The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-12-07
THE ANNUAL MESSAGE.
Continued from Third Page.l

% II0N Ak 6AAAo AAZ1o ~ A@A oaS&A
changes, subject to your approval. In
doing so they are to bear in mind that
taxes which tend to penalize or repress
industry and enterprise are to be
avoided; that provisions for taxation
should be simple, SO that they nay be
understood by the people; that the
should affect the fewest practicable
subjects of taxation which will serve
for general distribution of the burden.
The main body of the laws which
regulate the rights and obligations OF
the people should be maintained with
as little interference as possible.
Changes made should be mainly in pro-
cedure, and in the criminal laws to Sc
cure speedy and impartial, trials and at
the same time effective administration
and respect for individual rights.
In dealing with the uncivilized tribes
of the islands the commission should
adopt the same course followed by con-
gress in permitting the tribes of our
North American Indians to ainta
their tribal organization and govern
ment, and under which many of those
tribes are now living in peace n con-
tentment, surrounded by a civilization
to which hey are unable or unwilling
to conform. Such tribal governments
should, however, be subjected to wise
and firm regulation, and, without un-
due or petty interference constant and
active effort should be exercised to pre-
vent barbarous practices and introduce
civilized customs.
Upon all officers and employees of
the United States, both civil and mill
tary, should be impressed a sense of
the duty to observe not merely the ma
terial but the personal n social rights
of the people of the islands and to treat
them with the same courtesy and re-
spect for their personal dignity which
the people of the United States are &C
customed to require from each other
1.-The articles of c~apitulation of the
city of Manila on the 18th Of August,
1898, concluded with these words:
This city, it's inhabitants, it's
churches n religious worship, it's ed
u%cationa1 establishments, and it's pri-
vate property OF all descriptions. are
placed under the special safeguard of
the faith and honor of the American
army
Il believe that this pledge has been
faithfully kept. AS high and sacred
an obligation rests upon the govern
ment of the United States to give pro-
lection for property n life, civil re-
ligious freedom, and wise, firm, and
unselfish guidance in the paths of peace
and prosperity to all the people of the
Philippine Lar / charge this COM
mission to labor for the full perform
ance of his obligation, which concerns
the honor and conscience of their coun-
try, in the firm hope that through their
labors all the inhabitants Of the Phil
ippine Islands may come to look back
with gratitude to the day when God
gave victory to American arms at Ma
Mia and set their land under the SOW
ereignty and the protection of the peo-
pie of the United States"
Confidently with the entrance of
the commission upon it's labors I caus-
ed to be ssued by General Macarthur,
the military governor of the Philip
pines, on June 1880, a proclamation
of amnesty in generous terms of which
many Of the insurgents took advantage.
among them a number OF important
leaders.
This commission, composed of emf
lent citizens representing the diverse
geographical and political interests OF
the country, and bringing to their task
the ripe fruits of long n intelligent
service in educational, administrative,
and judicial careers, made great prog
resS from the outset. AS early as Au-
gust q, 1900, it submitted a preliminary
report, which will be laid before the
congress, and from which it appears
that already the good effects of return
ing order are felt; that business, inter-
rupted by hOstilities, is improving as
peace extends; that a larger area is
under sugar cultivation than ever
CIOIS lIldI liz IuSlOILlo Il
greater than at any time during the
Spanish rule; that economy and eff
cheney in the military administration
have created q surplus fund of $6,000,-
900, available for needed public inn
prOvementS; that a stringent civil ser
vice Law is in preparation; that rail-
road communications are expanding,
opening up rich districts. and that a
comprehensive scheme of education is
being organized.
Later reportS from the commission
show yet more encouraging advance
toward insuring the benefits of liberty
and good government to the FilipinoS,
in the interest of humanity and with
the aim of building up an enduring,
self-supporting, and self-administerfng
community in those far eastern seas.
/ would impress upon the congress that
whatever legislation may be enacted
in respect to the Philippine Islands
should be along these generous lines.
The fortune of war has thrown upon
this nation an unsought trust which
should be unselfishly discharged, n
devolved upon this government a
moral as we'll as material responsibility
toward these millions whom we have
freed from an oppressive yoke.
I ave on another occasion called the
Filipinos the wards of the nation"
Our obligation as guardian was not
ISAlIy dSSuIIlSu- II III " DS III
wise than honestly fulfilled, aiming
first of all to benefit those who nave
come under our fostering care. 1t is
u duty so to treat them that u flag
may be no less beloved in the noun
tains of Luzon and the fertile zones of
Mindanao and Negros h it is at
home. that there as here it shall be the
revered symbol of liberty, enlighten-
ment, and progress in every avenue OF
development
The Filipinos are a race quick to
learn and to profit by knowledge. He
would be rash who, with the teachings
of contemporaneous history in view,
would fix a limit to the degree of Gull
ture and advancement yet within the
reach of these people il III duty toward
them be faithfully performed.
The Government of Porto Rico.
The civil government of Porto Rico
provided for by the act of h congress
approved April Il. 1900. is in successful
operation. The courts ave been estab-
lished. The governor and his associ-
ates, working intelligently and harmo-
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