Chapter LXXVI: Section IV (3)

"No attempt was … made to occupy the country, except in the
vicinity of Manila, and at such points as were important for
the protection of our lines. Such movements as passed beyond
this territory were designed primarily to break up threatening
concentrations of insurgent troops, and to prevent undue
annoyance to the positions which we occupied. On the 11th of
February the city of Iloilo, on the island of Panay, the
second port of the Philippines in importance, was occupied.
After the capture of Iloilo the navy took possession of the
city of Cebu, on the island of Cebu, and on the 26th of
February a battalion of the 23d Infantry was dispatched to
that port for the protection of the inhabitants and property.
On the 1st of March a military district comprising the islands
of Panay, Negros, and Cebu, and such other Visayan islands as
might be thereafter designated, to be known as the 'Visayan
Military District,' was established and placed under the
supervision of Brigadier General Marcus P. Miller, commanding
1st Separate Brigade, Eighth Army Corps, with headquarters at
Iloilo. The 3d Battalion of the 1st California Volunteer
Infantry was thereupon ordered to the island of Negros, under
the command of Colonel (now Brigadier General) James F. Smith,
and took possession of the city of Bacolod, on that island,
without resistance. On the 5th of May Brigadier General James
F. Smith assumed temporary command of the Visayan military
district, and on the 25th of May Brigadier General R. P.
Hughes, United States Volunteers, was assigned to the command
of the district. On the 19th of May the Spanish garrison at
Jolo, in the Sulu Archipelago, was replaced by American
troops. By the 31st of August the number of troops stationed
at Jolo and the Visayan Islands, including a small guard at
the Cavite Arsenal, amounted to 4,145. …

"All of the forces who were entitled to be discharged as above
mentioned have now [November. 29, 1899] been returned to this
country and mustered out. The new troops designed to take the
place of those returning to this country, and to constitute an
effective army for the occupation of the Philippines, have
been transported to Manila. … The troops now in the
Philippines comprise 905 officers and 30,578 men of the
regular force, and 594 officers and 15,388 men of the
volunteer force, making an aggregate of 1,499 officers and
45,966 men, and when the troops on the way have arrived the
total force constituting the Eighth Army Corps will be 2,051
officers and 63,483 men.

"By the 10th of October the process of changing armies and the
approach of the dry season had reached a point where an
advance toward the general occupation of the country was
justified. At that time the American lines extended from the
Bay of Manila to Laguna de Bay, and included considerable
parts of the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, and Morong to the
south and east of Manila, substantially all of the province of
Manila and the southern parts of Bulacan and Pampanga,
dividing the insurgent forces into two widely separated parts.
To the south and east of our lines in Cavite and Morong were
numerous bands occasionally concentrating for attack on our
lines, and as frequently dispersed and driven back toward the
mountains. On the 8th or October, the insurgents in this
region having again gathered and attacked our lines of
communication, General Schwan with a column of 1,726 men
commenced a movement from Bacoor, in the province of Cavite,
driving the enemy through Old Cavite, Noveleta, Santa Cruz,
San Francisco de Malabon, Saban, and Perez das Marinas,
punishing them severely, scattering them and destroying them
as organized forces, and returning on the 13th to Bacoor. On
the north of our lines stretched the great plain of central
Luzon extending north from Manila about 120 miles. This plain
comprises parts of the provinces of Manila, Pampanga, Bulacan,
Tarlac, Nueva, Ecija, and Pangasinan. It is, roughly speaking,
bounded on the south by the Bay of Manila: on the east and
west by high mountain ranges separating it from the seacoasts,
and on the north by mountains and the Gulf of Lingayen.
Through the northeast and central portion flows the Rio Grande
from the northern mountains southwesterly to the Bay of Manila,
and near the western edge runs the only railroad on the island
of Luzon, in a general southeasterly direction from Dagupan,
on the Bay of Lingayen, to Manila. In this territory Aguinaldo
exercised a military dictatorship, and with a so-called
cabinet imitated the forms of civil government, having his
headquarters at Tarlac, which he called his capital, and which
is situated near the center of the western boundary of the
plain.

"The operations commenced in October involved the movement of
three separate forces:

(1) A column proceeding up the Rio Grande and along the
northeastern borders of the plain and bending around to the
westward across the northern boundary toward the Gulf of
Lingayen, garrisoning the towns and occupying the mountain
passes which gave exit into the northeastern division of the
island.

(2) An expedition proceeding by transports to the Gulf of
Lingayen, there to land at the northwestern corner of the
plain and occupy the great coast road which from that point
runs between the mountains and the sea to the northern
extremity of the island, and to proceed eastward to a junction
with the first column.

(3) A third column proceeding directly up the railroad to the
capture of Tarlac, and thence still up the road to Dagupan,
driving the insurgent forces before it toward the line held by
the first two columns.

These movements were executed with energy, rapidity, and
success, notwithstanding the exceedingly unfavorable weather
and deluges of rain, which rendered the progress of troops and
transportation of subsistence most difficult. On the 12th of
October a strong column under General Lawton, with General
Young commanding the advance, commenced the northerly movement
up the Rio Grande from Arayat, driving the insurgents before
it to the northward and westward. On the 18th the advance
reached Cabiao. On the 19th San Isidro was captured, and a
garrison established; on the 27th Cabanatuan was occupied, and
a permanent station established there. On the 1st of November
Aliaga and Talavera were occupied. In the meantime
detachments, chiefly of Young's cavalry, were operating to the
west of the general line of advance, striking insurgent
parties wherever they were found and driving them toward the
line of the railroad. By the 13th of November the advance had
turned to the westward, and our troops had captured San Jose,
Lupao, Humingan, San Quintin, Tayug, and San Nicolas. By the
18th of November the advance had occupied Asingan and Rosales,
and was moving on Pozorrubio, a strongly intrenched post about 12
miles east of San Fabian. General Lawton's forces now held a
line of posts extending up the eastern side of the plain and
curving around and across the northern end to within a few
miles of the Gulf of Lingayen.

{382}

"On the 6th of November a force of 2,500, under command of
General Wheaton, sailed from Manila for the Gulf of Lingayen,
convoyed by ships of the Navy, and on the 7th the expedition
was successfully landed at San Fabian with effective
assistance from a naval convoy against spirited opposition. On
the 12th the 33d Volunteers, of Wheaton's command, under
Colonel Hare, proceeded southeastward to San Jacinto, attacked
and routed 1,200 intrenched insurgents, with the loss of the
gallant Major John A. Logan and 6 enlisted men killed, and one
officer and 11 men wounded. The enemy left 81 dead in the
trenches and suffered a total loss estimated at 300. In the
meantime, on the 5th of November, a column under General
McArthur advanced up the railroad from Angeles to Magalang,
clearing the country between Angeles and Arayat, encountering
and routing bodies of the enemy at different points, and
capturing Magalang. On the 11th it took Bamban, Capas, and
Concepcion, and on the 12th of November entered Tarlac, from
which the enemy fled on its approach. Meantime, parties,
mainly of the 36th Volunteers, under Colonel J. F. Bell,
cleared the country to the right of the line of advance as far
east as the points reached by General Lawton's flanking
parties. On the 17th of November McArthur's column had
occupied Gerona and Panique, to the north of Tarlac, On the
19th, Wheaton's troops, and on the 20th, McArthur's troops,
entered Dagupan.

"On the 24th of November General Otis was able to telegraph to
the Department as follows: 'Claim to government by insurgents
can be made no longer under any fiction. Its treasurer,
secretary of the interior, and president of congress in our
hands; its president and remaining cabinet officers in hiding,
evidently in different central Luzon provinces; its generals
and troops in small bands scattered through these provinces,
acting as banditti, or dispersed, playing the rôle of
"Amigos," with arms concealed.' Since that time our troops
have been actively pursuing the flying and scattered bands of
insurgents, further dispersing them, making many prisoners,
and releasing many Spanish prisoners who had been in the
insurgents' hands. On the 23d General Young's column had
reached Namacpacan, 30 miles north of San Fernando, in the
province of Union, and passed north into the mountains; and on
the 24th Vigan, the principal port of the northwest coast, was
occupied by a body of marines landed from the battle ship
Oregon. Wherever the permanent occupation of our troops has
extended in the Philippine Islands civil law has been
immediately put in force. The courts have been organized and
the most learned and competent native lawyers have been
appointed to preside over them. A system of education has been
introduced and numerous schools have been established."

_Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, pages 735-741)._

General Young, whose movement is referred to above, reported
to General Otis from Pozorrubio, on the 17th of November:
"Aguinaldo is now a fugitive and an outlaw, seeking security
in escape to the mountains or by sea. My cavalry have ridden
down his forces wherever found, utterly routing them in every
instance, killing some, capturing and liberating many
prisoners, and destroying many arms, ammunition, and other war
impediments." On the 30th, Major March was sent by General
Young, as he expresses it, "on Aguinaldo's trail," and
encountered the forces of the Filipino General Pilar in the
Tila Pass. The following is Major March's report of the fight
which then occurred, and in which the Filipino commander fell:
"The trail winds up the Tila Mountains in a sharp zigzag. The
enemy had constructed a stone barricade across the trail at a
point where it commanded the turns of the zigzag for a
considerable distance. The barricade was loopholed for
infantry fire and afforded head cover for the insurgents. On
passing on beyond Lingey the advance was checked by a heavy
fire from this barricade, which killed and wounded several
men, without having its position revealed. I brought up the
remainder of the command at double time, losing two men
wounded during the run up. On arriving at the point, I located
the insurgents' position with my glasses—their fire being
entirely Mauser and smokeless powder—by the presence of the
insurgent officer who showed himself freely and directed the
fire. On pushing forward, the number of my men who were hit
increased so rapidly that it was evident that the position
could not be taken by a front attack, when the trail only
allowed the men to pass one at a time. On the left of the
barricade was a gorge several hundred feet deep. On its right,
as we faced it, was a precipitous mountain which rose 1,500 feet
above the trail. Across the gorge and to the left front of the
barricade was a hill, which, while it did not permit of flank
fire into the barricade, commanded the trail in its rear, and
this point I occupied with ten sharpshooters in command of
Sergeant-Major McDougall. He lost one man wounded in getting
to the top, and when there rendered most effective assistance.
I then ordered Lieutenant Tompkins to take his company (H) and
proceeding back on the trail to ascend the slope of the
mountain under cover of a slight ridge which struck the face
of the mountain about 150 feet from the summit. From there he
had a straight-up climb to the top, where the men pulled
themselves up by twigs and by hand. The ascent took two hours,
during which the enemy kept up an incessant and accurate fire,
which they varied by rolling down stones on our heads. When
Tompkins' men appeared upon the crest of the hills over their
heads, he had the command of the two other trenches which were
constructed in rear of the barricade, I have described, around
a sharp turn in the trail, and which were also held by the
insurgents. He opened fire upon them and I charged the first
barricade at the same time, and rushed the enemy over the
hill. We found eight dead bodies on the trail, and the bushes
which grew at the edge of the gorge were broken and
blood-stained where dead or wounded men fell through. Among
the dead bodies was that of Gregorio del Pilar, the general
commanding insurgent forces. I have in my possession his
shoulder straps; French field glasses, which gave the range of
objects; official and private papers, and a mass of means of
identification. He was also recognized personally by Mr.
McCutcheon and Mr. Keene, two newspaper correspondents who had
met him before.
{383}
The insurgents' report of their loss in this fight is 52,
given to me after I reached Cervantes. My loss was 2 killed
and 9 wounded. I reached the summit at 4.30 P. M. and camped
there for the night. … At Cervantes I learned that the force
at Tila Pass was a picked force from Aguinaldo's body guard,
and that it was wiped out of existence. Aguinaldo with his
wife and two other women and a handful of men were living in a
convent at Cervantes, perfectly secure in his belief that Tila
Pass was an impregnable position. It was the insurgents'
Thermopylæ."

_Report of Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army, 1900,
part 4, page 331._

Mr. McCutcheon, one of the newspaper correspondents referred
to by Major March, gave to the "Chicago Record" a graphic
account of the fight in Tila Pass, and wrote feelingly of the
death to the young Filipino General Pilar:

"General Gregorio del Pilar," wrote Mr. McCutcheon, "was the
last man to fall. He was striving to escape up the trail and
had already received a wound in the shoulder. A native was
holding his horse for him and just as he was preparing to
mount a Krag-Jorgensen bullet caught him in the neck, and
passing through came out just below his mouth. The men of
Company E, rushing up the trail, caught the native, who was
endeavoring to secure the papers which the general had in his
pockets, and a moment later captured the horse. At that time
no one knew who the dead man was, but from his uniform and
insignia they judged that he was an officer of high rank. The
souvenir fiend was at once at work and the body was stripped
of everything of value from the diamond ring to the boots. …
Many letters were found, most of them from his sweetheart,
Dolores Jose, who lived in Dagupan. A handkerchief bearing her
name was also found in his pocket. One letter was found from
the president of Lingay and gave the exact number of soldiers
in March's command. Pilar's diary, which ran from November 19
on to the day of his death, was of remarkable interest, for it
detailed many things regarding the wild flight of himself and
Aguinaldo's party up the coast. The last words written in it
were pathetic and indicated something of the noble character
of the man. The passage, which was written only a few minutes
previously, while the fight was on and while death even then
was before him, said: 'I am holding a difficult position
against desperate odds, but I will gladly die for my beloved
country.'

"Pilar alive and in command, shooting down good Americans, was
one thing, but Pilar lying in that silent mountain trail, his
body half denuded of its clothes, and his young, handsome,
boyish face discolored with the blood which saturated his
blouse and stained the earth, was another thing. We could not
help but feel admiration for his gallant fight, and sorrow for
the sweetheart whom he left behind. The diary was dedicated to
the girl, and I have since learned that he was to have married
her in Dagupan about two weeks before. But the Americans came
too soon. Instead of wedding bells there sounded the bugle
calls of the foe and he was hurriedly ordered to accompany his
chief, Aguinaldo, on that hasty retreat to the mountains. The
marriage was postponed, and he carried out his orders by
leaving for the north. Pilar was one of the best types of the
Filipino soldier. He was only 23 years old, but he had been
through the whole campaign in his capacity as
brigadier-general. It was he who commanded the forces at
Quingua the day that Colonel Stotsenberg was killed, and it
may be remembered that the engagement that day was one of the
most bloody and desperate that has occurred on the island. He
was a handsome boy, and was known as one of the Filipinos who
were actuated by honestly patriotic motives, and who fought
because they believed they were fighting in the right and not
for personal gain or ambition."

_Chicago Record's Stories of Filipino Warfare,
page 14._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (March-July).
The establishment of a provisional government
in the island of Negros.

Negros "was the first island to accept American sovereignty.
Its people unreservedly proclaimed allegiance to the United
States and adopted a constitution looking to the establishment
of a popular government. It was impossible to guarantee to the
people of Negros that the constitution so adopted should be
the ultimate form of government. Such a question, under the
treaty with Spain and in accordance with our own Constitution
and laws, came exclusively within the jurisdiction of the
Congress. The government actually set up by the inhabitants of
Negros eventually proved unsatisfactory to the natives
themselves. A new system was put into force by order of the
Major-General Commanding the Department [July 22, 1899], of
which the following are the most important elements:

"It was ordered that the government of the island of Negros
should consist of a military governor appointed by the United
States military governor of the Philippines, and a civil
governor and an advisory council elected by the people. The
military governor was authorized to appoint secretaries of the
treasury, interior, agriculture, public instruction, an
attorney-general, and an auditor. The seat of government was
fixed at Bacolod. The military governor exercises the supreme
executive power. He is to see that the laws are executed,
appoint to office, and fill all vacancies in office not
otherwise provided for, and may with the approval of the
military governor of the Philippines, remove any officer from
office. The civil governor advises the military governor on
all public civil questions and presides over the advisory
council. He, in general, performs the duties which are
performed by secretaries of state in our own system of
government. The advisory council consists of eight members
elected by the people within territorial limits which are
defined in the order of the commanding general. The times and
places of holding elections are to be fixed by the military
governor of the island of Negros. The qualifications of voters
are as follows:

(1) A voter must be a male citizen of the island of Negros.

(2) Of the age of 21 years.

(3) He shall be able to speak, read, and write the English,
Spanish, or Visayan language, or he must own real property
worth $500, or pay a rental on real property of the value of
$1,000.

(4) He must have resided in the island not less than one year
preceding, and in the district in which he offers to register
as a voter not less than three months immediately preceding
the time he offers to register.

(5) He must register at a time fixed by law before voting.

(6) Prior to such registration he shall have paid all taxes
due by him to the Government.

{384}

Provided, that no insane person shall bc allowed to register
or vote. The military governor has the right to veto all bills
or resolutions adopted by the advisory council, and his veto
is final if not disapproved by the military governor of the
Philippines. The advisory council discharges all the ordinary
duties of a legislature. The usual duties pertaining to said
offices are to be performed by the secretaries of the
treasury, interior, agriculture, public instruction, the
attorney-general, and the auditor. The judicial power is
vested in three judges, who are to be appointed by the
military governor of the island. Inferior courts are to be
established. Free public schools are to be established
throughout the populous districts of the island, in which the
English language shall be taught, and this subject will
receive the careful consideration of the advisory council. The
burden of government must be distributed equally and equitably
among the people. The military authorities will collect and
receive the customs revenue, and will control postal matters
and Philippine inter-island trade and commerce. The military
governor, subject to the approval of the military governor of
the Philippines, determines all questions not specifically
provided for and which do not come under the jurisdiction of
the advisory council."

_Message of the President, December 5, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, page 47)._

Also in:
_Report of General Otis (Message and Documents,
volume 2, page 1131-1137)._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899 (May-August).
Agreement of terms with the Sultan of Jolo concerning
the Sulu Archipelago.

On the 19th of May, a detachment of U. 8. troops took the
place of the Spanish garrison at Jolo, the military station in
the Sulu Archipelago. On the 3d of July, General Otis, Military
Governor of the Philippines, issued orders as follows to
General J. C. Bates, U. S. V.: "You will proceed as soon as
practicable to the United States military station of Jolo, on
the island of that name, and there place yourself in
communication with the Sultan of Jolo, who is believed to be
at Siassi, where he was sojourning when the last information
concerning him was received. You are hereby appointed and
constituted an agent on the part of the United States military
authorities in the Philippines to discuss, enter into
negotiations, and perfect, if possible, a written agreement of
character and scope as hereinafter explained, with the Sultan,
which upon approval at these headquarters and confirmation by
the supreme executive authority of the United States, will
prescribe and control the future relations, social and
political, between the United States Government and the
inhabitants of the archipelago. … In your discussions with the
Sultan and his datos the question of sovereignty will be
forced to the front, and they will undoubtedly request an
expression of opinion thereon, as they seem to be impressed
apparently with the belief that the recent Spanish authorities
with whom they were in relationship have transferred full
sovereignty of the islands to them. The question is one which
admits of easy solution, legally considered, since by the
terms of treaties or protocols between Spain and European
powers Spanish sovereignty over the archipelago is conceded.
Under the agreement between Spain and the Sultan and datos of
July, 1878, the latter acknowledged Spanish sovereignty in the
entire archipelago of Jolo and agreed to become loyal Spanish
subjects, receiving in consideration certain specific payments
in money. The sovereignty of Spain, thus established and
acknowledged by all parties in interest, was transferred to
the United States by the Paris treaty. The United States has
succeeded to all the rights which Spain held in the
archipelago, and its sovereignty over the same is an
established fact. But the inquiry arises as to the extent to
which that sovereignty can be applied under the agreement of
1878 with the Moros. Sovereignty, of course, implies full
power of political control, but it is not incompatible with
concessionary grants between sovereign and subject. The Moros
acknowledged through their accepted chiefs Spanish sovereignty
and their subjection thereto, and that nation in turn conferred
upon their chiefs certain powers of supervision over them and
their affairs. The kingly prerogatives of Spain, thus abridged
by solemn concession, have descended to the United States, and
conditions existing at the time of transfer should remain. The
Moros are entitled to enjoy the identical privileges which
they possessed at the time of transfer, and to continue to
enjoy them until abridged or modified by future mutual
agreement between them and the United States, to which they
owe loyalty, unless it becomes necessary to invoke the
exercise of the supreme powers of sovereignty to meet
emergencies. You will therefore acquaint yourself thoroughly
with the terms of the agreement of 1878, and take them as a
basis for your directed negotiations. …

"It is greatly desired by the United States for the sake of
the individual improvement and social advancement of the
Moros, and for the development of the trade and agriculture of
the islands in their interests, also for the welfare of both the
United States and Moros, that mutual friendly and well-defined
relations be established. If the Sultan can be made to give
credit to and fully understand the intentions of the United
States, the desired result can be accomplished. The United
States will accept the obligations of Spain under the
agreement of 1878 in the matter of money annuities, and in
proof of sincerity you will offer as a present to the Sultan
and datos $10,000, Mexican, with which you will be supplied
before leaving for Jolo—the same to be handed over to them,
respectively, in amounts agreeing with the ratio of payments
made to them by the Spanish Government for their declared
services. From the 1st of September next, and thereafter, the
United States will pay to them regularly the sums promised by
Spain in its agreement of 1878, and in any subsequent promises
of which proof can be furnished. The United States will
promise, in return for the concessions to be hereinafter
mentioned, not to interfere with, but to protect the Moros in
the free exercise of their religion and customs, social and
domestic, and will respect the rights and dignities of the
Sultan and his advisers."

{385}

Of the results of the mission of General Bates, General Otis
reported subsequently as follows:

"General Bates had a difficult task to perform and executed it
with tact and ability. While a number of the principal datos were
favorably inclined, the Sultan, not responding to invitations,
kept aloof and was represented by his secretary, until
finally, the general appearing at Maibung, the Moro capital, a
personal interview was secured. He being also Sultan of North
Borneo and receiving large annual payments from the North
Borneo Trading Company, expected like returns from the United
States, and seemed more anxious to obtain personal revenue
than benefits for his people. Securing the port of Siassi from
the Spaniards, establishing there his guards and police, he
had received customs revenues from the Sandaken trade which he
was loath to surrender. Negotiations continued well into
August, and finally, after long conferences, an agreement was
reached by which the United States secured much more liberal
terms than the Spaniards were ever able to obtain."

_Report of General Otis, August 31, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, pages 1162-1164). _

"By Article I the sovereignty of the United States over the
whole archipelago of Jolo and its dependencies is declared and
acknowledged. The United States flag will be used in the
archipelago and its dependencies, on land and sea. Piracy is
to be suppressed, and the Sultan agrees to co-operate heartily
with the United States authorities to that end and to make
every possible effort to arrest and bring to justice all
persons engaged in piracy. All trade in domestic products of
the archipelago of Jolo when carried on with any part of the
Philippine Islands and under the American flag shall be free,
unlimited, and undutiable. The United States will give full
protection to the Sultan in case any foreign nation should
attempt to impose upon him. The United States will not sell
the island of Jolo or any other island of the Jolo archipelago
to any foreign nation without the consent of the Sultan.
Salaries for the Sultan find his associates in the
administration of the islands have been agreed upon to the
amount of $760 monthly. Article X provides that any slave in
the archipelago of Jolo shall have the right to purchase
freedom by paying to the master the usual market value. The
agreement by General Bates was made subject to confirmation by
the President and to future modifications by the consent of
the parties in interest. I have confirmed said agreement,
subject to the action of the Congress, and with the
reservation, which I have directed shall be communicated to
the Sultan of Jolo, that this agreement is not to be deemed in
any way to authorize or give the consent of the United States
to the existence of slavery in the Sulu archipelago."

_Message of the President, December 5, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, pages 47-48)._

"The population of the Sulu Archipelago is reckoned at
120,000, mostly domiciled in the island of Jolo, and numbers
20,000 fighting men. Hostilities would be unfortunate for all
parties concerned, would be very expensive to the United
States in men and money, and destructive of any advancement of
the Moros for years to come. Spain's long struggle with these
people and their dislike for the former dominant race in the
Philippines, inherited, it would seem, by each rising
generation during three centuries, furnishes an instructive
lesson. Under the pending agreement General Bates, assisted by
the officers of the Navy, quietly placed garrisons of one
company each at Siassi and at Bongao, on the Tawai Tawai group
of islands, where they were well received by the friendly
natives. With the approval of the agreement, the only
difficulty to a satisfactory settlement of the Sulu affairs
will arise from discontent on the part of the Sultan
personally because of a supposed decrease in anticipated
revenues or the machinations of the insurgents of Mindanao,
who are endeavoring to create a feeling of distrust and
hostility among the natives against the United States troops.

"The Sultan's government is one of perfect despotism, in form
at least, as all political power is supposed to center in his
person; but this does not prevent frequent outbreaks on the
part of the datos, who frequently revolt, and are now, in two
or three instances, in declared enmity. All Moros, however,
profess the Mohammedan religion, introduced in the fourteenth
century, and the sacredness of the person of the Sultan is
therefore a tenet of faith. This fact would prevent any marked
success by a dato in attempting to secure supreme power. Spain
endeavored to supplant the Sultan with one of his most
enterprising chiefs and signally failed. Peonage or a species
of serfdom enters largely into the social and domestic
arrangements and a dato's following or clan submits itself
without protest to his arbitrary will. The Moro political
fabric bears resemblance to the state of feudal times—the
Sultan exercising supreme power by divine right, and his
datos, like the feudal lords, supporting or opposing him at
will, and by force of arms occasionally, but not to the extent
of dethronement, as that would be too great a sacrilege for a
Mohammedan people to seek to consummate. The United States
must accept these people as they are, and endeavor to
ameliorate their condition by degrees, and the best means to
insure success appears to be through the cultivation of
friendly sentiments and the introduction of trade and commerce
upon approved business methods. To undertake forcible radical
action for the amelioration of conditions or to so interfere
with their domestic relations as to arouse their suspicions
and distrust would be attended with unfortunate consequences."

_Report of General Otis, August 31, 1899
(Message and Documents: Abridgment, 1899-1900,
volume 2, page 1165)._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1899-1900.
Military operations against the Insurgents.
Death of General Lawton.

"The enlargement of the field of operations and government in
the Philippine Islands made it impracticable to conduct the
business under the charge of the army in those islands through
the machinery of a single department, and by order made April
7, 1900, the Philippine Islands were made a military division,
consisting of four departments: The Department of Northern Luzon,
the Department of Southern Luzon, the Department of the
Visayas, and the Department of Mindanao and Jolo. The
Department of Northern Luzon is subdivided into six, the
Department of Southern Luzon into four, the Department of the
Visayas into four, and the Department of Mindanao and Jolo
into four military districts. …

"At the date of the last report (November 29, 1899 [see
above]) the government established by the Philippine
insurgents in central Luzon and the organized armed forces by
which it was maintained had been destroyed, and the principal
civil and military leaders of the insurrection, accompanied by
small and scattered bands of troops, were the objects of
pursuit in the western and the northern parts of the island.
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That pursuit was prosecuted with vigor and success, under
conditions of extraordinary difficulty and hardship, and
resulted in the further and practically complete
disintegration of the insurrectionary bands in those regions,
in the rescue of nearly all the American prisoners and the
greater part of the Spanish prisoners held by the insurgents,
in the capture of many of the leading insurgents, and in the
capture and destruction of large quantities of arms,
ammunition, and supplies. There still remained a large force
of insurgents in Cavite and the adjacent provinces south of
Manila, and a considerable force to the east of the Rio Grande
de Pampanga, chiefly in the province of Bulacan, while in the
extreme southeastern portions of Luzon, and in the various
Visayan islands, except the island of Negros, armed bodies of
Tagalogs had taken possession of the principal seacoast towns,
and were exercising military control over the peaceful
inhabitants. Between the insurgent troops in Bulacan and the
mountains to the north, and the insurgents in the south,
communication was maintained by road and trail, running along
and near the eastern bank of the Mariquina River, and through
the towns of Mariquina, San Mateo, and Montalban and the
province of Morong. This line of communication, passing
through rough and easily defended country, was strongly
fortified and held by numerous bodies of insurgents.

"On the 18th of December, 1899, a column, under the command of
Major General Henry W. Lawton, proceeded from Manila, and
between that date and the 29th of December captured all the
fortified posts of the insurgents, took possession of the line
of communication, which has ever since been maintained, and
destroyed, captured, or dispersed the insurgent force in that
part of the island. In the course of this movement was
sustained the irremediable loss of General Lawton, who was
shot and instantly killed while too fearlessly exposing his
person in supervising the passing of his troops over the river
Mariquina at San Mateo.

"On the 4th of January, 1900, General J. C. Bates, U. S. V.,
was assigned to the command of the First Division of the
Eighth Army Corps, and an active campaign under his direction
was commenced in Southern Luzon. The plan adopted was to
confront and hold the strong force of the enemy near Imus and
to the west of Bacoor by a body of troops under General
Wheaton, while a column, under General Schwan, should move
rapidly down the west shore of the Laguna de Bay to Biñang,
thence turn southwesterly and seize the Silang, Indang, and
Naic road, capture the enemy's supplies supposed to be at the
towns of Silang and Indang, and arrest the retreat of the
enemy, when he should be driven from northern Cavite by our
troops designated to attack him there, and thus prevent his
reassembling in the mountains of southern Cavite and northern
Batangas. This plan was successfully executed. General
Schwan's column moved over the lines indicated with great
rapidity, marching a distance of over 600 miles, striking and
defeating numerous bodies of insurgents and capturing many
intrenched positions, taking possession of and garrisoning
towns along the line, and scattering and demoralizing all the
organized forces of the enemy within that section of country.
From these operations and the simultaneous attacks by our
troops under General Wheaton in the north the rebel forces in
the Cavite region practically disappeared, the members either
being killed or captured or returning to their homes as
unarmed citizens, and a few scattered parties escaping through
General Schwan's line to the south. By the 8th of February the
organized forces of the insurgents in the region mentioned had
ceased to exist. In large portions of the country the
inhabitants were returning to their homes and resuming their
industries, and active trade with Manila was resumed. In the
course of these operations about 600 Spanish prisoners were
released from the insurgents, leaving about 600 more still in
their hands in the extreme southeastern provinces of Camarines
and Albay, nearly all of whom were afterwards liberated by our
troops. In the meantime an expedition was organized under the
command of Brigadier General William A. Kobbé, U. S. V., to
expel the Tagalogs who had taken possession of the principal
hemp ports of the islands situated in Albay, the extreme
southeastern province of Luzon, and in the islands of Leyte,
Samar, and Catanduanes. This expedition sailed from Manila on
the 18th of January and accomplished its object. All of the
principal hemp ports were relieved from control of the
insurgents, garrisoned by American troops, and opened to
commerce by order of the military governor of the islands on
the 30th of January and the 10th and 14th of February. The
expedition met with strong resistance at Legaspi by an
intrenched force under the Chinese general, Paua. He was
speedily overcome and went into the interior. After a few days
he reassembled his forces and threatened the garrisons which
had been left in Albay and Legaspi, whereupon he was attacked,
and defeated, and surrendered. Thirty pieces of artillery, a
large quantity of ammunition, a good many rifles, and a
considerable amount of money were captured by this expedition.

"On the 15th of February an expedition, under the supervision
of Major-General Bates and under the immediate command of
Brigadier General James M. Bell, U. S. V., sailed from Manila
to take possession of the North and South Camarines provinces
and Western Albay, in which the insurgent forces had been
swelled by the individuals and scattered bands escaping from
our operations in various sections of the north. The insurgent
force was defeated after a sharp engagement near the mouth of
the Bicol River, pursued, and scattered. Large amounts of
artillery and war material were captured. The normal
conditions of industry and trade relations with Manila were
resumed by the inhabitants. On the 20th of March the region
covered by the last-described operations was created a
district of southeastern Luzon, under the command of General
James M. Bell, who was instructed to proceed to the
establishment of the necessary customs and internal-revenue
service in the district. In the meantime similar expeditions
were successfully made through the mountains of the various
islands of the Visayan Group, striking and scattering and
severely punishing the bands of bandits and insurgents who
infested those islands. In the latter part of March General
Bates proceeded with the Fortieth infantry to establish
garrisons in Mindanao. The only resistance was of a trifling
character at Cagayan, the insurgent general in northeastern
Mindanao surrendering and turning over the ordnance in his
possession.
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With [the execution of these movements] all formal and open
resistance to American authority in the Philippines
terminated, leaving only an exceedingly vexatious and annoying
guerilla warfare of a character closely approaching
brigandage, which will require time, patience, and good
judgment to finally suppress. As rapidly as we have occupied
territory, the policy of inviting inhabitants to return to
their peaceful vocations, and aiding them in the
reestablishment of their local governments, has been followed,
and the protection of the United States has been promised to
them. The giving of this protection has led to the
distribution of troops in the Philippine Islands to over 400
different posts, with the consequent labor of administration
and supply. The maintenance of these posts involves the
continued employment of a large force, but as the Tagalogs who
are in rebellion have deliberately adopted the policy of
murdering, so far as they are able, all of their countrymen
who are friendly to the United States, the maintenance of
garrisons is at present necessary to the protection of the
peaceful and unarmed Filipinos who have submitted to our
authority; and if we are to discharge our obligations in that
regard their reduction must necessarily be gradual."

_United States, Secretary of War,
Annual Report, November 30, 1900, pages 5-10._

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (January).
Report of the First Philippine Commission.

The First Commission to the Philippines returned to the United
States in the autumn of 1899, and then submitted to the President
a brief preliminary statement of its proceedings in the
Islands and the opinions its members had formed, concerning
the spirit and extent of the Tagalo revolt, the general
disposition of the people at large, their capacity for
independent self-government, etc. On the 31st of January
following the commissioners presented a report which deals
extensively with many subjects of investigation and
deliberation. In Part I., it sets forth the efforts made by
the commission "toward conciliation and the establishment of
peace," through interviews with various emissaries of
Aguinaldo, and others, and by means of a proclamation to the
people. In Part II., it gives an extended account of the races
and tribes of which the native population of the Islands is
composed. In Part III., it details the provision that has
heretofore been made for education, and states the conclusions
of the commission as to the capacity of the people and their
fitness for a popular government. In Part IV., a very full
account of the Spanish organization of government in the
Philippines, general, provincial and municipal, is given, and
the reforms that were desired by the Filipino people are
ascertained. From this the commission proceeds to consider the
question of a plan of government for the Islands under the
sovereignty of the United States, and concludes that the
Territorial system of the United States offers all that can be
desired. "What Jefferson and the nation did for Louisiana,"
says the report, "we are … free to-day to do for the
Philippines. The fact that Bonaparte had provided in the
treaty that Louisiana should in due time be admitted as a
State in the Union, and that in the meantime its inhabitants
should have protection in the free enjoyment of their liberty,
property, and religion, made no difference in the relation of
Louisiana to the Constitution of the United States so long as
Louisiana remained a Territory; and, if it had made a
difference, it should have constituted something of a claim to
the immediate enjoyment of some or all of the benefits of the
Constitution. Unmoved by that consideration, however, the
Jeffersonian policy established once for all the subjection of
national domain outside the States to the absolute and
unrestricted power of Congress. The commission recommends that
in dealing with the Philippines this vast power be exercised
along the lines laid down by Jefferson and Madison in
establishing a government for Louisiana, but with … deviations
in the direction of larger liberty to the Filipinos. … The
result would be substantially the transformation of their
second-class Territorial government of Louisiana into a
Territorial government of the first-class for the Philippine
Islands." To this recommendation of the Territorial system of
government the commission adds a strenuous plea for a closely
guarded civil service. "It is a safe and desirable rule," says
the report, "that no American should be appointed to any office
in the Philippines for which a reasonably qualified Filipino
can, by any possibility, be secured. Of course the merit or
business system must be adopted and lived up to; the patronage
or spoils system would prove absolutely fatal to good
government in this new Oriental territory." Further parts of
the report are devoted to the Philippine judicial system, as
it had been and as it should be; to "the condition and needs
of the United States in the Philippines from a naval and
maritime standpoint"; to the secular clergy and religious
orders; to registration laws; to the currency; to the Chinese
in the Philippines; and to public health. Among the exhibits
appended in volume 1 of the published Report are the
constitution of Aguinaldo's Philippine Republic (called the
Malolos constitution), and several other constitutional drafts
and proposals from Filipino sources, indicating the political
ideas that prevail.

_Report of the Philippine Commission,
January 31, 1900, volume 1._

See, also (in this volume),
EDUCATION: A. D. 1898 (PHILIPPINE ISLANDS).

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1900 (March).
Institution of municipal governments.

By General Orders, on the 29th of March, 1900, the Military
Governor of the Islands promulgated a law providing for the
election and institution of municipal governments, the
provisions of which law had been framed by a board appointed
in the previous January, under the presidency of Don Cayetano
Arellano, chief justice of the Philippines. The first chapter
of the law reads as follows:

"ARTICLE 1.
The towns of the Philippine Islands shall be recognized as
municipal corporations with the same limits as heretofore
established, upon reorganizing under the provisions of this
order. All property vested in any town under its former
organization shall be vested in the same town upon becoming
incorporated hereunder.

"ARTICLE 2.
Towns so incorporated shall be designated as 'municipios,' and
shall be known respectively by the names heretofore adopted.
Under such names they may, without further authorization, sue
and be sued, contract and be contracted with, acquire and hold
real and personal property for the general interests of the
town, and exercise all the powers hereinafter conferred. The
city of Manila is exempt from the provisions of this order.

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"ARTICLE 3.
The municipal government of each town is hereby vested in an
alcalde and a municipal council. The alcalde and councilors,
together with the municipal lieutenant, shall be chosen at
large by the qualified electors of the town, and their term of
office shall be for two years from and after the first Monday
in January next after their election and until their
successors are duly chosen and qualified: Provided, That the
alcalde and municipal lieutenant elected in 1900 shall hold
office until the first Monday in January, 1902, only; and that
the councilors elected in 1900 shall divide themselves, by
lot, into two classes; the scats of those of the first class
shall be vacated on the first Monday of January, 1901, and
those of the second class one year thereafter, so that
one-half of the municipal council shall be chosen annually.

"ARTICLE 4.
Incorporated towns shall be of four classes, according to the
number of inhabitants. Towns of the first class shall be those
which contain not less than 25,000 inhabitants and shall have
18 councilors; of the second class, those containing 18,000
and less than 25,000 inhabitants and shall have 14 councilors;
of the third class, those containing 10,000 and less than
18,000 inhabitants and shall have 10 councilors; of the fourth
class, those containing less than 10,000 inhabitants and shall
have 8 councilors. Towns of less than 2,000 inhabitants may
incorporate under the provisions of this order, or may, upon
petition to the provincial governor, signed by a majority of
the qualified electors thereof, be attached as a barrio to an
adjacent and incorporated town, if the council of the latter
consents.

The qualifications of voters are defined in the second chapter
as follows:

"ARTICLE 5.
The electors charged with the duty of choosing elective
municipal officers must be male persons, 23 years of age or
over, who have had a legal residence in the town in which they
exercise the suffrage for a period of six months immediately
preceding the election, and who are not citizens or subjects
of any foreign power, and who are comprised within one of the
following three classes:

1. Those who, prior to the 13th of August, 1898, held the
office of municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, lieutenant or
cabeza de barangay.

2. Those who annually pay 30 pesos or more of the established
taxes.

3. Those who speak, read, and write English or Spanish."

Succeeding articles in this chapter prescribe the oath to be
taken and subscribed by each elector before his ballot is
cast, recognizing and accepting "the supreme authority of the
United States of America"; appoint the times and places for
holding elections, and set forth the forms to be observed in
them. In the third chapter, the qualifications of officers are
thus defined:

"ARTICLE 13.
An alcalde, municipal lieutenant, or councilor must have the
following qualifications:

1. He must be a duly qualified elector of the municipality in
which he is a candidate, of 26 years of age or over, and have
had a legal residence therein for at least one year prior to
the date of election.

2. He must correctly speak, read, and write either the English
language or the local dialect.

"ARTICLE 14.
In no case can there be elected or appointed to municipal
office ecclesiastics, soldiers in active service, persons
receiving salary from municipal, provincial or government
funds; debtors to said funds, whatever the class of said
funds; contractors of public works and their bondsmen; clerks
and functionaries of the administration or government while in
said capacity; bankrupts until discharged, or insane or
feeble-minded persons.

"ARTICLE 15.
Each and every person elected or appointed to a municipal
office under the provisions of this order shall, before
entering upon the duties thereof, take and subscribe before
the alcalde or town secretary"—an oath analogous to that
required from the electors.

Further articles in this chapter and the next define the
duties of the alcalde, the municipal lieutenant, municipal
attorney, municipal secretary, municipal treasurer, and the
municipal councilors. The fifth chapter relates to taxation
and finances; the sixth and seventh contain provisions as
follows:

"ARTICLE 53.
The governor of the province shall be ex officio president of
all municipal councils within the province and shall have
general supervisory charge of the municipal affairs of the
several towns and cities therein organized under the
provisions of this order, and in his said supervisory capacity
may inspect or cause to be inspected, at such times as he may
determine, the administration of municipal affairs and each
and every department thereof, and may hear and determine all
appeals against the acts of municipal corporations or their
officers. He, or those whom he may designate in writing for
that duty, shall at all times have free access to all records,
books, papers, moneys, and property of the several towns and
cities of the province, and may call upon the officers thereof
for an accounting of the receipts and expenditures, or for a
general or special report of the official acts of the several
municipal councils or of any and every of them, or of any and
every of the officers thereof, at any time, and as often as he
may consider necessary to inform himself of the state of the
finances or of the administration of municipal affairs, and
such requests when made must be complied with without excuse,
pretext, or delay. He may suspend or remove municipal
officers, either individually or collectively, for cause, and
appoint substitutes therefor permanently, for the time being
or pending the next general election, or may call a special
election to fill the vacancy or vacancies caused by such
suspension or removal, reporting the cause thereof with a full
statement of his action in the premises to the governor of the
islands without delay. He shall forward all questions or
disputes that may arise over the boundaries or jurisdictional
limits of the city, towns, or municipalities to the governor
of the islands for final determination, together with full
report and recommendations relative to the same. He may, with
the approval of the governor of the islands, authorize the
cities and towns to form among themselves associations or
communities for determined ends, such as the construction of
public works, the creation and foundation of beneficent,
charitable, or educational institutions, for the better
encouragement of public interests or the use of communal
property.

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