Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

POLITICAL SECTION

111

Referring to the elections of 1922, Governor-General Wood,
in his message to the members of the Sixth Philippine Legislature said:
"I congratulate you, and through you the Filipino
people, on the orderly and lawful conduct of the recent
elections, which, notwithstanding the keenness of the
struggle and the appearance of a strong new party in the
field, were conducted with due regard to the rights of
the candidates and with an absence of fraud and irregularity which would be a credit to any people.
"The will of the people was given full and free expression and the election was honest and fair."
In this message to the Philippine Legislature in 1925, Governor-General Wood, commenting upon the conduct of the
general election which took place that year, said that that election was carried out peacefully and orderly. In 1928, Governor-General Stimson said in his message to the Philippine
Legislature: "The country has passed through a general election
with most commendable freedom from disorder. * * *."
The number of qualified voters has steadily increased. In
the elections for 1912, there were 248,154 registered voters;
in 1922 there were 824,058. In 1925, the number reached
almost a million, and in 1928 it increased to almost one million
three hundred thousand. In the 1928 general elections only
18 per cent of the registered voters failed to vote actually. This
shows that the indifference on the part of Philippine voters
to the election of public officials is far less than that of many
places in the United States and other countries. The problem
of non-voting which baffles students of politics in other supposedly more advanced countries, is practically absent in the
Philippine elections. National parties have their ramifications
in the localities and make their influence felt therein. Local
parties, naturally enough, also spring up. But partisan politics in municipal elections is generally absent. The officials
that have been elected, whether provincial or municipal, are
in the main leading and representative men of the community
and are animated by enthusiasm for the public service. Although
the municipal councilors receive no compensation, except the
per diem of P2.00 which the municipal council may grant with