68. The Executive Departments. The administrative work of the government was done by different bureaus grouped into four departments. These were the Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce and Police, the Department of Finance and Justice, and the Department of Public Instruction. Three of the bureaus remained under the immediate supervision of the GovernorGeneral.

Although the secretaries of the departments were selected from the members of the Commission, the offices were distinct, and a different salary was attached to each office. Under this organization, therefore, the heads of the executive departments had seats in the Legislature.

A Vice-Governor was appointed from the Commission who was to act as Governor-General in the latter's absence.

CHAPTER VIII

PROGRESS TOWARD FILIPINO AUTONOMY

69. President McKinley's Administrative Policy Towards the Philippines. "The Philippines are ours, not to exploit, but to develop, to civilize, to educate, to train in the science of self-government." Thus spoke President McKinley, the man most responsible for the acquisition of the Philippines. He specifically told the second Philippine Commission, whom he sent to establish civil government in the Philippines, that the Filipinos must be given every preference in the selection of officers. "In all cases," he said, "the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the people, are to be selected by the people, and 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."

President McKinley's Philippine policy and, later, that of President Roosevelt, were carried out in the Philippines by the sympathetic work of Governor-General Taft and his associates in the Philippine Commission.

70. Extension of Local Government. In obedience to President McKinley's instructions the first task of the Taft Commission was the establishment of local governments. Previous to their arrival, the Military Governor had promulgated general orders establishing municipal and provincial governments in the Philippines, but these orders were not actually put into effect, and so to the second Philippine Com

mission fell the work of organizing local governments. A new municipal law, Act No. 82, was passed on January 31, 1901, providing a complete system of municipal government. The President's instructions were to organize the municipalities first, but circumstances obliged the Commission to establish provincial governments first, and to appoint the provincial governors as chairmen of committees to organize the municipalities. In order to do this work the Commission had to travel to different provinces, first investigating local conditions, and then organizing the provincial governments.

The procedure of the Commission on this trip was, on its arrival in a locality, to consult the officers of the American Army with reference to the conditions of the place and the candidates for office. It would then summon to the capital of the province the municipal presidents, and councillors, and other prominent men of the different towns. Mr. Taft would state the purpose of the visit, and explain the provisions of the municipal government law. If the conditions were found to be satisfactory, the provincial, and even municipal, officials were then appointed.

As soon, however, as more peaceful conditions permitted, regular elections of municipal officers under the municipal law passed in 1901 were held. A president, vice-president, and councillors were chosen for each municipality. The system of municipal government thus established has continued, on the whole, up to the present time.

Manila, because it was the capital and metropolis, was granted practical self-government by a special law.

71. Provincial Self-Government. The Act following the Municipal Code, Act No. 83, organized the provincial governments in the regularly organized provinces. There was to be a provincial board composed of the Governor, the District Engineer, and the Treasurer. Later the Superintendent

of Schools replaced the District Engineer on the provincial board. The Governor was the only one elected. He was, however, not chosen by the voters who elected the municipal officers. He was elected by the councillors of the organized municipalities assembled in a convention.

A further step towards provincial self-government was made in 1907, with the direct election of governors and third members by the qualified voters of the province. This gave the Filipinos a majority in the board, the treasurers at that time—who were the appointed members of the board being mostly Americans. Another step was later taken with the substitution of a municipal President for the provincial Treasurer as a member of the provincial board.

The last step toward provincial autonomy was the election of the entire membership of the provincial board, the Governor and the two members, by the qualified voters of the province.

72. Participation in the Central Government. The beginning of Filipino participation in the Insular Government may be traced to the appointment of Filipino judges in 1901, including the Chief Justice and two Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, and of three Filipino members of the Commission. Cayetano S. Arellano was named Chief Justice, and Florentino Torres and Victorino Mapa, Associate Justices. The members of the Commission appointed were Dr. T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Benito Legarda, and José Luzurriaga. In 1908 Rafael Palma was added to the Commission.

The first Filipino to be named as head of an executive department was Gregorio Araneta. In 1908 he was appointed Secretary of Finance and Justice.

73. Increase of Filipino Employees in the Civil Service. The first civil service law passed in 1900 provided that in selecting officers and employees for the Philippine Government, the appointing officers should prefer, other qualifi

cations being equal, first, citizens of the Philippine Islands, and, second, all honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines of the United States. This is still the law.

In pursuance of this policy, there has been an increasing number of Filipino employees in the Government, and a consequent decrease of American employees. In 1903, the number of Americans in the service above the grade of laborer was about equal to the number of Filipinos 2777 Americans and 2697 Filipinos. In 1919 there were 760 Americans (a majority of whom were teachers and other professional men) and 12,047 Filipinos.

74. Creation of the Philippine Assembly. In 1901, Governor Taft was called to Washington to advise the Administration and Congress as to a legislative measure for the Philippines. He appeared before the Insular Committee of the House of Representatives, and the Philippine Committee of the Senate, to tell them of conditions in the Philippines. He was in favor of giving the Filipinos an elective lower House and two delegates in Congress. "We think that the Filipino people," he said, "would accept this provision as the most indubitable evidence of the desire of the United States that self-government should be given to the people in as large a measure as they are capable of carrying it on." He told the Senate committee that the lower House would give the Filipino people "an opportunity to meet to express their views, to take part in legislation, to propose and enact laws which they deem useful in the country. It will give them a part in the government, and will by practice teach them what self-government is."

The Act which passed Congress on July 1, 1902, is known as the Philippine Bill. It approved and ratified the previous action of the President in the government of the Philippines. It further provided for the creation of a Philippine Assembly.