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the entire Archipelago would be a "good business proposition" for the American nation.

In the instructions to the peace commissioners, we see the first glimpse of the policy of the American Government with regard to the Philippines.

52. Differences among the Peace Commissioners. The information received by the peace commissioners from men who had been in the Philippines failed to harmonize their ideas as to what should be done. Three commissioners earnestly urged the cession of all the Islands. One favored the taking of Luzon only, as a test of America's capacity for colonial administration. Another, however, was opposed to the cession of the whole Archipelago or any part of it. The final and definite instructions from Washington came from Secretary of State Hay, which stated that the President was convinced now that "the cession of Luzon alone, leaving the rest of the Islands subject to Spain's rule, or to be the subject of future contention, can not be justified on political, commercial, or humanitarian grounds. The cession must be of the whole Archipelago or none." With such definite instructions the peace commissioners had no other alternative than to demand the entire Archipelago from Spain.

53. Provisions of the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty of Paris was signed at Paris on December 10, 1898. It was made up of seventeen articles. Articles III and IX are especially important in their effect on the Philippines.

Article III stipulated that "Spain cedes to the United States the Archipelago known as the Philippine Islands." The following paragraph of the same article then reads: "The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars, within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty." The last paragraph of Article IX provides that "The civil rights and political

status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by the Congress.'

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On November 7, 1900, a supplemental treaty between Spain and the United States was signed to correct the boundaries

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of Batangas, Representative of the Revolutionary Government
at Paris during the peace negotiations and, later, in the
United States, and member of the first Philippine Assembly

of the Philippines as defined in Article III of the Treaty of Paris so as to include the islands of Sibutu and Cagayan de Sulu. The United States paid Spain P200,000 ($100,000) for her claims to these islands.

54. The Protest of the Filipinos. Upon the signing of the treaty, Felipe Agoncillo, the Filipino representative, entered a formal protest, but to no avail. He thereupon set out for Washington to see if some understanding could be had with the American Government.

On January 5, 1899, Mr. Agoncillo's secretary, Mr. Sixto Lopez, addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, requesting that Mr. Agoncillo be accorded the privilege of an audience with him to arrange for the presentation to the President of the envoy's letters of credentials, and suggesting the advisability of an understanding between the respective nations. Inclosed in the letter was a memorandum on the Philippine Republic. There being no reply forthcoming, a few days later another letter was sent to the Secretary of State, this time signed by Mr. Agoncillo himself. "In view of the present status of affairs in the Philippine Islands," wrote Mr. Agoncillo, "and the fact that in the present strained position the impetuous action of a Filipino or the overzeal of an American soldier, acts based on the impulse of the moment, may create a condition resulting in grievous loss of life, as well as a memory that both nations might carry with them for years, I again urge upon you the necessity of early and frank communication between the representatives of the countries in question." No answer having been received to this letter, and trouble between Filipinos and Americans looming ever larger and larger in Manila, Mr. Agoncillo again, on January 24, addressed a communication to the Secretary of State confirming his earlier fear that the massing of American troops in the Islands while no understanding was reached between the two governments was fast creating an actual condition of war. Mr. Agoncillo's letters were entirely ignored, so as not to recognize the Philippine Republic.

On January 30, a memorial was sent to the Secretary of

State, with the request that it be presented to the Senate of the United States, the fight on the treaty being then at its height. This memorial set forth the history of the relations between the Americans and the Filipinos and the grounds upon which the Philippine Republic based its claim for recognition. It invoked in the first place the constitutional right of every person to his life, liberty, and property, which cannot be taken away without due process of law. Consequently, it argued that before the final determination was made to take over the Philippine Islands, the people of the Philippines should be first heard.

55. The Treaty Ratification in the Senate. At the very outset there was difficulty in having the treaty ratified by the United States Senate. One objection to the treaty was that the United States had no constitutional power to acquire territories for the purpose of governing them as colonies. Other Senators opposed the treaty because they thought it was an injustice to the Filipinos. They did not understand FOT why Cuba should be given its independence and why the Λ Philippine Islands should be kept as an American colony. They were naturally for the independence of the Philippines. And there were still other Senators who objected to the treaty because they did not like the idea of having the Filipino people introduced into the American body politic.

An important event, however, happened which hastened the ratification of the treaty, and which, according to some, changed several votes; and that was the breaking out of hostilities in the Philippines between American and Filipino forces on January 4, 1899. It was claimed that the Filipinos began the hostilities and two days afterwards the Senate, by a very close vote, ratified the treaty. The title of the United States to the Philippines was thus completed.

CHAPTER VI

THE MILITARY GOVERNMENT

56. Institution of Military Rule.- Beginning with the destruction of the Spanish fleet on May 1, 1898, the American Navy and later the American army occupied Manila Bay and Cavite. Immediately after the surrender of Manila on August 13, 1898, American military authorities exercised control over the city, and the following day General Merritt, the military commander, issued a proclamation addressed to the people of the Philippines announcing the military occupation of the city and enumerating the fundamental rules of international law concerning the rights and duties of a military occupant. From that date, therefore, the military rule of the Philippines may be said to have begun.

General Merritt's authority emanated from the President of the United States as the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy. The President was the source of all governmental powers in the Philippines until the time when Congress assumed control of the Islands. Even before the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, President McKinley had determined to extend American sovereignty over the Philippines. On December 21, 1898, he issued a proclamation claiming control over the Philippine Islands, and instructing the military commander to effect the extension of sovereignty. "In performing this duty," he said, "the military commander of the United States is enjoined to make known to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands that in succeeding to the sovereignty of Spain, in severing the former political relations,

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