The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-09

The rnneIc in ths Philippines.


The refusal of the President to in
tertere in the disputed question of au-
thorily between General Chanee and
the Supreme Court OF the Philippines
leaves what appears 20 be "a rather Sc
-ECus matter in a somewhat IudicrUus
situation Tia effect, the military and
civil authorities are told TO settle il be-
tween them But suppose they cannot,
What them They are already in dis
agreement and the issue having been
made, some higher power should de-
eide IT, The very circumstance that
there has been such clash shows that
the dividing line between the military
and civil jurisdiction is not clearly
drawn. and the first duty Of the home
Government is 10 make it clear Unless
this is done there is liable to be ever
recurring disputes accompanied by
much ul-feeIng. and the effect cannot
be other than bad upon the native
population.
one of the specious pleas against ex-
tending the Constitution To the Philip
pines is that the people there are in
fcrlor and altogether unfit for self-gov-
eminent, and still we are furnishing
them fairly strong evidence that we do
not know So very much about govern
nieUt ourselves. a prime essential in
government is certainty both as to the
law and where the power is vested By
which the law IS 10 be enforced. This
essential is wholly lacking in the Phil
ipTines. The military and civil branch
es of the local government are at log
gerheads. and the President Of the
United States. in whom the supreme
power has been vested refuses To in
terfere. Probably the affair will get
Strengthened out i'm a fashion. but new
erthelcss il is suggestive Of a very un-
satisfactory condition Of government in
our new possessions.
why the President should decline To
decide the point is not apparent. The
reason given out is that the United
States Government should not inter
fere with the local government any
more than is absolutely necessary.
There may be force in this rea-
son, but it is hard to see il.
The local government is literally
the creature Of the President There
being a divided authority in the
islands. it is Of the highest Importance
that the line Of cleavage should be
drawn so sharply that there should be
not the smallest doubt concerning il.
The statement Of the issue that has
arisen between General Chanee and the
court is a neagre one. The general is
simply said tC have ordered the de-
p0rtatiOn of a man, first described as
a Ffr-fffars Irr~ Ia
difference may have an important bear
ing upon the question OF authority.
There may be other points involved
which make it unwise Tor the President
10 interfere. Possibly il would involve
The necessity of an explicit statement
OF the authority under which ne. him
self, is actius-wEetLer By virtue Of his
position as COmmarder-iu-Ch Of the
Amy and Navy. or under the SpOouer
resolution. Ia certain contingencies the
difference might have a great deal Of
legal significance. II the President is
merely acting as Commander-in-Ch
Of the armed forces Of the Republic. il
is Of course, suggestive OF a state Of
war. AS is well known. a military com
mauder can d. many things in war that
would not be upheld in peace. 1t is
not Impossible that the Administration
desires 10 leave this question open for
the present because Of the bearing it
may have upon the legal status Of the
islands But whatever the motive. the
refusal Of the supreme power 10 decide
q question Of authority between subor-
dinares certainly creates an anomalous
situation in government