The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-08-17
America in The Philippines XVI CUARANTzES OF CIVIL RIGHTS
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

Maniia,--The foundation of the civil government in the Philippines was laid
 by President Mckinley in a letter oi instructions to the first Philippine Com mission. which instructions were later ratified and enacted into statute law by Congress. Under this peculiar consti- tuition of fundamental law. the Amer jeans have endeavored to extend to the ty and property secured to Americans under the Federal Constitution. The only guaranties withheld were the right to keep and bear arms. and the right to trial by jury.
 It has been the earnest effort Of the civil government in the Philippines to make these rights real things to the poorer class of FHipinos. 70 sas as, them an actual benefit to the tao class. the class corresponding to Lin- coins plain people," The greatest obstacle has been the ignorance or the people as to what their rights are. ana as to the proper method Of asserting them.
 It must be kept In mind that the vast majority of the Filipinos. before the es- tablishment of American civil govern ment and the restoration of peace. had nc civil rights as Americans under stand them. Furthermore. the Filipino was oppressed not only by corrupt administration of the slaws. but also by system of economic bossism calico .'caciqueism." by which he was robbed of practically everything he made
 Under the operation or the American administration, the 'tao" Is beginning to learn that he has rights in which courts will uphold him. and as re- suit he Is beginning to obtain release from the "cacique." This economic revolution Is progressing apace under American encouragement. When the time has come that its ultimate success may be recorded, then the Filtpinos will have to thank the United States for a priceless boon. The reforms In this direction are as valuable to the mass of the people of the Philippines as was the destruction of the teudaI system to the masses of the people of England.
 The system of 'caci1ueism" perme- ates the entire social fapric of the is- lands. It includes every kind of "boss- ism." from the political al-H1Iegiance such as Is demanded by Tammany Hall or the Philadelphia Republican organiza- ton. up to practical slavery and act. ual peonage. The system Is Malay In origin, the Filipinos of the '.tao" class have never known any other system. and the Spanish occupation of more
  leviate its burdens.
 A "tao" who tiils a little farm in the hill country becomes indebted to "caciuue" in the coast market town for some trifiing amount perhaps not more than dollar From that day until his death he must bring all his produce to that "caciQue," sell 1t at the price set by the boss and be content with as much of the proceeds as his overlord elects to pay him. It Is system of never ending debt-slavery. The tao" tolls along his weary years and knows little of politics except what the "ca- clique" tells him. That the "cacique" has no legal right to enslave him he never dreams.
 But in these late years the "tao" is sending his boys and girls to the Amer ican schools. The teachers are the enemies of "caciQueism." and the chill dren hear of the possession of rights to which no tao" has ever aspired. They go home. and tell their parents. Then the tao" repudiates the cacique" and, if need be, calls upon the courts to uphold him It will take many. many years to destroy this system of peonage In the islands. and there may be some trouble over it. In 6amar, the most turbulent island of the group at this time, the fncipient rebellion In the mountains is not aimed at the Amert- cans 50 much as it is at the lowland "cacique.'
 The Philippines possessed. when the Americans arrived there. . system of laws which were much better in theory than in practice. The courts were cor' rupt and the procedure uhder the law slow and expensive. The Spanish law. based on the Roman Civil Law, has been retained. but the procedure In the courts has been adapted to American methods This secures an oral instead of a written trial. an inestimable ad- vantage to Q judge who is earnest In seekinR for the truth as well as boon to the honest titigant. Persons charg. ed with crime must now be confronted by the accusing witness. and they have the right tc subpoena witnesses in their own behalf.
 In fact, if the Filipinos realized the existence of such things, they might now enjoy all tho civil rights of Amer leans except those of bearing arms and the trial by jury. The writ of haheas corpus was suspended during the in. surrection, but 1t Is now fully restored. The press Is free. with no limitations except those of the libel laws and the prohibition against melting to riot. the same limitations in effect imposed by the several State 5f the Union. To grant the right of keeping and bear ing arms at this stage of the develop ment of the Filtpinos would be merely to license ladrones and bandits. The people are not yet educated up to the standard of fitness for compulsory fury system. The community regards the government as a thing apart, an entity which is usually an enemy and In which the community has no inter est Therefore a jury woud always sympathize with an accused person and release him merely because the gov ernment was prosecuting him. Until the people learn that the government is their government, and is acting In their behalf most jury system experi- ments in the Philippines probably will fall.
 It must be remembered that the Bill of Rights was not in the original~C Com stitution of the United States, and had 1t been there is great doubt if the Un- ion would have been formed. The re- cItal of rights added in the first ten amendments to the Constitution was the salvation of the Unien. but 1t was not placed there without opposition. To the Filipinos the grant of practically all of these guaranties comes not as the result of an intelligent demand fructifying through centuries of par tial self-government and political ex- perience, but as the sudden and un- sought gift from a con7uering nation. Many of the Filipinos who prate most loudly of Independence" place no value whatever on that kind ot inde- pendence thus guaranteed. The Fili- pino Judiciary approves the reforms en- thusiastically. but the people do not