The development of Philippine politics

TRIUMPHANT NATIONALISM

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work was finished. The feeling which predominated was
that the American people were watching what this asembly
would do, and hence the nationalists who had been branded
as demagogues had to show that besides their idealism
they had constructive ability. The first bill approved was
received with satisfaction. They knew that the American
people were greatly interested in the establishment of
schools in the Philippines; so what greater proof could
they show of their appreciation for the good things America was doing in the Islands than the support of the school
system? Their first bill was the so-called Gabaldon law,
which appropriated 1,000,000 pesos for the construction of
the schools in the barrios.
Attitude Towards Independence
Yet the path chosen by the nationalists inethe Assembly
did not meet the warm approval of certain radical elements.
The radicals wanted to approve a resolution in favor of immediate independence; but the effects of a resolution approved by the Assembly but disapproved by the commis
sion, was feared. Finally they hit upon a plan. The ideal
of independence would be expressed by the Speaker and
would then be approved by the assembly. So at the end
of the work for the session after the Assembly had demonstrated its willingness to cooperate in the great undertakings of the government, Speaker Osmenfa delivered an
address which read in part as follows:.
The Filipino people accepted peace, principally because
they expected justice from the American people. Far from
holding aloof from or making difficult the work of the government in its implantation, they did everything they could to
promote and improve it. They went to the polls when the
municipal government was established; they also willingly
took part in the government of the provinces when, amid
countless difficulties and when the ruins of the revolution
still loomed grim and terrible, they were called upon to do
so; and they chose their representatives when the solemn
hours came for the most difficult test of their capacity to
manage their own destinies. But neither before nor after
did they yield to promise or fear; before and after they
aspired for their national independence, both when they cast
their votes in favor of a free and independen't life, and