The SECRETARY OF STATE:
My communication to the Secretary of War dated December 21, 1898,[33]
declares the necessity of extending the actual occupation and
administration of the city, harbor, and bay of Manila to the whole of
the territory which by the treaty of Paris, signed on December 10, 1898,
passed from the sovereignty of Spain to the sovereignty of the United
States and the consequent establishment of military government
throughout the entire group of the Philippine Islands.
While the treaty has not yet been ratified, it is believed that it will
be by the time of the arrival at Manila of the commissioners named
below. In order to facilitate the most humane, specific, and effective
extension of authority throughout these islands and to secure with the
least possible delay the benefits of a wise and generous protection of
life and property to the inhabitants, I have named Jacob G. Schurman,
Rear-Admiral George Dewey, Major-General Elwell S. Otis, Charles Denby,
and Dean C. Worcester to constitute a commission to aid in the
accomplishment of these results.
In the performance of this duty the commissioners are enjoined to meet
at the earliest possible day in the city of Manila and to announce by a
public proclamation their presence and the mission intrusted to them,
carefully setting forth that while the military government already
proclaimed is to be maintained and continued so long as necessity may
require, efforts will be made to alleviate the burdens of taxation, to
establish industrial and commercial prosperity, and to provide for the
safety of persons and of property by such means as may be found
conducive to these ends.
The commissioners will endeavor, without interference with the military
authorities of the United States now in control of the Philippines, to
ascertain what amelioration in the condition of the inhabitants and what
improvements in public order may be practicable, and for this purpose
they will study attentively the existing social and political state of
the various populations, particularly as regards the forms of local
government, the administration of justice, the collection of customs
and other taxes, the means of transportation, and the need of public
improvements.
They will report through the State Department, according to the forms
customary or hereafter prescribed for transmitting and preserving such
communications, the results of their observations and reflections, and
will recommend such executive action as may from time to time seem to
them wise and useful.
The commissioners are hereby authorized to confer authoritatively
with any persons resident in the islands from whom they may believe
themselves able to derive information or suggestions valuable for the
purposes of their commission, or whom they may choose to employ as
agents, as may be necessary for this purpose.
The temporary government of the islands is intrusted to the military
authorities, as already provided for by my instructions to the Secretary
of War of December 21, 1898,[34] and will continue until Congress shall
determine otherwise. The commission may render valuable services by
examining with special care the legislative needs of the various groups
of inhabitants and by reporting, with recommendations, the measures
which should be instituted for the maintenance of order, peace, and
public welfare, either as temporary steps to be taken immediately for
the perfection of present administration or as suggestions for future
legislation.
In so far as immediate personal changes in the civil administration may
seem to be advisable, the commissioners are empowered to recommend
suitable persons for appointment to these offices from among the
inhabitants of the islands who have previously acknowledged their
allegiance to this Government.
It is my desire that in all their relations with the inhabitants of
the islands the commissioners exercise due respect for all the ideals,
customs, and institutions of the tribes and races which compose the
population, emphasizing upon all occasions the just and beneficent
intentions of the Government of the United States.
It is also my wish and expectation that the commissioners may be
received in a manner due to the honored and authorized representatives
of the American Republic, duly commissioned, on account of their
knowledge, skill, and integrity, as bearers of the good will, the
protection, and the richest blessings of a liberating rather than
a conquering nation.
WILLIAM McKINLEY.
[Footnote 33: See pp. 219-221.]
[Footnote 34: See pp. 219-221.]