the provisions of your own Constitution and the laws of your owr National Assembly. Thus your local affairs pass to your own control, and you have the full responsibility of citizens of the Philippines, upon whose shoulders rests the mantle of government.

I may be pardoned an expression of pride and pleasure in the privilege of witnessing an event resulting from the cooperative efforts of two peoples situated on opposite sides of the globe, but laboring together to establish ultimately a new member of the family of independent nations. There is something unique and inspiring in the spectacle of two peoples voluntarily agreeing to dissolve the bands which unite them, and to go their separate ways; and yet that is the event to which we now eagerly look forward as the final consummation of the program for Philippine independence.

It is a source of satisfaction to the American people to know that the fiscal affairs of your government are at this time, perhaps, at the best level in its history. Your finances are in excellent condition. Income for the past year exceeded expenditures. There is but a small public debt. Your governmental structure is supported by a prosperous and increasing commerce and by a thriving industry, backed by agricultural, mineral, and forest resources adequate for the maintenance of a high standard of living for all the people.

During my present visit I have been astonished by the fertility of your soil, the diversity and abundance of your crops, the wealth of your mines, the vastness of your forests, the excellence of your harbors, and, greater than all of these, the industry and virtue of your people. With such resources, and with good government, you should succeed.

With the present change in your government, the office of Governor General is abolished. This exalted office has been filled by a long line of distinguished Americans, beginning with that illustrious statesman, William H. Taft, and ending with the able, efficient, and warm-hearted man who has served you during the past two and onehalf years, the Honorable Frank Murphy. In the discharge of his duties, Governor General Murphy has made a record of which his fellow-citizens at home are justly proud, and I know that you people of the Philippines honor and love him. I have no doubt that it is a great satisfaction to you that he now becomes the first United States High Commissioner to the Philippines, and as such he will be the representative of American sovereignty and authority in your country.

While the American record in the Philippines is not ended, it is drawing to a close. As Secretary Root on one occasion said:

The country which exercises control over a colony is always itself on trial in the public opinion of mankind.

We hope, of course, that the world will say of us that our work here has been well done. But especially, we hope that you, the people of these Islands, may continue to look with grateful appreciation upon the day that set this beautiful land under the sovereignty of the United States, and to feel that our sojourn here has been a benediction to you. And I hope, too, that the people of the United States may forever feel a just pride and satisfaction in the monument thus built in your hearts. We shall continue to be united by the bands of comradeship and mutual good will.

I trust that the people of the United States will not forget to be grateful to the men and women who have reflected credit upon their native land by giving their talents, their energies, and their years to the service of their country and yours in this far-away territory.

I should be most unfair, people of the Philippines, if I did not point out that the main credit for the rapid evolution of your popular government is due to yourselves. You have been tried and not found wanting. You have had a passion for independence for many years, and with each new opportunity you have, in the most convincing manner, demonstrated your capacity to perform the varied and intricate tasks of government. In legislation you have shown vision, wisdom, fairness, and restraint, with a statesmanlike grasp of your problems. In administration, the Governor General gives unstinted praise to his Filipino associates for their ability and integrity. In drafting your Constitution you have shown a profound understanding of the fundamental principles of democracy, and you have produced a document remarkable for its impartial provisions in behalf of all the people. In the judiciary I wish to pay tribute to those distinguished Filipino jurists who, in cooperation with their American colleagues, have made your Supreme Court an everlasting credit to both the American and the Filipino people.

As Americans, therefore, we do not boast of what we have done here. Rather, we are gratified at having been given the rare privilege of cooperating with you in establishing a new democratic member of the family of nations in the western Pacific.

Mr. President, as generally affecting the affairs of the Filipino people, I feel that you have an exceptional opportunity to carry out the next steps of this vital program. The responsibility for the happiness and well-being of this people is entrusted to the new Government under your leadership. President Roosevelt has faith in your devotion to democratic principles and in your ability and that of your colleagues to carry the program through in a manner well calculated to serve the interests of your people. I most cordially wish you every success in the administration of your high office.

And so, citizens of the Philippines, I congratulate you with all my heart upon the consummation of your desires. May your selfrule always be characterized by that enlightened justice which alone can make you a great nation. And may you always have reason to feel that the United States is interested in your welfare and is your true friend.

Following the reading by Governor-General Murphy of the President's proclamation announcing the election of officers (for text, see p. 65), oaths of office were administered by the chief justice of the Philippine Supreme Court to the president-elect, the vice-presidentelect and the members-elect of the national assembly, who are listed in the proclamation.

THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICAA PROCLAMATION

By direction of the President of the United States of America, I, GEORGE H. DERN, Secretary of War of the United States of America, do hereby promulgate the proclamation of the President of the United States of America announcing the results of the election held in the Philippines on September 17, 1935, for the purpose of electing officers of the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines; and I do hereby announce that the heretofore existing government of the Philippines is now terminated, and that the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, in entering upon its rights, privileges, powers, and duties as provided under the constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the laws of the United States of America, is the successor to the heretofore existing Philippine government and to all the rights and obligations thereof.

DONE at the city of Manila at 8:58 o'clock a. m. on the fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five.

(Sgd.) GEORGE H. DERN.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF HIS EXCELLENCY MANUEL L. QUEZON, PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

(Delivered Nov. 15, 1935, at the Legislative Building, Manila, P. I.)

FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN:

In the exercise of your constitutional prerogative you have elected me to the presidency of the Commonwealth. I am profoundly grateful for this new expression of your confidence, and God helping me I shall not fail you.

The event which is now taking place in our midst transcends in importance the mere induction into office of your Chief Executive. We are bringing into being a new nation. We are inaugurating its government. We are seeing the fruition of our age-old striving for liberty. We are witnessing the final stage in the fulfillment of the noblest undertaking ever attempted by any nation in its dealing with a subject people. And how well this task has been performed is attested to by the blessings which from 14 million people go to America in this solemn hour. President McKinley's cherished hope has been fulfilled-the Filipinos look back with gratitude to the day when destiny placed their land under the beneficient guidance of the people of the United States.

It is fitting that high dignitaries of the American Government should attend these ceremonies. We are thankful to them for their presence here. The President of the United States, His Excellency, Franklin D. Roosevelt, ever solicitous of our freedom and welfare, has sent to us, as his personal representative, the Secretary of War, Hon. George H. Dern, whose friendship for our people has proven most valuable in the past. Vice President Garner, Speaker Byrns,

distinguished members of the Senate with their floor leader, Senator Robinson, and no less distinguished Members of the House of Representatives have traveled 10,000 miles to witness this historic event. I feel that by their presence the whole American Nation is here today to rejoice with us in the fulfillment of America's pledge generously given that the Filipino people is to become free and independent. It is my hope that the ties of friendship and affection which bind the Philippines to America will remain unbroken and grow stronger after the severance of our political relations with her. In behalf of the Filipino people, I express deep appreciation to Hon. Frank Murphy, our last Governor-General, for his just and efficient administration and for the valuable assistance he has rendered us in the difficult task of laying the constitutional foundations of our new government.

As we enter upon the threshold of independent nationhood, let us pause for a moment to pay tribute to the memory of Rizal and Bonifacio, and all the heroes of our sacred cause, in deep acknowledgment of their patriotic devotion and supreme sacrifice.

Fellow countrymen: The government which we are inaugurating today is only a means to an end. It is an instrumentality placed in our hands to prepare ourselves fully for the responsibilities of complete independence. It is essential that this last step be taken with full consciousness of its significance and the great opportunities that it affords to us.

Under the Commonwealth, our life may not be one of ease and comfort, but rather of hardship and sacrifice. We shall face the problems which lie in our path, sparing neither time nor effort in solving them. We shall build a government that will be just, honest, efficient, and strong, so that the foundations of the coming Republic may be firm and enduring a government, indeed, that must satisfy not only the passing needs of the hour but also the exacting demands of the future. We do not have to tear down the existing institutions in order to give way to a statelier structure. There will be no violent changes from the established order of things, except such as may be absolutely necessary to carry into effect the innovation contemplated by the Constitution. A new edifice shall arise, not out of the ashes of the past, but out of the standing materials of the living present.

Reverence for law as the expression of the popular will is the starting point in a democracy. The maintenance of peace and public_order is the joint obligation of the government and the citizen. I have an abiding faith in the good sense of the people and in their respect for law and the constituted authority. Widespread public disorder and lawlessness may cause the downfall of constitutional government and lead to American intervention. Even after independence, if we should prove ourselves incapable of protecting life, liberty, and property of nationals and foreigners, we shall be exposed to the danger of intervention by foreign powers. No one need have any misgivings as to the attitude of the Government toward lawless individuals or subversive movements. They shall be dealt with firmly. Sufficient armed forces will be maintained at all times to quell and suppress any rebellion against the authority of this Government or the sovereignty of the United States.

There can be no progress except under the auspices of peace. Without peace and public order it will be impossible to promote education, improve the condition of the masses, protect the poor and ignorant against exploitation, and otherwise insure the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. I appeal, therefore, to every Filipino to give the Government his loyal support so that tranquility may reign supreme in our beloved land.

Our Constitution establishes an independent judiciary by providing for security of tenure and compensation of our judges. But independence is not the only objective of a good judiciary. Equally, if not more important, is its integrity which will depend upon the judicious selection of its members. The administration of justice cannot be expected to rise higher than the moral and intellectual standards of the men who dispense it. To bulwark the fortification of an orderly and just government, it shall be my task to appoint to the bench only men of proven honesty, character, learning, and ability, so that everyone may feel when he appears before the courts of justice that he will be protected in his rights, and that no man in this country from the Chief Executive to the last citizen is above the law.

We are living today amidst the storm and stress of one of the most tragic epochs of history. Acute unemployment and economic distress threaten the stability of governments the world over. The very foundations of civilized society are shaken. The common man alone can save humanity from disaster. It is our duty to prove to him that under a republican system of government he can have every opportunity to attain his happiness and that of his family. Protection to labor, especially to working women and minors, just regulation of the relations between labor and capital in industry and agriculture, solicitous regard on the part of the government for the well-being of the masses, are the means to bring about the needed economic and social equilibrium between the component elements of society.

A government draws the breath of life from its finances, and it must balance its income and expenditures as any other going business concern if it expects to survive. It is my duty, then, to see that the Government of the Commonwealth live within its means and that it stand four-square on a well-balanced budget.

The larger expenditures which the grave responsibilities ahead of us will entail, including national defense, must be borne by taxation. So long as we are able to meet those responsibilities from our present income we shall not impose new taxes. But we are among the least taxed people in the world and, therefore, when necessity arises, we should be willing to accept the burden of increased taxation. Liberty and independence can be possessed only by those who are ready to pay the price in life or fortune.

To enable us more adequately to meet the new responsibilities of the Commonwealth and to raise the living conditions of our people, we must increase the wealth of the nation by giving greater impetus to economic development, improving our methods of agriculture, diversifying our crops, creating new industries, and fostering our domestic and foreign commerce. I trust that the forthcoming trade conference between representatives of the United States and the Philippines will result in a more just and beneficial commercial relation between the two countries.