156 



CONGRESS. (THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE.) 



and efficiency in the military administration have 

 created a surplus fund of $6,000,000, available for 

 needed public improvements; that a stringent 

 civil-service law is in preparation; that railroad 

 communications are expanding, opening up rich 

 districts, and that a comprehensive scheme of edu- 

 cation is being organized. 



Later reports from the commission show yet 

 more encouraging advance toward insuring the 

 benefits of liberty and good government to the 

 Filipinos, in the interest of humanity and with the 

 aim of building up an enduring, self-supporting, 

 and self-administering community in those far 

 Eastern seas. I would impress upon the Congress 

 that whatever legislation may be enacted in re- 

 spect to the Philippine Islands should be along 

 those generous lines. The fortune of war has 

 thrown upon this nation an unsought trust which 

 should be unselfishly discharged, and devolved 

 upon this Government a moral as well as material 

 responsibility toward these millions whom we have 

 freed from an oppressive yoke. 



I have on another occasion called the Filipinos 

 " the wards of the nation." Our obligation as 

 guardian was not lightly assumed; it must not be 

 otherwise than honestly fulfilled, aiming first of all 

 to benefit those who have come under our foster- 

 ing care. It is our duty so to treat them that our 

 flag may be no less beloved in the mountains of 

 Luzon and the fertile zones of Mindanao and 

 Negros than it is at home; that there as here it 

 shall be the revered symbol of liberty, enlighten- 

 ment, and progress in every avenue of develop- 

 ment. 



The Filipinos are a race quick to learn and to 

 profit by knowledge. He would be rash who, with 

 the teachings of contemporaneous history in view, 

 would fix a limit to the degree of culture and 

 advancement yet within the reach of these people 

 if our duty toward them be faithfully performed. 



The civil government of Porto Rico provided for 

 by the act of the Congress approved April 12, 1900, 

 is in successful operation. The courts have been 

 established. The governor and his associates, 

 working intelligently and harmoniously, are meet- 

 ing with commendable success. 



On the 6th of November a general election was 

 held in the island for members of the Legislature, 

 and the body elected has been called to convene on 

 the first Monday of December. 



I recommend that legislation be enacted by the 

 Congress conferring upon the Secretary of the In- 

 terior supervision over the public lands in Porto 

 Rico, and that he be directed to ascertain the 

 location and quantity of lands the title to which 

 remained in the Crown of Spain at the date of 

 cession of Porto Rico to the United States, and 

 that appropriations necessary for surveys be made, 

 and that the methods of the disposition of such 

 lands be prescribed by law. 



On the 25th of July, 1900, I directed that a call 

 be issued for an election in Cuba for members of 

 a constitutional convention to frame a constitution 

 as a basis for a stable and independent govern- 

 ment in the island. In pursuance thereof the 

 military governor issued the following instruc- 

 tions : 



" Whereas the Congress of the United States by 

 its joint resolution of April 20, 1898, declared 



"That the people of the island of Cuba are, 

 and of right ought to be, free and independent. 



; ' That the United States hereby disclaims any 

 disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, 

 jurisdiction, or control over said island except for 

 the pacification thereof, and asserts its determina- 

 tion, when that is accomplished, to leave the gov- 

 ernment and. control of the island to its people.' 



" And whereas the people of Cuba have estab- 

 lished municipal governments, deriving their 

 authority from the suffrages of the people given 

 under just and equal laws, and are now ready, in 

 like manner, to proceed to the establishment of a 

 general government which shall assume and exer- 

 cise sovereignty, jurisdiction, and control over the 

 island: 



" Therefore, it is ordered that a general election 

 be held in the island of Cuba on the third Satur- 

 day of September, in the year nineteen hundred, 

 to elect delegates to a convention to meet in the 

 city of Havana at twelve o'clock noon, on the first 

 Monday of November, in the year nineteen hun- 

 dred, to frame and adopt a constitution for the 

 people of Cuba, and as a part thereof to provide 

 for and agree with the Government of the United 

 States upon the relations to exist between that 

 Government and the Government of Cuba, and to 

 provide for the election by the people of officers 

 under such constitution and the transfer of gov- 

 ernment to the officers so elected. 



" The election will be held in the several voting 

 precincts of the island under and pursuant to the 

 provisions of the electoral law of April 18, 1900, 

 and the amendments thereof." 



The election was held on the 15th of September, 

 and the convention assembled on the 5th of No- 

 vember, 1900, and is now in session. 



In calling the convention to order, the military 

 governor of Cuba made the following statement : 



" As military governor of the island, represent- 

 ing the President of the United States, I call this 

 convention to order. 



" It will be your duty, first, to frame and adopt 

 a constitution for Cuba, and when that has been 

 done to formulate what in your opinion ought to 

 be the relations between Cuba and the United 

 States. 



" The constitution must be adequate to secure a 

 stable, orderly, and free government. 



" When you have formulated the relations which 

 in your opinion ought to exist between Cuba and 

 the United States, the Government of the United 

 States will doubtless take such action on its part 

 as shall lead to a final and authoritative agreement 

 between the people of the two countries to the pro- 

 motion of their common interests. 



" All friends of Cuba will follow your delibera- 

 tions with the deepest interest, earnestly desiring 

 that you shall reach just conclusions, and that by 

 the dignity, individual self-restraint, and wise con- 

 servatism which shall characterize your proceed- 

 ings the capacity of the Cuban people for repre- 

 sentative government may be signally illustrated. 



" The fundamental distinction between true 

 representative government and dictatorship is that 

 in the former every representative of the people, 

 in whatever office, confines himself strictly within 

 the limits of his defined powers. Without such 

 restraint there can be no free constitutional gov- 

 ernment. 



" Under the order pursuant to which ytm have 

 been elected and convened, you have no duty and 

 no authority to take part in the present govern- 

 ment of the island. Your powers are strictly 

 limited by the terms of that order." 



When the convention concludes its labors I will 

 transmit to the Congress the constitution as 

 framed by the convention for its consideration 

 and for such action as it may deem advisable. 



I renew the recommendation made in my special 

 message of Feb. 10, 1899, as to the necessity for 

 cable communication between the United States 

 and Hawaii, with extension to Manila. Since then 

 circumstances have strikingly emphasized this 

 need. Surveys have shown the entire feasibility 



