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for the life of them they couldn't tell whether they were fish or flesh or only a fair sample of good red herring. Were they Spaniards still, might they be Americans, or had they become at one fell stroke neither the one nor the other?

Such were the doubts that beset them at the very first taste of an unexpected freedom, as sweet to their lips as ever was the manna of heaven to the Jews of old, and they set about resolving them with a thoughtfulness and precision deserving of commendation. They stood at the dividing of the ways-one the path of absolute independence, leading no man knew whither, and the other the highway of honorable dependence, ending in security for the freedom so hardly won. On one hand was the dazzling show of independent power, coupled with the danger of partition and the probability of dissensions; on the other the United States and stability, unity of race, and safety for the future. They chose to give permanence to their liberties, and who will say that it did not require strength of mind, foresight and clearness and impartiality of judgment to ignore the glittering temptation of a bubble nationality, to put aside the ideals which for twenty years had made their pulses thrill and their blood run faster and to take the course which gave a blow to pride and yet secured the lasting good of all.

On the 12th of November, 1898, Jose Ereneta, a properly authorized commissioner of the people of Negros, at the peril of his life, called on Captain Glass, of the cruiser Charleston, the only representative of American authority in the vicinity, and presenting the resolutions of the provisional government that the Stars and Stripes be raised in Negros, requested that the United States assume charge of the governmental infant at Bacolod. Either because the entire question of the Philippine Archipelago was then a matter of treaty consideration with Spain, or because Captain Glass's instructions did not permit him to do anything of the kind, or because he didn't like children anyhow, or for some other good reason, Captain Glass declined for the then present to raise the flag or to assume on his behalf or for the United States any responsibility in the matter.

The commissioner was therefore compelled to return to his island home with the nowise blissful consciousness that the principal hope for the future was in danger of never materializing, and that Spain after compounding her differences with the United States might some day resume her suspended sovereignty and incidentally offer up a few sons of Negros as holocausts to her offended dignity. Though a bit unhappy Negros was not discouraged, and, resisting the powerful pressure of Aguinaldo and others to unite her fortunes to those of Luzon and Panay, she set up housekeeping for herself, although General Rios across the straits then had at his disposition sufficient of the mosquito fleet to have given all her coast towns many a bad half hour if not something worse. General Miller and the American troops had not then arrived in the harbor of Iloilo, and it would not have been unnatural for the provisional government to have united, for protection if nothing else, to the insurgent establishment which was then assailing the Spaniards in Panay. Still, any alliance with the Aguinaldo element was deprecated and avoided by the chiefs in Negros having an inkling, as some of them did, that once the Spaniards were disposed of it was the secret intention to deal out terms to the Americans with the high hand. The provisional government therefore continued to act for itself and to administer the affairs of the island without outside

intervention or assistance until the Americans took Iloilo, about the 12th of February, 1899, when the provisional government of Negros at once raised the American flag and sent a commission to wait on General Miller, the commanding officer in Panay, with a request for troops to protect them against the Tagalogs, who had threatened to land and punish them for their adherence to the United States.

This commission was advised to proceed to Manila, there to consult with the military governor, Maj. Gen. E. S. Otis, as to what was best to be done. The commission, composed of Aniceto Lacson, provisional presidente of Negros; Jose Luzuriaga, presidente of the provisional congress; Eusebio Luzuriaga, delgado de hacienda, and Andres Ascona, secretary of the congress, arrived in Manila in the latter part of February, and in consequence of their visit the military subdistrict of Negros was created, and its commanding officer, with a battalion of the California volunteers, was directed to proceed to Bacolod, the capital of the island, and, giving protection to the inhabitants, assist them to develop civil administration in accordance with instructions received. The troops arrived on the 4th of March, 1899, and found the Stars and Stripes floating on the breeze to welcome them. A battalion of 200 native auxiliaries was formed within a few days after American occupation, and from the time of entering the service down to the present hour they have been faithful and not a single desertion or traitorous act has marred their record.

The insurrectionary leaders of Panay and Luzon were furious beyond measure at the action of Negros, and sought by every available means to bring about a rupture of relations between the United States and the people of the island. A price was put upon the heads of the members of the provisional government, a bureau for the circulation of all kinds of false information started, and earnest efforts made to create a general feeling of terrorism. The weak were bullied, the doubtful argued with, and the strong threatened. The sons of the soil dragging the plow, the women of the country chattels bearing the brand of American ownership, the churches desecrated, their faith trampled upon, the land exploited, their heritage lost, and the people slaves constituted a motive for sorrowful pictures which it was thought would appeal to the sentimental. The bolo and the threat were the arguments which it was expected would enforce silence if they did not induce conviction in the practical.

But what hurt us worst of all, and the effects remain to this day and hour, was the oft-repeated and unfailing statement that Negros was being tricked; that the concessions made to her were but a sop to Cerberus;" that her status was but the bait to draw her sisters into the American trap, and that once all were in they would share a common slavery without difference or distinction.

There is no question but that the work of the Panay and Luzon agents on these lines, aided as it was by some encouragement from the United States, did grave harm, exciting as it did vigorous suspicions of our good faith among the laboring classes, causing the uneducated to bite their thumbs at us and producing a decided neutrality among many of the property holders and responsibles.

The direct result was the desertion of the provisional government's police (not ours) in the pueblo of Silay during the month of May and the rising at Tanjay on the east coast in the same month. The trouble at Tanjay was adjusted by Lieutenant-Colonel Duboce, of the Califor

nia volunteers, without bloodshed, and ever since that time the Oriental Province has remained entirely tranquil and pacific, if an unsuccessful raid by Tulisanes on the pueblo of Siaton be excepted.

The Silay police, under Luis Gineti, soon after deserting, assaulted the British cable ship Recorder in the harbor of Danao (Escalante) and then remained comparatively quiet until the latter part of July, 1899, when they killed two American soldiers who were scouting near the river Malugo. Their original strength of 28 rifles had been augmented at this time by landings from Panay and recruiting to about 63 rifles and 100 macheteros. They were finally driven out of the island by the Sixth United States Infantry in September, 1899, with a loss of 39 of their force and about 30 of their rifles. Gineti was under the direct orders of the chiefs in Panay, and his is the doubtful honor of having, by robberies and assassinations of his countrymen and abuse of his country women, done more to give them a proper idea of the true inwardness of the insurrection than a thousand American propagandists.

In good report and bad report, however, the officials of the provisional government stuck to the colors raised by themselves and tranquilly continued their work of drafting a constitution, which was finally completed in June, 1899, and sent by the military governor of the Philippines to Washington.

Just about the time the draft of the proposed constitution was forwarded the citizens became impatient to exercise some of the privileges incident to a government of the people and by the people and clamored for an election. They had overcome the Spaniards, differences as to the policy proper to be pursued had made their appearance, and already two parties had arisen, the "ins" and the "outs."

The "ins" defended a policy, and the "outs" condemned all policies of every nature and kind whatsoever which the "ins" might, could, would, or should adopt, and wanted to get "in." In this contingency, and pending the consideration of the proposed organic law which had been presented for approval, Order No. 30, office military governor, July 22, 1899, was issued to meet the situation. By it a provisional government to administer civil affairs under military supervision was established and the necessary officials and machinery for the purpose provided. This order accomplished all the purposes of an organic law, creating as it did the executive, judicial, and legislative departments of a government, defining the powers of each, prescribing the duties of the respective officials, and fixing the qualifications of electors. Under its terms the civil governor and members of the advisory council were to be elected by the votes of the people, while the judicial and departmental officers were to be appointed by the military governor of the island. Through this order the people had the chance to do that which they regarded as the real test of the presence of human libertyas the pinch to see if they were properly awake or only dreaming-the privilege of voting for their own rulers. Voters were carefully registered, ballots cast, votes counted, tally sheets kept, and returns canvassed. The political work, if just a bit crude, displayed possibilities for the future which demonstrated that however much education may be required for other branches of human knowledge no particular instruction will be needed in the modes and methods of "doing politics." There were two leading candidates for civil governor, Señor Melicio Severino and Señor Antonio Jaime, but by some peculiar or other misunderstanding about one-third of the friends of Señor Jaime

got the idea that there was a friendly arrangement by which Señor Severino was to be the governor and Señor Jaime councilor for the island. They voted accordingly, and Severino, after the canvass, had just 28 votes of a plurality over Jaime, his closest competitor. Jaime's manipulators fell down and wept when they saw the returns and realized how they had been properly or improperly "done." Feeling ran high for a few days, and threats of all kinds filled the air. The perturbations of the defeated, however, finally found vent in a civil contest, and the situation became at once as innoxious as the harmless flirtation of the idle summer girl. The commission especially appointed to dispose of the contest is still disposing of it.

The oath of allegiance to the United States was duly taken by the newly elected and appointed officials, and the new provisional government assumed office on the 6th of November, 1899, the anniversary of the overthrow of the Spanish. Since that time this government has practically had charge of the civil administration, subject only to the veto power exercised by the local military governor. Under its rule the advisory council was organized, the necessary personnel of the government engaged, and salaries thereof fixed. Buildings were hired for government use, and payments of amounts due the former provisional government enforced. The provisional government of the province of oriental Negros was dissolved and its property, money, public documents, and records made over to the authorities at Bacolod. Claims and accounts against the island by private citizens or others were considered and finally adjusted and determined. Municipal laws were passed, and municipal elections held. Regulations for the protection of forests and rules for the sale and exportation of woods were adopted. Standards of weights and measures were established and laws passed to prevent fraud in their use. Estimates of the fixed and prospective expenses of the government were made, and as fair a system of taxation devised to meet them as circumstances permitted. A system of public education has been initiated, and by virtue of it, according to the reports of the secretary of public instruction, schools are now established in every pueblo, local inspectors have been appointed, and teachers are being examined touching their qualifications as instructors. Appropriations have been made for the purchase of school supplies, and money is about to be expended on the roads and bridges, which sadly need the outlay. A subdelegation to supervise civil administration in the oriental coast has been nominated, and arrangements have been definitely adopted to take the census and secure the necessary agricultural and other statistics. The model farm has been put in operation, and a profit from it, strange to say, turned into the treasury. Meteorological observations have been made and a record carefully kept. Agricultural societies are now organized in every pueblo, and measures adopted for the extinction of Langosta and the suppression of rinderpest. The accounts of the government have been well audited and its moneys carefully preserved and guarded. Basket and hammock making has been instituted as an industry for the prisoners, while the making of split-bamboo fishing rods, fishing nets, and chairs is now in project.

Gambling has been definitely prohibited, and cockfighting, the pastime of the country, restricted to holidays and festal days of the first magnitude. The pueblos are being put in as sanitary a condition as lack of sewers will permit, and the population is being vaccinated as

rapidly as virus can be secured. Finally, a commission has been appointed to provide means to alleviate, as far as possible, the distress from hunger likely to ensue during the coming year.

The civil governor came into the office handicapped with the doubts of a considerable number of his fellow-citizens as to his ability to fill the place. He was not considered by many of his cultivated countrymen as the best representative of the able Filipino type, but his faithful work, his industry, and, more than all, his evident desire to make his people happier have overcome much of the prejudice against him, and I think all will concede that so far his administration has been creditably successful.

The secretaries of the interior and of the treasury, the auditor, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of public instruction, and the procurador-general brought with them into office special fitness for the duties required of them, and the department work of the government has, I think, more than fairly met the expectations of all concerned.

Of all the officials the members of the advisory council probably had the hardest row of corn to hoe, as upon them devolved the arduous duty of framing necessary laws, and of meeting somewhat abnormal conditions of society with appropriate regulations. With one exception they were new to the business, yet the general tenor of all the legislation has been for the betterment of the people, and if, sometimes, the enactments were just a bit unartificially drawn, the advisory council of Negros can not be very badly wounded from the stones cast by guiltless and older legislative bodies. So much may be said for the advancement of the provisional government of Negros during something like seven months of power exercised by virtue of General Orders, No. 30, series 1899.

True, it has not given that perfect sense of security to all the people, that perfect confidence in the future, so necessary to business success, so much required to stimulate enterprise, so badly needed to silence the misrepresentations and lying reports that make for disquiet and perturbation, but it has done the best, I think, that could be expected, affected as it has been by disturbed conditions in the other islands, and by an enveloping atmosphere of machination, intrigue, and deceit. The citizens of Negros are disposed to believe-they want to believethat the United States will do that which is for their best happiness, but way down deep in their hearts lies a lurking fear that all that has so far been conceded to them may be taken from them, that they are being used for a purpose, and that when that purpose has been conserved their second condition will be a whole lot worse than their first. A slight change of policy, an arbitrary act by an official, an unwitting exercise by the military of powers given to the civil authorities, and from the vapor of suspicion is evolved the certainty of intended wrong. Worse than all, what if Congress should grant absolute independence, then what would Aguinaldo and his Tagals do with Negros? To us, a calm-blooded and deliberate people, these doubts and hesitations are very unreal, but with the Negreno who has been many times victimized they are substantial considerations, to be given weight in all deliberations as to his future policy. Hence it is that the people fail to give the Government that most material aid which comes from helping themselves. They won't battle for their homes against the Tulisane and the thief, because the Tulisane and the thief of to-day may be

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