lete report, duly certified, to the
Secretary of War of all duties collected at each port, with an itemized
report of all expenditures made therefrom, which shall be referred to
the Auditor for the War Department for audit.

All questions arising in the administration of customs in the islands
shall be referred to the collector of the islands at the chief port for
decision, from which there shall be no appeal, except in such cases as
may be referred by the collector of the islands to the Secretary of War
for his decision.

WILLIAM McKINLEY.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, December 21, 1898_.

The SECRETARY OF WAR.

SIR: The destruction of the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Manila by the
United States naval squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Dewey, followed
by the reduction of the city and the surrender of the Spanish forces,
practically effected the conquest of the Philippine Islands and the
suspension of Spanish sovereignty therein.

With the signature of the treaty of peace between the United States
and Spain by their respective plenipotentiaries at Paris, on the 10th
instant, and as the result of the victories of American arms, the future
control, disposition, and government of the Philippine Islands are ceded
to the United States. In fulfillment of the rights of sovereignty thus
acquired and the responsible obligations of government thus assumed,
the actual occupation and administration of the entire group of the
Philippine Islands become immediately necessary, and the military
government heretofore maintained by the United States in the city,
harbor, and bay of Manila is to be extended with all possible dispatch
to the whole of the ceded territory.

In performing this duty the military commander of the United States is
enjoined to make known to the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands
that in succeeding to the sovereignty of Spain, in severing the former
political relations of the inhabitants, and in establishing a new
political power the authority of the United States is to be exerted for
the security of the persons and property of the people of the islands
and for the confirmation of all their private rights and relations.

It will be the duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to
announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come, not as
invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in
their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious
righ