In a large way, ever since the Spanish War, the United States has been
adjusting its policy to the world conditions of which that struggle
first made the people aware. The period between 1898 and 1917 will
doubtless be regarded by the historian a hundred years from now as
a time of transition similar to that between 1815 and 1829. In that
earlier period John Marshall and John Quincy Adams did much by their
wisdom and judgment to preserve what was of value in the old regime for
use in the new. In the later period John Hay performed, though far less
completely, a somewhat similar function.
John Hay had an acquaintance with the best traditions of American
statesmanship which falls to the lot of few men. He was private
secretary to Lincoln during the Civil War, he had as his most intimate
friend in later life Henry Adams, the historian, who lived immersed in
the memories and traditions of a family which has taken a distinguished
part in the Government of the United States from its beginning.
Possessed of an ample fortune, Hay had lived much abroad and in the
society of the men who governed Europe. He was experienced in newspaper
work and in diplomacy, and he came to be Secretary of State fresh from a
residence in England where as Ambassador he had enjoyed wide popularity.
With a lively wit and an engaging charm of manner, he combined
a knowledge of international law and of history which few of our
Secretaries have possessed. Moreover he knew men and how to handle
them. Until the death of McKinley in 1901 he was left almost free in the
administration of his office. He once said that the President spoke to
him of his office scarcely once a month. In the years from 1901 to
1905 he worked under very different conditions, for President Roosevelt
discussed affairs of state with him daily and took some matters entirely
into his own hands.
Hay found somewhat better instruments to work with than most Americans
were inclined to believe probable. It is true that the American
diplomatic service abroad has not always reflected credit upon the
country. It has contained extremely able and distinguished men but
also many who have been stupid, ignorant, and ill-mannered. The State
Department in Washington, however, has almost escaped the vicissitudes
of politics and has been graced by the long and disinterested service of
competent officials. From 1897 to 1913, moreover, the service abroad was
built up on the basis of continuity and promotion.
One sign of a new epoch was the changed attitude of the American public
toward annexation. While the war was in progress the United States
yielded to the desires of Hawaii, and annexed the islands as a part of
the United States, with the hope of their eventual statehood. In 1899
the United States consented to change the cumbrous and unsuccessful
arrangement by which, in partnership with Great Britain and Germany, it
had supervised the native government of Samoa. No longer unwilling to
acquire distant territories, the United States took in full possession
the island of Tutuila, with its harbor of Pago Pago, and consented
to Germany's taking the remainder of the islands, while Great Britain
received compensation elsewhere. In 1900 the Government paid over to
Spain $100,000 for Sibutu and Cagayan Sulu, two islands really belonging
to the Philippines but overlooked in the treaty. Proud of the navy and
with a new recognition of its necessities, the United States sought
naval stations in those areas where the fleet might have to operate. In
the Pacific the Government obtained Midway and Wake islands in 1900. In
the West Indies, the harbor of Guantanamo was secured from Cuba, and
in 1903 a treaty was made with Denmark for the purchase of her
islands--which, however, finally became American possessions only in
1917.
By her policy toward Cuba, the United States gave the world a striking
example of observing the plighted word even when contrary to the
national interest. For a century the United States had expected to
acquire the "Pearl of the Antilles." Spain in the treaty of peace
refused to recognize the Cuban Government and relinquished the island
into the hands of the United States. The withdrawal of the Spanish
troops left the Cuban Government utterly unable to govern, and the
United States was forced to occupy the island. Nevertheless the
Government had begun the war with a recognition of Cuban independence
and to that declaration it adhered. The country gave the best of its
talent to make the islands self-governing as quickly as possible.
Harvard University invited Cuban teachers to be its guests at a summer
session. American medical men labored with a martyr's devotion to stamp
out disease. General Wood, as military governor, established order and
justice and presided over the evolution of a convention assembled
to draft a constitution for the people of Cuba and to determine the
relations of the United States and Cuba. These relations, indeed, were
already under consideration at Washington and were subsequently embodied
in the Platt Amendment. * This measure directed the President to leave
the control of Cuba to the people of the island as soon as they should
agree to its terms. It also required that the Government of Cuba should
never allow a foreign power to impair its independence; that it would
contract no debt for which it could not provide a sinking fund from
the ordinary revenue; that it would grant to the United States "lands
necessary for coaling or naval stations"; that it would provide for the
sanitation of its cities; and that the United States should have the
right to intervene, "for the preservation of Cuban independence,
the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of
life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging" certain
obligations with respect to Spanish subjects which the United States
had assumed in the treaty signed at Paris. After some hesitation the
convention added these provisions to the new constitution of Cuba.
On May 20, 1902, the American troops withdrew, leaving Cuba in better
condition than she had ever been before. Subsequently the United States
was forced to intervene to preserve order, but, though the temptation
was strong to remain, the American troops again withdrew after they had
done their constructive work. The voluntary entrance of Cuba into the
Great War in cooperation with the United States was a tribute to the
generosity and honesty of the American people.
* An amendment to the Army Appropriation Bill of March 2, 1901.
Porto Rico presented a problem different from that which the United
States had to solve in Cuba. There existed no native organization which
could supply even the basis for the formation of a government. The
people seemed, indeed, to have no desire for independence, and
public sentiment in the United States generally favored the permanent
possession of the island. After a period of rule entirely at the
discretion of the President, Congress established in 1900 a form
of government based on that of the American territories. Porto Rico
remained, however, unincorporated into the Union, and it was long
doubtful whether it would remain a dependency or would ultimately
attain statehood. In 1917, however, the degree of self-government was
increased, and the inhabitants were made American citizens. It now seems
probable that the island will ultimately become a State of the Union.
Meanwhile on the other side of the world the United States had a more
unpleasant task. The revolted Filipinos, unlike the Cubans, had not
declared themselves for independence but for redress of grievances. The
United States had assisted Aguinaldo, at the moment in exile, to return
to the islands after the Battle of Manila Bay but had not officially
recognized him as having authority. When he saw Spanish power
disappearing under American blows, he declared himself in favor of the
abolition of all foreign rule. This declaration, of course, in no
way bound the United States, to whom the treaty with Spain, the only
recognized sovereign, ceded the island absolutely. There was no flaw
in the title of the United States, and there were no obligations, save
those of humanity, to bind the Americans in their treatment of the
natives. Nevertheless, the great majority of Americans would doubtless
have gladly favored a policy similar to that pursued in the case of
Cuba, had it seemed in any way practicable. Unfortunately, however, the
Filipinos did not constitute a nation but only a congeries of peoples
and tribes of differing race and origin, whom nearly four centuries of
Spanish rule had not been able to make live at peace with one another.
Some were Christians, some Mohammedans, some heathen savages; some wore
European clothes, some none at all. The particular tribe which formed
the chief support of Aguinaldo, the Tagalogs, comprised less than one
half of the population of the island of Luzon. The United States had
taken the islands largely because it did not see any one else to whom it
could properly shift the burden. The shoulders of the Tagalogs did not
seem broad enough for the responsibility.
The United States prepared, therefore, to carry on the task which it
had assumed, while Aguinaldo, with his army circling Manila, prepared to
dispute its title. On February 4, 1899, actual hostilities broke out.
By this time Aguinaldo had a capital at Malolos, thirty miles north of
Manila, a government, thirty or forty thousand troops, and an influence
which he was extending throughout the islands by means of secret
organizations and superstitious appeals. This seemed a puny strength to
put forth against the United States but various circumstances combined
to make the contest less unequal than it seemed, and the outcome was
probably more in doubt than that in the war with Spain.
The United States had at the moment but fourteen thousand men in
the islands, under the command of General Otis. Some of these were
volunteers who had been organized to fight Spain and who could not be
held after the ratification of peace. Congress had, indeed, provided
for an increase in the regular army, but not sufficient to provide the
"40,000 effectives for the field," whom Otis had requested in August,
1899. There were, of course, plenty of men available in America for
service in the Philippines, and finally twelve regiments of volunteers
were raised, two of which were composed of negroes. Aguinaldo's strength
lay in the configuration of the country, in its climate, which for four
centuries had prevented a complete conquest by the Spaniards, and in
the uncertainty which he knew existed as to how far the American people
would support a war waged apparently for conquest, against the wishes of
the Filipinos. On the other hand, the chief advantages of the American
forces lay in Aguinaldo's lack of arms and in the power of the American
Navy, which confined the fighting for the most part to Luzon.
In March, General MacArthur began to move to the north, and on the last
day of that month he entered Malolos. On the 23d of April he pushed
farther northward toward Calumpit, where the Filipino generalissimo,
Luna, had prepared a position which he declared to be impregnable. This
brief campaign added a new favorite to the American roll of honor, for
it was here that Colonel Funston, at the head of his gallant Kansans,
crossed the rivers Bag-bag and Rio Grande, under circumstances that gave
the individual American soldier a prestige in the eyes of the Filipinos
and a reputation which often ran far ahead of the army.
General Luna had torn up the ties and rails of the steel railroad bridge
over the Bag-bag, and had let down the span next the far bank. Thus
cut off from attack by a deep river two hundred feet wide, the Filipino
commander had entrenched his forces on the farther side. Shielded by
fields of young corn and bamboo thickets, the Americans approached
the bank of the river. A naval gun on an armored train bombarded
the Filipinos but could not silence their trenches. It was therefore
necessary to cross an the bridge, and under fire. General Wheaton
ordered Colonel Funston to seize the bridge. With about ten men Funston
rushed the nearer end which stood in the open. Working themselves along
the girders, the men finally reached the broken span. Beyond that,
swimming was the only method of reaching the goal. Leaving their guns
behind them, Colonel Funston and three others swung themselves off the
bridge and into the stream. Quite unarmed, the four landed and rushed
the nearest trenches. Fortunately these had been abandoned under
American fire, and rifles and cartridges had been left behind. Thus
this aquatic charge by unarmed men secured the bridge and enabled the
American troops to cross.
Not far beyond was the Rio Grande, four hundred feet broad and crossed
by another railroad bridge that must be taken. Here again the task was
entrusted to Colonel Funston and the Twentieth Kansas. This time they
found an old raft. Two privates stripped and swam across with a rope.
Landing unarmed on the enemy's side of the river, they fastened their
rope to a part of the very trench works of the Filipinos. With this
connection established, Colonel Funston improvised a ferry and was soon
on the enemy's side with supports. A stiff, unequal fight remained,
as the ferry carried but six men on each trip. The bank was soon won,
however, and the safe crossing of the army was assured. Such acts gave
the natives a respect for Americans as fighting men, which caused it to
be more and more difficult for the Filipino commanders to bring their
forces to battle in the open.
General Lawton in the meantime was conducting a brilliant movement to
the eastward. After breaking the enemy forces, he returned to Manila and
then marched southward into the Tagalog country, where on the 13th of
June, at Zapoti Bridge, he won the most stoutly contested battle of the
insurrection. The successful conclusion of these operations brought the
most civilized part of the island under American control.
The fighting now became scattered and assumed gradually a guerrilla
character. The abler commanders of the American forces found their way
to the top, and the troops, with their natural adaptability, constantly
devised new methods of meeting new situations. A war of strangely
combined mountain and sea fighting, involving cavalry and infantry and
artillery, spread over the islands in widening circles and met with
lessening resistance. An indication of the new character of the war was
given by the change of the military organization, in April, 1900, from
one of divisions and brigades, to a geographical basis. Each commander
was now given charge of a certain area and used his men to reduce this
district to order.
The insurgents fought in small groups and generally under local
chieftains. Their advantage lay in their thorough knowledge of the
country and in the sympathy of a part of the population and the fear of
another part, for outlaws living in concealment and moving in the dark
can often inspire a terror which regular troops under discipline fail
to engender. The Americans could not trust the natives, as it was
impossible to tell the truthful from the treacherous. Nevertheless
it was a kind of fighting which gave unusual scope for that American
individualism, so strongly represented in the army, to which the romance
of precisely this sort of thing had drawn just the class of men best
fitted for the work. Scouting, counter scouting, surprise attacks, and
ambuscades formed the daily news transmitted from the front--affairs not
of regiments and companies but of squads and individuals. When face to
face, however, the Filipinos seldom stood their ground, and the American
ingenuity and eager willingness to attempt any new thing gradually got
the better of the local knowledge and unscrupulousness as to the laws
of war which had at first, given the natives an advantage. Funston, now
Brigadier General, and his "suicide squad" continued to play an active
part, but a similar spirit of daring and ingenuity pervaded the whole
army.
Broken as were the Filipino field forces and widening as was the area of
peace, the result of the island campaign was still uncertain. It rested
upon two unknown quantities. The first was the nature of the Filipinos.
Would they remain irreconcilable, ever ready to take advantage of a
moment of weakness? If such were to be the case, we could look for no
real conquest, but only a forcible occupation, which the people of
the United States would never consent to maintain. The second unknown
quantity was the American people themselves. Would they sustain
the occupation sufficiently long to give a reasonable test of the
possibilities of success?
Two events brought these uncertainties to an end. In the first place,
William Jennings Bryan was defeated for the presidency in November,
1900, and President McKinley was given four more years in which to
complete the experiment. In the second place, on March 23, 1901,
Aguinaldo, who had been long in concealment, was captured. Though there
had long been no possibility of really commanding the insurgent forces
as a whole, Aguinaldo had remained the center of revolt and occasionally
showed his hand, as in the attempt to negotiate a peace on the basis of
independence. In February an intercepted letter had given a clue to his
hiding place. Funston, in spite of his new rank, determined personally
to undertake the capture. The signature of Lacuna, one of the insurgent
leaders, was forged and letters were sent to Aguinaldo informing him
of the capture of five Americans, who were being sent to headquarters.
Among the five was Funston himself. The "insurgent" guard, clad in
captured uniforms, consisted for the most part of Macabebes, hereditary
enemies of the Tagalogs--for the Americans had now learned the Roman
trick of using one people against another. The ruse succeeded perfectly.
The guard and its supposed prisoners were joyfully received by
Aguinaldo, but the tables were quickly turned and Aguinaldo's capture
was promptly effected.
On the 19th of April, Aguinaldo wrote: "After mature deliberation, I
resolutely proclaim to the world that I cannot refuse to heed the voice
of a people longing for peace, nor the lamentations of thousands of
families yearning to see their dear ones enjoying the liberty and
promised generosity of the great American nation. By acknowledging and
accepting the sovereignty of the United States throughout the Philippine
Archipelago, as I now do, and without any reservation whatsoever, I
believe that I am serving thee, my beloved country."
On the 19th of May, General Wheaton, Chief of Staff in the Philippines,
sent the following dispatch to Washington: "Lacuna having surrendered
with all his officers and men today, I report that all insurrectionary
leaders in this department have been captured or have surrendered. This
is the termination of the state of war in this department so far as
armed resistance to the authority of the United States is concerned."
There was subsequent fighting with other tribes and in other islands,
particularly with the Moros of the Sulu group, but by the time Aguinaldo
had accepted American rule, the uncertainty of the American people
had been resolved, and the execution of the treaty with Spain had been
actually accomplished. As seventy thousand troops were no longer needed
in the islands, the volunteers and many of the regulars were sent home,
and there began an era of peace such as the Philippines had never before
known.
During the suppression of the insurrection the American Army had
resorted to severe measures, though they by no means went to the
extremes that were reported in the press. It was realized, however, that
the establishment of a permanent peace must rest upon an appeal to
the good will and self-interest of the natives. The treatment of the
conquered territories, therefore, was a matter of the highest concern
not only with reference to the public opinion at home but to the lasting
success of the military operations which had just been concluded.
There was as yet no law in the United States relating to the government
of dependencies. The entire control of the islands therefore rested, in
the first instance, with the President and was vested by him, subject to
instructions, in the Military Governor. The army fortunately reflected
fully the democratic tendencies of the United States as a whole. In
June, 1899, General Lawton encouraged and assisted the natives in
setting up in their villages governing bodies of their own selection.
In August, he issued a general order, based upon a law of the islands,
providing for a general system of local government into which there was
introduced for the first time the element of really popular election.
In 1900, a new code of criminal procedure, largely the work of Enoch
Herbert Crowder, at that time Military Secretary, was promulgated, which
surrounded the accused with practically all the safeguards to which the
Anglo-Saxon is accustomed except jury trial, for which the people were
unprepared.
To advise with regard to a permanent system of government for the
Philippines President McKinley appointed in January, 1899, a commission
consisting of Jacob G. Schurman, President of Cornell University, Dean
C. Worcester, who had long been engaged in scientific research in the
Philippines, Colonel Charles Denby, for many years previously minister
to China, Admiral Dewey, and General E. S. Otis. Largely upon their
recommendation, the President appointed a second commission, headed
by Judge William Howard Taft to carry on the work of organizing
civil government which had already begun under military direction and
gradually to take over the legislative power. The Military Governor was
to continue to exercise executive power. In 1901, Congress at length
took action, vesting all military, civil, and judicial powers in such
persons as the President might appoint to govern the islands.
McKinley immediately appointed Judge Taft to the new governorship thus
authorized. In 1901 in the "Insular Cases" the Supreme Court also gave
its sanction to what had been done. In legislation for the territories,
it held that Congress was not bound by all the restrictions of the
Constitution, as, for instance, that requiring jury trial; that Porto
Rico and the Philippines were neither foreign countries nor completely
parts of the United States, though Congress was at liberty to
incorporate them into the Union.
There was, however, no disposition to incorporate the Philippines into
the United States, but there has always been a widespread sentiment
that the islands should ultimately be given their independence, and
this sentiment has largely governed the American attitude toward them.
A native Legislature was established in 1907 under Governor Taft, * and
under the Wilson Administration the process toward independence has
been accelerated, and dates begin to be considered. The process of
preparation for independence has been threefold: the development of the
physical well-being of the islands, the education of the islanders, and
the gradual introduction of the latter into responsible positions of
government. With little of the encouragement which might have come from
appreciative interest at home, thousands of Americans have now labored
in the Philippines for almost twenty years, but with little disposition
to settle there permanently. Their efforts to develop the Filipinos have
achieved remarkable success. It has of late been found possible to turn
over such a large proportion of the governmental work to the natives
that the number of Americans in the islands is steadily diminishing.
The outbreak of the war with Germany found the natives loyal to American
interests and even saw a son of Aguinaldo taking service under the Stars
and Stripes. Such a tribute, like the services of Generals Smuts and
Botha to Great Britain, compensates for the friction and noise
with which democracy works and is the kind of triumph which carries
reassurance of its ultimate efficiency and justice.
* By the Act of July 1, 1902, the Legislature was to consist of
two houses, the Commission acting as an upper house and an elective
assembly constituting a lower house. The Legislature at its first
session was to elect two delegates who were to sit, without the right
to vote, in the House of Representatives at Washington. An Act of August
29, 1916, substituted an elective Senate for the Philippine Commission
as the upper house of the Legislature.