In the opinion of President McKinley there was no reason why steps
should not be taken, from time to time, to inaugurate governments
essentially popular in their form as fast as territory came under
the permanent control of our troops, and indeed, as we have seen,
this had already been done by the army. It was provided that we
should continue and perfect the work of organizing and establishing
civil governments already commenced by the military authorities. In
doing this we were to act as a board of which Mr. Taft was designated
president. It was contemplated that the transfer of authority from
military commanders to civil officers would be gradual, and full and
complete cooeperation between these authorities was enjoined. Having
familiarized ourselves with the conditions then prevailing in the
islands, we were to devote our attention first to the establishment
of municipal governments, in which the natives should be given the
opportunity to manage their local affairs to the fullest extent and
with the least supervision and control found to be practicable. We were
then to consider the organization of larger administrative divisions,
and when of the opinion that the condition of affairs in the islands
was such that the central administration could safely be transferred
from military to civil control were to report this conclusion to the
secretary of war with our recommendations as to the form of central
government which should be established.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432