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I herewith inclose you a copy of my communication about the Philippines for which you asked me this morning. Additional information which may be useful to you is as follows:
The legislation of the Philippines is now enacted by an Assembly composed wholly of native members elected by the people of the Islands, in conjunction with the Philippine Commission wholly appointive by the President of the United States. The Philippine Commission consists of nine members, five Americans and four Filipinos, namely: the Governor General and four Cabinet officers, one of whom is a Filipino; and four other members termed “legislative members”,- that is, they hold no Cabinet office, one of whom is an American and three are Filipinos. The three Cabinet officers who were Americans are, the Vice Governor, who is also the Secretary of Public Instruction; the Secretary of Commerce and Police; and the Secretary of the Interior. The Filipino Cabinet officer is the Secretary of Finance and Justice. The Governor General has under his immediate jurisdiction the Executive Bureau, the Bureau of Audits and the Bureau of Civil Service.
The positions of Secretary of Commerce and Police and Secretary of the Interior are now vacant. Mr. Branagan is now the American legislative member, and Mr. Gilbert is the Vice Governor and Secretary of Public Instruction.
If some scheme similar to the one I suggested is adopted, then we could give one of these Cabinet positions to a Filipino, which, with the one they already have and the three legislative members, would give them a legislative majority in the Philippine Commission.
It is probable that under existing legislation the Secretary of War has a veto on the Acts of the Philippine Legislature. Even if he has not, we have power of instant removal, and there is no grave danger from the effect of the operation of bad laws, if such were enacted, because we could immediately fill up the Commission and repudiate them. I do not think, however, that there is any question but what we could control that situation, and that there is a veto in the Secretary of War. In any event, Congress has authority to annul any laws.
I have made some little inquiry about Mr. Peters, and I find that he was a member of the Committee on Insular Affairs at one time, and his attitude towards the Islands seemed to be an open-minded one, although he was evidently one of those who thought that we should never have taken them. He is, as you know,- or was - a member of the Anti-Imperialistic League, but does not seem to have ever been active.
Lindley M. Garrison
Secretary of War.
[handwritten] Gov Harrisin will be in Japan Sept 25th