1, Aguinaldo swore allegiance to the
United States, and, in a proclamation, advised his followers to do the
same. Great and daily increasing numbers of them obeyed.

[Illustration: Stone fort with many large shell holes.]
Fort Malate, Cavite.

To the Philippines, though Spain's de facto sovereignty there was hardly
more than nominal, our title, whether or not good as based on conquest,
was unimpeachable considered as a cession by way of war indemnity or
sale. Nor, according to the weight of authority, could the right of the
federal power to acquire these islands be denied. But did "the
Constitution follow the flag" wherever American jurisdiction went? If
not, what were the relations of those outlands and their peoples to the
United States proper? Could inhabitants of the new possessions emigrate
to the United States proper? Did our domestic tariff laws apply there as
well as here? Must free trade exist between the nation and its
dependencies? Were rights such as that of peaceable assemblage and that
to jury trial guaranteed to Filipinos, or could only Americans to the
manner born plead them?

On the fundamental question whether the dependencies formed part of the
United States the Supreme Court passed in certain so-called "insular
cases" which were early brought before it. Four of the justices held
that at all times after the Paris Treaty the islands were part and
parcel of United States soil. Four held that they at no time became
such, but were rather "territories appurtenant" to the country.

[Illustration: River crowded with small boats.]
The Pasig River, Manila.

Mr. Justice Brown gave the "casting" opinion. Though reasoning in a
fashion wholly his own, he sided, on the main issue, with the latter
four of his colleagues, making it the decision of the court that Porto
Rico and the Philippines did not belong to the United States proper,
yet, on the other hand, were not foreign. The revenue clauses of the
Constitution did not, therefore, forbid tariffing goods from or going to
the islands. In the absence of express legislation, the general tariff
did not obtain as against imports from the dependencies. This reasoning,
it was observed, was equally applicable to mainland territories and to
Alaska. The court intimated that, so far as applicable, the
Constitution's provisions in favor of personal rights and human liberty
accompanied the Stars and Stripes beyond sea as well as between our old
shores.

Unsati