President and to future modifications by the consent of the
parties in interest. I have confirmed said agreement, subject to the
action of the Congress, and with the reservation, which I have directed
shall be communicated to the Sultan of Jolo, that this agreement is not
to be deemed in any way to authorize or give the consent of the United
States to the existence of slavery in the Sulu archipelago. I
communicate these facts to the Congress for its information and action.

Everything indicates that with the speedy suppression of the Tagalo
rebellion life in the archipelago will soon resume its ordinary course
under the protection of our sovereignty, and the people of those favored
islands will enjoy a prosperity and a freedom which they have never
before known. Already hundreds of schools are open and filled with
children. Religious freedom is sacredly assured and enjoyed. The courts
are dispensing justice. Business is beginning to circulate in its
accustomed channels. Manila, whose inhabitants were fleeing to the
country a few months ago, is now a populous and thriving mart of
commerce. The earnest and unremitting endeavors of the Commission and
the Admiral and Major-General Commanding the Department of the Pacific
to assure the people of the beneficent intentions of this Government
have had their legitimate effect in convincing the great mass of them
that peace and safety and prosperity and stable government can only be
found in a loyal acceptance of the authority of the United States.

The future government of the Philippines rests with the Congress of the
United States. Few graver responsibilities have ever been confided to
us. If we accept them in a spirit worthy of our race and our traditions,
a great opportunity comes with them. The islands lie under the shelter
of our flag. They are ours by every title of law and equity. They cannot
be abandoned. If we desert them we leave them at once to anarchy and
finally to barbarism. We fling them, a golden apple of discord, among
the rival powers, no one of which could permit another to seize them
unquestioned. Their rich plains and valleys would be the scene of
endless strife and bloodshed. The advent of Dewey's fleet in Manila Bay
instead of being, as we hope, the dawn of a new day of freedom and
progress, will have been the beginning of an era of misery and violence
worse than any which has darkened their unhappy past. The suggestion
has been made that we could renounc