The commission to have certain legislative power. The appointment of officers. government to be established for the purpose of taking over the control. Beginning with the first day of September, 1900, the authority to exercise, subject to my approval, through the Secretary of War, that part of the power of government in the Philippine Islands which is of a legislative nature is to be transferred from the military governor of the islands to this commission, to be thereafter exercised by them in the place and stead of the military governor, under such rules and regulations as you shall prescribe, until the establishment of the civil central government for the islands contemplated in the last foregoing paragraph, or until Congress shall otherwise provide. Exercise of this legislative authority will include the making of rules and orders having the effect of law, for the raising of revenue by taxes, customs duties, and imposts; the appropriation and expenditure of public funds of the islands; the establishment of an educational system throughout the islands; the establishment of a system to secure an efficient civil service; the organization and establishment of courts; the organization and establishment of municipal and departmental governments, and all other matters of a civil nature for which the military governor is now competent to provide by rules or orders of a legislative character. The commission will also have power during the same period to appoint to office such officers under the judicial, educational and civil service systems and in the municipal and departmental governments as shall be provided for. Until the complete transfer of control, the military governor will remain the chief executive head of the government of the islands, and will exercise the executive authority now possessed by him and not herein expressly assigned to the commission, subject however to the rules and orders enacted by the commission in the exercise of the legislative powers conferred upon them. In the meantime the municipal and departmental governments will continue to report to the military governor and be subject to his administrative supervision and control, under your direction, but that supervision and control will for natives. be confined within the narrowest limits consistent with the requirement that the powers of government in the municipalities and departments shall be honestly and effectively exercised and that law and order and individual freedom shall be maintained. . . . The many different degrees of civilization and varieties of cus- Preference toms and capacity among the people of the different islands preclude very definite instruction as to the part which the people shall take in the selection of their own officers but these general rules are to be observed: That in all cases the municipal officers, who administer the local affairs of the people, are to be selected by the people, and that whenever officers of more extended jurisdiction are to be selected in any way, natives of the islands are to be preferred, and if they can be found competent and willing to perform the duties, they are to receive the offices in preference to any others. It will be necessary to fill some offices for the present with Americans which after a time may well be filled by natives of the islands. As soon as practicable a system of ascertaining the merit and fitness of candidates for civil office should be put in force. An indispensable qualification for all offices and positions of trust and authority in the islands must be absolute and unconditional loyalty to the United States, and absolute and unhampered authority and power to remove and punish any officer deviating from that standard must at all times be retained in the hands of the central authority of the islands. funda In all the forms of government and administrative provisions The which they are authorized to prescribe the commission should mental bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is guiding designed not for our satisfaction or for the expression of our theo- principle. retical views, but for the happiness, peace and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands, and the measures adopted should be made to conform to their customs, their habits, and even their prejudices, to the fullest extent consistent with the accomplishment of the indispensable requisites of just and effective govern ment. Some inviolable rules. At the same time the commission should bear in mind and the people of the islands should be made plainly to understand that there are certain great principles of government which have been made the basis of our governmental system which we deem essential to the rule of law and the maintenance of individual freedom, and of which they have, unfortunately, been denied the experience possessed by us; that there are also certain practical rules of government which we have found to be essential to the preservation of these great principles of liberty and law, and that these principles and these rules of government must be established and maintained in their islands for the sake of their liberty and happiness, however much they may conflict with their customs or laws of procedure with which they are familiar. . . . Upon every division and branch of the government of the Philippines therefore must be imposed these inviolable rules: That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation; that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense; that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense or be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself; that the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist except as a punishment for crime; that no bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed; that no law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances; that no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; and that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed. . . . 157. The Philippine Assembly ... The following proclamation issued by President Roosevelt on March 28, 1907, describes the steps taken under the act of 1902, by which a general election was called in the islands for the choice of delegates to a Philippine assembly: for a Whereas by the sixth section of the act of Congress approved Provision July first, nineteen hundred and two, entitled "An act temporarily census. to provide for the administration of the affairs of civil government in the Philippine Islands, and for other purposes," it was provided "That whenever the existing insurrection in the Philippine Islands shall have ceased, and a condition of general and complete peace shall have been established therein, and the fact shall be certified to the President of the Philippine Commission, the President, upon being satisfied thereof shall order a census of the Philippine Islands to be taken by said Philippine Commission;" and Conditions Whereas by the seventh section of said act it was provided: warranting "That two years after the completion and publication of the cen- the call of sus, in case such condition of general and complete peace with the assembly recognition of the authority of the United States, shall have continued in the territory of said islands, not inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes, and such facts shall have been certified to the President by the Philippine Commission, the President, upon being satisfied thereof, shall direct said Commission to call, and the Commission shall call, a general election for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly of the people of said territory in the Philippine Islands, which shall be known as the Philippine Assembly. After said Assembly shall have convened and organized, all the legislative power heretofore conferred on the Philippine Commission in all that part of said Islands not inhabited by Moros or other non-Christian tribes shall be vested in the legislature consisting of two houses the Philippine Commission and The census taken and published. The commission advises the President. the Philippine Assembly. Said Assembly shall consist of not less than fifty nor more than one hundred members, to be apportioned by said Commission among the provinces as nearly as practicable according to population, Provided, That no province shall have less than one member: And, provided further, That provinces entitled by population to more than one member may be divided into such convenient districts as the said Commission may deem best;" and Whereas on September 8, 1902, the Philippine Commission certified to me that the insurrection of the Philippine Islands had ceased, and that a condition of general and complete peace had been established therein; and Whereas in pursuance of the provisions of the law above quoted, and upon the foregoing due certification, and being satisfied of the facts therein stated, on the 25th day of September, 1902, I ordered a census of the Philippine Islands to be taken by the Philippine Commission; and Whereas, the census so ordered was taken and announcement of its completion and publication made to the people of the Philippine Islands on March 28, 1905; and Whereas the Philippine Commission has now certified to me the following resolution: "Whereas the census of the Philippine Islands was completed and published, on the 27th day of March, 1905, which said completion and publication of said census was, on the 28th day of March, 1905, duly published and proclaimed to the people by the governor-general of the Philippine Islands with the announcement that the President of the United States would direct the Philippine Commission to call a general election for the choice of delegates to a popular assembly, provided that a condition of general and complete peace, with recognition of the authority of the United States, should be certified by the Philippine Commission to have continued in the territory of the Philippine Islands for a period of two years after said completion and publication of said census; and |