Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-02-25

LAYING FOUNDATION
 ?. l. GOVERNMENT
Philippine Congress- Wrestles With Problem, Using U. s. and
 British as Patterns.
Correspondence Associated Press)

(ColTespondence Associated Press)
 Manila, r. l., Feb. 1.-Laying the foundations for the future govern mcnt of the Philippines the new Phil
 ppinc congress has been wrestling m the three months of it's existence with various problems of organization which have for their foundamental basis the foundation of a system of government like both that of the Unit ed States and that of Great Britain.
 Out of countless plans and sugges- tlons has now risen a council of state soon to be named by Governor Gener- Ial Harrison. This council of state will include both the speaker of the house and the president of the sen- ate-Sergio Osmena and Manuel Quezon respectively. Just what other members it will include has not been stated. It will probably include also the secretaries of the executive de- partments.
 As originally planned these secre- taries were to form a cabinet. Under the law organizing the new depart ments, the secretaries and their assist ants may be required to attend ses- sions of either house of congress to aid in the discussion of any law. This gives the executive departments regu- lar representation-wi witnout a vote-in congress. Then the plan was broached of naming as secretary of the inter- for, an office held over from the old regime and consequently open to a member of congress, Speaker Owen. The Jones bill, passed by the United States congress in 1916, specifically prohibits the naming of a member of congress to any office he has helped to create. This provision barred the local congress from carrying out the British system to it's conclusion.
 But Speaker Osmena, after mature deliberation, declined the appointment as secretary of the interior. In offic- ial circles it was freely stated though not verified, that Osmena would not accept a cabinet appointment unless Quezon were also elevated to the cabinet. Politicians saw in this a coming struggle for supremacy, friendly though it might be, between these two men, the big figures of Philippine political life today. Either Quezon declined cabinet office or the provisions of the Jones bill made such an appointment impossible. Whatever the truth of the matter, Os- mena's declination made the plan inn possible. Ii had been hoped to make his position as secretary of the inter- for who was also member of the low CT house, analogous to that of the British premier.
 The desire to secure an analogy to the British system, however, is serv- ed by the council of state. Whether this council of state will provide for premier, the future alone will tell. If there is to be premier, it is de- clared it must be Osmena as he is not alone speaker of the house, but president of the Nationalista party, the predominant political group in the islands. Friends of Osmena state that he does not care to be premier at a time when Filipino control is not absolute. He feels that the failure of his government might be brought about by circumstances over which he had no control. Yet he personally would be held responsible and might ieopardize his entire life-work. He is not yet forty, and his career in Philippine life is brilliant with prom