The war cloud burst, and in less than ninety days the skies were cleared again. Cuba had been liberated, Porto Rico had been gathered under the American flag, and, as an indirect but necessary result, Hawaii had been annexed. All of these things were not to be compared in importance, however, with the fact that the defeat of the Spanish fleet in Manila Harbour by Commodore Dewey’s squadron had ousted the Spanish from their possession of the Philippine Islands, a possession which they had enjoyed for three centuries. The United States at once became a world power in the Orient. All the other remarkable events of McKinley’s administration--any one of which would have made it memorable--pale into insignificance before this acquisition of a vast archipelago, with 1,200 islands and 10,000,000 people, situated 7,000 miles from our shores. President McKinley, overwhelmed with problems which would have crushed a man of smaller calibre and less experience with national affairs, met his new responsibilities with admirable courage. He did not act hastily. On the contrary, one of the features of his administration was the deliberation with which he developed his important policies, and for which he was most bitterly criticized. The Philippines presented from the first the most serious problem. Situated on the other side of the world, populated largely by savage races who maintained slaves and recognized polygamy, the Islands nevertheless possessed large commercial value and were considered important because of their situation on the threshold of the Orient. The military administration which the President at once established was not altogether satisfactory, and he sought the assistance of distinguished civilians, appointed by him as commissioners, in devising another form of government. The military transferred to the commission, of which Hon. William H. Taft was president, all duties of a purely legislative nature. To this commission the President outlined in great detail a policy which promised much benefit to the Filipinos, assuring them of the enjoyment of the privileges contained in the American Constitution and promising them better educational facilities, the development of their commerce, and all the blessings which are the heritage of the American citizen. The war with Spain and all of its brilliant exploits, brief as it proved to be, has been ably and fully covered by historians and war correspondents. The most interesting figure in the light of later events was Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, with his picturesque Rough Riders, in the assault and victory of San Juan Hill. The achievements of Richmond P. Hobson, of Schley, of Sampson are all brilliant pages in an epochal era of United States expansion.