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.

15'2 INDEPENDENCE CONGRESS PROCEEDINGS

principles and practices may be mentioned the following: the
principle of majority rule, equal opportunity for all, the Australian ballot system, the peaceful acceptance of electoral results,
public office as a public trust, etc. With or without independence these principles and practices must remain as a solid foundatioin of Philippine political institutions.
'On the other hand we mention some of the things which
would have been worked out by the Republic, but which were
immediately abolished with the advent of American rule. The
experiment of the first republic in the Far East, representative in
nature, established on the principle of the sovereignty of the
people, would have been worth while witnessing. The central
government under the Republic would have continued to be
more democratic than during any period under American rule.
The President of the Republic would have continued to be
elected by Congress and the Congress elected by a limited
electorate.
Would an independent Philippines on the whole have learned
more politically? On this there would be honest difference
of opinion. Some will probably answer in the affirmative on
the ground that you learn to do things by doing them; while
others will contend that the Filipinos would have failed,
ignorant as they were of democratic government.
s Let us, however, for a moment forget what would have
become politically of the Philippines had she been allowed to
continue with her independent government. I would be the
first one to admit that there have been some outstanding contributions of the United States to the development of the Philippines which are of great advantage to the country, and which
probably would not have been made, at least not in so short
a.-time, under independence. The thing that we should discuss
now is why the advocates of independence now believe that
independence would foster a quicker and a more stable political
development than the present status: I for one am of the firm
opinion that although we have received from America political
contributions of a lasting nature, the time has come when for
the cause of self-government itself the Philippines should be independent.