Chapter IV: Following the Flag

They taught Filipinos the right way to work,
And they taught as if teaching were fun;
They taught them to spell and to build themselves roads,
And the best way to handle a gun.
Were their salaries so big that the task was worth while?
Did they save a centavo of pay?
Have the average men an account with the bank?
Never a cent--not they.

So we haven't a job and we haven't a cent,
And nobody cares a damn;
But we've done our work and we've done it well,
To the glory of Uncle Sam,
And we've seen a lot, and we've lived a lot
In these islands over the sea--
Would we change with our brothers grown rich at home?
Praise be to God--not we.

_From "The Swan Song," in the Manila Bulletin._

It is, strangely enough, to the influence of that arch anti-imperialist, William Jennings Bryan, that we owe the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, which not only ended the war with Spain but expressly provided for the purchase of the Philippine Islands. The Democrats were opposed to the treaty and were powerful enough in the Senate to have held it up, had not Bryan used his authority to secure the two-thirds vote needed for its ratification. It is amusing to note that a year later, after enabling us to acquire the islands, he used all his power to prevent our keeping them. He was at this time in need of a popular plank in his third presidential platform, and the sorrows of the Filipinos suited his purpose admirably.

Soon after the Treaty of Paris, and long before the end of the insurrection, McKinley appointed a commission of experts to go out to the Islands and report to him on conditions there. They found a country whose civilization was, to put it hopefully, at a standstill. It was too big a problem to be straightened out by a few ambitious Filipinos. The Commission returned to America convinced of the necessity of our occupation.

Congress soon passed a special organic act for the organization of a civil government in the Islands, to succeed the military rule then in force. In 1900, President McKinley appointed the second Commission, headed by Mr. Taft, which was instructed to assume control of the Islands, gradually relieving the army wherever conditions allowed of their doing so.

This Commission had five members, three of them lawyers (two of whom had been on the bench), and two professors. Its functions were at first legislative and judicial, but in 1901, when the president of the Commission, Mr. Taft, became Governor General of the Islands, the other members were given the portfolios of the different departments and executive power in the pacified parts of the Islands. Dean C. Worcester, a member of the earlier Commission and already an authority on the Philippines, became the first Minister of the Interior; Luke E. Wright, the Vice Governor, had the Department of Commerce and Police; H. C. Ide, former Chief Justice of Samoa, had charge of Finance and Justice, while Professor Moses was put at the head of Public Instruction. Governor Taft became really the "Father of the Philippines," for when he left the Islands in 1904 to become Secretary of War he had even higher authority over them than he had had as governor, while still later, as President of the United States, he was able to see that the same high standard of appointments was maintained.[15]

McKinley charged this Commission that their work was "_not to subjugate, but to emancipate_." We made many mistakes, for we were new to the business and dealing with a strange people, but until very lately even the selfishness which is supposed to be inherent in party politics has been absent in our dealings with this people, whom we considered our sacred charge. No one ever asked an American official in the Islands what his politics were. Even the governorship itself was out of the reach of the spoilsman. Of the five governors who were appointed by the Republican administrations, only one besides the first governor belonged to the dominant party, and he was in office but a few months.

Since the Taft Commission first organized, several changes have taken place. Filipino members have been added, and it has acquired the character of an upper house, rather than a legislature. The work of a lower house is done by the Assembly, made up of eighty-one members chosen by the people of the Christian tribes. They have no authority over the Moro and other non-Christian tribes, which are legislated for by the Commission directly. To-day the Filipinos control their municipal and county governments, but their finances are kept under supervision.

The problems which the Commissioners had to solve were many and varied. Trade was at a standstill. During the last normal year under Spain the exports from the Islands had amounted to about sixteen million dollars. By 1912 they had more than trebled. There was also a currency problem. Coins from everywhere--Mexico, China, America, India--were in common circulation, with almost daily fluctuations in value. The Islands now have their own money on a gold basis. Then, close on the heels of the insurrection, came a famine. Locusts swept over the land and destroyed what little grain the war had left. The natives in some parts of the archipelago ate the locusts, however, and liked them, making the work of the officials more difficult. Grain shipped from America decayed in the storehouses before it could be distributed, and, as if that were not enough, carabaos died by the thousand from rinderpest.

But the most difficult of all was the problem of the friar lands. Thousands of acres of valuable land had been acquired during Spanish rule by the different orders of monks, and held by them with great profit. One of the chief causes of Aguinaldo's rebellion was the exactions of these wealthy churchmen, which galled a patient people into final revolt, and during the ascendancy of the insurgent government resulted in the confiscation of Church property and the flight of the friars. These men took refuge in Manila, and petitioned the new government for a settlement of their claims. Their legal rights were not to be disputed, but to return them to their property and protect them there would have brought on us the increased enmity of a people whose friendship we were trying to win. The friends of the friars were no friends of the people. It was decided to have the Philippine Government buy these lands from the Church, which was accordingly arranged. Even this was not a popular solution, but seems to have been the best that could be done under the circumstances. One-third of these lands are still vacant.

Road building was one of the most baffling of the problems. The people had no appreciation of the necessity for good roads, and would not pay for them nor help keep them in repair when they were built. For years the Commission toiled at the seemingly hopeless task, and it was not until Governor Forbes went out there from Boston that anything definite was accomplished. His native city should be very proud of his brilliantly successful administration, the proofs of which met us at every turn during our stay in the archipelago, and convinced us of the fatal mistake it is to allow such a position as Governor of the Philippines to become the prize of politicians. To the native mind his name became inseparably connected with roads. _Caminero_ means a road man, and Cameron Forbes is of course known to the Filipino as "Caminero Forbays." He had been a commissioner five years when made governor general, which office he held for four more. When Mr. Wilson became president, Governor Forbes was advised not to tender his resignation, for it was believed the new administration would wish to keep the Islands clear of the spoil system.

Suddenly out of a clear sky, the Governor General received this cablegram from the Insular Bureau:

"Harrison confirmed August 21st. The President desires him to sail September 10th. Will it be convenient to have your resignation accepted September 1st. Harrison to accept and take the oath of office September 2nd. The President desires to meet your convenience. Should Harrison take linen, silver, glass, china and automobiles? What else would you suggest? Wife and children will accompany him. Please engage for him servants you leave."

Worst of all, it was given out to the papers before the Governor received it, so that certain anti-American sheets in Manila had the pleasure of flaunting the news on their front pages for him to read. Surely some more considerate and courteous method of retiring a fine administrator might have been devised than this abrupt and rude dismissal, and it would seem that petty household matters might have been kept separate.

Secretary Worcester, also a native of New England, who is the greatest living authority on the Islands, and whose achievements with the wild, non-Christian tribes had been marvelous--to say nothing of his other excellent work--had also of course to resign. Forbes, by the way, is not a Republican, but neither is he a Democrat, and Independents are not politically useful.

The work of the administration immediately preceding that of Governor Harrison is worth at least a partial summary. Besides building roads, establishing a good health resort at Baguio, systematizing the work of the government, reducing the number of bureaus, cutting down expenses and eliminating duplication of work, and numerous other public services, Governor Forbes succeeded in accomplishing the following:

The reorganization of the merchant marine.

The construction of aids to navigation--buoys, lighthouses and beacons, wharves and harbours.

The removal of restrictions from shipping.

The establishment of a policy for the exclusive use of permanent materials in construction, practically all the construction in the Islands being done of reinforced concrete and selected woods.

The passage of a law providing for proper development of irrigation, laying aside an annual sum for that purpose.

The establishment of a cadastral law for registering law titles. "Under this system it was possible to get land titles settled, one of the most difficult and important problems confronting any government and one bearing directly on the welfare of the people in various ways.

"A general system was adopted of loaning to provinces and municipalities to encourage them in the construction of public works, particularly those of a revenue-bearing nature; most especially markets, which improved the sanitary condition of the food supply and proved both popular with the people and profitable for the municipalities; these markets usually paid for themselves in five years from the increased revenues.

"The Governor's influence was used throughout to make the instruction in the schools practical in its nature; children were taught to make things that would prove to be salable and which would give them a living. The dignity of labour was emphasized. Encouragement was given to foster the construction of railroads.

"The establishment of a postal savings bank encouraged the children to invest. Prizes were given for that child or school which showed the best record." (Governor Forbes took an especial interest in the latter.)

The first general election was held in the Islands on the third of July, 1907, to choose delegates for the Assembly. Before that the Philippine Commission had been the sole legislative body. The delegates were chosen from the thirty-five Christian provinces. At that time only a minute percentage of the population, even among the Filipinos, was qualified to meet the simple conditions which would enable them to vote, and to-day the percentage is far from large. The electorate consists mainly of two classes, the ilustrados, or educated natives and mestizos,[16] and the _taos_, or peasants. The latter are not only ignorant but indifferent, with no vision beyond what their eyes can see, and no interest in who governs them, so long as crops are good and taxes low. One of the tasks of our representatives is to educate and awaken these people to responsible citizenship. It is a task still far from accomplishment.

It must be admitted that the work of the Assembly to-day, after eight years of fair trial, does not encourage Filipinization of the service. It is fortunate--at times--that the two legislative bodies have equal power not only to initiate legislation but to block the passage of each other's bills. In this way the Commission has been able to hold up some of the freak legislation sent up to it by the lower body. The Manila _Times_ has published a list of the laws which were wanted by the Filipino assemblymen recently. They spent the valuable time of the entire first session talking them over and the Commission refused to concur. One was to increase their own salaries, of course. Another was to erect monuments to all the ilustrados who had cried "_Bajo los Americanos_" most loudly. Others wanted to fly the Philippine flag above the American on all masts, to make a legal holiday of the birthday of Rizal's grandmother, and to free all prisoners, no matter what their crimes.

As may be imagined, a body of men which can pass such bills is quite capable of blocking the sane legislation which comes to them for approval, and unfortunately they have the power to do this. The way in which the slavery question was handled illustrates their methods.

Slavery was known to exist in the Islands, and to take two forms,--actual slavery, where one person was sold by another, and a sort of semi-slavery, or peonage, where a man sold his services for debt.

The peon was given his keep, but the interest on his debt was added faster than he could earn. He was really a slave, except that he had sold himself rather than been sold by another. But his debts might be bought and sold, so that it amounted to the same thing in the end. Interest was sometimes as high as ten per cent a month, while fifty cents a month was allowed for his services. Worcester in his book tells of a man who borrowed $1.25, which he and his wife and children worked several years in the effort to repay; but by that time the amount had become $37.50!

Spain had nominally abolished slavery long before, but it had continued in force in both the Christian and non-Christian provinces. The legislators themselves held peons. The law of Congress creating the Philippine Government prohibited slavery, but there are no penalties attached, so it could not be enforced.

The Filipinos denied that slavery existed in the Islands. Worcester made a careful investigation, and an exhaustive report on both slavery and peonage. All but a few copies of this report were burned by a Filipino official. It was a subject which neither the Filipino politician nor their self-styled friends the anti-imperialists wished to see discussed in print. The Manila papers had been absolutely silent on the subject, and even the anti-slavery legislation which was finally forced through, after having been tabled again and again without so much as the briefest formality of discussion, passed unnoticed. It was a sore subject, and the Filipino method of treating a sore subject is not to heal it, but to refrain from discussing it.

There is no question but we have given the Filipinos too much power for their own good. They now, under the Democratic Administration, have five members in the Commission, to America's four. They have to-day much power--only colonies such as Canada and Australia have more, while Egypt has been given less in a generation than the Filipinos have received in ten years.

The present governor, Francis Burton Harrison, has been severely criticized. His party was pledged to a rapid Filipinization which has proved disastrous, for it was devised by men wholly ignorant of the situation. The destruction of the wonderful civil service system so carefully built up in the early days as an object lesson to Spanish-bred politicians, is only one of many changes which have been brought about.

We have certainly lost prestige in the Islands under the Democratic Administration. Filipinos no longer remove their hats during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner on the Luneta, so Governor Harrison finally tried to discontinue the playing of the national anthem. The American community would not stand this, however, so it was resumed. In many other ways the Filipinos have become "cocky." This of course does not apply to the tao, who plods along regardless of politics.

A friend wrote me recently, "I don't think I could give you a more accurate idea of what most Americans and British, and even intelligent natives, think of this Democratic administration than to repeat a conversation I overheard in the Fort McKinley cars one morning between two coloured American soldiers. They began by laughing at Harrison's 'give them what they want' speech, and speaking of the Filipinos as 'spoiled children.' 'Well,' said one dusky brave, 'we have one more year of this rotten administration, then, thank Gawd, we'll have a white man's government!'"

Professor Thomas Lindsey Blayney writes in one of the magazines: "I talked with business men, native and foreign educators, clergymen, army and navy officers, editors American and British, and many Filipinos of undoubted patriotism and intelligence, and I do not hesitate to assure you that the demoralizing tendency of the policies of the present American administration in the Islands is deserving of the widest publicity." The situation, he says, "is bidding fair to become a national disgrace if we allow politics and sentiment to take the place of reason and justice." He goes on to say, "There is no phenomenon of our national life more passing strange than that which induces many of our good people to accept the statements of paid emissaries of the Filipino junto, or some of our new and inexperienced officials at Manila, rather than those of our fellow countrymen of long administrative experience in the Islands.... The loss of men like Governor Forbes, Mr. Worcester, Dr. Heiser, and others, is looked upon as a distinct setback in the development of better and more stable institutions in the entire Orient in the interest of humanity as a whole."

All of which only bears out what Lord Cromer told Mr. Forbes--"If your personnel employed in the administration of dependencies at a distance becomes subject to change with changing political parties, you are doomed to failure in your effort to govern countries overseas."

There has recently been a great financial depression in the Islands, due partly to hoarding against threatened independence, and partly to the difficulty the new Filipino officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue find in collecting the usual amount. A slump in real estate followed quickly upon the news that we might shortly leave the Islands. Rinderpest, the cattle plague which had worked such havoc and which had finally been conquered after tremendous expenditure of money and energy, broke out again immediately upon the substitution of Filipinos for white men in the service. Some time the good people at home will learn that giving a child candy because it cries for candy is not always the best thing for the child. The Filipinos are in many ways children, delightful ones, with charming manners, but needing a firm and even rule till they come of age and take over their own affairs. Most Filipinos of intelligence realize this. In fact, they have of late been rushing in petitions signed by their best and most influential citizens urging the retention of the Islands in their present standing.

What the Filipino wishes for himself depends upon the man. Only one in ten, among the civilized tribes, knows anything about the discussion of independence. The taos would like independence if they believe it to be what their politicians have told them--freedom to do as they please, and exemption from taxes. Otherwise they are not interested.

When the Jones bill was being discussed a Moro elevator boy at the War Department in Washington was asked, "If the Filipinos are given their independence, how will you feel?" "I am an American now," he answered, "but if that happen--I go back, and with the Moros fight the Filipinos!"

Most people fail to realize that the Islands are no financial burden to this country. They are, and have always been, wholly self-supporting. Their revenues pay their bills, and their taxes, incidentally, are the lowest in the civilized world. We keep soldiers there but only the cost of their transportation is extra.

Our rule in the Philippines has been the greatest of all paradoxes, a benevolent despotism working ardently for its own destruction. This is very unusual, and rather fine. We ought to be proud of what we have done, and very anxious to see the work well finished. Good men have given their lives for it, and few of those who lived have come out after years of thankless toil in a tropical land, with as much as they had when they went into the service. We owe it to them and to our helpless wards, as well as to our national honour, to see the thing through.