Iron County register., 1899-11-09

critics which they had never before en-
| joyed. This scheme was adopted, and
| stance enthusiasm ran high before the
| commissioners took their departure, and
| cheers We're raised for Gen. Lawton and
| for the country which he represented.
with a single exception, the officials
| elected proved worthy of the trust i'm
idly improved in the newly-organized
| towns. Governments were organized with
Santa Ana, San Felipe, Meri, San Pedro
and Machei, while a slightly different ays-
tenn was put into effect at Malabon, Polo.
The commission states that a large
| amount of supervision over the affairs Of
| as the officials were timid and slow to
| comprehend their new duties. AT many
| of the elections the voters went about
| asking who they were expected to vote
| for" and it was only with great difficulty
| that they were persuaded to exercise the
| right OF free suffrage.
| Improved Conditions.
The commission sums up the situation
| at the time of it's departure as follows:
when we left Manila large volume of
were SO crowded as 30 be hardly safe.
| Inc native population was quiet and or
derly. and all fear of an uprising had
ma tive policemen was on duty; A system
of publis schools, in which English was
taught, had been advocated by the COM
mission, as established by Gen. Otis.
Some 5000 scholars were in attendance.
where the anti,American iA a IN ie feeling g had % been
| strongest, public sentiment had greatly
any by the fact that
| offered to surrender his troops and his
| province if we would only send a small
| zon, had risen against their Tagalog mas
| ters. The Macabes were clamoring for an
native soldiers and scouts were already
| serving under Gen. Lawton. Stories of
| the corruption of insurgent officers were
becoming daily more COMMON, and the
| disintersration of the enemy's forces was
steadily progressing. The hope of as
| be all that held them together"
| Outside of Luzon.
Having given so much attention to the
| island of Luzon, the commission then
takes up in detail the conditions on the
other islands. On this point it is stated
| that the rebellion is essentially Tagalog,
throughout the % archipeiago. rel i " The uG situa er5u
| ton elsewhere than in Luzon is summed
| up follows:
1.-The only island, apart from Luzon.
| where serious trouble threatens, is Panay,
| to which considerable force of Tagalog
| hostilities. Many of the Visayans of this
island are opposed to the Tagalogs, how
| make a formidable resistance In Samar,
Leyte and Masbate the Tagalog invaders
are numerically few, and are disliked by
| have oppressed. We were assured that
| 200 men would suffice to restore order in
Mindora. Bobol was asking for troops,
| the Calamian islanders had sent word
that they would welcome US. There can
tory ~ relations had aireadW ' been atlsta6 esta6-
lished with the warlike Morros, whose
sultan had previously been conciliated by
a member of the commission, and in Min
danao this tribe had even taken up our
cause, and attacked the insurgents, of
I'm Cebu we have only to reckon With
the lawless element, which has never been
very formidable there
American Control Necessary.
Special attention is given to the island
of Negros, as this seelnsd field well
adapted to the extension of an American
system: Here the natives had adopted
local form of government, including a
congress, and had raised the American
flag. They believed themselves capable
IF managing their own affairs, and asked
for battalion of troops to hold in check
mountainous band of fanatics. The bat
talon was furnished, but the peole proved
unable to carry out their programme,
owing to ill feeling among their own Of
ficials. The Americans remained popular
At the request of Gen. Otis, a new and
stmplified scheme of government for the
island, giving the people large voice IN
full control, was put into operation. 1t
brought about satisfaction, and public
order is better in the island to-day than
at any time during the last twenty years.
Summarizing the failure of the native
form OF government, and the success of
says:
THE fiat failure of this attempt to es-
tabllsh an independent native govern
rllent in Negros conducted, as it was, un-
der the most favorable circum stances,
makes it apparent that here as we'll as in
the less favored provinces, a large amount
of American control is at present abso-
tratjp2 of public affairs
Negotiations with Aguinaldo.
The efforts at Cancellation with Agui-
naldo and his various commissions are
set forth in detail. These commissioners
l,f
the United States and the presidents
readiness to grant the Filipino people as
ample liberty as consistent with the ends
of government, Subject only to the rec
Ognition of the sovereignty of the United
States"-a point which, being established |
the commission invariably refused to even
discuss.
The commission adds that nothing came
of negotiations, as Aguinaldos emissaries
We're without powers, and merely came |
and came again, for information. Court |
teous reception was accorded to the insur- |
gent commissions. and earnest appeals |
made to stop further bloodshed, all Wit
Messing "the spirit of patient conciliation'' |
exhibited by the American commission in |
endeavoring to reach an amicable adj
the obduracy of Aguinaido.
The report sums up the result of these |
fruitless exchanges as follows:
mo better proof could be furnished that |
the primary object of his struggle is not, |
as is pretended. the liberty of the Filipino |
peoples, but the continuance of his own |
arbitrary and deSpotic power. In any |
event. the American people may feel con- |
fident that effort was omitted by the |
commission to secure a peaceful end of |
the struggle, but the opportunities they
offered and urged were all neglected, If |
not indeed spurned.''
Incapable of Self-Government.
The chapter devoted to capacity for /
self-government' is the result, the report /
months, in the course of which great |
number of witnesses were examined, of all |
shades of political thought and varieties
Tt1a
most striking, and perhaps the most sig
nificant fact in the entire situation, is the |
multiplicity of tribes inhabitiug the |
guage (Which are mutually unintelligible)
and the multifarious phases of civilization |
ranging all the way from the highest to
the lowest. AS to this the report says:
THE Filipinos are not a nation but a /
vaIiegated assemblage of different tribes
and people; and their loyalty is still of
the tribal type"
Concerning their intellectual capacities |
the commission says:
'As to the general intellectual capacities
of the Filipinos, the commission is dis
posed to rate them high. But excepting |
in a limited number of persons, these ca
pacitieS have not been developed by edu-
cation or experience. The masses of the |
people are uneduca ted. That intelligent |
ment rests does not exist in the Philip |
pines. And 1T can not exist until educa- |
their intellectual horizon, and disciplined |
their faculty of judgment. And even then
the power of seif-goVernment can not be |
assumed without considerable previous |
training and experience under the guild |
ance and tutelage of an enlightened and
liberal foreign power. For the bold tact
is that the filiuinos have never had any |
experience in governing themselves"
American Sovereignty n Doom.
The report shows that their inability for
1f frsv rN fs sf.N .,1l i'll.