existence and is recorded in the college annuals,—those peerless
banishers of gloom, the suns which serve to brighten yet more the
lighter side of our college life. And in the words of the Prophet,
"May their tribe increase." J. H. F. '
CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES.
The second Philippine Commission, headed by Judge Taft,
which has since 1900 administered the affairs of our dependencies
in the Far East, will be superseded January I, 1904, by the perma
nent civil government provided for in the Congressional act of
1902. Under this system the executive branch of the Government
will consist of a Governor and a Cabinet composed of the heads of
six administrative departments, all of whom are appointed and re
movable by the President. These men may or may not be natives.
There will be two houses of the Legislature, the tipper house to be
composed of the Governor and his Cabinet and of five native
members, also to be appointed by the President ; the lower house,
or House of Delegates, will have thirty members, chosen biennially
by the people, on a somewhat restricted suffrage. In order to be
come a law a measure must be approved by both these houses. This
system is very like that intermediate class of English colonies,
known as those with "representative" government.
Courts of first instance have been established in those provinces
where the people may be considered to some extent civilized, with
a Supreme Court of seven members, four of whom are Americans
and three Filipinos, the Chief Justice being a Filipino. Appeals, of
course, lie in certain classes of cases to the Supreme Court of the
United States, while in legislative affairs acts of Congress would
supersede acts of the Philippine Legislature inconsistent therewith.
Local self-government has already been provided for in most of
the districts where the population is sufficiently advanced in civili
zation to be fitted to receive it, and the privilege will be extended
as they show themselves further qualified. Nearly 1,000 American
teachers are assisting in training the coming generation of islanders