This work, authored by Henry Parker Willis while at Washington and Lee University, serves as a critical scholarly review of the United States' experience in governing the Philippine Islands during the early 20th century. The book is the result of Willis's extensive study and personal travel of approximately 2,700 miles through the archipelago in 1904, where he gathered first-hand information from American administrators, military officers, and Filipino leaders. It provides a detailed analysis of the transition from military to civil rule, examining the legal system, the Philippine Constabulary, and the impact of American educational and economic policies. Written during a "critical stage" of the Philippine problem, the text critiques the "imperialist policy" of the era and discusses the capacity of Filipinos for self-governance. It remains a significant historical document for its contemporary assessment of the "Philippine Problem" and the moral and political dilemmas of American expansionism
Our Philippine problem: a study of American colonial policy