The Conservative.
AMEIUCAN LEGENDS.
The subjoined from a citizen of the
Philippine republic may be profitably
read by all the citizens of that republic
which Washington , Franklin , Jefferson ,
Hamilton and their contemporaries
founded.
Some of the jingoists now in congress
may learn American history and the le
gends of the declaration of independence
from Souor Agoncillo.
[ Accompanying letter to the honorable
the secretary of state of date January
11 , 1899. ]
For almost the entire post one hund
red years the natives of the Philippine
Islands have striven quite incessantly ,
by organization and force of arms , to
throw off an alien and oppressive yoke.
Without reviewing at length the reasons
which have induced them to take this
course , it may bo sufficient to say that
over since the seizure of the Philippine
Islands by the Spanish government ,
more than three hundred years ago , the
natives have been deprived of all right
of local self-government , in the face of
the "blood treaty" of 15G5 } granting the
Philippines autonomous government ,
and the liberties guaranteed by the con
stitution of Cadiz in 1814 , and have been
denied the privilege of levying and col
lecting their own taxes or taking any
part in the direction of the proceeds of
taxation , aiid have been controlled by
governors not in sympathy with them ,
but , without prior acquaintance , sent to
them from a nation foreign in thought
to themselves. Unlike even the island
of Cuba , they have been denied any
shadow of participation in the affairs of
government through having a member
ship in the Spanish cartes.
In the struggle upon which the Filipi
nos have been engaged for , as I have
said , nearly a hundred years , they have
been largely influenced and controlled
in their hopes , aspirations , and actions
by the declaration of independence of
the American people , particularly in so
far as that document has declared that
"all men are created equal ; that they
are endowed by their Creator with cer
tain inalienable rights ; that among these
are life , liberty , and the pursuit of hap
piness. " They have further learned
from the same document , in their studies
of American law and liberty , that "to
secure these rights governments are in
stituted among men , deriving their just
powers from the consent of the gov
erned. " They understand from it that
colonial government is , as the declara
tion of independence says , "destructive
of these ends , " and that it is therefore
the right of the people to "alter or abolish
ish it , and to institute new government ,
laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form
as to them shall seem most likely to ef
fect their safety and happiness. "
Further studying that instrument ,
they have found that it indicted the
king of England for keeping among the
Americans "in time of peace , standing
armies , without the consent of ( their )
legislatures , " and because he had "af
fected to render the military independ
ent of , and superior to , the civil power. "
They have , therefore , also learned to bo
jealous of armies of any nationality , the
presence of which might curtail their
civil liberties , without their consent.
Finding themselves , therefore , subject
to all the grievances as to government
without representation , unjust taxation ,
quartering of military among them ,
subordination of civil to military power ,
they rose repeatedly in rebellion , and
finally on the 18th of Juno lost , being in
possession at that time of the larger share
of the Philippine Islands , the Spanish
government being recognized oven then
over a comparatively small area , they
formed an independent government. In
the formation , of this government and
the drafting of its constitution they pro
vided for and insured to the independent
people of the Philippine Islands the ends
contemplated by the constitution of the
United States , establishing justice , in
suring domestic tranquillity , providing
for the common defense , promoting the
general welfare , and securing the bless
ings of liberty to them and their pos
terity.
At the time of the formation of this
constitution , parallel as it was practi
cally , in connection with their revolu
tion , to the time of the adoption of the
American declaration of independence ,
they found themselves superior in posi
tion as to their control over their coun
try to that of the Americans when the
declaration of independence was framed :
for the Spaniards possessed only a small
portion of the Islands , while the Filipi
nos were in control of nearly all of their
largo cities , as well as of the country be
yond.
Acting under this constitution , they
have carried out all of its in junctions , es
tablishing justice , raising armies , main
taining a postoffice s'ystein , and exercis
ing the further legitimate functions of
a government. Their position at the
present time is better , I respectfully sug
gest , so far as general recognition of
their national authority is concerned ,
than was that of the American republic
prior to the ratification of a treaty be
tween America and England ; for , as you
will recall , British armies wore in pos
session of American ports when the
treaty of peace was.signed , whereas now
the Spanish government is recognized
nowhere in the Philippine Islands , ex
cept part of the island of Mindanao ; the
Philippine government reigning supreme
everywhere , save at the city of Manila
and the town of Cavite adjoining it.
The mere fact that Manila is an im
portant port does not , as we are told ,
affect the jurisdiction of the republic
over the islands and the right of the re
public to recognition , for , as was said by
Mr. Cass , secretary of state , to Mr. Mc-
Laiie in 1859 , to sustain the recognition
by the United States of a Mexican gov
ernment after civil war , it is not neces
sary that such government should be in
possession of the City of Mexico. It is
enough if it be "obeyed by a large ma
jority of the country and is likely to
continue. "
May I further respectfully submit to
you , in view of the foregoing , that the
Pliilippine republic , established as it
was , exercising the functions it exer
cises , controlling the territory it has jur
isdiction over , has come within the se
verest definition of the word "nation ? "
For , says Phillimore's International
Law : "A nation is a people perma
nently occupying a definite territory ,
having a common government peculiar
to themselves for the administration of
justice and the preservation of internal
order , and capable of maintaining rela
tions with all other governments , "
while Kent in his commentaries says
that "Cicero and after him Grotius de
fines a regular enemy to bo a power
which hath the elements or constituents
of a nation , such as a government , a
code of laws , a national treasury , con
sent and agreement of the citizens , and
which pays a regard to treaties of peace
and alliance. "
Permit me further to respectfully sug
gest to you that , pursuant to American
doctrines with which you are more fa
miliar than the writer can possibly bo ,
there has been no moment of time when
the United States could have acquired
any title to the Philippine islands , save
by the express consent of their inhabi
tants , and that , such consent not having
been given , and Spain having , as it must
be confessed , no practical jurisdiction or
control over the Philippine islands since
June 18 , 1898 , she is without power to
pass title to any other nation.
If it be true that at all times since the
date named the Philippine republic has
been entitled to recognition as a separ
ate national entity , then it must bo that
ever since such time it has in fact been
in strictness a national entity ; the recog
nition being merely the evidence of an
existing state of facts and not in itself
creating a nation.
I therefore venture to invite your at
tention , as I do most respectfully , to the
precedents established by preceding
American secretaries of state , and in so
doing apologize for referring to a sub
ject with which of necessity you are
more familiar than the representative of
the Philippine islands can hope to bo.
Mr. Adams , secretary of state , in ad
dressing President Monroe in 1810 , said :
"There is a stage in such revolutionary
contests when the parties struggling for
independence have , I conceive , a right
to demand its acknowledgment of neu
tral parties , and when the acknowledg
ment may be granted without departure
from the obligations of neutrality. It
is a stage when the independence is es
tablished asa * matter of fact , so as to
leave the chances of the opposing party
to recover its dominion utterly desper
ate. "
May I submit to you for your consid
eration the fact that Spanish recovery of
the Philippine islands has been an utter
impossibility at any time since the pro-
imilgation of the constitution of the
Philippine republic , and therefore , with
in the very language of Mr. Adams , the
Philippine republic has for nearly seven
mouths last past been an independent
government and as such entitled to rec
ognition ?
At a later period Mr. Adams , secre
tary of state , in writing Mr. Anderson ,
said that "when a sovereign has a reasonable
enable hope of maintaining his authority
over insurgents , the acknowledgment
of the independence of such insurgents
would be an international wrong. It is
otherwise when such sovereign is mani
festly disabled from maintaining the
contest. " In the present case the disa
bility was complete. Spain was , when
our independence was declared , at war
with another nation many times her
superior , and has been for months prac
tically ousted from her possession of the
Pliilippine islands , save one city ( Iloilo ) ,
which she has now lost.
There having been for nearly seven
mouths but one do facto government
prevailing in the Philippine islands , I
further respectfully submit to you the
fact that the character of such govern
ment , as a do facto government , even if
it were not more , does not affect unfav
orably the question of its recognition ;
for , as was stated by Mr. Livingston ,
secretary of state , to Sir Charles
Vaughau in 1883 :
"It has been the principle and the in
variable practice of the United States to
recognize that as the legal government
of another nation which , by its estab
lishment in the actual exercise of politi
cal power , might bo supposed to have
received the express or implied assent
of the people. "
It was further said by Mr. Buchanan ,
secretary of state , in 1848 : "In its in-