Report of the Special Mission on Investigation to the Philippine Islands to the Secretary of War |
Common terms and phrases
administration of justice Ameri American control appointed archipelago Bilibid Borneo bureau capita cent Chinese civil colony condition construction countries court of land currency customs defects departments desire Deterioration duty effective efficiency effort election enrollment ernment established expenditures exported funds Governor important increase independence inefficient influence instruction Japan Japanese Jones bill lack large numbers legislation legislature LEONARD WOOD lepers loss Luzon maintenance ment military Mohammedan Moro Mountain Province municipal jails National Bank non-Christians officers organized Palawan Penal Colony period personnel Philippine Assembly Philippine Commission Philippine Government Philippine Islands Philippine National Bank Philippine Senate pine Islands political present President Prison progress Provinces provisions public opinion Public order public schools receipts representative result revenues SECRETARY OF WAR secure Spain Spanish SPECIAL MISSION square miles standard Sumatra supervision taxation teachers throughout the islands tion to-day United
Popular passages
Page 7 - Allow me to call your attention to the fact that the people of the Philippine Islands have succeeded in maintaining a stable Government since the last action of the Congress in their behalf, and have thus fulfilled the condition set by the Congress as precedent to a consideration of granting independence to the Islands.
Page 7 - I respectfully submit that this condition precedent having been fulfilled, it is now our liberty and our duty to keep our promise to the people of those Islands by granting them the independence which they so honorably covet.
Page 8 - In all the^ forms of government and administrative provisions which they are authorized to prescribe the Commission should bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands, and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their habits, and even their prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with...
Page 15 - The Philippines are ours, not to exploit, but to develop, to civilize, to educate, to train in the science of self-government. This is the path of duty which we must follow or be recreant to a mighty trust committed to us.
Page 45 - We find that the people are not organized economically nor from the standpoint of national defense to maintain an independent government. We find that the legislative chambers are conducted with dignity and decorum and are composed of representative men. We feel that the lack of success in certain departments should not be considered as proof of essential incapacity on the part of Filipinos, but rather as indicating lack of experience and opportunity, and especially lack of inspection. We find that...
Page 45 - Amecan rule. We find everywhere among the Christian Filipinos the desire for independence, generally under the protection of the United States. The non-Christians and Americans are for continuance of American control. We find a general failure to appreciate the fact that independence under the protection of another nation is not true independence. We find that the Government is not reasonably free from those underlying causes which result in the destruction of government.
Page 10 - The pleasing of the Filipinos of this generation would be a minor satisfaction if it were believed that it would result in the bondage or destruction of the Filipino people for all time hereafter. Whether the result of your investigation may or may not be to the satisfaction of the majority of the Filipino people at this time, I am convinced that, undertaken in the spirit in which it is...
Page 27 - It has a population of about 1 ,200 colonists and has proved to be a most successful institution, far advanced in reformatory methods and results, the number of convicts returned to prison after release from the colony being extremely small.
Page 20 - ... government in the East, and in our endeavor to establish it, complete in all its details, we have in many instances, by the rapidity of our procedure, overtaxed the ability of the people to absorb, digest, and make efficient practical use of what it has taken other nations generations to absorb and apply, and in our critical impatience we forget the centuries of struggle through which our own race passed before it attained well-balanced government. PRESENT CONDITIONS.
Page 42 - The Government has entered into certain lines of business usually left to private initiative. Among these can be cited the national bank with disastrous results, the purchase of the Manila Railroad Co., now operated at a loss, also the National Development and National Coal Co's., etc. At the request of the mission a thorough examination of the Manila Railroad Co. was made by competent army engineers whose report is among the exhibits. In our judgment the Government should as far as possible get...