Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 20.pdf/477

 364

THE GREEN BAG

against the door connecting the court room with the Judge's office. Reverting, however, to the eminent gentlemen who are being so recklessly sub ordinated to the drawing of a genre picture: Governor Taft delivered his address, out lining the plan of government for the province, and pointing out its more dis tinctive features of local self-government. He never attempted to speak any Spanish in a public address. His speeches were interpreted by my late beloved friend, Mr. A. W. Fergusson, secretary to the com mission, who spoke Spanish, probably as well as any other person in the world whose mother tongue was English. He was interpreter on behalf of the Americans at the Paris Peace Commission of 1898, and so well satisfied were the eminent public men of Spain who represented her on that occasion with the faithfulness of his trans lations and interpretations that they stated, at one of the meetings of their own motion, that Mr. Fergusson was entirely satisfactory to them and that they would no longer retain their own interpreter. All this appears in the official proceedings, and is certainly a splendid guarantee of Mr. Fergusson's knowledge of Spanish. He was for a long number of years connected with the Bureau of Spanish-American Republics at Washington, in the capacity of inter preter. He was, at one time, a lawyer, having been admitted to and engaged in the practice of law in the city of Washing ton years ago. He seemed to have a talent for conversation in both languages, being exceptionally witty in either. There were perhaps few, if any, men who could have conveyed so faithfully to the minds of the Filipino people every shade of thought expressed by Americans as Mr. Fergusson did. During the course of the discussion on the scope of the Civil Provincial Govern ment about to be organized, an invitation was extended to all of the citizens of the province present at the meeting to partake

in the discussion and ask any question which they might see fit. One member of the town counsel got up and in very round about and grandiloquent terms asked whether or not the right of local selfgovernment included the idea of exemption from interference by the military authori ties with city ordinances. Judge Taft re plied, that so long as the town council, in creating legislation, kept within the scope of the authority vested in it by the Organic Law, its action could not be questioned by the higher local authorities. The eyes of our herein-before mentioned friend Achilles "flashed their full lightnings by" during these remarks, and at the end of them he said to Governor Taft, "He is talking about stocks; I forbade the use of stocks up here." One or two little hits at the military were made, but the Governor explained it very clearly to them that under a General Order (giving the number of it) the military7 authorities would from now on have nothing to do with the gov ernment except in certain specific ways and for certain specific purposes set forth in the order. And General Bell added, addressing himself to Mr. Fergusson, "You may tell him too that I am just as glad to relinquish my authority as they are to get out from under it." And as Archilles glared at the audience like a roused lion, Mr. Fergusson interpreted the remarks, and Judge Taft turned it off with a jolly laugh, such as only good-natured fat men can get off. The audience caught the humor of the situ ation and came to the right understanding of the matter. After the morning session had adjourned for lunch, a good deal of caucusing followed in regard to the election of provincial gover nor of the Province of Ilocos Norte and sec retary thereof. The Americanista element had their can didates and the Insurrecto element had theirs for each of the places to be filled, and finally the matter was settled by the commission appointing a certain man gov