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PHILIPPINE ISLANDS


some of these receive Government aid, but the majority are pay- ing for their own instruction. The work of the Philippine library and museum is largely educational in character. This institution was first founded as the Philippine library, May 20 1909. After the passage of the Jones Bill of 1916 it was amalgamated with the Philippine archives and the museum. It has charge of all the books owned by the Insular Government. The manuscripts of the library number several millions, the books in all over a quarter of a million.

Finance. Philippine currency in circulation on June 30 1908 amounted to 40,337,982 pesos or 4-82 per capita; on Dec. 31 1913 to 50,697,253 or 5-53 per capita; and on Dec. 31 1919 to 146,500,000, or 14-16 per capita. The Philippine peso, nominally equivalent to $0.50 U.S., was in June 1921 quoted in New York City at $0.46 and has even reached much lower levels; in Nov. 1921 it was quoted at $0.4975. The total revenues and expenditures of the Insular Government for the year ending June 30 1908 were respec- tively, $10,899,261 and $11,469,785; and for 1919, $39,843,461 and $43,371,294. The great increases in revenues began in 1916 simul- taneously with the large trade balances in favour of the Philip- pines. Revenues are mainly from customs collections, internal revenues and receipts from land taxes and leases. Customs col- lections for the year 1919 were $7,712,653 and for 1920, $8,878,- 932; and collections of internal revenues for 1919 $26,641,373. The latter collections come mainly from the excise tax, licence, pro- fession and occupation taxes, cedulas, franchise taxes, income tax, documentary stamp tax, and inheritance tax. The bonded indebtedness for the Insular and municipal Governments as of June 30 1919 was $20,125,000, that for the former being $16,000,000. Commercial bank assets rose from $31,872,964 in 1913 to $177,293,- 860 in 1919. In 1908 postal savings bank deposits were $774,105 and withdrawals $512,839; and in 1918 $2,942,762 and $2,599,775 respectively; in 1919 there were 417 postal savings banks in oper- ation. In 1919, operations of the eight banks in Manila reached a total of $4,197,682,000. The Philippine National Bank, the sole depository of the Government, with headquarters in Manila, has II branches and 41 provincial agencies in the Philippines, and branches in Shanghai and New York. Its assets on June 30 1920 amounted to $118,749,138. More recently reverses, due, it is re- ported, to poor management and the business crisis, overtook the institution.

History. W. Cameron Forbes was appointed acting gov- ernor-general in May 1909, and on Nov. n of the same year governor-general, succeeding James T. Smith. During his term, which expired on Oct. 6 1913, many public improvements were made, and the principle of the Filipinization of the civil service was carried out consistently, although comparatively few Fili- pinos were appointed to the higher offices.

The Taal volcano, which had been quiescent for a century and a half, erupted on Jan. 30 1911. Some 1,300 lives were lost. The outburst was accompanied by violent earthquakes, of which 1,014 were registered in Manila in about a fortnight. Earth- quakes are of frequent occurrence in all parts of the islands, but are rarely of magnitude. During Governor-General Forbes's term no general appropriation measure for the expenses of Government was passed after that of 1910, because the two Houses could not agree upon the method of drawing it. In consequence, the provision of the organic Act of 1902 which declared that in the event of the failure to pass a general appro- priation measure, the sum appropriated last should be considered as reappropriated, was declared to be in effect, and proclama- tion was so made each year. The breach between the two Houses tended to widen, and much constructive legislation that should have been enacted failed of passage. Educational meas- ures, however, were generally assured of enactment and one is continually struck by the number of measures of this kind passed by each session of the Legislature. During this period also the demand for political independence by certain Filipino leaders, especially by Manuel Quezon, for part of the time resident commissioner in Washington, was constant and insist- ent. The Americans in the Philippines, regarded^as appointees of the political party in control in the United States, were skilfully made to appear hostile to Filipino interests, and that administration was represented as withholding an inherent right of the Filipino people. The desire of the Filipinos for inde- pendence was and is real, and has grown with each succeeding year; the whole course of American administration has fostered that aspiration, and continually greater autonomy has been granted, although differences of opinion have been manifest as to the safety with which this could be done.

The change of administration in Washington in 1913 was hailed with delight by the Filipinos, in the belief that it would soon lead to political independence. On Oct. 6 1913 Francis Burton Harrison, who had been appointed governor-general by President Wilson, arrived in Manila, and immediately assumed office. By presidential appointment the majority on the Philip- pine Commission passed to the Filipinos. Various changes were made by the new governor-general in the personnel of sev- eral of the bureaus, the chief innovation being that Filipinos were appointed to a number of the higher posts. On Jan. 11917 there were 31 Americans and 22 Filipinos acting as chiefs and assistant chiefs, and on July i 1920, 20 Americans and 30 Fili- pinos. On the latter date there were 760 Americans and 12,047 Filipinos connected with the Government, while in 1913 there had been 2,623 of the former and 6,363 of the latter. This increased rapidity in the Filipinization of the civil service after 1913, especially of the higher offices, has been criticized on the ground of decreased efficiency, but while this was necessarily the result to a considerable extent, it was not universally so, and the policy led, as a natural corollary, to a greater official Harmony than had reigned previously. In Feb. 1916 an Act of the Legisla- ture, providing a temporary pension for employees who had been in the service of the Philippine Government for from six to ten years or longer, gave an impetus to many Americans to request retirement under the terms of that Act. While techni- cally the provisions of the Act apply to Filipinos as well as to Americans, it has been the policy of the Government to retire eligible Filipinos only because of age or physical disability. Upon the declaration of war against Germany by the United States, many Americans resigned to enlist, and it was felt that Americans were leaving the Philippine service too rapidly, especially the teachers. A very earnest effort was made after the war to recruit American teachers.

The virtual Filipino autonomy resulting from the above- mentioned changes was increased by the enactment by Con- gress in Aug. 1916 of the Jones Act, by which the Philippine Commission was replaced by an elective Senate (see Govern- ment above). The era of good feeling, inaugurated in 1913 by the change of Government, was seen almost immediately in the passing of an appropriation measure for the general expenses of Government the first to be enacted since 1910. Such meas- ures have been passed annually since. One of the early Acts of the Legislature was to reduce certain salaries, especially those of the Philippine commissioners and of certain bureau chiefs; but, as in the United States, a bonus system was later adopted because of the increase in the cost of living and the governor- general recommended that salaries be increased. In 1915 the Philippine National Bank was created, taking over the former Agricultural Bank owned by the Government, which had never functioned acceptably. In the same year the Code Committee, after several years' work, finished the administrative code of the islands, which was passed by the Legislature. Among the first Acts of the all-Filipino Legislature of 1916-7 was the reorganiza- tion of the several departments of the Government, the result being that the Department of Public Instruction came to be the only one directly under an American.

The period was marked by generous appropriations for educa- tional purposes, the most notable of these being the appropria- tion of $15,332,912 for the extension of free elemental educa- tion (see Education above). A previous Act prohibiting the display of the Philippine flag was repealed, a measure desired most ardently by Filipinos.

Upon the declaration of war against Germany by the United States, the Filipinos offered to supply a division of troops for the U.S. army and to supply funds for the construction of a destroyer and submarine for the U.S. navy, and there was a generous subscription to the Red Cross and to Liberty bonds. A volun- teer National Guard was formed, which was joined by many of the Filipino youth, this being disbanded in 1919. There were also many Filipinos who served in the army and navy of the United States. In this connexion it should be noted that Filipi- nos have been admitted to West Point and Annapolis. Some 22