Though the Commission proceeded with the establishment of civil government in a conspicuously simple manner as much cannot be said of the Filipinos. They were bent upon making the most of a rare opportunity for the enjoyment of great and ceremonious festivity.
On the 23rd of February, following the extraordinary celebration of Washington’s birthday, the Commission, accompanied by a considerable number of prominent Filipinos and by several of the ladies, took a government launch and steamed across the Bay to the town of Balanga, the capital of the province of Bataan which lies directly opposite Manila where the sun goes down in tropic splendour behind the Meriveles Mountains. This trip was a new experience for me and was the beginning of my long acquaintance with Filipino hospitality.
As we approached the Bataan shore there were splashes of brilliant colour all over the surface of the Bay, which, on nearer view, turned out to be the decorations of a great fleet of bancas coming out to meet us. There must have been a hundred or more and, while they were of all sizes, some of them were large enough to hold twenty and thirty rowers. The banca is a long, narrow dugout which usually looks as if it were just about to sink. Some of these had outriggers, some had not, but each and every one of them was loaded to capacity, and each was covered with the most gorgeous decorations. Bunting and paper flowers of every hue were mixed with long palm leaves and branches of bamboo and everything in the nature of an ornament that could possibly be used, while from every angle and at every point fluttered small American flags, some of them homemade and only approximately correct. Then there were two huge flat affairs with decorated awnings over them which we found were nothing less than rafts prepared for our own use, the water in the little harbour being too shallow for our big steam launch. These rafts were made of split bamboo flooring lashed to the tops of large bancas and, though they looked exceedingly unsafe, we found they would hold as many as could stand upon them without being pushed over the edge.
In ten minutes this gay and unusual fleet had surrounded us; the rafts came alongside and over our rails clambered the reception committee, a half dozen Filipinos in more or less nondescript, heavy black clothes with silk hats! Where these garments came from I have no idea. Most of the hats looked like heirlooms, just as the silk hats of our own husbands looked, but the chief concern of their owners seemed to be their protection. Never have I seen silk hats so cautiously handled.
Having got safely aboard the launch each man went through a deliberate process of straightening himself out and carefully adjusting his attire before he advanced to the stern of the launch where we waited to receive him. Then there were some set speeches of welcome in which the chief sentiment seemed to be that never had the province of Bataan been so highly honoured and that, therefore, it and all it contained was, with feelings inexpressible, laid at the feet of the honourable Commission. Mr. Fergusson translated the flowers and figures of oratory and all the soaring flights of sentimental generosity into literal English, then, with equal solemnity and impressiveness, he rendered Mr. Taft’s matter of fact, though cordial, replies into a marvellous flow of Spanish eloquence.
This formality disposed of, the reception committee invited us to step upon the pavilioned raft and be wafted ashore. It sounds like a dignified proceeding, but of course it was not. We had to climb over the rails of the launch and, more or less, slide to a secure footing on the frail floor of the curious craft. Contrary to my secret expectations it kept afloat and we were soon landed at a little fishing village down on the beach, where Army ambulances waited to take us to the town of Balanga, a mile inland. Just outside of Balanga we passed under a great bamboo arch, the sort of thing the Filipinos erect and ornament with great skill and ingenuity. This one was so thickly decorated, however, with small American flags that little of its intricate framework was visible. A piece of white bunting stretched across the top of it bore, in large letters, the inscription: “Glory Honor to the Commission.”
We drove into the town and found the place en fête. I never saw so many American flags in one place in my life. Four thousand of them had been bought in Manila for the occasion; and four thousand flags go a long way in decorating a small provincial town. There was not much of the town left uncovered.
When we got to the provincial building where the meeting was to be held, we found all the delegates gathered from the different villages a-tiptoe in an atmosphere of intense excitement. Bataan had never been a rich province and we discovered that few of the Filipinos understood Spanish. They spoke only Tagalog. This was due to the fact that the province had been for generations under the control of the Dominican Friars who did not believe in encouraging the natives to learn Spanish. In consequence, all
