The conditions precedent to the establishment of the Assembly were: (1) General and complete peace established to the satisfaction of the President upon a certificate by the Governor-General; (2) the taking and publication of a census; and (3) the lapse of two years after such publication, during which the condition of general and complete peace had continued. The President of the United States was left free to decide if there was peace and if the calling of the Assembly was justified.

75. Organization of the Assembly. - The Philippine Assembly was to consist of not less than fifty and not more than one hundred members, to be apportioned by the Commission, among the provinces, according to population. The qualifications of voters at the election were to be the same as those which had already been provided by law for the election of municipal officers. Any voter twenty-five years of age, and a resident of the district, and owing allegiance to the United States, could be a member of the Assembly.

After the Assembly had been organized, all the legislative power hitherto conferred on the Commission in those parts of the Islands not inhabited by Moros and other non-Christian tribes was to be vested in both the Philippine Commission and the Philippine Assembly. The Commission was to remain the sole legislative power in those parts of the Philippines inhabited by Moros and non-Christian tribes. These two bodies were to constitute the Philippine Legislature.

The usual powers given to a branch of the legislature was accorded the Assembly. It was made the judge of the election and qualifications of its members. It could choose its Speaker and other officers, but their salaries had to be fixed by law.

The election to the Assembly was held on July 30, 1907.. Over one hundred thousand votes were cast. Delegates

were elected from the eighty districts into which the Christian provinces were divided.

The Assembly convened on October 16, 1907, at the Grand Opera House, Manila. The then Secretary of War, William H. Taft, formerly Governor-General of the Philippines, and later President of the United States, made a special journey to the Philippines to attend the opening of the Assembly and delivered the inaugural address. Oaths were administered to the members, Representative Sergio Osmeña was elected Speaker, and the rules of the fifty-seventh Congress of the United States were adopted. Thus was the first Philippine legislative body born.

The Philippine Assembly was the only representative organ that the people had, hence it became the exponent of their ideals and aspirations. While in reality and legally speaking the Filipino members of the Commission had a higher rank than the members of the Philippine Assembly, the elective nature of the latter made it the spokesman of the Filipino people, and frequently the Governor-General found it advisable to consult the leaders of the Assembly.

76. Growth of the Speaker's Power. While there were Filipino officials in the appointive Commission, the organization of the Philippines saw the growth in importance of the Speaker of the lower House. Legally he was only the presiding officer of the Assembly, but the very fact that he was elected by the entire body made him the most representative Filipino in the government. He became at one and the same time the representative of his district and of the entire body which elected him, and hence, indirectly, of the Filipino people.

The growth of the Speaker's power was also enhanced by the statement made by Secretary Taft that the Speaker was to be considered the second personage of the Philippine

government, outranked by only the Governor-General. With the subsequent Legislature the power of the Speaker became greater and greater, as the nature of the government in the Philippines became more popular. When a GovernorGeneral wanted to make his administration conform more to the wishes of the people, the natural thing to do was to consult the Speaker.

Even after the appointment in 1913 of a majority of Filipinos on the Philippine Commission, the prerogatives and privileges of the Speaker were not lessened. His advice was still sought for, and he remained the leader of the Filipino element in the government. The fact that the actual Speaker was also the leader of the party in power had possibly helped in making him an important figure in the government. Because of this influence and prestige his power as a presiding officer was also considerably enhanced.

77. Appointment of Majority of Filipinos in the Commission. While almost from the very beginning, as we have seen, Filipinos were appointed members of the upper House, or Philippine Commission, it was not until 1913 that President Wilson gave five out of the nine seats of this body to citizens of the Philippines. This step meant the assumption of control by the Filipinos of the two Houses of the Legis-、 lature.

In explaining his action to Congress, President Wilson said: "I believe that in this way we shall make proof of their capacity in counsel and their sense of responsibility in the exercise of political power, and that the success of this step will be sure to clear our view for the steps which are to follow. Step by step we should extend and perfect the system of self-government in the Islands, making test of them and modifying them as experience discloses their successes and their failures; so that we should more and more

put under the control of the native citizens of the Archipelago the essential instruments of their life, their local instrumentalities of government, their schools, all the common interests of their communities, and so by counsel and experience set

up a government which all the world will see to be suitable to a people whose affairs are under their own control. At last, I hope and believe, we are beginning to gain the confidence of the Filipino people. By their counsel and experience,