Our Philippine Problem Author:Henry Parker Willis Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II THE BEGINNING OF "CIVIL GOVERNMENT" Pres1dent McK1NLEY's desire to establish in the Philippine Islands a system of civil rule at the earliest possi... more »ble date has already been referred to. In the first place, it was considered discreditable to the administration that it had so long maintained military rule in the Philippine Islands. It was further believed that the severities inflicted by the military would be mitigated if even a portion of the authority of government were to be transferred to a civil authority, which could act as a check on the army. These facts, and a natural desire to go before the country in the campaign of 1900 as having taken distinct steps toward terminating the period of war and securing the re-establishment of civil order, led President McKinley, in March, 1900, to appoint a commission consisting of William H. Taft of Ohio, President; D. C. Worcester of Michigan, Luke E. Wright of Tennessee, Henry C. Ide of Vermont and Bernard Moses of California,' ordering it to proceed to the Philippines to "continue and perfect the work of organising and establishing civil government already commenced by the militaryauthorities, subject in all respects to any laws which Congress may hereafter enact." 'When the Commission had been in the Philippines about a year, and had had time to familiarise itself with insular conditions, it was decided to increase its size by the addition of native members. An order which took effect September 1st, 1901, but whose purport had been made public on the 4th of July preceding, appointed Senors T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Benito Legarda, and Jose Luzuriaga (the first two being residents of Manila and the last a resident of the island of Negros) as members of the Commission (Second Report U. S. P. C, 1901. p. 16). The new appoint...« less