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.
