The end of the republic was brought about by the Filipino-American war, which lasted for three years. It was, naturally, a one-sided struggle, but it was a struggle which showed the firmness and the desire of the Filipino people for an independent existence. They wanted an independent republic. Had the Filipino people received assurances that America would ultimately free them, the war would have been avoided.

INDEPENDENCE ASPIRATIONS.

Defeated, the Filipino people laid down their arms determined that what they had failed to gain in war they would secure through the justice, magnanimity, and square dealing of the American people. They then began their campaign for independence with peaceful means. They accepted American government, anxious to prove to the American people not only their political capacity but their untiring desire to be free. At first the independence movement was not an organized one, because in the early years of American occupation a law had been passed by the Philippine Commission which practically prohibited all agitation for independence. The only political party which could very well exist under these conditions was the Federal Party, which advocated statehood and permanent annexation to the United States. This party, however, soon saw the unpopularity of its stand, for it could not find supporters either in the Philippines or in the United States, and so as soon as conditions permitted the advocacy of separation it left out the statehood plan and advocated independence after a period of preparation. In the meanwhile a strong independence party had been formed called the Nacionalista Party, and at the first national election to the Philippine Assembly in 1907 this party won popular favor.

If there was any doubt as to the attitude of the Filipino people on independence this was dispelled by the action of the Philippine Assembly, the first national representative body to be convoked following American occupation. At the end of the first session this representative body unanimously ratified the closing address of Speaker Osmeña on the question of independence. The speaker, in part, had said:

Permit me, gentlemen of the chamber, to declare solemnly before God and before the world, upon my conscience as a deputy and representative of my compatriots, and under my responsibility as president of this chamber, that we believe the people desire independence, and that we believe ourselves capable of leading an orderly existence, efficient both in internal and external affairs, as a member of the free and civilized nations.

By virtue of the Philippine bill passed by Congress in 1902 the Philippine Assembly was allowed to send a representative to Washington to voice the aspirations of the Filipino people. In 1907 the Hon. Pablo Ocampo was sent to Washington as Resident Commissioner, who, in pursuance of the mandate of the assembly, advocated the independence of the Philippines. His successors, especially the Hon. Manuel L. Quezon, who was Resident Commissioner from 1909 to 1916, continued with vigor the campaign for independence in the United States.

EARLY AMERICAN POLICY TOWARD THE PHILIPPINES.

America, on the other hand, soon announced a policy of attraction. She adopted the policy of extending step by step the governmental powers to the Filipino people. President McKinley, the man most responsible for the acquisition of the Philippines, said in the very beginning of American occupation:

The Philippines are ours, not to exploit but to develop, to civilize, to educate, to train in the science of self-government.

In his instructions to the first Philippine Commission on the 20th of January, 1899, he expressed the hope that the commissioners would be received as bearers of "the richest blessings of a liberating rather than a conquering nation." Doctor Schurman, president of the first Philippine Commission, construed the American policy to mean— Ever increasing liberty and self-government * continuously expanding liberty to issue in independence. President Taft, while civil governor of the Philippine Islands, on the 17th of December, 1903, said:

* *

and it is the nature of such

From the beginning to the end of the state papers which were circulated in these islands as authoritative expressions of the Executive the motto that "the Philippines are for the Filipino and that the Government of the United States is here for the purpose of preserving the Philippines for the Filipinos," for their benefit, for their elevation, for their civilization, again and again appear

* * *

Whether an autonomy or independence or quasi independence shall ultimately follow in these islands ought to depend solely on the question: Is it best for the Filipino people and their welfare?

When Mr. Taft was Secretary of War in April, 1904, in the course of a speech upon the Philippines he said:

When they the Filipinos-have learned the principles of successful popular selfgovernment from a gradually enlarged experience therein we can discuss the question whether independence is what they desire and grant it or whether they prefer the retention of a closer association with the country which, by its guidance, has unselfishly led them on to better conditions.

In 1908, after the Philippine Assembly had been opened, President Roosevelt, in his message to Congress, said:

I trust that within a generation the time will arrive when the Filipinos can decide for themselves whether it is well for them to become independent or to continue under the protection of a strong and disinterested power, able to guarantee to the islands order at home and protection from foreign invasion.

President Wilson, in a message to the Filipino people delivered by Governor Harrison in Manila October 6, 1913, said:

We regard ourselves as trustees acting not for the advantage of the United States, but for the benefit of the people of the Philippine Islands. Every step we take will be taken with a view to the ultimate independence of the islands and as a preparation for that independence.

And in his message to Congress on December 2, 1913, the President said:

By their counsel and experience rather than by our own we shall learn how best to serve them and how soon it will be possible and wise to withdraw our supervision.

THE JONES LAW AND ITS PROMISE.

In 1911 the Democratic Party, which had advocated independence, secured control of the American House of Representatives, and the following year the chairman of the Committee on Insular

Affairs, Congressmen William Atkinson Jones, reported a bill providing for a qualified independence within eight years and for complete independence in 1921. In 1914 a bill was passed by the House of Representatives providing for independence as soon as a stable government could be established in the islands. The bill, however, was crowded out of the calendar in the Senate and failed to be passed. The independence movement was constantly gaining ground, and two years afterwards, in February, 1916, when Congress again took up the Philippine question, the Senate passed the so-called Clarke amendment, which would grant the Philippines independence within four years, although the time might be extended upon the advice of the President to Congress. It was contended in the House of Representatives, however, that it would be unwise to set a definite date for independence, for nobody knew what the situation would be at the time. What the House did was simply to repass the Jones bill it had passed in 1914. The Senate receded from its position and passed the House bill, which thus became the formal pledge of the American people to the Filipino people.

The title of the Jones law is "An act to declare the purpose of the people of the United States as to the future political status of the people of the Philippine Islands, and to provide a more autonomous government for those islands." The declaration of purpose is contained in the following preamble:

Whereas it was never the intention of the people of the United States in the incipiency of the War with Spain to make it a war of conquest or for territorial aggrandizement; and

Whereas it is, as it has always been, the purpose of the people of the United States to withdraw their sovereignty over the Philippine Islands and to recognize their independence as soon as a stable government can be established therein; and

Whereas, for the speedy accomplishment of such purpose, it is desirable to place in the hands of the people of the Philippines as large a control of their domestic affairs as can be given them without in the meantime impairing the exercise of the rights of sovereignty by the people of the United States in order that by the use and exercise of popular franchise and governmental powers they may be the better prepare to fully assume the responsibilities and enjoy all the privileges of complete independence: Therefore

* *

The Jones law was received by the Filipino people as the real pledge of the American people, for the other statements of American Presidents were mere executive opinion not necessarily binding on the United States.

The Jones law has become a virtual constitutional compact between the American and Filipino peoples, by means of which the Filipinos have accepted a temporary government under American sovereignty, subject to the conditions: First, that it shall be autonomous, or chiefly in the hands of Filipinos; second, that American sovereignty shall not now be impaired; and, third, that it shall be only preparatory to a complete independence, such independence to be granted "when a stable government can be established in the islands." It is, to quote the words of its author, the late Congressman Jones, "the everlasting covenant of a great and generous people, speaking through their accredited representatives, that they (the Filipinos) shall in due time enjoy the incomparable blessings of liberty and freedom."

FILIPINO COOPERATION DURING THE WAR.

After the passage of the Jones law the Filipino people began the establishment of the stable government demanded by Congress

as prerequisite to the granting of independence. Shortly afterwards the United States entered the war and immediately all agitation for independence ceased. It was deemed that an independence campaign during the war might embarrass the United States.

The Filipinos responded to the confidence reposed in them by the Government of the United States by themselves offering the service of 25,000 men. The Filipino people contributed a submarine and a destroyer to the fleet of the United States, and 6,000 of their men served in the United States Navy as volunteers. Four thousand Filipinos in Hawaii, who could have claimed exemption from the draft under the citizenship clause of the draft law, insisted on being enrolled under the Stars and Stripes. With the limited resources of the Philippines, poor as the Filipino people are, compared with the United States, with the aid of American residents in the islands, they gave half a million dollars to Red Cross funds and subscribed nearly $20,000,000 for Liberty bonds. The Philippine allotment to the third Liberty loan was only $3,000,000, but $4,625,000 was subscribed. The allotment to the Fourth Liberty loan was $6,000,000, but $12,123,000 was subscribed. "No other American territory, said Governor General Harrison, "has been more loyal to the United States than the Philippines.'

Upon the ending of hostilities in Europe the final adjustment of the Philippine independence question became the topic of political discussion in the Philippines. It was thought that the time had come, now that the United States had ended its war with Germany to take up the Philippine question for its final definite solution.

THE DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.

On March 17, 1919, the Philippine Legislature passed the "Declaration of purposes, " which officially stated the attitude of the Filipino people on this vital problem. It was the authoritative voice of the Filipino people addressing the United States and the world.

What the Filipino people said in this declaration of purposes was, briefly, that the time had come for the final and definite adjustment of the independence question. They reiterated their firm belief in the good faith of the American people in extending the blessings of self-government and holding out generous promises of independence. They referred to the Jones law as a veritable pact or covenant entered into between the American and Filipino peoples whereby the United States promised to recognize the independence of the Philippines as soon as a stable government should be established in the Philippines. They then solemnly stated that they had already performed their part of the covenant with America, that there is now a stable government in the Philippines satisfying the conditions of stability required by the United States of other countries, and that therefore it was now for the American people to perform their part of the covenant. The declaration of purposes read:

The Philippine question has reached such a stage that a full and final exchange of views between the United States of America and the Philippine Islands has become necessary. We need not repeat the declarations respecting the national aspirations of the Filipino people. Such declarations have been made from time to time in the most frank and solemn manner by the constitutional representatives of the Philippine nation and are a matter of permanent record in public documents covering more

than a decade of persistent efforts, particularly during the last three years. America, on her part, has been sufficiently explicit in her purposes from the beginning of her occupation of the Philippines.

*

*
*

In applying the principles enunciated in documents and utterances on the Philippines to the conditions now existing in the islands, the Independence Commission will find the following facts:

That there exists at present in the Philippine Islands the conditions of order and government which America has for nearly a century and a half required in all cases in which she has recognized the independence of a country or the establishment of a new government, not even excepting the case of General Huerta's government in Mexico, which she refused to recognize because it was stained with blood and founded on intrigue, violence, and crime.

That there exist likewise in the Philippines all the conditions of stability and guaranties for law and order that Cuba had to establish to the satisfaction of America in order to obtain her independence, or to preserve it, during the military occupation of 1898-1903 and during the intervention of 1906-1909, respectively.

That the "preparation for independence" and the "stable government" required by President Wilson and the Congress of the United States, respectively, contain no new requisite not included in any of the cases above cited.

That these prerequisites for Philippine independence are the same as those virtually or expressly established by the Republican administrations that preceded President Wilson's administration.

Therefore, so far as it is humanly possible to judge and say, we can see only one aim for the Independence Commission, independence; and we can give only one instruction, to get it. Thus America, in adding another glory to her banner by establishing the first really democratic republic in the east, will apply a second time, generously and freely, the same measure of humanity and justice that she applied in the case of Cuba.

The representative of the American Government in the Philippines who supervised the establishment of the Government under the Jones law, Governor General Harrison, has concurred in the claim of the Philippine Legislature as to a stable government. He reported to Congress through the joint committees which heard the Philippine mission that there was already in the Philippine Islands the stable Government demanded by Congress, namely, "a government elected by the suffrages of the people, which is supported by the people, which is capable of maintaining order and of fulfilling its international obligations."

President Wilson in his farewell message to Congress officially certified that the Filipino people have already performed the condition imposed upon them as a prerequisite to independence and recommended the immediate granting of independence.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE JONES LAW.

The coming of the Republican Party does not alter the constitutional position of the Filipino people. The Republican Party is just as much responsible for the present independence policy as the Democratic Party.

While the Jones law was passed during a Democratic administration, the fundamental policy it sets forth the establishment of a stable government as a prerequisite to independence is eminently a national policy. It was the condition imposed by American Presidents upon the struggling peoples of South America. It was the policy of Presidents Grant and McKinley. It was President Grant who as early as 1875 expressed the idea that as soon as the Cuban people had set up a stable government their independence would be recognized. This policy was supported by President McKinley. When he urged Congress to declare war on Spain to liberate Cuba he definitely stated that as soon as the Cuban people