of course very necessary that we should establish our own
hospital as soon as possible.

On October 12, 1901, the so-called "Civil Hospital" was opened
in a large private dwelling, obtained, as we then fondly imagined,
merely as a temporary expedient. Together with two adjoining and even
smaller buildings it continued to be our only place for the treatment
of ordinary medical and surgical cases until September 1, 1910! I
can here only very briefly outline the causes of this long delay.

At the outset the building was large enough to meet immediate needs. At
the time when it began to grow inadequate there was a plan on foot
for a large private institution, in which the government was to secure
accommodations for its patients, and a hospital building was actually
erected, but interest in this project waned, the private backing which
was believed to have been assured for it failed, and the whole scheme
went by the board. Then plans for a great general hospital were called
for. A very large amount of time was consumed in their preparation and
when they were finished the expense involved in carrying them out was
found to be far beyond the means of the government. Ultimately I was
charged with the duty of securing other plans involving a more moderate
expenditure. Again long delay necessarily ensued. When semi-final
plans were submitted, the consulting architect insisted on a series
of arches along the sides of the several ward pavilions which were
doubtless most satisfying from an artistic point of view, but would
have shut off light and fresh air to an extent which I could not
tolerate. A three months' deadlock was finally broken by his acceding
to my wishes, but in October, 1906, just as the completed plans were
finally ready to submit to the commission, I was compelled by severe
illness to return to the United States. There remained three American
and three Filipino members of the commission. One of the former was
Mr. W. Morgan Shuster, then secretary of public instruction. Prior
to the time when he became a candidate for a secretaryship he had
been bitter in his criticism of the Filipinos. Coincidently with the
development of this ambition he became almost more pro-Filipino than
some of the Filipino politicians themselves. For a time he seemed to
control the Filipino vote on the commission and largely as a result of
his activities every important matter which I left pending, including
that of the establishment of the gr