Tagals to the authority of the United States was virtually ended, thus
opening the door for the extension of a stable administration over much of
the territory of the Archipelago. Desiring to bring this about, I appointed
in March last a civil Commission composed of the Hon. William H. Taft, of
Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; the Hon. Luke I. Wright, of
Tennessee; the Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard Moses, of
California. The aims of their mission and the scope of their authority are
clearly set forth in my instructions of April 7, 1900, addressed to the
Secretary of War to be transmitted to them:
In the message transmitted to the Congress on the 5th of December, 1899, I
said, speaking of the Philippine Islands: "As long as the insurrection
continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme. But there is no
reason why steps should not be taken from time to time to inaugurate
governments essentially popular in their form as fast as territory is held
and controlled by our troops. To this end I am considering the advisability
of the return of the Commission, or such of the members thereof as can be
secured, to aid the existing authorities and facilitate this work
throughout the islands."
To give effect to the intention thus expressed, I have appointed Hon.
William H. Taft, of Ohio; Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of Michigan; Non. Luke
I. Wright, of Tennessee; Hon. Henry C. Ide, of Vermont, and Prof. Bernard
Moses, of California, Commissioners to the Philippine Islands to continue
and perfect the work of organizing and establishing civil government
already commenced by the military authorities, subject in all respects to
any laws which Congress may hereafter enact.
The Commissioners named will meet and act as a board, and the Hon. William
H. Taft t is designated as president of the board. It is probable that the
transfer of authority from military commanders to civil officers will be
gradual and will occupy a considerable period. Its successful
accomplishment and the maintenance of peace and order in the meantime will
require the most perfect co-operation between the civil and military
authorities in the islands, and both should be directed during the
transition period by the same Executive Department. The Commission will
therefore report to the Secretary of War, and all their action will be
subject to your approval and control.
You will instruct the Commission to proceed to the city of Manila, where
they will make their principal office, and to communicate with the Military
Governor of the Philippine Islands, whom you will at the same time direct
to render to them every assistance within his power in the performance of
their duties. Without hampering them by too specific instructions, they
should in general be enjoined, after making themselves familiar with the
conditions and needs of the country, to devote their attention in the first
instance to the establishment of municipal governments, in which the
natives of the islands, both in the cities and in the rural communities,
shall be afforded the opportunity to manage their own local affairs to the
fullest extent of which they are capable and subject to the least degree of
supervision and control which a careful study of their capacities and
observation of the workings of native control show to be consistent with
the maintenance of law, order, and loyalty.
The next subject in order of importance should be the organization of
government in the larger administrative divisions corresponding to
counties, departments, or provinces, in which the common interests of many
or several municipalities falling within the same tribal lines, or the same
natural geographical limits, may best be subserved by a common
administration. Whenever the Commission is of the opinion that the
condition of affairs in the islands is such that the central administration
may safely be transferred from military to civil control they will report
that conclusion to you, with their recommendations as to the form of
central government to be established for the purpose of taking over the
control.
Beginning with the 1st day of September, 1900, the authority to exercise,
subject to my approval, through the Secretary of War, that part of the
power of government in the Philippine Islands which is of a legislative
nature is to be transferred from the Military Governor of the islands to
this Commission, to be thereafter exercised by them in the place and stead
of the Military Governor, under such rules and regulations as you shall
prescribe, until the establishment of the civil central government for the
islands contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress
shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will
include the making of rules and orders, having the effect of law, for the
raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties, and imposts; the appropriation
and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the establishment of an
educational system throughout the islands; the establishment of a system
to secure an efficient civil service; the organization and establishment of
courts; the organization and establishment of municipal and departmental
governments, and all other matters of a civil nature for which the Military
Governor is now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative
character.
The Commission will also have power during the same period to appoint to
office such officers under the judicial, educational, and civil-service
systems and in the municipal and departmental governments as shall be
provided for. Until the complete transfer of control the Military Governor
will remain the chief executive head of the government of the islands, and
will exercise the executive authority now possessed by him and not herein
expressly assigned to the Commission, subject, however, to the rules and
orders enacted by the Commission in the exercise of the legislative powers
conferred upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental
governments will continue to report to the Military Governor and be subject
to his administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but
that supervision and control will be confined within the narrowest limits
consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the
municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively exercised
and that law and order and individual freedom shall be maintained.
All legislative rules and orders, establishments of government, and
appointments to office by the Commission will take effect immediately, or
at such times as they shall designate, subject to your approval and action
upon the coming in of the Commission's reports, which are to be made from
time to time as their action is taken. Wherever civil governments are
constituted under the direction of the Commission such military posts,
garrisons, and forces will be continued for the suppression of insurrection
and brigandage and the maintenance of law and order as the Military
Commander shall deem requisite, and the military forces shall be at all
times subject, under his orders, to the call of the civil authorities for
the maintenance of law and order and the enforcement of their authority.
In the establishment of municipal governments the Commission will take as
the basis of their work the governments established by the Military
Governor under his order of August 8, 1899. and under the report of the
board constituted by the Military Governor by his order of January 29,
1900, to formulate and report a plan of municipal government, of which His
Honor Cayetano Arellano, President of the Audiencia, was chairman, and they
will give to the conclusions of that board the weight and consideration
which the high character and distinguished abilities of its members
justify.
In the constitution of departmental or provincial governments they will
give especial attention to the existing government of the island of Negros,
constituted, with the approval of the people of that island, under the
order of the Military Governor of July 22, 1899, and after verifying, so
far as may be practicable, the reports of the successful working of that
government they will be guided by the experience thus acquired so far as it
may be applicable to the condition existing in other portions of the
Philippines. They will avail themselves, to the fullest degree practicable,
of the conclusions reached by the previous Commission to the Philippines.
In the distribution of powers among the governments organized by the
Commission, the presumption is always to be in favor of the smaller
subdivision, so that all the powers which can properly be exercised by the
municipal government shall be vested in that government, and all the powers
of a more general character which can be exercised by the departmental
government shall be vested in that government, and so that in the
governmental system, which is the result of the process, the central
government of the islands, following the example of the distribution of the
powers between the States and the National Government of the United States,
shall have no direct administration except of matters of purely general
concern, and shall have only such supervision and control over local
governments as may be necessary to secure and enforce faithful and
efficient administration by local officers.
The many Different degrees of civilization and varieties of custom and
capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very definite
instruction as to the part which the people shall take in the selection of
their own officers; but these general rules are to be observed: That in all
cases the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the
people, are to be selected by the people, and that wherever officers of
more extended jurisdiction are to be selected in any way, natives of the
islands are to be preferred, and if they can be found competent and willing
to perform the duties, they are to receive the offices in preference to any
others.
It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with Americans
which after a time may well be filled by natives of the islands. As soon as
practicable a system for ascertaining the merit and fitness of candidates
for civil office should be put in force. An indispensable qualification for
all offices and positions of trust and authority in the islands must be
absolute and unconditional loyalty to the United States, and absolute and
unhampered authority and power to remove and punish any officer deviating
from that standard must at all times be retained in the hands of the
central authority of the islands.
In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are
authorized to prescribe the Commission should bear in mind that the
government which they are establishing is designed not for our
satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the
happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands,
and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their
habits, and even heir prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the
accomplishment of the Indispensable requisites of just and effective
government.
At the same time the Commission should bear in mind, and the people of the
islands should be made plainly to understand, that there are certain great
principles of government which have been made the basis of our governmental
system which we deem essential to the rule of law and the maintenance of
individual freedom, and of which they have, unfortunately, been denied the
experience possessed by us; that there are also certain practical rules of
government which we have found to be essential to the preservation of these
great principles of liberty and law, and that these principles and these
rules of government must be established and maintained in their islands for
the sake of their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict
with the customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar.
It is evident that the most enlightened thought of the Philippine Islands
fully appreciates the importance of these principles and rules, and they
will inevitably within a short time command universal assent. Upon every
division and branch of the government of the Philippines, therefore, must
be imposed these inviolable rules:
That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due
process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public use
without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions the accused
shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses
against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; that
excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice
in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal case to
be a witness against himself; that the right to be secure against
unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; that neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as a punishment for
crime; that no bill of attainder or ex-post facto law shall be passed; that
no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or
the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government
for a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and
that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship
without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed.
It will be the duty of the Commission to make a thorough investigation into
the titles to the large tracts of land held or claimed by individuals or by
religious orders; into the justice of the claims and complaints made
against such landholders by the people of the island or any part of the
people, and to seek by wise and peaceable measures a just settlement of the
controversies and redress of wrongs which have caused strife and bloodshed
in the past. In the performance of this duty the Commission is enjoined to
see that no injustice is done; to have regard for substantial rights and
equity, disregarding technicalities so far as substantial right permits,
and to observe the following rules:
That the provision of the Treaty of Paris pledging the United States to the
protection of all rights of property in the islands, and as well the
principle of our own Government which prohibits the taking of private
property without due process of law, shall not be violated; that the
welfare of the people of the islands, which should be a paramount
consideration, shall be attained consistently with this rule of property
right; that if it becomes necessary for the public interest of the people
of the islands to dispose of claims to property which the Commission finds
to be not lawfully acquired and held disposition shall be made thereof by
due legal procedure, in which there shall be full opportunity for fair and
impartial hearing and judgment; that if the same public interests require
the extinguishment of property rights lawfully acquired and held due
compensation shall be made out of the public treasury therefore; that no
form of religion and no minister of religion shall be forced upon any
community or upon any citizen of the islands; that, upon the other hand, no
minister of religion shall be interfered with or molested in following his
calling, and that the separation between State and Church shall be real,
entire, and absolute.
It will be the duty of the Commission to promote and extend, and, as they
find occasion, to improve the system of education already inaugurated by
the military authorities. In doing this they should regard as of first
importance the extension of a system of primary education which shall be
free to all, and which shall tend to fit the people for the duties of
citizenship and for the ordinary avocations of a civilized community. This
instruction should be given in the first instance in every part of the
islands in the language of the people. In view of the great number of
languages spoken by the different tribes, it is especially important to the
prosperity of the islands that a common medium of communication may be
established, and it is obviously desirable that this medium should be the
English language. Especial attention should be at once given to affording
full opportunity to all the people of the islands to acquire the use of the
English language.
It may be well that the main changes which should be made in the system of
taxation and in the body of the laws under which the people are governed,
except such changes as have already been made by the military government,
should be relegated to the civil government which is to be established
under the auspices of the Commission. It will, however, be the duty of the
Commission to inquire diligently as to whether there are any further
changes which ought not to be delayed, and if so, they are authorized to
make such changes subject to your approval. In doing so they are to bear in
mind that taxes which tend 6 penalize or repress industry and enterprise
are to be avoided; that provisions for taxation should be simple, so that
they may be understood by the people; that they should affect the fewest
practicable subjects of taxation which will serve for the general
distribution of the burden.
The main body of the laws which regulate the rights and obligations of the
people should be maintained with as little interference as possible.
Changes made should be mainly in procedure, and in the criminal laws to
secure speedy and impartial trials, and at the same time effective
administration and respect for individual rights.
In dealing with the uncivilized tribes of the islands the Commission should
adopt the same course followed by Congress in permitting the tribes of our
North American Indians to maintain their tribal organization and
government, and under which many of those tribes are now living in peace
and contentment, surrounded by a civilization to which they are unable or
unwilling to conform. Such tribal governments should, however, be subjected
to wise and firm regulation, and, without undue or petty interference,
constant and active effort should be exercised to prevent barbarous
practices and introduce civilized customs.
Upon all officers and employees of the United States, both civil and
military, should be impressed a sense of the duty to observe not merely the
material but the personal and social rights of the people of the islands,
and to treat them with the same courtesy and respect for their personal
dignity which the people of the United States are accustomed W require from
each other.
The articles of capitulation of the city of Manila on the 13th of August,
1898, concluded with these words:
"This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious worship, its
educational establishments, and its private property of all descriptions,
are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and honor of the
American Army."
I believe that this pledge has been faithfully kept. As high and sacred an
obligation rests upon the Government of the United States to give
protection for property and life, civil and religious freedom, and wise,
firm, and unselfish guidance in the paths of peace and prosperity to all
the people of the Philippine Islands. I charge this Commission to labor for
the full performance of this obligation, which concerns the honor and
conscience of their country, in the firm hope that through their labors all
the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands may come to look back with
gratitude to the day when God gave victory to American arms at Manila and
set their land under the sovereignty and the protection of the people of
the United States.
Coincidently with the entrance of the Commission upon its labors I caused
to be issued by General MacArthur, the Military Governor of the
Philippines, on June 21, 1900, a proclamation of amnesty in generous terms,
of which many of the insurgents took advantage, among them a number of
important leaders.
This Commission, composed of eminent citizens representing the diverse
geographical and political interests of the country, and bringing to their
task the ripe fruits of long and intelligent service in educational,
administrative, and judicial careers, made great progress from the outset.
As early as August 21, 1900, it submitted a preliminary report, which will
be laid before the Congress, and from which it appears that already the
good effects of returning order are felt; that business, interrupted by
hostilities, is improving as peace extends; that a larger area is under
sugar cultivation than ever before; that the customs revenues are greater
than at any time during the Spanish rule; that economy and efficiency in
the military administration have created a surplus fund of $6,000,000,
available for needed public improvements; that a stringent civil-service
law is in preparation; that railroad communications are expanding, opening
up rich districts, and that a comprehensive scheme of education is being
organized.
Later reports from the Commission show yet more encouraging advance toward
insuring the benefits of liberty and good government to the Filipinos, in
the interest of humanity and with the aim of building up an enduring,
self-supporting, and self-administering community in those far eastern
seas. I would impress upon the Congress that whatever legislation may be
enacted in respect to the Philippine Islands should be along these generous
lines. The fortune of war has thrown upon this nation an unsought trust
which should be unselfishly discharged, and devolved upon this Government a
moral as well as material responsibility toward these millions whom we have
freed from an oppressive yoke.
I have on another occasion called the Filipinos the wards of the nation.
Our obligation as guardian was not lightly assumed; it must not be
otherwise than honestly fulfilled, aiming first of all to benefit those who
have come under our fostering care. It is our duty so to treat them that
our flag may be no less beloved in the mountains of Luzon and the fertile
zones of Mindanao and Negros than it is at home, that there as here it
shall be the revered symbol of liberty, enlightenment, and progress in
every avenue of development.
The Filipinos are a race quick to learn and to profit by knowledge He would
be rash who, with the teachings of contemporaneous history in view, would
fix a limit to the degree of culture and advancement yet within the reach
of these people if our duty toward them be faithfully performed.
The civil government of Puerto Rico provided for by the act of the Congress
approved April 12, 1900 is in successful operation The courts have been
established. The Governor and his associates, working intelligently and
harmoniously, are meeting with Commendable success.
On the 6th of November a general election was held in the island for
members of the Legislature, and the body elected has been called to convene
on the first Monday of December.
I recommend that legislation be enacted by the Congress conferring upon the
Secretary of the Interior supervision over the public lands in Puerto Rico,
and that he be directed to ascertain the location and quantity of lands the
title to which remained in the Crown of Spain at the date of cession of
Puerto Rico to the United States, and that appropriations necessary for
surveys be made, and that the methods of the disposition of such lands be
prescribed by law.