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Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2. by William McKinley

W >> William McKinley >> Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2.




There is widespread interest in the improvement of our public highways
at the present time, and the Department of Agriculture is co-operating
with the people in each locality in making the best possible roads
from local material and in experimenting with steel tracks. A more
intelligent system of managing the forests of the country is being put
in operation and a careful study of the whole forestry problem is being
conducted throughout the United States. A very extensive and complete
exhibit of the agricultural and horticultural products of the United
States is being prepared for the Paris Exposition.

* * * * *

On the 10th of December, 1898, the treaty of peace between the United
States and Spain was signed. It provided, among other things, that Spain
should cede to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine
Islands, that the United States should pay to Spain the sum of twenty
millions of dollars, and that the civil rights and political status of
the native inhabitants of the territories thus ceded to the United
States should be determined by the Congress. The treaty was ratified by
the Senate on the 6th of February, 1899, and by the Government of Spain
on the 19th of March following. The ratifications were exchanged on the
11th of April and the treaty publicly proclaimed. On the 2d of March the
Congress voted the sum contemplated by the treaty, and the amount was
paid over to the Spanish Government on the 1st of May.

In this manner the Philippines came to the United States. The islands
were ceded by the Government of Spain, which had been in undisputed
possession of them for centuries. They were accepted not merely by our
authorized commissioners in Paris, under the direction of the Executive,
but by the constitutional and well-considered action of the
representatives of the people of the United States in both Houses of
Congress. I had every reason to believe, and I still believe that this
transfer of sovereignty was in accordance with the wishes and the
aspirations of the great mass of the Filipino people.

From the earliest moment no opportunity was lost of assuring the
people of the islands of our ardent desire for their welfare and of the
intention of this Government to do everything possible to advance their
interests. In my order of the 19th of May, 1898, the commander of the
military expedition dispatched to the Philippines was instructed to
declare that we came not to make war upon the people of that country,
"nor upon any party or faction among them, but to protect them in
their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious
rights." That there should be no doubt as to the paramount authority
there, on the 17th of August it was directed that "there must be no
joint occupation with the insurgents"; that the United States must
preserve the peace and protect persons and property within the territory
occupied by their military and naval forces; that the insurgents and
all others must recognize the military occupation and authority of
the United States. As early as December 4, before the cession, and
in anticipation of that event, the commander in Manila was urged to
restore peace and tranquillity and to undertake the establishment of
a beneficent government, which should afford the fullest security for
life and property.

On the 21st of December, after the treaty was signed, the commander of
the forces of occupation was instructed "to announce and proclaim in the
most public manner that we come, not as invaders and conquerors, but as
friends to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and
in their personal and religious rights." On the same day, while ordering
General Otis to see that the peace should be preserved in Iloilo, he was
admonished that: "It is most important that there should be no conflict
with the insurgents." On the 1st day of January, 1899, urgent orders
were reiterated that the kindly intentions of this Government should be
in every possible way communicated to the insurgents.

On the 21st of January I announced my intention of dispatching to Manila
a commission composed of three gentlemen of the highest character and
distinction, thoroughly acquainted with the Orient, who, in association
with Admiral Dewey and Major-General Otis, were instructed "to
facilitate the most humane and effective extension of authority
throughout the islands, and to secure with the least possible delay the
benefits of a wise and generous protection of life and property to the
inhabitants." These gentlemen were Dr. Jacob Gould Schurman, president
of Cornell University; the Hon. Charles Denby, for many years minister
to China, and Prof. Dean C. Worcester, of the University of Michigan,
who had made a most careful study of life in the Philippines. While
the treaty of peace was under consideration in the Senate, these
Commissioners set out on their mission of good will and liberation.
Their character was a sufficient guaranty of the beneficent purpose with
which they went, even if they had not borne the positive instructions of
this Government, which made their errand pre-eminently one of peace and
friendship.

But before their arrival at Manila the sinister ambition of a few
leaders of the Filipinos had created a situation full of embarrassment
for us and most grievous in its consequences to themselves. The clear
and impartial preliminary report of the Commissioners, which I transmit
herewith, gives so lucid and comprehensive a history of the present
insurrectionary movement that the story need not be here repeated. It is
enough to say that the claim of the rebel leader that he was promised
independence by an officer of the United States in return for his
assistance has no foundation in fact and is categorically denied by
the very witnesses who were called to prove it. The most the insurgent
leader hoped for when he came back to Manila was the liberation of the
islands from the Spanish control, which they had been laboring for years
without success to throw off.

The prompt accomplishment of this work by the American Army and Navy
gave him other ideas and ambitions, and insidious suggestions from
various quarters perverted the purposes and intentions with which he had
taken up arms. No sooner had our army captured Manila than the Filipino
forces began to assume an attitude of suspicion and hostility which the
utmost efforts of our officers and troops were unable to disarm or
modify. Their kindness and forbearance were taken as a proof of
cowardice. The aggressions of the Filipinos continually increased until
finally, just before the time set by the Senate of the United States for
a vote upon the treaty, an attack, evidently prepared in advance, was
made all along the American lines, which resulted in a terribly
destructive and sanguinary repulse of the insurgents.

Ten days later an order of the insurgent government was issued to its
adherents who had remained in Manila, of which General Otis justly
observes that "for barbarous intent it is unequaled in modern times."
It directs that at 8 o'clock on the night of the 15th of February the
"territorial militia" shall come together in the streets of San Pedro
armed with their _bolos_, with guns and ammunition where convenient;
that Filipino families only shall be respected; but that all other
individuals, of whatever race they may be, shall be exterminated without
any compassion, after the extermination of the army of occupation,
and adds: "Brothers, we must avenge ourselves on the Americans and
exterminate them, that we may take our revenge for the infamies and
treacheries which they have committed upon us. Have no compassion upon
them; attack with vigor." A copy of this fell by good fortune into the
hands of our officers and they were able to take measures to control the
rising, which was actually attempted on the night of February 22, a week
later than was originally contemplated. Considerable numbers of armed
insurgents entered the city by waterways and swamps and in concert with
confederates inside attempted to destroy Manila by fire. They were kept
in check during the night and the next day driven out of the city with
heavy loss.

This was the unhappy condition of affairs which confronted our
Commissioners on their arrival in Manila. They had come with the hope
and intention of co-operating with Admiral Dewey and Major-General Otis
in establishing peace and order in the archipelago and the largest
measure of self-government compatible with the true welfare of the
people. What they actually found can best be set forth in their own
words:

Deplorable as war is, the one in which we are now engaged was
unavoidable by us. We were attacked by a bold, adventurous, and
enthusiastic army. No alternative was left to us except ignominious
retreat.

It is not to be conceived of that any American would have sanctioned
the surrender of Manila to the insurgents. Our obligations to other
nations and to the friendly Filipinos and to ourselves and our flag
demanded that force should be met by force. Whatever the future of
the Philippines may be, there is no course open to us now except the
prosecution of the war until the insurgents are reduced to submission.
The Commission is of the opinion that there has been no time since
the destruction of the Spanish squadron by Admiral Dewey when it was
possible to withdraw our forces from the island either with honor to
ourselves or with safety to the inhabitants.


The course thus clearly indicated has been unflinchingly pursued.
The rebellion must be put down. Civil government cannot be thoroughly
established until order is restored. With a devotion and gallantry
worthy of its most brilliant history, the Army, ably and loyally
assisted by the Navy, has carried on this unwelcome but most righteous
campaign with richly deserved success. The noble self-sacrifice with
which our soldiers and sailors whose terms of service had expired
refused to avail themselves of their right to return home as long as
they were needed at the front forms one of the brightest pages in our
annals. Although their operations have been somewhat interrupted and
checked by a rainy season of unusual violence and duration, they have
gained ground steadily in every direction, and now look forward
confidently to a speedy completion of their task.

The unfavorable circumstances connected with an active campaign have
not been permitted to interfere with the equally important work of
reconstruction. Again I invite your attention to the report of the
Commissioners for the interesting and encouraging details of the work
already accomplished in the establishment of peace and order and the
inauguration of self-governing municipal life in many portions of the
archipelago. A notable beginning has been made in the establishment
of a government in the island of Negros which is deserving of special
consideration. This was the first island to accept American sovereignty.
Its people unreservedly proclaimed allegiance to the United States
and adopted a constitution looking to the establishment of a popular
government. It was impossible to guarantee to the people of Negros that
the constitution so adopted should be the ultimate form of government.
Such a question, under the treaty with Spain and in accordance with our
own Constitution and laws, came exclusively within the jurisdiction
of the Congress. The government actually set up by the inhabitants of
Negros eventually proved unsatisfactory to the natives themselves. A new
system was put into force by order of the Major-General Commanding the
Department, of which the following are the most important elements:

It was ordered that the government of the island of Negros should
consist of a military governor appointed by the United States military
governor of the Philippines, and a civil governor and an advisory
council elected by the people. The military governor was authorized
to appoint secretaries of the treasury, interior, agriculture, public
instruction, an attorney-general, and an auditor. The seat of government
was fixed at Bacolod. The military governor exercises the supreme
executive power. He is to see that the laws are executed, appoint to
office, and fill all vacancies in office not otherwise provided for,
and may, with the approval of the military governor of the Philippines,
remove any officer from office. The civil governor advises the military
governor on all public civil questions and presides over the advisory
council. He, in general, performs the duties which are performed by
secretaries of state in our own system of government.

The advisory council consists of eight members elected by the people
within territorial limits which are defined in the order of the
commanding general.

The times and places of holding elections are to be fixed by the
military governor of the island of Negros. The qualifications of voters
are as follows:

(1) A voter must be a male citizen of the island of Negros. (2) Of the
age of 21 years. (3) He shall be able to speak, read, and write the
English, Spanish, or Visayan language, or he must own real property
worth $500, or pay a rental on real property of the value of $1,000. (4)
He must have resided in the island not less than one year preceding, and
in the district in which he offers to register as a voter not less than
three months immediately preceding the time he offers to register. (5)
He must register at a time fixed by law before voting. (6) Prior to such
registration he shall have paid all taxes due by him to the Government.
Provided, that no insane person shall be allowed to register or vote.

The military governor has the right to veto all bills or resolutions
adopted by the advisory council, and his veto is final if not
disapproved by the military governor of the Philippines.

The advisory council discharges all the ordinary duties of a
legislature. The usual duties pertaining to said offices are to be
performed by the secretaries of the treasury, interior, agriculture,
public instruction, the attorney-general, and the auditor.

The judicial power is vested in three judges, who are to be appointed
by the military governor of the island. Inferior courts are to be
established.

Free public schools are to be established throughout the populous
districts of the island, in which the English language shall be taught,
and this subject will receive the careful consideration of the advisory
council.

The burden of government must be distributed equally and equitably among
the people. The military authorities will collect and receive the
customs revenue, and will control postal matters and Philippine
inter-island trade and commerce.

The military governor, subject to the approval of the military governor
of the Philippines, determines all questions not specifically provided
for and which do not come under the jurisdiction of the advisory
council.

The authorities of the Sulu Islands have accepted the succession of
the United States to the rights of Spain, and our flag floats over
that territory. On the 10th of August, 1899, Brig.-Gen. J.C. Bates,
United States Volunteers, negotiated an agreement with the Sultan
and his principal chiefs, which I transmit herewith. By Article I the
sovereignty of the United States over the whole archipelago of Jolo
and its dependencies is declared and acknowledged.

The United States flag will be used in the archipelago and its
dependencies, on land and sea. Piracy is to be suppressed, and the
Sultan agrees to co-operate heartily with the United States authorities
to that end and to make every possible effort to arrest and bring to
justice all persons engaged in piracy. All trade in domestic products of
the archipelago of Jolo when carried on with any part of the Philippine
Islands and under the American flag shall be free, unlimited, and
undutiable. The United States will give full protection to the Sultan in
case any foreign nation should attempt to impose upon him. The United
States will not sell the island of Jolo or any other island of the Jolo
archipelago to any foreign nation without the consent of the Sultan.
Salaries for the Sultan and his associates in the administration of the
islands have been agreed upon to the amount of $760 monthly.

Article X provides that any slave in the archipelago of Jolo shall have
the right to purchase freedom by paying to the master the usual market
value. The agreement by General Bates was made subject to confirmation
by the President and to future modifications by the consent of the
parties in interest. I have confirmed said agreement, subject to the
action of the Congress, and with the reservation, which I have directed
shall be communicated to the Sultan of Jolo, that this agreement is not
to be deemed in any way to authorize or give the consent of the United
States to the existence of slavery in the Sulu archipelago. I
communicate these facts to the Congress for its information and action.

Everything indicates that with the speedy suppression of the Tagalo
rebellion life in the archipelago will soon resume its ordinary course
under the protection of our sovereignty, and the people of those favored
islands will enjoy a prosperity and a freedom which they have never
before known. Already hundreds of schools are open and filled with
children. Religious freedom is sacredly assured and enjoyed. The courts
are dispensing justice. Business is beginning to circulate in its
accustomed channels. Manila, whose inhabitants were fleeing to the
country a few months ago, is now a populous and thriving mart of
commerce. The earnest and unremitting endeavors of the Commission and
the Admiral and Major-General Commanding the Department of the Pacific
to assure the people of the beneficent intentions of this Government
have had their legitimate effect in convincing the great mass of them
that peace and safety and prosperity and stable government can only be
found in a loyal acceptance of the authority of the United States.

The future government of the Philippines rests with the Congress of the
United States. Few graver responsibilities have ever been confided to
us. If we accept them in a spirit worthy of our race and our traditions,
a great opportunity comes with them. The islands lie under the shelter
of our flag. They are ours by every title of law and equity. They cannot
be abandoned. If we desert them we leave them at once to anarchy and
finally to barbarism. We fling them, a golden apple of discord, among
the rival powers, no one of which could permit another to seize them
unquestioned. Their rich plains and valleys would be the scene of
endless strife and bloodshed. The advent of Dewey's fleet in Manila Bay
instead of being, as we hope, the dawn of a new day of freedom and
progress, will have been the beginning of an era of misery and violence
worse than any which has darkened their unhappy past. The suggestion
has been made that we could renounce our authority over the islands
and, giving them independence, could retain a protectorate over them.
This proposition will not be found, I am sure, worthy of your serious
attention. Such an arrangement would involve at the outset a cruel
breach of faith. It would place the peaceable and loyal majority, who
ask nothing better than to accept our authority, at the mercy of the
minority of armed insurgents. It would make us responsible for the acts
of the insurgent leaders and give us no power to control them. It would
charge us with the task of protecting them against each other and
defending them against any foreign power with which they chose to
quarrel. In short, it would take from the Congress of the United States
the power of declaring war and vest that tremendous prerogative in the
Tagal leader of the hour.

It does not seem desirable that I should recommend at this time a
specific and final form of government for these islands. When peace
shall be restored it will be the duty of Congress to construct a plan
of government which shall establish and maintain freedom and order and
peace in the Philippines. The insurrection is still existing, and when
it terminates further information will be required as to the actual
condition of affairs before inaugurating a permanent scheme of civil
government. The full report of the Commission, now in preparation, will
contain information and suggestions which will be of value to Congress,
and which I will transmit as soon as it is completed. As long as the
insurrection continues the military arm must necessarily be supreme.
But there is no reason why steps should not be taken from time to time
to inaugurate governments essentially popular in their form as fast
as territory is held and controlled by our troops. To this end I am
considering the advisability of the return of the Commission, or such of
the members thereof as can be secured, to aid the existing authorities
and facilitate this work throughout the islands. I have believed that
reconstruction should not begin by the establishment of one central
civil government for all the islands, with its seat at Manila, but
rather that the work should be commenced by building up from the bottom,
first establishing municipal governments and then provincial
governments, a central government at last to follow.

Until Congress shall have made known the formal expression of its
will I shall use the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the
statutes to uphold the sovereignty of the United States in those distant
islands as in all other places where our flag rightfully floats. I shall
put at the disposal of the Army and Navy all the means which the
liberality of Congress and the people have provided to cause this
unprovoked and wasteful insurrection to cease.

If any orders of mine were required to insure the merciful conduct of
military and naval operations, they would not be lacking; but every step
of the progress of our troops has been marked by a humanity which has
surprised even the misguided insurgents. The truest kindness to them
will be a swift and effective defeat of their present leader. The hour
of victory will be the hour of clemency and reconstruction.

No effort will be spared to build up the waste places desolated by war
and by long years of misgovernment. We shall not wait for the end of
strife to begin the beneficent work. We shall continue, as we have
begun, to open the schools and the churches, to set the courts in
operation, to foster industry and trade and agriculture, and in every
way in our power to make these people whom Providence has brought within
our jurisdiction feel that it is their liberty and not our power, their
welfare and not our gain, we are seeking to enhance. Our flag has never
waved over any community but in blessing. I believe the Filipinos will
soon recognize the fact that it has not lost its gift of benediction in
its world-wide journey to their shores.

* * * * *

Some embarrassment in administration has occurred by reason of the
peculiar status which the Hawaiian Islands at present occupy under the
joint resolution of annexation approved July 7, 1898. While by that
resolution the Republic of Hawaii as an independent nation was
extinguished, its separate sovereignty destroyed, and its property and
possessions vested in the United States, yet a complete establishment
for its government under our system was not effected. While the
municipal laws of the islands not enacted for the fulfillment of
treaties and not inconsistent with the joint resolution or contrary to
the Constitution of the United States or any of its treaties remain in
force, yet these laws relate only to the social and internal affairs of
the islands, and do not touch many subjects of importance which are
of a broader national character. For example, the Hawaiian Republic
was divested of all title to the public lands in the islands, and is
not only unable to dispose of lands to settlers desiring to take up
homestead sites, but is without power to give complete title in cases
where lands have been entered upon under lease or other conditions which
carry with them the right to the purchaser, lessee, or settler to have a
full title granted to him upon compliance with the conditions prescribed
by law or by his particular agreement of entry.

Questions of doubt and difficulty have also arisen with reference to
the collection of tonnage tax on vessels coming from Hawaiian ports;
with reference to the status of Chinese in the islands, their entrance
and exit therefrom; as to patents and copyrights; as to the register
of vessels under the navigation laws; as to the necessity of holding
elections in accordance with the provisions of the Hawaiian statutes
for the choice of various officers, and as to several other matters of
detail touching the interests both of the island and of the Federal
Government.

By the resolution of annexation the President was directed to appoint
five commissioners to recommend to Congress such legislation concerning
the islands as they should deem necessary or proper. These commissioners
were duly appointed and after a careful investigation and study of the
system of laws and government prevailing in the islands, and of the
conditions existing there, they prepared a bill to provide a government
under the title of "The Territory of Hawaii." The report of the
Commission, with the bill which they prepared, was transmitted by me to
Congress on December 6, 1898, but the bill still awaits final action.

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We do not know the women's names, but their voices are quite distinct. All are pregnant. But while the first woman awaits the birth of her baby with a moon-like serenity, the other two are not so lucky. One, whose previous pregnancies have failed to go to term, is experiencing a heartbreaking late miscarriage; the other is a young student whose accidental pregnancy will end in her child being put up for adoption.

Sylvia Plath's only play was never intended for the stage, being broadcast instead on BBC radio in August 1962. Less than six months later, Plath killed herself, but not before the burst of astonishing creative energy that produced her extraordinary, terrifying Ariel poems.

Anyone who knows Plath's poetry will see the connection between Three Women and Plath's subsequent poems, particularly in the way she talks about the agony of childbirth, the rush of love for this tiny alien being, and both the wonder and wounded rawness of motherhood. It is a beautiful piece, full of startling imagery that draws you in through the sheer intensity of its femaleness, and because it so precisely articulates the emotions that are often thought but seldom voiced by women - certainly not in the early 1960s - about men, motherhood and our relationship to our bodies.

It's been 20 years since there has been an attempt at a professional stage version and - in a theatre world that happily accepts the poetic offerings of Sarah Kane and Debbie Tucker Green, or the staged possibilities of The Waves, one of Plath's own inspirations for the piece, I see no reason why it shouldn't be brought to life. Sadly, it doesn't breathe here, in a production by Robert Shaw that is clearly a labour of love, but which never finds a way to give the internal a physical reality. Plath's poetry, like most babies, is more robust than it appears - and won't break if treated with a little less reverence and considerably more grit.

Instead, what we are offered is tinkling piano music, mournful mood lighting, an innocuous pale setting, as well as three perfectly good but indisputably ladylike performances that capture none of the wounded redness of Plath's poetry, and do her the disservice of making her sound bleached and somewhat prissy. It's a pity. What might have been a wonder ends up a mere curiosity.

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