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AN ARRAIGNMENT
OF
PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S POLICY
OF


EXTENDING BY FORCE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE UNITED
STATES OVER THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
BY
FRANCIS A. BROOKS.


Jz83
I -  A


-     BOSTON,
NOVEMBER, 1899.


ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS, 24 FRANKLIN ST.




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AN
Arraignment of President McKinley's Policy of
Extending by Force the Sovereignty of
the United States over the Filipinos.
I.
On the 24th day of April, 1898, Secretary Long of the
Navy Department telegraphed to Dewey as follows:"DEWEY, Hong Kong, China:
"War has commenced between the United States and
Spain. Proceed at once to the Philippine Islands. Commence operations at once, particularly against the Spanish
fleet. You must capture vessels or destroy them. Use
utmost endeavors."
That despatch was sent to Dewey before any declaration
of war was made by Congress.
On that same 24th day of April an interview  was had at
Singapore between United States Consul General Pratt and
Aguinaldo. Aguinaldo at that time offered to begin a new
insurrection in the Philippine Islands and to operate there in
conjunction with the United States Navy. Consul General
Pratt thereupon telegraphed to Dewey at Hong Kong as
follows: -
"Aguinaldo, insurgent leader here, will come Hong Kong
arrange with Commodore for general co-operation insurgents Manila if desired. Telegraph."
Dewey replied, " Tell Aguinaldo come soon as possible."
In pursuance of this arrangement Aguinaldo left Singapore
for Hong Kong April 26th, and was taken with seventeen
other revolutionary Filipino chiefs to Manila on the United
States naval vessel " McCulloch."




They were landed at Cavite, and were furnished by Dewey
with guns, ammunition and stores to be used by Aguinaldo
against the Spanish forces.
On the 8th of June, 1898, Consul General Pratt in a
speech ait Singapore said.  -
"I am thankful to have been the means of bringing about
the arrangement between General Aguinaldo and Admiral
Dewey which has resulted so happily."
On July 4th, 1898, General Anderson, then in command of
American troops at Manila, addressed a letter to Aguinaldo
as commanding the Philippine forces in which he said,
among other thins, -
"For these reasons, I desire to have the most amicable
relations with you, and to have you and your people coolperate with us in military operations against the Spanish
forces.
"General Anderson wishes you to inform your people
that we are here for their good, and that they must supply
us with labor and material at the current market prices."
On July 6th, General Anderson in a letter to Aguinaldo,
said: -
"It must be apparent to you that we do not intend to
remain here inactive, but to move promptly against our
common enemy.... I am solicitous to avoid any conflict
of authority which may result from having two sets of military officers exercising command in the same place."
On July 17th, General Anderson in a letter to Aguinaldo,
asking assistance of the Filipinos in obtaining supplies for
United States troops recently arrived at Manila, said: —
"We find so far that the native population are not willing
to give us this assistance as promptly as required. But we
must have, and if necessary we will be compelled to.
seize what we may need. We would regret very much to
do this, as we are here to befriend the Filipinos. Our
nation has spent millions of money to send forces here to
-expel the Spaniards and to give a good government to the
whole people, and the return we are asking is comparatively
slight."




3
In a letter written by General Anderson to Aguinaldo,
under date of July 22d, he closes with these words:"Your fine intellect must perceive that, happy as I am to
see you fighting so bravely and successfully against a common enemy, I cannot without orders recognize your civil
authority."
General Merritt in his official report says: -
' Shortly after the naval battle of Manila Bay, the principal leader of the insurgents, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, came
to Cayite from Hong Kong, and with the consent of our
naval authorities began active work in raising troops and
pushing the Spaniards in the direction of the city of Manila.
Having met with some success and the natives flocking to his
assistance he proclaimed an independent government of
republican form, with himself as president, and at the time
of my arrival in the islands, the entire edifice of executive
and legislative departments and subdivision of territory for
administrative purposes had been accomplished, at least on
paper, and the Filipinos held military possession of many
points in the islands other than those in the city of Manila."
General Whittier, in giving testimony before the Peace
Commissioners, in answers to questions as to the number of
insurgents got together by Aguinaldo, at Manila, before the
surrender, said: "His forces went around the city, taking
the water works and the north part of the city, and running
up the railroad." I asked that question of several, and the
opinions differed widely- all the way from 8000 to 30,000
or 40,000 men.
To the question, "Do you think he had as many as 8000
men before the surrender?"  He answered, "Yes, sir; the
environment of the city took a great many men." He said,
"Aguinaldo's headquarters are at Malolos, twenty-three miles
up the railroad. His troops control all the settled parts of
the island (Luzon) except Masulo, as well as much of the
southern country."  He said he meant by the "southern
country," those islands below (i. e., below Luzon).
On and before the 12th day of August, 1898, the city of
Manila was in the possession and control of Spain, but it




4
was invested by the United States forces under the command of General Merritt on the water side of the town,
and on the land side by the insurgent forces under General
Aguinaldo, who had set up and claimed to have established
in the island of Luzon a revolutionary and defacto government by proclamation issued on the 23d day of June of that
same year,
II.
Such was the situation when the so-called peace protocol
was signed at Washington, on Aug. 12th, 1898.
This protocol provided that hostilities between the United
States and Spain be suspended, and that "notice to that
effect be given as soon as possible, by each government, to
the commanders of its military and naval forces."
The third article of this protocol was in these words —
"The United States will (i. e., may or shall) occupy and
hold the city, bay and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition and government of the Philippines."
This third article, before being assented to by Spain, had
been carefully considered and discussed between the President and the French minister, Cambon, who represented the
interests of Spain. As first submitted to Ambassador Cambon
it contained the word "possession " where the word " disposition " now occurs. This substitution of "disposition " for
"possession " was made upon Cambon's suggestion to the
President, the reason, as stated by him, lbeing that if the
term " possession " were used, it might carry with it an inference that Spain was willing by treaty to surrender her sovereignty over the Philippine Islands, and that such an idea
not only could not be entertained by the Spanish ministry,
but, if entertained and assented to by them, would probably
operate to prevent a ratification of the treaty in which it was
embodied.
The President thereupon assented to the substitution of




5


the word " disposition," as proposed by M. Cambon, and
remarked that the " care and consideration of the Philippine
question was left by him to future negotiations," meaning,.
as we infer, to the joint commission to be appointed under
Article 5 of the protocol, to consider and arrange such
matters of detail as had not been fully provided for in the
peace protocol.
The legal effect and operation of that protocol was to put
an end, temporarily and until the meeting of the Peace
Commissioners, of hostile operations on either side, and to
prevent either party from deriving any advantage therefrom
if undertaken.
The United States therefore acquiired, -by the capture and
surrender of Manila, on the 14th day of August, 1898, no
greater rights or power over that city or its inhabitants than
it had on the 12th day of August, under and by virtue of
the protocol.
The possession of Manila which General Merritt, in ignorance of the peace protocol, had gained by war, was by that
protocol converted into the possession or right of occupation
as set forth in the protocol itself, and General Merritt should
have taken that view of the situation and acted accordlingly.
Instead of doing so, he, on the 17th day of August, issued
his proclamation for establishing there a government "of
military occupation," as if hostilities had continued there,,
the protocol to the contrary notwithstanding.
III.
When the Peace Commissioners of the two countries came
together in Paris, Oct. 1st, 1898, to put the terms of the
protocol into the form of a treaty for ratification, it turned
out that they were at variance as to the construction of the
third article of the protocol.
It was contended on the part of Spain, that while under
and by virtue of the third article of protocol the United
States was to have possession of the city, bay and harbor of




6


Manila until the treaty of peace should be concluded or put
in form for ratification, it was still left to the joint commissioners, and theni alone, to determine as to the future permanent control and government of the Philippine Islands,
and, consequently, that the Spanish Commissioners were
entitled to have an equal voice in that determination with the
American Commissioners; and when the American Commissioners came to demand, as they did, the cession of all those
islands to the United States, the Spaiish Commissioners
demurred, and insisted that no such cession was contemplated
by Spain as embraced within the terms of the protocol, and
for that reason they refused to yield to the demand, and proposed that arbitration be resorted to as a means of determining the correct construction of the protocol in that regard.
The American Commissioners said in reply, that their view
was plainly correct, and that of Spain clearly wrong, so that
they would not consent to submit the question to third
p)arties, and they called upon the Spanish Commissioners to
yield their opinion in order that "a peaceful solution may
[might] be reached," meaning thereby, as understood by
the Spanish Commissioners, that unless they did yield to the
demand of a cession of the Philippines, the United States
would resume hostilities, and obtain by conquest what they
had failed to obtain by diplomacy. The American Commissioners however added, that while unwilling to modify their
demand for a cession of the entire Philippine Archipelago,
they had been "authorized to offer to Spain, in case the
cession should be agreed to, the sum of $20,000,000, to be
paid in accordance with the terms to be fixed in the treaty
of peace."  In answer to this proposition, the Spaniards
said -
"The Spanish Commissioners are now asked to accept the
American proposition in its entirety and without further
discussion, or to reject it; in which latter case, as the
American Commissioners understand, the peace negotiations
will end, and the protocol of Washington will consequently
be broken."
"The government of her Majesty, moved by reasons of




7


patriotism and humanity, will not assume the responsibility
of again bringing upon Spain all the horrors of war. In
order to avoid them it resigns itself to the painful strait of
submitting to the law of the victor, however harsh it may
be,... and she accepts the only terms the United States
offers her for the concluding of the treaty of peace."
It was under this pressure that the Spanish Commissioners
finally yielded to the demand of President McKinley for the
cession by Spain of the Philippine Islands, protesting at the
time that they did so to avert the horrors of warfare with
which Spain was threatened if she refused to comply, in
disregard or violation, as they believed, of the spirit and
meaning, if not of the words, of the protocol.
IV.
Hostilities with Spain were temporarily suspended by the
protocol of Aug. 12th, and brought to a final en( by the
treaty of Dec. 10th, 1898, and yet after the expiration of
nearly a year we find that President McKinley is now making
war against the inhabitants of the island of Luzon for the
professed purpose of subjecting them to his rule or that of
his military governor, General Otis. The President is waging this war upon his own responsibility and without any
authority from Congress. From President McKinley's order
to General Otis of Dec. 21st, 1898, it would seem that he then
supposed himself to be enforcing certain rights gained by
the United States in its war with Spain or under and by virtue of the treaty of peace. In that order the President uses
language as follows: -
"The destruction of the Spanish fleet in the harbor of
Manila by the United States naval squadron... followed
by the reduction of the city and the surrender of the Spanish
forces practically effected the conquest of the Philippine
Islands and the suspension of Spanish sovereignty therein."
" With the signature of the treaty of peace between the
United States and Spain.. on the 14th instant, and as
the result of the victories of American aarms the future
control. disposition and government of the Philippine Islands
are ceded to the United States.




8


" In fulfilment of the rights of sovereignty thus acquired.. the actual occupation and admlinistration of the entire
group of the Philippine Islands became immediately necessary, and the military government heretofore maintained by
the United States in the city, harbor and bay of Manila is
to be extended with all possible despatch to the whole of
the ceded territory."
In his message to Congress of Dec. 5th, 1898, the President
said -
"The last scene of the war was enacted at Manila, its
starting place. On Aug. 13th, after a brief assault upon
the works by the land forces... the capital surrendered
unconditionally...
"By this, the conquest of the Philippine Islands, virtually accomplished when the Spanish capacity for resistance
was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's victory of the first of
May, was formally sealed....
"I do not discuss at this time the government or the future
of the new possessions which will come to us as the result of
the war with Spain."
In a speech at Savannah, Dec. 17th, 1898, the President
said: -
"If, following the clear precepts of duty, territoryfalls to
us, and the welfare of an alien people requires our guidance
and protection, who will shrink from the responsibility, grave
though it be?...
"It is not a question of keeping the islands of the East
but of leaving them.
"Dewey and Merritt took them and the country instantly
and universally applauded."
When the President said this, he well knew that at the
date of this protocol no territory in the Philippine Islands
had fallen to or been acquired by us from Spain, and that
by the protocol we had no right to hold permanently the
city, bay and harbor of Manila, and that the only right
given us by the third article of the protocol was the right of
occupying those places temporarily or until the treaty of
peace should be put in form by the joint commission and
signed.
The President, therefore, was wrong, either knowingly or




9


unknowingly, in making the statements above quoted, to the
effect that the United States had acquired the Philippine
Islands by conquest in the war with Spain. We are supported in this respect by Judge Day, the chairman of the
American Peace Commission, who, in a letter recently published, referring to the doings of the Peace Commission at
Paris, said: -
" It was not claimed that the United States had a right to
the Philippine Islands as a matter of conquest.... The
capture, after the signing of the protocol, by General Merritt and his forces, whatever its legal effect may have been,
included no more territory than we were entitled to hold
under the protocol."
In his more recent utterances, the President has put his
claim to the Philippines also upon the ground of cession.
In a speech, made by him, in September last, at Pittsburg,
he said:
"Peace brought us the Philippines by treaty cession from
Spain."
In addressing the Home Market Club at Boston, the
President said:"The Philippines, like Cuba and Porto Rico, were intrusted to our hands by the providence of God."
He had probably forgotten his instructions to the Peace
Commissioners on their leaving Washington for Paris, to
"take Luzon," as we are told by Senator and Commissioner
Frye that he did.
V.
Let us now inquire whether or not the President is correct in stating that the United States has come into the
possession and legislative control of the Philippine Islands,
either by the hand of God, by treaty, or in any other way.
This treaty of cession could carry with it and give to the
United States only such property, land or territorial rights




10(


in the Philippines as belonged at the time to Spain.  It did
not include any lands or property then belonging to the inhabitants in their individual capacity, or to corporate bodies
or institutions, ecclesiastical or lay. The treaty itself does
not purport to have any such operation, and could not so
operate even if it did so purport, and it does not appear that
Spain then owned or possessed public lands of any considerable value or extent.
Coniing then to the question whether the treaty with
Spain has operated to convey to the United States the right
to regulate the political rights of the inhabitants of the
Philippine Islands, it is provided by the ninth article of the
treaty, that"the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants
of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be
determined by Congress."
For the pui poses of this discussion, we will limit our
inquiry to the effect of this treaty upon the political and civil
rights and condition of the inhabitants of the island of Luzon
alone, not including the city of Manila and vicinity or the
occupants of lands now in the possession or control of
General Otis as military governor. The question really is,
whether or not, by this treaty, the native inhabitants of this
island of Luzon have at the present time been subjected in
any way to the legislative powers of the Congress of the
United States. This rule is styled sovereignty in nmonarchical countries. This term does not seem appropriate in
the United States, where the people themselves iare the
sovereigns and law makers, and where it is not now possible
for the federal government to hold or govern colonies, no
such possessions being contemplated or provided for by} the
framers of the Constitution of the United States.




11


VI.
After this so-called rebellion shall have been suppressed
by him without putting to death the entire population, how
does the President propose to govern the island of Luzon or
its surviving inhabitants?
If the ninth article of the treaty did not place them in the
power or government of the United States Congress as
claimed by President McKinley, then he is guilty not only
of " criminal aggression," but of wholesale slaughter also, in
ordering General Otis to enforce that order by force of arms.
If the Filipinos were not by the treaty with Spain subjected to the dominion and control of the United States, we
do not see how they can be held or ruled over as colonists of
the United States.
It is quite true that they had been colonists of Spain, and
that Spain's right over them as colonists was recognized by
William McKinley and bid for and purchased by him from
Spain. But even if they had been a marketable commodity
at any time, they head ceased to he so after the power of
Spain over them had been successfully resisted and overcome
before the treaty of peace was made.
Chancellor Kent in his Commentaries, Vol. I., page 178,
referring to territories added or acquired, said: -
"Full sovereignty cannot be held to have passed by the
mere words of the treaty without actual delivery. To complete the right of property, the right to the thing and the
possession of the thing must be united. This is a necessary
principle in the law of property in all systems of jurisprudence..
"This general law of property applies to the right of
territory, no less than to other rights. The practice of
nations has been conformable to this principle, and the conventional law of nations is full of instances of this kind."
In a treatise on International Law, by Sir Shurston Baker
just published at Boston, by Little, Brown & Co., at page
61, that author says: -




12


" In modern times sales and transfers of national territory
to another power can only be made by treaty or some solemn
act of the sovereign authority of the State. And such
transfers of territory do not include the allegiance of its
inhabitants without their consent, express or implied."
At page 355, the same author says -
'The rule of public law with respect to the allegiance of
the inhabitants of a conquered territory is, therefore, no
longer to be interpreted as meaning that it is absolutely and
unconditionally acquired by conquest, or transferred and
handed over by treaty as a thing assignable by contract
and without the assent of the subject."
" On the contrary, the express or implied assent of the
subject is now regarded as essential to a complete new
allegiance."
VII.
Let us now see what was the situation in the island of Luzon,
which had previously been the seat of the war between the
United States and Spain, on the 10th day of December, 1898,
when the treaty was signed. The Spanish army consisting
of twelve thousand men, before then besieged in the city of
Manila by the American forces on the water side, and the
insurgent Filipinos on the land side, had surrendered to
General Merritt on the 14th day of August, 1898, and possession was then taken of the captured city and its suburbs
by General Merritt.
The insurgent forces had assisted in that siege and capture
and expected and claimed the privilege of entering the captured city with the American troops, but were denied that
privilege, so that the city and its suburbs were placed by the
Spanish surrender in possession of the United States troot)s,
and continued to be held by them at the time of the treaty
of peace, and is still so held.
The country outside of Manila and its suburbs remained
as before in the possession and military control of the native
inhabitants, organized as a revolutionary government in
opposition to Spanish rule under the lead of Aguinaldo as
head of the army and president.




13


This government was established and existed de facto in
the island of Luzon for some time previously to the conclusion of the treaty of peace.
Such was the exact state of things in the island of Luzon
from and after the surrender of the city of Manila, the
rest of the island being in the occupation of the Filipino
troops and held by them both by force of arms, and under
the authority of the de facto civil government established
by Aguinaldo, as above stated, when William McKinley, as
commander-in-chief of the army of the United States, on the
21st day of December, 1898, issued his military orders to
General Otis, directing him to extend the military government previously maintained by him in the city, harbor and
bay of Manila, not only over the whole island of Luzon,
but over the entire group of Philippine Islands. By that
order the Filipinos were told that the United States had
succeeded to the sovereignty of Spain over them, and that
they were to he brought under the beneficent rule of the
United States; that those who submitted to this rule would
receive the reward of its support and protection, and that
those who did not submit to that rule would be " brought
within it with firmness, if need be," meaning thereby the
persuasion of gunpowder.
In vain did the Filipinos remonstrate and try to get access
to General Otis for purposes of negotiation and conciliation.
He assigned various reasons for not listening to them,
among others that under instructions received by him from
the President the only terms of peace he could entertain was
that of their unconditional surrender.
Repeated attempts of this kind were made by them,
always with the same result.
Aguinaldo had before then been recognized by Commodore Dewey and Generals Anderson and Merritt as an
associate or ally in carrying on the war against Spain, and
heartily welcomed by them in that relation, but when they
had succeeded in defeating Spain and had no further need of
Aguinaldo's assistance, he objected to President McKinley's




14


assuming to exercise the same sovereignty over him formerly wielded by Spain, and by so doing did not become a
rebel against the authority of the United States.
VIII.
If President McKinley really desired to secure peace with
Aguinaldo why did he refuse to adopt the usual and only
practicable method of making peace after disputes have been
submitted to the arbitrament of war?
He said substantially to Aguinaldo, You must submit yourself and your people to my authority and dictation, or take
the consequences. These troops of mine are here to compel
you to obey, and you cannot successfully resist them. The
honor and defence of the American flag which I have set up
in the island of Luzon requires this, and you must either
surrender and submit or be killed.
There stood these armed men in battle array on both
sides; on one side the trained soldiers of the United States
placed there to enforce obedience to President McKinley's
tyrannical order; and, on the other, the half-clad, raw and
undisciplined troops of Aguinaldo with weapons furnished
them by Commodore Dewey to throw off the yoke of their
former master, Spain, determined to resist with their lives
President McKinley's assertion of sovereignty over them by
assignment from Spain.
The President and his supporters would have the people of
this country believe that the Filipinos are now and for some
months have been in rebellion against the authority or sovereignty of the United States, and that he as President might,
lawfully and in his civil capacity, employ the American army
in suppressing such rebellion.
If the rules of international law, as above quoted by us,
are correct, it cannot be true that the Filipinos are now or
ever have been in rebellion against the sovereignty of the
United States, as is pretended and claimed by the Administration now in power.




15


In a speech recently made to the people of Illinois by
Attorney-General Griggs of the Cabinet, that gentleman
said, -
"That t6-day the United States of America possesses l)y
solemn treaty the only lawful sovereignty over these (Philippine) Islallds;... that in one of these islands one of these
numerous tribes has raised an army of insurrection against
the American flag, and has attempted... to drive the
lawful authority of the United States fiom the island of
Luzon."
It that gentleman were to consult the dictionary he would
find that rebels are defined as "those who oppose lawful
authority by violence," and that he should not call the Filipinos by that name unless he is prepared to show that they
owe allegiance to the United States government.
IX.
We think the President seeks also to justify his course in
using the American army to put down these Filipinos
upon the plea that they brought on the conflict by making
the first attack. In his speech at Pittsburg, Pa., he said -
"The first blow was struck by the insurgents."
In a speech made by him as late as Oct. 13th, at Fargo,
N. D., he said:" We never dreamed that the little body of insurgents
whom we had just emancipated from Spain... would turn
upon the flag that had delivered them from Spain.
"Then it was that the insurgent leader made an attack
upon our men and then our boys let loose."
We cannot believe the President was correct in that
statement except that part of it which shows that the insurgents had been previously emancipated and delivered from
the power of Spain by the United States.
The truth of this matter, as understood by us, really is
that on the night of Feb. 4th, 1899, a single Filipino, probably armed, but without hostile intent, was fired upon by an




16


American sentry at his post and killed, and that thereupon
the Filipino soldiers were so enraged that they at once
made an attack upon the Americans, probably without any
orders or authority from headquarters.
General Otis himself, referring to this incident, said:" It is not believed that the chief insurgent leaders wished
to open hostilities at this time, as they were not completely
prepared to assume the initiative."
Strictly speaking, therefore, the first blood shed was that
of a Filipino, recklessly fired upon and killed by the
American sentry under the circumstances above stated.
X.
The President's claim of sovereignty over both the Philippine Islands and their inhabitants is now rested upon the
treaty of peace and that alone.
By the third article of that treaty Spain cedes to the
United States the archipelago known as the Philippine
Islands, that is, she transfers to the United States her territorial sovereignty in those islands, whatever it then was.
The ninth article relates to "the civil rights and political
status of the native inhabitants of those islands," and by this
article Spain undertakes to confer upon Congress the power
of determining the future civil rights and political status of
the Filipinos.
By the President's military order of Dec. 21, 1898,
General Otis was directed to inform the inhabitants of the
islands that the United States had succeeded to the sovereignty formerly exercised by Spain over them, and that
this claim of sovereignty was to be enforced by the army
of the United States placed there under the command of
General Otis, as military governor of all the Philippine
Islands.
If this was not the initiation of a hostile movement against
the inhabitants of Luzon then enrolled under the banner of




17


Aguinaldo as the head of a de facto government there established by him, and the commander of a small army raised
by him for its defence, what was it? These forces did not
come into actual collision until the night of Feb. 4th, 1899,
as hereinabove stated, and Aguinaldo on the next day sent
an officer under a flag of truce to General Otis, stating that
the fighting of the night before had not been authorized by
him; that he wished that hostilities should be stopped, and
proposing the establishment of a neutral zone between the
two armies for that purpose.
The reply of General Otis was that the fighting once
begun must go on.
XI.
It was not until October 31, 1898, when the Peace Commissioners had been in joint session at Paris a month, that
President McKinley demanded of Spain cession of the Philippine Islands to the United States with a threat of renewing
hostilities if that demand was not acceded to. That demand
was acceded to very reluctantly on the 28th day of November,
1898, and a treaty of peace framed accordingly was made
and signed December 10, 1898.
The ninth article of that treaty purports to confer upon
Congress the power of determining the "civil rights and
political status of the native inhabitants of the territories... ceded to the United States."
It thus appears that Spain not only relinquished its sovereignty in the Philippine Islands but undertook to transfer to
the Congress of the United States the power of exercising
sovereignty over the native inhabitants of those islands.
The Constitution of the United States gives to Congress
expressly the power "to dispose of and make all needful
rules and regulations, respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States."
It is generally understood that this clause was intended to




18


refer to territory then belonging to the United States, considered as property, and not to refer at all to the future civil
rights or political status of the very few persons then residing in such territory.
President McKinley seems to have adopted a very different
construction of the meaning of this third section of Article
IV. of the Constitution, when he undertook by proclamation issued through his subordinate, General Otis, early in
January, 1899, to subject the native inhabitants of the Philippine Islands to his absolute and despotic military rule.
XI1.
This action was taken by the President while Congress
was in session, and before the ratification of the treaty, and,
therefore, before it had any existence in a legal sense.
It is not to be supposed that the President after the
conclusion of a treaty of peace could continue to exercise
powers only authorized by a state of war, and if the quotations from writers upon international law above made by us
are reliable and authoritative, it would seem that by that
treaty Spain could not convey to the United States any
dominion or power, of legislation over the civil rights or
future politic;il condition of the inhabitants of the Philippine
Islands.
It would therefore seem as if the President, in issuing the
proclamation alove mentioned, not only exceeded the powers
belonging to his high office, but took a course calculated to
provoke the armed resistance which very soon followed.
The President could not have expected that a people who
had taken up arms to gain their independence from Spain
were willing to be put under the despotic military rule of
any other foreign power, however profuse it might be in its
professions of friendship and benevolent purposes.
If sovereignty were a commercial commodity, and capable
of transfer by one nation or government to another for a
pecuniary consideration, we cannot think that the people of




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the United States desire to take advantage of the bargain,of the President with Spain, which purports to give Congress
the same dominion over the Filipinos which had been formerly exercised by Spain, and from which the President of
the United States cliimed to have delivered them.
Can the United States consistently with its own sense of
honor consent to deal thus treacherously and cruelly with
these poor and deluded people after having recognized them
as allies in carrying on the war against Spain?
This question is; as we suppose, soon to be submitted to.and passed upon by Congress.




UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 III5 0313         II7
39015053131897








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