Evening star., 1900-10-11
SELF-GOvERNMENT FOR FILIPINOS
How the Taft Com mission VIII Or
Eanize the Natives,

How the Taft Commi.sion VIII Or
Eanize the Natives.
From the Manila Freedom august 81.
The evil commission has been very busy
during the past week with the reports of
the commission on the subjects assigned to
them. At present time their entire atten-
ton is engaged in considering the report Of
Professor Worcester on municipal law.
They will go into legislative session on the
] iirst of the month Saturday when they will
continue to organize and establish ascivil
government
| They will not take upon themselves the
| governing power with a flourish of trum-
| pets and a sixteen-column proclamatio ton.
They will simply express to the inhabitants
| the extent of their authority vested in the
| body by the United States government and
| then they will set example to every Filipino
! by getting down to good hard work
Proclamations are out of date. During
| the Spanish regime there many of
| them and they never made the people any
happ per or improved their condition. In this
regard il is the intention of the commission
| to put the energy that might be wasted in
! DrocIamatlonS into the pile of reform work
! that presents itself and will work first and
| talk about it afterwards. 1t will be
sensation for the Filpinos whose first and
| last ideas of authority was a proclamation.
| Every governor issued one when he came
and wound up with one when he gave adios.
The attention of the leg!sla tors after they
| have formed into a legislative body will be
| the adjustment of municipal laws. These
| will be most liberal and along lines that will
| give the FIlipinoS an opportunity of study
| ing the elements of elf-government A
thorough study of the conditions has been
made by Prof. Worcester and the result of
| his work has been reported to the commits
| sion, who will take action soon as they
assemble a governing body.
| The F1IlDlnOS VIII start the most ele-
| mentary form Of self-government and the
| success with which they manage their
! municipal affairs will be a criterion on
| further indulgence in the matter of gov
ern.ng power. The citizens who can gov
ern town well, giving every resident equal
rights before the munciptl law, will COM
pose the material used in some day gov
ern.ng province. If all the pueblos in a
| province prove that they can sustain law
| and order within the limits of their juris-
| diction and protect themselves from
| ladrones from without and the lawless ele-
| ment from within it Will not take many
years for them to demonstrate that they
| can handle the government of the provinces
That is just along the lines that the COM
| mission will work. When the people
| demonstrate their fitness for greater meas
| ures of self-government they may rest
| sured that the United States representa- tives
II, Will not fail to reward them. No officials
| were ever more in earnest to aid and bene-
| fit the Filipino people than the members of
| the present commission.
The establ shment o. municipalities means
a great deal of hard work. municipal laws
meeting every contingency must be codi-
| fled. Crimes and offenses against those
| laws must be punished. The procedure of
! the municipal courts must be established on
| an American basis that every man can
| have prompt and sure justice.
Everything elementary in the government
of country IS entailed in the government
| of a municipality and in the municipality
| the citizen receives his elementary training
| He discovers here his rela ationship to society
| and how far his personal rights extend
| When he has learned that his own liberty
| must not encroach upon his ne.ghbor the
| Filipino will have earned his first lesson in
seif-government.
! This is what the civil commission is here
| to teach him. and it Will be their purpose
| to have him study each lesson We'll that
| he can demonstrate it.
| The legislative body will meet daily and
| all their acts while in session will be made
! public. Each reform will be openly dis
| cussed by the press and the people In this
manner the first actual work of bringing
the Filipino people to a knowledge of citi-
| Zenship Will commence and will continue
| under the direction of a commission COM
posed of men who represent the very best
| intellect of America.