in bringing capital from without for the exploiting of the material riches of the country. They feel that this government, which has been established for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the inhabitants- of the islands according to the text of the instructions Of McKinley to Secre- tary of War Root, leaves the Filipinos abandoned to their fate in the develop- ment of their economic interests ; does not extend its protection to native capital, whether interesting said capital in the formation of new industries for which the soil offers rich material, there being given some privileges by law, or authorizing facility to Philippine producers and merchants in the prosecution of their enterprises, or inducing the companies that are formed to admit Philip- pine capital, for the agricultural and mining exploitations. The people observe that all the preferences and stimulus of the government is kept for foreign capital and that the government leaves it unprotected, and it is not to be wondered at that the people feels a profound neglect and that it sees itself in advance beaten in an unequal economic competition and loses faith in the benevolence of the intentions of the government. In the practice of the pro- fessions it observes likewise that natives of the country are being relegated to the background and that the business is controlled by Americans, and that, as in the case of the surveyors, there have been efforts to deny to the latter the practice of the profession in what i-elates to an office of the government,, and in its profound logic the people have reason to believe that the government, far from favoring their economic condition, restrains them without, perhaps, .wishing to do so. The people are convinced that they comply with all their obligations to the government ; that in spite of their poverty they pay annually in taxes f"30,000,- 000, with the object that the government may provide all measures and re- sources to improve the economic conditions of the country. The Philippine people nevertheless finds itself in the same condition of economic crisis that prevailed under the past domination. Failures to pay and requests for defer- ment of payment of taxes and the sale of property for insolvency evidence the SPECIAL REPORTS 01^ THE PHILIPPINES. 173 deplorable state of the economic interests of the Filipinos. The existence and increase of the same pernicious amusements that created such poverty during the Spanish Government and which were abolished during the short period of the revolutionary government necessarily accompany such a condition. The increase of houses of usury and loan tend to aggravate the situation. This, which is so evident to the people, is nevertheless not so to the government. The government believes that the people complain as a matter of routine or through ignorance of what must be paid for the necessary public services. The government shows that the commerce of importation and exportation, which measures the riches of a country, is increasing yearly and shows likewise that the rate of contribution per capita is considerably lower than in any civilized country. From this it results that the people do not understand the govern- ment nor the governm-ent the people, and the two doubt and mistrust each other. In such a state of relations, that are the natural consequence of the present regime, the faith which has placed America in the administration of the aifairs of the Filipinos for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the latter will never see itself realized. If there is taken into account, in addition, other organic defects in the present regime which prevent the development of the individual and national aptitudes of the people of the islands in a state which is supposed to be one of preparation, the claims of the Filipinos for the enjoyment of an in- dependent government with the object of assuring its own progress and its final well-being would be far more justified. UNSUITABLE LEGISLATION. The gravest defect of the present system is founded entirely in the lack of con- fidence in the capacity of the natives, who are prevented from developing them- selves by their own methods and are forcibly subject to an exclusively American type. Little effort has been placed so that the Filipinos by themselves might iorm the legislation with reference to the conditions and customs of the people. The legislation now in force has been constructed on purely American lines wath- out exact knowledge of the character and peculiarities of the inhabitants of the country. Such legislation is not the work and product of circumstances and con- venience of this people, but a copy and imitation of laws taken from a people with different characteristics and a distinct type of civilization. The Philippine As- sembly was created after the construction of this legislation, and whatever effort to reform it in its foundation is absolutely nonrealizable through the opposition, at times blind, of the other branch of the legislature. It thus happens that some laws are of difficult application to the people of these islands. LITTLE PRACTICAL EDUCATION. In the executive branch is yet more notorious the lack of confidence which is the base of the system. The central axle of the administrative organism revolver in such a way that it leaves to the Filipinos no opportunity for practice in the conduct of public affairs through means of direct contact with the methods of action and their difficulties. If it be considered that the basis of the policy fol- jow^ed in the Philippine Islands is the preparation of the Filipinos- for the exer- cise of the powers of an independent government, it is not seen how under the present system such a result may be obtained. For example, nearly all the chiefs of bureaus are Americans, as are their principal assistants and local agents ; that is, all those who go to form and direct the plans for the execution of the laws. Few Filipinos, if there are any, can by virtue of their offices take part in the determination and regulation of these plans. The best education would be that which places the Filipinos on the ground of reality and places them in con- tact, by virtue of the duties of their offices, with a knowledge of the methods and- practical difficulties of the public service. INEQUALITY IN THE CIVIL SERVICE. From this comes the constant demand of the natives for the Filipinization of the public service, but the bureaucratic spirit which is developed necessarily among the colonizers in a colony tends to neutralize the results of this demancl. The slow course that the insular government is adopting to place Filipinos in the offices of high salary and responsibility, notwithstanding the merit and the efficiency demonstrated in several years of service, is the result of constant em- 174 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. ployment of Americans who in a large number are always awaiting every occa- sion to occupy the vacancy or promotion of other Americans. The Filipinos are placed necessarily in their subordinate and assisting posts, and even when many of them are really prepared, by experience gained through long service in the office and perform the duties performed by the Americans, only rarely and by accident are they promoted to the places of the latter. The same treatment is not accorded to Americans and Filipinos in the civil service. In practice there appear to govern certain rules for Americans, and others for Filipinos. The salaries are not the same for one as for the other. The Americans are promoted more rapidly than the Filipinos in the same office, and the cases of demotion of the Filipinos are frequent. The merit and efficiency of the Filipinos are rated with greater rigor than those of the Americans, as well as likewise their failings in the service. All this is evidenced manifestly in the material fact that nearly all the posts occupied by Americans since the establishment of civil goveniment continue in possession of the Americans. The increase of Filipino employees each year is only apparent. There is not a chief of office who does not place annually in his estimate for expenses a greater sum than in the preceding year, and with this augment are created some inferior posts that are filled by Filipinos. The number which is set forth in the reports of the civil service is the total, and it shows an increase in the number of Filipino employees but not a diminution in the number of Americans. If the American policy in this matter in establishing the civil service is to educate the Filipino in the sense of responsibility in the government, the practice followed, instead of favoring this policy, paralyzes it in its educative effects and as a result tends to form a sort of privileged class composed solely of Americans. GOVERNMENT OF THE NONCHEISTIAN PEOPLE. Another grave fault of the present system is having followed the policy of maintaining a complete separation between the Christian and non-Christian people. The different tribes which inhabit the mountains of the north of Luzon and the Mohammedans of Mindanao must form part of the Filipino nation as belonging to the same territory and originating from a single ethnical trunk. The separation between these only tends to foment a lack of common interest, which creates in its practical results unfounded misunderstandings between them. There should be inculcated in the people of said tribes the idea that this is a Filipino government, and on that account they should become accustomed to see Filipinos at the head of the governments instituted among themselves. The concept which actually is imbued in them is that they must be protected against the alleged abuses of their own brothers — the Filipinos. If the Filipino nation is to govern alone in the future and those who constitute such tribes have to form a part of said nation, it is necessary to have them look on the Christians as brothers, as fellow citizens with whom they are to live and are to be united in a community of culture and aspiration. The Christians, as we said elsewhere, can not be assumed to be without all practical sense ; that does not appreciate their interest in civilizing those non-Christian tribes that are an important factor as well for the population as for the defense of the common country. There would certainly not be lacking Christian Filipinos of demon- strated executive skill who might govern said tribes in accordance with their interest and well-being. The present political and administrative organization^ which separates the Christians from those that are not does not tend to the- preparation for an independent Philippine government, but to prepare for the latter in its day difficulties in its relations with the inhabitants of said localities. If the Philippine Assembly could have jurisdiction over the territory occupied by the non-Christian tribes and the Moro Province there would be made evident the reasonable interest that the Christian people feel for the progress and well- being of the non-Christian people. Conclusion. The Philippine Islands were acquired by the United States by virtue of the cession made by Spain through an indemnization of $20,000,000 in accordance with the treaty of Paris. On the date that this treaty was signed a great part of the Philippine territory was in power of a government organized by the Fili- pinos. The organization of this government was made with the knowledge, con- sent, and moral support of the Americans. On the opening of the Spanish-Ameri- SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 175 can war, Aguinaldo, who was considered the leader of the insurrection against Spain in 1896, came from Hongkong in an American transport of war with the object of reopening tlie revohition against Spain, having been induced to be- lieve that he might reckon on the aid of the American forces. Although he made no use of the offers that were made to him, practically the attitude of the Americans and the relations that Aguinaldo maintained with them created the impression that he might consider them as allies. For some time the launches and steamers that were at the service of Aguinaldo displayed the Filipino flag and were not prevented from circulating in the Bay of Manila and some Prov- inces to carry forces and orders to Aguinaldo. The 13th day of August, 1898, the city of Manila surrendered and Gen. Mer- ritt, as commander of the American forces of occupation, published a procla- mation, in one of whose paragraphs he said : That he had not come to the islands to take a piece of territory. From the date mentioned before and until the 4th of February, 1899, the Filipino government maintained cordial relations with the military troops of North America, and all of the differences were regu- lated through official communications of the representatives of the two gov- ernments. These facts are mentioned with the object of showing that the persistency of the Filipinos in being independent is bound up in the recollections of that short period of their past in which, associated with the Americans, they threw down the secular power of a sovereignty and experienced the satisfaction and happi- ness of governing by themselves their interests and their future. Then they understood how satisfactory and sweet to the citizens is the yoke imposed by the power of its own laws and the government by men of its own race, and how close and loyal is the cooperation which exists between people and the government to better the interests of the country and to enter resolutely and Avithout embarrassment into the wide ways of human progress. Then the Filipinos abandoned all the vicious practices which the former sovereignty had extended over all the masses and recovered the good qualities which people free from all yoke possessed. This moved the Filipinos to resist with all their force the new American domination, and to submit to it only when they fully understood that they might be independent in a more or less short period. The efforts of the Filipinos in defense of that government, the blood which its sol- diers shed, and the money which was employed in the service of the Filipino flag, recalls to them constantly that short period of its happiness and makes them consider the present as a temporary situation which they desire to ab- breviate as much as possible in order to acquire the satisfaction of their na- tional ambitions and their intentions of elevation and enrichment of the country. They wish to consider that the American people have been guided providentially to these islands to save its people from oppression ; they recognize that the American people has borne itself with liberality toward the Filipinos after the latter had been conquered ; but they believe at the same time that if there ex- isted the providential designs, these have been completely realized ; that after twelve years that North America has governed these islands under its flag and has made clear to its inhabitants those theories and practices of a free people, the Government has terminated its mission with honor and glory for itself in these islands and may confide the government to the Filipinos with complete security for the interests of the latter and to all those that live in the country. The Filipinos at all times have shown a broad spirit of progress, a high interest in assimilating all ideas and practices of civilized people, and are not doubtful that they will operate in accordance with those ideas and practices on occupying their position among the nations of the earth. For all these reasons, Mr. Secretary, we respectfully charge you to be the interpreter of the feelings of the Filipinos to President Taft, to whom we desire to transmit a copy of this document, and to the American Congress, to each one of whose members we likewise desire to transmit copies of the same. Respectfully, The Executive Centee or the Nacionalista Pakty. By Sergio Osmena, President. Certified : Maximino Mina, Secretary. Appendix D. [Translation.] Memorandum from Both Political Parties. Manila, Septeinher J, 1910. Mr. Secretary : We have the honor to send attached hereto a memorandum that contains, in synthesis, some of tlie subjects of which we treated extensively in our conferences witli you. On these subjects the two Philippine political parties, the " Nacionalista " and the " Nacional Progresista," are in complete accord, and the executive committee of said parties have authorized and ordered us to submit the present. Allow us, Mr. Secretary, to be, Very respectfully, yours, LA.TOS, Fresklent Nacionalista Party. V. SiNGSON Encarnacion, President Progresista Party. Hon. Jacob McG. Dickinson, Secretary of War of the United States. [Translation.] WE NEED A constitution. Whatever may be the ultimate and definite political status of the country, and whether independence come now or later, it is evident that the Philippine people need a constitution right now. Not to make this an ultimate aspiration, but in order to obtain immediately and by means thereof a safeguard for the rights and liberties of the people. A fundamental law, enacted by the people, has in all times been a supreme necessity among all free peoples. As Lord Bryce says, the constitutions of the States are the most ancient documents of the political history of America ; they are the continuation of the " royal colonial charters " under which they estab- lished their different local governments, subject to the authority of the British Crown and ultimately of the English Parliament. In reality there exists no guaranties for the people, or true limitations to power unless said people enacts its own constitution. " The Constitution is an agreement of the people in their individual capacity reduced to writing, whereby they establish and fix certain principles for their own government." (State v. Parkhurst, 9 N. J., 422.) " The theory of our political system is that sovereignty ultimately rests in the people, from whom all authority emanates." (Cooley.) Constitution is " the fundamental law or basis of government." (Story.) " The supreme, original, and written will of the people acting in their highest capacity, creating and organizing the form of government, designating the differ- ent departments and assigning to these their respective powers and duties and obliging them to act within their respective spheres, this is the Constitution." (State V. Cox, 8 Ark., 436.) Under the Constitution we want to put into effect, among others, the following purposes, which we set forth luider separate headings, inasmuch as each one of them constitutes a matter so important and complete that we invite the attention of the Secretary of War to each and every one thereof : A COMPLETE DECLARATION OF RIGHTS MADE BY THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES. All the people of all countries have always been compelled to seek safeguards for their rights and gaiaranties for their liberties. Therefore the declaration of rights constitutes the principal part of a constitution. ^ 176 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 177 " The petition of English rights in the year 1688 was historic and retrospective ; the declaration of Virginia comes directly from the heart of nature and pro- claims the principles of government for all future time." (Cooley.) " The American Bills of Rights desire not only to formulate certain principles of political organization, but above all they define the lines of separation between the State and the individual. The individual does not, according to them, owe to the State, but to his own nature, as a subject of law, the inalienable and in- violable rights he has." (Jellinek.) EXTENSION OF LEGISLATIVE POWEKS. The reservation by Congress of many legislative powers that up to the present time have not been granted to the Philippine Legislature is a serious disadvan- tage to our interests. To cite no other cases we will invite attention to the lack of a naturalization law. This law is most important and its approval should not be delayed a single instant. SEPAEATION OF POWERS AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY. The extraordinary situation that naturally followed the war having ceased, we do not see how the present system can continue longer, one that puts in the hands of one or a few men all the powers of the State. Several centuries have already passed since the constitutional charters were inaugurated by the division of powers. " If the individual himself," says Montesquieu, " can make the laws as delegate of the nation, to apply them as a judge and execute them as a sovereign, this man has despotism in his hand." " The consolidation of all the legislative, executive, and judicial powers in the same hands, whether of one, several, or many, and either by hereditary right, usurpation, or election, may with justice be called the best definition of tyranny." (Madison.) That the judiciary should be independent is something that can not be ques- tioned. " There is no liberty if the judiciary is not separated from the legislative and executive power." (Montesquieu.) AN ELECTIVE SENATE. From the experience that has been gained with the establishment of the Philippine Assembly, there is now no reason why the powers of the people may not be extended to a complete legislative control through the creation of an elective senate. Only thus, acknowledging in the people the right of representation, in the house (camara popular) and in the senate, can the interests of the said people be adequately maintained. Moreover, there is need for reorganizing the public services, simplifying them, and at the same time making them more efficient, seeking more economy ; and this task is little less than impossible to accomplish unless there is a senate elected by the people. There are, on the other hand, certain powers that pertain to the smallest subdivisions of the government which are now attributed, with no advantage to anyone, but with injury to all, to the central government. We want more autonomy and less centralization in the local life, in order to develop and not restrain the initiative ability of the people, and this purpose can with difficulty be carried into effect if the powers of the two chambers are not derived from the people. EXTENSION OF THE POPULAR LEGISLATIVE POWEE THROUGHOUT THE ARCHIPELAGO. The sentiment is unanimous among the Philippine people that the recognition of our national independence does not come burdened with the disastrous mutilation of our Philippine territory. _ While it is not reasonable to deprive the assembly of the exercise of legisla- tive powers over those portions of the Philippine territory, whether or not occupied by Christians, but inhabited all about by people related to our race, and whose needs and feelings we must necessarily be acquainted with better than outsiders, the anomalous case is presented of Filipinos in considerable numbers living in these portions of the territory who do not enjoy the civil 117376—19 12 178 SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. and political riglits accorded to other Filipinos living in other portions of the same territory. The Supreme Court of the United States, ruling upon the nullity of certain laws of the commission depriving the non-Christian tribes of the benefits of the law of registration of property and of the law of public lands, takes as a basis that the principal object " in the internal administra- tion of the Philippine Islands is to do justice to the natives and not to exploit their country for private gain," and that the guaranties and protection pre- scribed in the organic law of the 1st of July, 1902, are made extensive to all, for it is hard to believe that the Government of the United States would be in a condition to declare that the phrase " ^ny person" (in article 12 of the organic law cited) does not include the inhabitants of the Province of Benguet- — that is, inhabitants belonging to non-Christian tribes. We judge this restriction of the assembly in its legislative tasks over Minda- nao and the non-Christian tribes is the effect solely of a sad prejudice. The fact is that in those regions no Christians have settled save 60,000 Filipinos, and granting this is true the aspiration to participate in the government of those portions of our national territoiy is only sensible and just. We mean by this that there is no question of absorption of that government on the part of the popular element, but a simple participation that can not be denied without trampling upon and ignoring the incontrovertible principles of equity and justice. In conclusion, this intervention in the management of the affairs of Minda- noa and the non-Christian tribes is sought because nearly a million dollars in the Philippine treasury coming from general taxation of the people is invested, without consent or intervention of said people, in and by the government of the Moro Province and non-Christian tribes. " That maxim that has been familiar to every intelligent person and for many generations that the taxpayers are the ones to enact the law of taxes that must be paid" (Cooley) implies that the revenues collected by virtue of said laws and imposts must be expended by and for the benefit of those who paid them. Moreover, there has been talk, in order to sustain the present anomalous administration of the Moro Province and the non-Christian tribes, of a supposed antagonism between the Philippine Christians and these non-Christian tribes. If given opportunity, we might demonstrate with satisfaction that this antag- onism does not exist. But without being prophets we may say that unfortu- nately such antagonism will arise if we continue an administration that results in making men who live upon the same soil become not only not brethren, but probably enemies. By not favoring our contact with the non-Christian tribes or Moros, but completely isolating us from them, it is not difficult to sow among them those ideas that sooner or later will create distrust, hostility, and enmity toward the Christians. IMPEACHMENT. It is important to institute some procedure whereby high officials of the gov- ernment may be held answerable, and the separation of powers and the inde- pendence of the judiciary present a corollary that in certain grave cases said officials may and must answer for their conduct before bodies designated by law. There are several other matters that we wish to include in this memorandum. These are : CHINESE IMMIGEATION. Even though we are assured that Congress in its wise enactments will not alter the prudent policy established relative to Chinese exclusion, we believe, nevertheless, that we should enter here the unanimous feeling of the country in favor of this policy. SALE OF PUBLIC LANDS AND THE FRIAE ESTATES. Being desirous of implanting among ourselves the idea of a true democracy and providing against difficulties that, having occurred elsewhere, may occur among us in time to come, we resolutely set ourselves against a wider extension of the lands of public domain that may be sold to private parties or corpora- tions. We also wish that such opinion prevail in connection with the sale of the friar estates. The intervention of the government in these estates never was understood to be the business, more or less lucrative, of said government. SPECIAL EEPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 179* but to be a sacred duty, to relieve the Philippine land tenants of the difficult position they occupied in the past. FILIPINIZATION OF THE PUBLIC SERVICES. While many of the questions Ave submit in this memorandum are, in the last analysis, within the province of Congress, the point enunciated in this para- graph is completely in your hands, and with all respect and most earnestly we beg that it be justly and promptly decided. We might enter upon a lengthy dissertation, which, without lack of data or facts, might be sufficiently strong to support our claim ; but we believe it unnecessary to insist upon it if we keep in mind the obligations themselves that, by virtue of definite statements, the Governm-ent of the United States has assumed. If President Roosevelt said that his idea was to erect a Philippine government of Filipinos, assisted by Americans, and President Taft declared-, that the Philippines must be for the Filipinos, from President McKinley came the following emphatic words, that are now fundamental precepts in virtue of their incorporation into the act of Congress of July 1, 1902. McKinley said " * * * that wherever officers of more extended jurisdic- tion 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 is not our purpose to recommend in the proposition that those efficient Am ericans should immediately be deprived of the positions they are now fiUing^ but at the same time we do not see why, as the Filipino becomes competent to fill posts of greater responsibility, vacancies that occur are not filled by Filipinos. Lajos, President of the Nacionalista Party. V. SiNGSON Encaenacion, President of the Progresista Party^ Appendix E. [Translation.] Message of the Populak Nacionalista League or the Philippines. Manila, P. I., August 29, 1910. Hon. Jacob M. Dickinson, Secretary of War of the United States of North America, Manila, P. I. Honorable Sir: The undersigned, Filipino citizens, wlio compose the board of directors of the Popular Nacionalista League, a political party which is Avorking by legitimate means to obtain the immediate independence of the Philippines, pray of the Secretary of War of the United States, Hon. Jacob M. l")ickinson, that he recommend to the President and the Congress of the LTnited States of North America that these two high powers of the great American Republic concede to us immediate independence, as the only means of making happy the people of the islands, according to the petition made by our Resident Commissioner in the United States, Hon. Manuel Quezon, to the American Congress. This petition is based on the following reasons : Historical Antecedents. The United States granted immediate independence to the little island of Cuba witliout any reason or cause other than the historical veneration of the American people for the inalienable rights of any people to obtain for itself its own happiness, and to establisli a government derived from the consent of the inhabitants ; and, moreover, because the United States has seen the Cuban people struggle resolutely against Spain, sacriiicing life and fortune to obtain their independence. Therefore, the Filipino people, who are ten times greater than Cuba in population, territory*, and resources, supporting themselves upon the rigorous logic of this altruistic action of America with respect to Cuba, consider themselves entitled to receive from the United States the same generous ■concession of independence, because the Filipino people, as such people, have the same inalienable rights to obtain for themselves their own happiness, estab- lishing a government derived from the consent of the Filipinos ; and, moreover, because the Filipino people also struggled against the same Spain to obtain their independence, with more boldness, perhaps, than Cuba, in view of the fact that they began their struggle for independence without arms other than their bare liands, their bolos, and their faith in the ideal, succeeding, nevertheless, in 1898, in vanquishing the Spaniards in noble conflict, to the point of being able to •establish in the capital at Malolos their own independent national government, in the face of all of the squadrons and all of the consuls of the greatest nations of the world, including America, represented by Admiral Dewey, although at a cost, doubtless, of thousands of lives and the blood and fortunes of her most noble sons, as is well known. II. Economic Resources. According to the census of 1903 of the Philippines (Vol. IV, p. 429), the total value of the property, real and other, of the Filipinos amounted to ^622,245,719, Philippine currency, which, in imports and exports alone, produced the amount of ^=57.343,808, Philippine currency (Philippine census, p. 16, Vol. IV). The value of exports and imports having increased to, in the fiscal year 1908-9, the .enormous sum of ^=70,000,000, according to recent statistics of the Philippine 180 SPECIAL, EEPOETS ON THE PHILIPPHSTES. 181 customs administration, it follows, logically, that the property of the Filipinos has increased to double that of their first value of ?=622,245,719, and, therefore, it is hoped, with all assurance, the increase in the economic resources of the Filipino people will each time be greater, thus assuring an increase of the public taxes such as to satisfy the greatest needs of an independent government. III. MoEAL AND Social Condition. The Filipino people loves God above all things, without fanaticism or intol- erance, as illustrated by its different religious cults, as carried forward by each church, sect, or confession, amidst the most perfect order. And it also loves its neighbor as itself, as evidenced by the small number of Filipino criminals, which is less than 8 for each 10,000 inhabitants, while in the United States of America the proportion is 13 for each 10,000 inhalDitants, according to the census of 1903 (p. 445, Vol. IV). In this connection we transcribe here below a paragraph from the page and. volume of the Philippine census above cited : " Considering the unstable state of the affairs of the country during the six: years preceding the taking of the census, the result is not only favorable, but is extraordinary, and indicates that the Filipinos, as a race, are not particularly inclined to crime." The diminution of crimes and of criminals in the Philippines is explained bj'' the better pacification of the country, resulting in attracting the people to their habitual love of agricultural, industrial, and commercial labor. This is so cer- tain that ill some crimes, banditry, for instance, the criminals are conspicuous- by their absence, according to the last criminal statistics published by the worthy attorney general of the islands, Hon. Ignacio Villamor. The Filipinos are given to labor, and consequently, as lovers of peace and order, they cultivate their rich agricultural lands and promote industry and commerce, in proof of which the increased value of imports and exports is cited. When it is taken into account that, according to the Philippine census- (p. 322, Vol. II), the active laborers of a country of 8,000,000 inhabitants count only 1,000,.525, and a like number, more or less, of women, it Is wonaerful that such a small active force should produce annually the fabulous sums above mentioned. The people of the islands are devoted to the family and the home, than which there are no better pledges for the stability and efficiency of any government where there is also an anxiety for education. They cultivate the sciences and arts devotedly, as evidenced by the 500,000 Filipino youths annually attending the public schools and private institutions here and abroad. They receive with affection all of the material improvements, such as the telegraph, the telephone, the railroads, the electric cars, automobiles, the press, and all classes of useful machinery. And, lastly, the Filipinos are hospitable and pacific toward the stranger, as you have had occasion to observe during your stay in the Archipelago. IV. Political Capacity. During the 10 years of American occupancy of the islands there have been held five general elections for provincial and municipal offices, and there have been two more for delegates to the Philippine Assembly. During these 10 years there have been some 90,000 Filipinos who have successively filled the various offices in the municipal councils, in the provincial governments, and in the Philippine Assembly in a manner that is certainly very satisfactory, with rare exceptions, because they have maintained public order, avoided insurrection, collected nearly ^=400,000,000 of public taxes, and have cooperated with the judicial, health, public works, and police officials for the best success of the entire civil service of the Philippine government. If this is not sufficient to demonstrate the full capacity of the Filipino people, then show us the book, the history, or the text in which we can learn the art of politics, because the history, universal and individual, ancient as well as modern, of all the civilized nations, can teach us nothing new or better with respect to the government of the respective peoples than has been put in prac- tice by the Filipino people, as has been shown. 182 SPECIAL KEPOBTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. V. Administeative Capacity. During the 10 years of American occupation in tliese islands 7,056 Filipinos, excepting the constabulary and scouts, have held public offices in the judicial, fiscal, and all the different administrative bureaus of these islands, to the entire satisfaction of the American chiefs, as proved by the annual reports of the latter. But where the administrative capacity of the Filipino shov^^s brightest is in the armed corps of the scouts and the constabulary, in which it is not known whether to admire most their fidelity or their patience, their valor or their dis- cipline, or their activity or their intelligence in the performance of their labori- ous and difficult duties. VI. Inherent Incompatibilities. The illustrious American and statesman, Mr. Webster, said : "Gently as the yoke of a foreign government may rest, the happiness of a subject people is impossible." And so it is, honorable Secretary of War of the United States, for gently, and very gently, as rests the yoke of American Government in these islands, in comparison with that of the past, nevertheless the Filipino people are daily more unhappy, because of the incompatibility of any colonial government to make and give happiness to a subject people. We offer for your consideration some sad examples which demonstrate our thesis and that of the illustrious American statesman, Mr. Webster, which occurred here in the Philippines during the 10 years of American occupation. But before presenting them, we desire to make it understood that we give them without intent to complain of anyone or to accuse anyone, because our propo- sition is solely to demonstrate the impossibility of our being happy under the present government of the islands. FIKST CASE OF INCOMPATIBILITY. It is well known that when we made peace with the Army of the United States, through the friendly mediation of Hon. William H. Taft, now President of the United States, the Filipinos, notwithstanding having recognized American sovereignty, were yet permitted to use our Filipino flag, not as a symbol of sovereignty and national authority, but as a glorious remembrance of the past and as a symbol of our faith in the ideal and of our hopes in the glorious American flag to obtain our independence. And so we made use of the Filipino flag in our native holidays until August 23, 1907. But on this date the Philippine government, on the petition of all of the Americans in these islands, enacted the act, No. 1696, prohibiting the use of our beloved Filipino flag and penalizing infringement of the law with fine and imprisonment. Imagine for one moment, Mr. Secretary, that you had been in the Philippines, ■as was Admiral Dewey, and authorized by your presence the inauguration and use of the Filipino flag, from June 12, 1898, in the face of the Spaniards and of all of the squadrons of the greatest nations of the world, suppressing it only on the day of the breaking out of hostilities between the Americans and Filipinos. Imagine for a moment that under the folds of the Filipino flag we fought the Spaniards in 1898, vanquishing them in noble conflict and capturing 9,000 Span- ish prisoners, though at the cost of many lives, and the blood and fortunes of xnany heroic sons of the Philippines. And imagine, at last, that this Filipino flag, moist with the blood of these heroic martyrs of the country, was the symbol of our dearest ideal, Philippine independence, and then you can understand, with a little impartiality, the great injustice to the FiUpino people in prohibiting them from using their beloved symbol. How is it possible to be happy when the heart is wounded in the most holy and most sacred of its sentiments? SPECIAL EEPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 183 SECOND CASE 01' INCOMPATIBILITY. When our municipal authorities are to receive the Governor General, they I'lave the good taste to do it with bands or orchestras, though not required by law to do so, in order to show their sincere respect, sympathy, and courtesy to the first authority of the islands. And, as is customary, the first notes of salute are those of the American national march and of the Filipino national inarch, the Ameri- can march sometimes being played first, and at other times the Filipino. The ceremonial of reception was thus celebrated pacifically during the administra- tions of Messrs. Taft, Wright, Ide, and Smith. But the present Governor General, Hon. W. Cameron Forbes, has given verbal orders to the governor of Rizal and to the governor of Batangas, that in future the American march shall always precede the Filipino, and, naturally, this order is another wound inflicted on the heart of the Filipino people, who render homage to their national air with a fervor equal to that which they render to their beloved flag. THIED CASE OF INCOMPATIBILITY. Through the civil-service laws there exists a great difference between the salaries of American and Filipino employees, a difference which may be seen in the following proportion from the report of the Governor General for 1909 in reference to the bureau of civil service : Officials and employees : Americans 4, 397 Filipinos 7, 056 Salaries : Of 4,397 Americans f=8, 696, 962 Of 7,056 Filipinos F4, 018, 988 Average salary : For each American ?3, 225. 63 For each Filipino ?914. 03 This difference in pay has been interpreted, and is still interpreted, by the entire country as an unjust lack of consideration for the intelligence and effi- ciency of the Filipino official or employee. This lack of consideration has con- tinued through the 10 years of American occupation, filling with bitterness and unjustly humiliating the Filipino people. FOURTH CASE OF INCOMPATIBILITY. Americanista and anti-Americanista seem to be, for the present government, a sort of joker, to be played at any place and time, as was the case with Espanol and anti-Espaiiol in the time of the Spanish Government. This thing of Espanol and anti-Espaiiol was the cause of a great deal of ill feeling and discord between the Spaniards and Filipinos, resulting in grave and dangerous consequences for the Filipino people. This history is now being repeated, and there are daily occurrences due to its prejudicial influence, m the street cars, in the public streets and places, and in all private and official transactions, so that it now constitutes an injury to both people. Thus, a Filipino Nationalist is an anti-American, and should therefore be treated with contumely and repugnance. When it is remembered that the Nationalists constitute the majority of the people, then the suffering and pain caused the ear of the Filipino people by this fourth case of incompatibility will be understood. FIFTH CASE OF INCOMPATIBILITY. To the lack of equilibrium which exists, and which has existed always since American occupation between the total public taxation, ?=42,000,000, and the legal circulation, ^=40,337,982.04 (fiscal year 1908-9), is due the fact that usury reigns in the economic life of the country, and this never happened during the time of Spanish government. Then the taxes amounted to ^13,000,000, though in the last years of the war of insurrection they increased to ?17,000,000, while the legal money, Mexican, circulated without limit, due to contraband, resulting in low rates of interest to the benefit of all. This usury now reaches to from 60 to 100 per cent per annum, and there is no remedy for it but to succumb, because the payments for taxes and economic necessities are peremptory- 184 SPECIAL, REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. We understand that as it was inherent under the Spanish Government to levy small taxes and to take small interest in public improvements, so it is inherent in the American Government to appropriate large amounts regardless of our strength, through its vehement desire to give us quickly all of the public im- provements. But we see clearly that both Governments act without consideration of the just interests of the Filipino people. From this we deduce that no foreign government is capable of conducting the Filipino people to peace and prosperity. All of the rules of political economy are subordinated to the resources, cus- toms, and habits of a people. If, for example, the production of beer, whisky, tobacco, and sugar were not favored in the United States, and as result thereof the American people had to import these articles from abroad, it is clear that the American people would be rendered economically unfortunate. And so it is in the Philippines. Spanish genius left us in abandon, and we were poor. American genius puts us in constant action, but to an extent much greater than our i-esources, strength, and energy will permit, and as a result we lack little, economically speaking, of being isolated. A proof of this statement is the great increase in the number of usurers established on each street of this city, while in the times of the Spanish Gov- ernment there were scarcely a half dozen. There is another example we could cite here, but with a regard for brevity, and in order not to further take your time we omit other citations, and close this message, repeating the prayer that for all of the reasons related you deign to recommend to the President of the great American Republic, that' he may in turn transmit the recommendation to Congress and to the Senate of the United States, that immediate independence be conceded to us, as the only right and natural means of bringing about our happiness, as was requested of the American Congress by our Resident Commissioner in the United States, Hon. Manuel L. Quezon. Very respectfully, B. Bustamente, President; Luciano de la Rosa, First Vice-President; A. L. Escamilla, Secretary ; Hermenegildo Cruz, Subsecretary ; Leandro Claro, Treasurer ; Timoteo Paez, G. Marankay, Cayto. Arguelles, H. Reyes, Members. Appendix F. Letter of Hon. Manuel Quezon. Manila, September 1, 1910. Mr. Secketaey : In compliance with your request made in a personal conver- sation with the undersigned, I have the honor hereby to express to you the opinion of the Filipinos on the friar-lands question. Of these, there are lands that are occupied by tenants and others that are not. It is the opinion of my people that those occupied by tenants should be, as soon as possible, sold to the tenants — irrespective of the size of the lands or parcels thereof so occupied — even though the government should incur some losses by the speedy disposal of such lands. The reason for this is that the purpose of the government in buying these lands from the friars was precisely to settle the serious problem arisen in these islands by the tenants of those lands through sale of said lands to their tenants. With regard to the unoccupied lands, it is the opinion of the Filipinos that they should be disposed of subject to the same limitations imposed by law on public lands. The reason for this is the same that the Filipinos have in object- ing to the sale of public lands in large areas. It is evident that the Filipinos, in so far as the friar-lands question is concerned, do not give any consideration to the business point of view of the matter, but only to the social and political ones. There are at present no people in this country that are either very wealthy or beggar ; the wealth of the country is divided among the people, and this is considered by the Filipinos as the guaranty for the conservatism of this community. Politically, it is the firm belief of the Filipinos that the ownership of large tracts of lands by foreigners constitutes a menace to the independence, both political and economical, of the archipelago. The foregoing opinion has been expressed and entertained by all Filipino papers, irrespective of their party affiliation, all of which unanimously declared themselves against the government's policy in the sale of the Mindoro estate, and I know, from what I have heard from other sources, that the opinion so expressed by the papei's is entirely in accord with the opinion of the people in general. Most respectfully, Manuel Quezon, Resident Commissioner to the United States for the Philippines. The Seceetart of War of the United States. Manila, P. I. 185 Appendix G. Statement or American and Filipino Employees. UNDER THE GOVERNOR GENERAL. Year. Amer- Filipino. th- Total. Percentage of— Bureau or service. Amer- ican. Fili- pino. Oth- ers. 1903 1904 50 51 53 76 2 1 105 128 48.0 40.0 50.0 59.0 2.0 1.0 1905 46 84 1 131 35.0 64.0 1.0 1906 49 106 1 156 31.0 68.0 1.0 1907 43 116 2 161 27.0 72.0 1.0 1908 37 100 3 140 26.0 72.0 2.0 1909 35 115 2 152 23.0 76.0 1.0 1910 32 110 2 144 22.0 77.0 1.0 1903 1904 86 87 238 143 324 230 27.0 38.0 73.0 62.0 1905 80 246 326 25.0 75.0 1906 60 183 243 25.0 75.0 1907 50 96 146 34.0 66.0 1908 49 101 150 33.0 67.0 1909 47 102 149 32.0 68.0 1910 39 101 140 28.0 72.0 Municipal service 1903 24 14,098 14,122 .2 99.8 1904 44 11,289 11,333 .4 99.6 1905 58 10,725 10, 783 .5 99.5 1906 68 10,774 10,842 .6 99.4 1907 88 11,350 11,438 .8 99.2 1908 82 11,760 11,842 .7 99.3 1909 81 12,275 12,356 .7 99.3 1910 102 12,417 12,519 .8 99.2 1904 1905 61 56 27 41 88 97 69.0 58.0 31.0 42.0 1906 68 5.4 122 56.0 44.0 1907 69 61 130 53.0 47.0 1908 66 78 144 45.0 55.0 1909 64 103 1 168 38.0 61.3 .7 1910 60 135 1 196 30.5 69.0 .5 1903 1904 11 20 8 14 19 34 58.0 59.0 42.0 41.0 1905 16 19 35 46.0 54.0 1906 11 18 29 38.0 62.0 1907 11 19 30 37.0 63.0 1908 10 17 27 37.0 63.0 1909 11 23 34 32.0 68.0 1910 10 25 35 29.0 71.0 1903 739 3,439 4,178 18.0 82.0 1904 843 4,013 4,856 17.0 83.0 1905 826 3,675 4,501 18.0 82.0 1906 720 5,245 5,965 12.0 88.0 1907 505 5,166 5,671 9.0 91.0 1908 463 3,521 3,984 12.0 88.0 1909 522 4,993 5,515 10.0 90.0 1910 468 3,908 4,376 11.0 89.0 DEPARTMENT OF COMItlEIlCE AND POLICE. Bureau of constabulary: Officers 1903 205 1904 261 1905 269 1906 247 1907 253 1908 248 1909 246 1910 254 66 73 71 66 68 74 67 64 ::::::::i 271 76.0 24.0 334 78.0 22.0 340 79.0 21.0 313 79.0 21.0 321 79.0 21.0 322 77.0 23.0 313 78.0 22.0 318 80.0 20.0 186 SPECIAL KEPOKTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. 187 statement of American and Filipino employees — Continued. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND POLICE— Continued. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND JUSTICE. Year. Amer- ican. Filipino. Oth- ers. Total. Percentage of— Bureau or service. Amer- Fili- Oth- ican. pmo. ers. Bureau of constabulary— Contd. 1903 1904 23 48 70 60 93 108 26.0 45.0 74.0 55.0 1905 56 165 221 25.0 75.0 1906 68 88 156 44.0 56.0 1907 23 61 84 27.0 73.0 1908 22 59 81 27.0 73.0 1909 24 60 84 29.0 71.0 1910 21 61 82 26.0 74.0 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1903 3" 6,264 6,683 6,799 4,800 4,788 4,622 4,624 4,256 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 3 1904 54 15 69 78.0 22.0 1905 49 26 75 65.0 35.0 1906 83 60 143 42.0 58.0 1907 .100 84 184 54.0 46.0 1908 155 117 272 57.0 43.0 1909 381 479 860 44.0 56.0 1910 456 715 1,171 39.0 61.0 1903 120 1,152 93 1,365 8.7 84.3 7.0 1904 178 1,534 166 1,878 9.4 81.7 8.8 1905 159 1,518 136 1,813 8.7 83.7 7.6 1906 137 1,461 202 1,800 7.6 81.1 11.3 1907 150 1,569 140 1,859 8.0 84.4 7.6 1908 141 1,467 158 1,766 8.0 83.0 9.0 1909 151 1,594 237 1,982 7.8 80.4 11.8 1910 182 2,141 296 2,619 6.9 82.5 11.6 1903 234 137 1 372 62.9 36.8 .3 1904 197 379 1 577 34.1 65.7 .2 1905 156 453 3 612 25.5 74.1 .4 1906 223 777 3 1,003 22.2 77.5 .3 1907 210 878 3 1,091 19.2 80.5 .3 1908 237 1,125 3 1,365 17.4 82.4 .2 1909 201 1,164 2 1,367 14.7 85.1 .2 1910 191 1,377 1 1,569 12.2 87.79 .01 Bureau of coast surveys 1903 19 208 227 8.0 92.0 1904 19 215 234 8.0 92.0 1905 25 266 291 9.0 91.0 1906 35 265 300 12.0 88.0 1907 44 274 318 14.0 86.0 1908 49 275 324 15.0 85.0 1909 49 278 327 15.0 85.0 1910 47 255 302 16.0 84.0 1910 1906 2 17 5 17 7 "'28'6' 100.0 71.4 1907 5 14 19 26.3 73.7 1908 8 12 20 40.0 60.0 1909 8 13 21 38.0 62.0 1910 14 15 29 48.3 51.7 1907 6 4 10 60.0 40.0 1908 5 1 6 83.3 16.7 1909 3 1 4 75.0 25.0 1910 3 1 4 75.0 25.0 Bureau of the treasury . Bureau of internal revenue. 1903 27 1904 44 1905 42 1906 23 1907 24 1908 21 1909 19 1910 19 1903 26 1904 36 1905 72 1906 72 1907 89 1908 89 1909 83 1910 84 11 16 22 24 19 21 21 122 133 176 241 308 336 343 331 36 75.0 25. 55 80.0 20.0 58 72.0 28.0 45 51.0 49.0 48 50.0 50.0 40 53.0 47.0 40 47.0 53.0 40 47.0 53.0 148 18.0 82.0 169 21.0 79.0 248 29.0 71.0 313 23.0 77.0 397 22.0 78.0 425 21.0 79.0 426 19.0 81.0 415 20.0 80.0 SPECIAL REPORTS ON THE PHILIPPINES. Btatemcnt of American and Filipino employees — Continued. DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND JUSTICE— Continued. Bureau or service Year. Amer- ican. 1904 278 1S05 241 1906 221 1907 173 1908 150 1909 146 1910 136 1904 3 1905 7 1906 7 1907 9 1908 7 1909 6 1910 6 1903 4 1904 4 1905 2 1906 4 1907 3 1908 3 1909 4 1910 3 1903 21 1904 23 1905 21 1906 20 1907 16 1908 13 1909 15 1910 12 Oth- ers. 733 13 716 12 553 13 537 13 533 12 522 11 532 11 10 35 38 47 52 65 81 16 1 16 1 16 1 17 1 21 2 23 2 23 2 25 2 13 13 15 17 23 25 28 30 Total. Percentage of- Amer- ican. Fili- pino. Bureau of customs . Court of land registration. Supreme court . Bureau of justice. 1,024 969 787 723 695 679 679 13 42 45 56 59 71 87 21 21 19 22 26 28 29 30 34 36 36 37 39 38 43 42 27.0 25.0 28.0 24.0 21.0 21.0 20.0 24.0 17.0 16.0 16.0 12.0 8.5 7.0 19.0 19.0 10,0 18.0 11.0 10.0 14.0 10.0 62.0 64.0 58.0 54.0 42.0 34.0 35.0 29.0 72.0 74.0 70.0 74.0 77.0 77.0 78.0 76.0 83.0 84.0 84.0 88.0 91.5 93.0 76.0 76.0 85.0 77.0 81.0 83.0 79.0 83.0 38.0 36.0 42.0 46.0 58.0 66.0 65.0 71.0 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. Bureau of agriculture. Bureau of education. Bureau of printing . Bureau of prisons . Bureau of supply . Philippines library PhUippiae medical school . 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1910 1907 1908 1909 1910 24 22 20 33 38 50 66 96 761 893 801 784 760 863 770 58 47 40 33 30 27 27 33 50 63 62 67 70 183 174 131 92 98 85 81 90 1 15 39 18 24 181 274 359 231 289 335 2 322 5 670 5 3,658 4,587 4,849 6,271 6,962 7,698 8,620 218 5 241 6 253 3 257 3 318 3 285 3 318 3 59 63 84 104 109 117 2 117 2 124 2 960 4 804 2 378 2 359 3 370 3 419 2 390 2 466 2 1 24 1 28 32 1 37 2 205 296 379 264 327 387 393 771 4,419 5,480 5,650 7,055 7,722 8,561 9,030 281 294 296 293 351 315 348 92 113 147 166 176 187 183 196 1,147 980 511 454 471 506 473 658 2 40 46 51 63 12.0 7.0 5.0 13.0 12.0 13.0 17.0 12.0 17.22 16.30 14.18 11.11 9.84 10.08 8.52 20.64 15.98 13.51 11.26 8.54 8.57 7.76 35.87 44.25 42.86 37.35 38.07 36.36 34.97 35.71 16.0 17.7 25.6 20.3 20.8 16.8 17.3 16.1 50.0 37.5 39.0 35.0 38.1 88.0 93.0 95.0 87.0 88.0 87.0 82.0 87.0 82.78 83.70 85.82 88.89 90.16 89.92 91.48 77.58 81.97 85.47 87.71 90.59 90.50 91.38 54.13 55.75 57.14 62.65 61.93 62.56 63.93 63.26 83.7 82.0 74.0 79.0 78.5 82.8 82.4 83.5 50.0 60. 61.0 63.0 58.7 SPECIAL EEPORTS OX THE PHILIPPIIfES. 189 Statement of American and Filipino employees — Continued. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION— Continued. Year. Amer- ican. Filipino. Oth- ers. Total. Percentage of— Bureau or service. Amer- ican. Fili- pino. Oth- ers. University of the Philippines •Circulating library 1909 1910 1910 4 13 6 2 21 12 1 2 7 36 18 57.0 36.0 33.3 29.0 58.0 66.7 14.0 6.0 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. Bureau of health 1904 1905 164 138 169 145 5 8 338 291 48.5 47.4 50.0 49.8 1.5 2.8 1906 149 352 8 509 29.3 69.1 1.6 1907 92 409 9 510 18.0 80.2 1.8 1908 96 509 6 611 15.7 83.3 1.0 1909 138 555 7 700 19.7 79.3 1.0 1910 98 590 7 695 14.1 84.9 1.0 Quarantine ser\'iee 1903 1904 16 18 60 65 2 2 78 • 85 20.0 21.0 77.0 77.0 3.0 2.0 1905 17 65 2 84 20.0 78.0 2.0 1906 14 64 2 80 18.0 80.0 2.0 1907 15 63 2 80 19.0 79.0 2.0 1908 12 65 2 79 15.0 82.0 3.0 1909 12 64 2 78 15.0 82.0 3.0 1910 11 63 3 77 14.0 82.0 4.0 Bureau of lands 1904 1905 10 9 5 5 15 14 67.0 65.0 33.0 35.0 1906 44 35 3" 82 54.0 4.3.0 ""3.0 1907 79 48 5 132 60.0 36.0 4.0 1908 90 93 11 194 46.0 48.0 6.0 1909 115 164 15 294 39.0 56.0 5.0 1910 122 234 10 386 33.0 64.0 3.0 Bureau of forestry 1903 1904 33 36 104 145 1 1 138 182 24.0 19.0 75.0 80.5 1.0 .5 1905 21 115 1 137 IS.O 84.0 1.0 1906 15 38 1 54 28.0 70.0 2.0 1907 12 25 1 38 32.0 65.0 3.0 1908 12 24 1 • 37 32.0 65.0 3.0 1909 15 22 1 38 39.0 58.0 3.0 1910 16 32 1 49 33.0 65.0 2.0 Weather bureau 1903 1904 2 5 78 74 6 4 86 83 2.0 6.0 91.0 89.0 7.0 5.0 1905 5 79 6 90 6.0 88. 6.0 1906 4 73 6 83 5.0 88.0 7.0 1907 3 79 7 89 3.0 89.0 8.0 1908 2 78 8 88 2.0 89.0 9.0 1909 2 80 8 90 2.0 89.0 9.0 1910 2 91 6 99 2.0 92.0 6.0 Bureau of science 1903 1904 25 39 36 55 i' 61 95 41.0 41.0 59.0 58.0 "i.'o 1905 38 64 1 103 37.0 62.0 1.0 1906 47 80 3 130 36.0 62.0 2.0 1907 41 78 4 123 33.0 64.0 3.0 1908 38 88 5 131 29.0 ■ 67.0 4.0 1909 46 92 11 149 31.0 62.0 7.0 1910 44 115 6 165 27.0 70.0 3.0 o