the same time an agreement was concluded with the Sultan of Sulu, by which his rights were secured and our sovereignty was recognized. The army of the Filipinos has been broken up and scattered.

In December, 1899, the brave General Lawton was killed while attacking San Mateo.

An able commission of civilians, to which were added Admiral Dewey and General Otis, was appointed by the President to examine the condition of the Philippines, and began labor on March 20, 1899. In a proclamation (April 4) the Commission offered the Filipinos everything short of absolute independence; but the insurgents held out. In its report the Commission says that "while the people of the Philippine Islands hunger and thirst for their rights and liberties, they do not, in the opinion of the Commission, generally desire independence."

Under military government, progress toward the improvement of the Philippine Islands is being made on the same lines as in Cuba. Local governments are encouraged, schools are established, sanitary reforms are set in motion, the ports are opened, and the famous Manila hemp, so long denied to the trade, is again on its way to an eager market.

In February, 1900, the President began the formation of a new Commission to control and take charge of all matters connected with the construction of a government, and to appoint all necessary civil officers. Judge William H. Taft of Cincinnati was made president of the Commission; the other members are: Professor Dean C. Worcester, a member of the former Commission; General Luke E. Wright, a lawyer of Tennessee; Henry C. Ide, a Vermont lawyer; and Bernard Moses, Professor of History and Political Economy in the University of California. The Commission sailed from San Francisco April 17, 1900.