My husband’s change in title and station made very little difference in the character of his duties, but it gave him increased authority in the performance of them. The onerous necessity for submitting legislation to an executive whose point of view was different from that of the Commission came to an end, and he was able to see that such laws as the Commission passed were put in operation without delay. Under General Chaffee the feeling on the part of the Army against the encroachments of civil government gave way, slowly but surely, to an attitude of, at least, friendly toleration. It was as if they said: “Well, let them alone; we know they are wrong; but they must learn by experience, and, after all, they mean well.”

General Chaffee and General MacArthur were two quite different types of men. General Chaffee was less precise, less analytical. General MacArthur had always been given to regarding everything in its “psychological” aspect and, indeed, “psychological” was a word so frequently on his lips that it became widely popular. General Chaffee was impetuous; he was much less formal than his predecessor both in thought and manner, and Mr. Taft found cooperation with him much less difficult. He made no secret of his conviction, which was shared by most of the Army, that civil government was being established prematurely, but he was not unreasonable about it.

He refused at first to listen to the proposition for the establishment of a native Constabulary. This had been the Commission’s pet project ever since they had been in the Islands, and it was a great disappointment to them to find that the opposition which they had encountered in the former administration was to be continued.