and in establishing a new political power, the authority of the United States is to be exerted for the securing of the persons and property of the people of the Islands and for the confirmation of all their private rights and relations. It will

be the duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or by honest submission, coöperate with the Government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes will receive the reward of its support and protection. All others will be brought within the lawful rule we have assumed, with firmness if need be, but without severity, so far as possible.

"Finally, it should be the earnest wish and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of free peoples, and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation, substituting the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule."

The Filipino insurgents received President McKinley's manifesto with disfavor, for there was not even an intimation in it of the right of the Islands to self-government and future independence. They answered President McKinley with a counter manifesto, saying that the sovereignty of the Philippines belonged to the Filipino people.

57. The Schurman Commission. As soon as conditions permitted, President McKinley wished to implant civil government in the Islands. With this purpose in mind, he sent the first Philippine Commission, known as "The Schurman Commission," from the name of its president, Jacob Gould Schurman, president of Cornell University. The Commission was to facilitate the most "humane, pacific, and effective extension of authority," and "to secure with

the least possible delay the benefits of a wise and generous protection to life and property." The Commissioners were to exercise due respect for all the ideals, customs, and institutions of the inhabitants. In the language of one of its members, "We were sent to deliver a message of good will, to investigate, and to recommend, and there our powers ended." 1

When the Commission reached the Philippines, the Filipino-American War had started, and it could not perform all of its assigned task. The Commission, however, helped to enlighten the Filipino people on the motives of the American Government, conducted hearings on the Philippine situation, formulated certain principles which should guide the relations of the United States with the Filipino people, and made a valuable and comprehensive report to the President, in which a territorial form of government with an elective lower House and an upper House half-elected and half-nominated was recommended.

The

58. Accomplishments of the Military Government. succession to the sovereignty of Spain was not an easy task. The opposition of the Filipino insurgents had to be overcome and some form of local government organized. Wherever practical, or possible, beginning with Manila, the administration of civil affairs was taken over and the offices of the Spanish Administration were continued in existence and reorganized with American army officers or friendly Filipinos in charge.

One of General Merritt's first acts was the organization of provost marshal courts, and the designation of collectors of customs and internal revenue. The local governments were continued. A tariff was promulgated. Schools were organized. Within three weeks after the fall of Manila, seven schools 1 Worcester, The Philippines Past and Present, vol. i, pages 301, 302.

were opened in the city under the direction of army chaplains. Enlisted men were detailed as teachers and the school system was enlarged.

✓ The judiciary was soon organized. General Order No. 20 established a Supreme Court of nine judges, six of whom were distinguished Filipino lawyers and three officers of the American Army. General Order No. 21 created Courts of First Instance and Justice of the Peace Courts for each of the four judicial districts of the City of Manila. Subsequently, the Courts of First Instance of several provinces were reorganized. The courts were given the jurisdiction which they had prior to American occupation, and administered those laws which were continued in force by authority of the United States. A Code of Criminal Procedure, taking the place of the old and slow Spanish procedure, was promulgated as General Orders No. 58. It is still in force in the Philippines.

The municipality of Baliuag, Bulacan, in May, 1899, was the first to hold an election under American supervision. Four Cavite municipalities soon followed suit. A board consisting of Cayetano S. Arellano, Florentino Torres, and 、three American judicial officers, was constituted to report on the local government. They submitted a plan for the organization of municipalities, based to a large extent on the Maura Law of Spain. This report was approved and was promulgated as General Order No. 40 on March 29, 1900. It must be remembered that during a portion of this period of military occupation the three powers of government, executive, legislative, and judicial, were all wielded by the Military Governor. After the appointment of the civil judges he continued to exercise executive and legislative functions.

59. The Negros Constitution. In the island of Negros, with the assistance of the military governor, a premature