ADDRESS

OF

HON. GEORGE H. DERN

SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE UNITED STATES

AT THE

INAUGURATION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE PHILIPPINES

AT MANILA, NOVEMBER 15, 1935

CITIZENS OF THE PHILIPPINES:

I have the distinguished honor to come to you as the representative of the President of the United States, to participate in the ceremonies of this momentous occasion. We are about to establish and put into operation the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, as ordained by the Congress of the United States. This event is another landmark in your steady progress toward the fulfillment of your aspirations to be a completely independent sovereign nation ultimately to be realized through the practical, coöperative efforts of two peoples imbued with the same ideals of liberty and self-government.

President Roosevelt asked me to say that his heart is with you on this historic day. A radiogram just received from him asks me to give the following message to the Filipino people:

"Please convey to President Quezon and the Filipino people on the occasion of the birth of the Commonwealth of the Philippines my sincere congratulations on this great forward step in the establishment of popular self-government, and express to them my confidence in their ability to carry out successfully the final steps in the accomplishment of their complete independence.'

Thirty-seven years ago, through the fortunes of war, the Philippine Islands came under the flag of the United States. It was no premeditated aggression, and there was no thought of territorial aggrandizement.

Even before American occupation the Filipino people had started their struggle for freedom, with which Americans instinctively sympathized. What, then, was to be the attitude of the United States toward a dependency which it had so accidentally acquired? A policy of colonial expansion and exploitation was a departure from our national ideals, and therefore did not commend itself to the American people.

Our decision was soon made. Less than two years after American occupation, President McKinley's letter of instructions to the first Philippine Commission laid down these basic principles:

"In all the forms of government and administrative provisions which they are authorized to prescribe, the commission should bear in mind that the government which they are establishing is designed not for our satisfaction, or for the expression of our theoretical views, but for the happiness, peace, and prosperity of the people of the Philippine Islands. ***"*

Later he declared:

"It is our purpose to establish in the Philippines a government suitable to the wants and conditions of the inhabitants and to prepare them for self-government and to give them self-government when they are ready for it and as rapidly as they are ready for it."

That promise was made in good faith. In order that it might be creditably carried out, it implied a period of training and preparation. Greedy exploitation was repugnant to our minds. We declared that the good of the dependency-not our own good-must be the first consideration—a new idea, perhaps, in colonial administration. We harked back to the spirit of 1776 and we conceded that the Filipinos had the same rights as we claimed when we were colonists of Great Britain. The question is sometimes asked: "Why does the United States give up so valuable a territorial possession as the Philippine Islands?" The answer is that the value of the Islands to the United States does not enter into the calculation. We have proceeded in accordance with the American conception of the fundamental right of peoples to govern themselves.

Having declared this unprecedented colonial policy, there arose the practical question of how and when it should be carried out. Through no fault of their own the people of the Philippines had not been trained in the difficult art of self-government, and had never been given an opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to rule themselves. We had no means of knowing whether they had been disciplined, as Anglo-Saxons had been disciplined for centuries, to abide by the expressed will of the majority, however obnoxious that will might be to the minority. Stable popular government is impossible without majority rule. Moreover, it was difficult for us to comprehend how popular government could be successful without popular education, which we Americans regard as the keystone of the arch of democracy. And so one of the first things we did was to send school teachers over here in large numbers to establish a progressive educational system. And today universal education is the Philippine ideal as it is the American ideal.

Popular government was begun promptly and developed steadily. The election of municipal and provincial officials was the first step, soon to be followed by an elective lower house of the legislature, and somewhat later by a completely elective legislature. And now we are taking the last step.

I need not trace the history of independence legislation. The TydingsMcDuffie Act, passed in 1934, and accepted by the Philippine Legislature, is

the result of an earnest effort on the part of the Congress to meet the aims and aspirations of the Filipino people, so far as was consistent with harmonizing the various interests affected thereby. Its enactment is an expression of confidence by the Congress of the United States in the capacity of the Filipino people to carry out successfully the next and final steps in the program for the establishment of an independent Filipino nation.

The prescribed transition period of ten years before complete independence becomes an accomplished fact seemed advisable and prudent in order to launch the Philippine Republic under the most favorable auspices. It provides adequate safeguards for the interests of both the American and the Filipino peoples. The problems that must be worked out in this period are vital, and must be given the most careful and thorough consideration.

said:

President Roosevelt, in his message to the Congress on March 2, 1934,

"*** May I emphasize that while we desire to grant complete independence at the earliest proper moment, to effect this result without allowing sufficient time for necessary political and economic adjustments would be a definite injustice to the people of the Philippine Islands themselves little short of a denial of independence itself.

The Independence Act is a broad grant to the Filipino people of local government. The enlarged powers granted under this Act reside essentially in the people. The Commonwealth Government is being organized in accordance with the provisions of your own Constitution, which goes into effect today and which was formulated and drafted by delegates of your own selection. It is an enlightened, democratic document, and does great credit to the Filipino people. It contains a bill of rights expressing what the American people believe to be the basic principles of free government. Perhaps the greatest heritage that the United States has bequeathed to you is the bill of rights included in both the first and second organic acts of the Congress, and carried over into your Constitution.

You are about to witness the inauguration of the Chief Executive whom you have elected by popular vote; and all the agencies of local government will soon be functioning under the provisions of your Constitution. Your President and Vice President, the members of your Supreme Court, and the other Island officials heretofore appointed by the President of the United States, will take office under the provisions of your own Constitution and the laws of your own National Assembly. Thus your local affairs pass to your own control, and you have the full responsibility of citizens of the Philippines, upon whose shoulders rests the mantle of government.

I may be pardoned an expression of pride and pleasure in the privilege of witnessing an event resulting from the coöperative efforts of two peoples