The development of Philippine politics

332 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS

opinion, particularly its obsession by the idea that America
was fulfilling a noble mission in the Philippines and that
the government that had been instituted there was the
best that could possibly be provided.
After several months of observation and study in the
capital, Mr Quezon delivered his maiden speech before the
House, on May 14, 1910. This speech is interesting to all
who followed his work in that it carried the tone and spirit
that up to recently characterized his utterances and attitude
toward the American people. It was an agreeable surprise
to those Americans who had expected an inflammatory harangue on Philippine independence. It was a disappointment to many Filipinos who had urged him to denounce in
the bitterest of terms the evils of American administration
in the Islands. Not a few even accused him of having betrayed the cause and of having become an Americanista. He
acknowledged in the warmest terms the brilliant achievements of the American officials and government in the Philippines; but he warned Congress of the almost unlimited
powers wielded by those men and of the unpopular character of the government. He then appealed to the pride and
patriotism of the American people, to their devotion to
the principle of liberty and self-government, and reminded
them that in spite of all the good things done by America
in the Philippines, the Filipinos preferred to be free and independent.
The first issue which came before Congress in 1910
between the defenders of American administration in the Islands and the Filipino advocates of independence, was the
friar-land controversy. The friar-land estate in Mindoro
called the San Jose Estate, amounting to 55,000 acres,
had been sold by the Philippine Government to an American
corporation. Charges were made that administrators in
the Philippine Government were enriching themselves by
buying the best of these lands. These acts were denounced
by Congressman Martin, of Colorado, as exploitation, pure
and simple. He was strenuously supported by the Anti-Imperialist League of Boston, which claimed that its original
contention that Philippine exploitation was the prime ob