The development of Philippine politics

404 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHILIPPINE POLITICS

or by an overwhelming public opinion, his veto cannot be
said to be the people's veto, consequently it was very seldom
used during the period under discussion.
The system of semi-responsible government thus outlined continued practically without variation to the end of
the Harrison regime in 1920. On June 3, 1919, the first
general elections were held under the Jones law. The Jones
Law enlarged the suffrage qualifications by allowing those
who could read and write a native dialect to vote. The
result of the elections was overwhelmingly in favor of the
Nacionalistas as shown by the following record:
House of Representatives: Nacionalistas.... 78
Democratas..... 4
Provincial Governors: Nacionalistas.... 35
Democratas...... 1(1)
There were 717,295 registered voters, 672,122 of whom,
or 92 per cent, voted. There were 46.2 per cent of the men
of voting age who were voters. The almost unanimous verdict of the people in favor of the Nacionalistas perhaps can
be explained in several ways. The first factor was the success of the Nacionalistas in convincing the people that they
were in actual control of the government and that the
Governor-General always followed their advice. The second
factor, was the good times which obtained as a result of
the war. Philippine products were selling at prices never
dreamed of. Farmers were receiving for their sugar, hemp,
tobacco, copra and other products, four or five times what
they had been getting in pre-war days. The total. foreign
commerce of the Philippines jumped from 202 million pesos
in 1913 to 601 millions in 1920.
(1) Report of the Governor-General, p. 4. The memorial of the Nationalist Party
to the Wood Forbes Mission gives the following figures:
Rerresentatives:
Nacionalistas....................... 83
Democratas......................... 4
Independientes...................... 3
Provincial Governors:
Nacionalistas....................... 34
Democratas........................ 1
Independientes..................... 1
The 86 Nacionalista Representatives include some appointive members.