The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2)Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
History
The Philippines: Past and Present (Volume 1 of 2)
Worcester, Dean C. (Dean Conant)
Philippines; Philippines -- History -- 1898-1946
"That no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law; that private property
shall not be taken for public use without just compensation;
that in all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with
the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance
of counsel for his defence; that excessive bail shall not be
required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishment inflicted; that no person shall be put twice in
jeopardy for the same offence, or be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself; that the right to be
secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not
be violated; that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
shall exist except as a punishment for crime; that no bill
of attainder or ex-post-facto law shall be passed; that no
law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech or of the
press, or the rights of the people to peaceably assemble and
petition the Government for a redress of grievances; that no
law shall be made respecting the establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that the free
exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship
without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed."
It has been the fashion in some quarters to sneer at the last of these
paragraphs, and to insinuate, if not to charge, that President McKinley
in his policy toward the Philippine Islands was actuated by unworthy
motives. Nothing could be further from the truth. From the beginning
to the end the real good of the several peoples of the archipelago
came first with him, and no one who had the privilege of knowing him
well doubts it. Thoroughly imbued with the lofty sentiments expressed
by him in our instructions, we set forth on our long pilgrimage to a
country where we were to undertake a heavy task essentially different
from that which had ever before fallen to the lot of any five citizens
of the United States.
On April 17, 1900, we sailed from San Francisco on the United
States army transport _Hancock_. We were forty-five strong. Of
this goodly company only four remain in the Philippines to-day,
[458]--Mr. and Mrs. Branagan, Mrs. Worcester and myself. Singularly
enough, with two exceptions, all of the others are still alive
and at work. Arthur W. Ferguson, prince of interpreters, who was
later appointed Executive Secretary, died in the service after more
than six years of extraordinarily faithful and efficient work. James
A. LeRoy, my faithful, able and efficient private secretary, contracted
tuberculosis, and fell a victim to it after a long and gallant fight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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