, if not friendship, between the Filipinos and
the Moros on the one hand and between the Moros and the hill tribes on
the other; to stop the Christian Filipinos from imposing {188} on the
hill tribes; and to begin some method for substituting respect for law
and order, for government and authority in the place of terror and
hatred. The ending of the slave trade resulted in many heavy,
long-drawn-out fights with the principal Moro bands. The Sultan of
Sulu had not lived up to the Bates Treaty and he had to be deposed,
therefore, as a sovereign in Sulu.

The next step was to organize some form of government that would fit
the situation. To start this Wood divided the entire Moro area,
including the islands, into districts and appointed American officers
of experience and ability as governors of the districts.

He then visited Borneo and studied carefully the laws and regulations
under which that chartered colony governed the Malays within its
borders. The policy laid down by him for the district governors was to
stop slave-trading and the taking of life and property at once; to
establish next friendly relations between the people living on the
coast and the timid tribes up in the hills; to build up commerce on a
fair basis; to open up trails and lines of communication between {189}
villages; to assure to every one, no matter what his religion, a fair
deal. He also laid great stress on the necessity of bringing the
headmen of the different tribes into contact with the district
governors and of doing all that could be done to build up and increase
commerce.

At the same time the new and energetic Governor-General instituted a
strong policy to stop forever the inhuman practices and customs highly
repugnant to what Americans considered humane conduct. Every effort
was made to insure better treatment of women, who up to that time had
been nothing more nor less than chattels. On the seacoast trading
stations were built and put in charge of men who spoke the dialect of
the wild people. At these stations there was always a provincial agent
who had authority to see that the hill people got fair prices for
their products and just treatment from the Malays. Little by little as
a result of this wise and sane policy they were all induced to come to
the stations and make their head-quarters there during the trading
period. In former times they had been accustomed to bring down their
heavy loads of jungle products on their {190} shou