Being the youngest and most active member of the commission, I was detailed to accompany him.  On this trip I became convinced that all of the engineers interested, except the consulting engineer, had grossly understated the difficulties which must be overcome before the road could be completed.  Colonel Kennon decided that it was entirely feasible to build the road, but that the comparatively short stretch already completed from Baguio into the upper end of the canon must be abandoned and a new line adopted.  Furthermore, he gave us some very definite and extremely unpleasant information as to the probable cost of completing the work, his statements on this subject confirming those of the consulting engineer.

The commission was thus put face to face with the hard facts but did not flinch.  On the contrary, it passed the following resolution on June 1, 1903:—­

“On Motion, Resolved, That it be declared the policy of the Commission to make the town of Baguio, in the Province of Benguet, the summer capital of the Archipelago and to construct suitable buildings, to secure suitable transportation, to secure proper water supply, and to make residence in Baguio possible for all of the officers and employees of the Insular Government for four months during the year, that in pursuance of this purpose the Secretary of the Interior, the Consulting Engineer to the Commission, the Chief of the Bureau of Architecture, and Major [510] L. W. V. Kennon, United States Army, whom it is the intention of the Commission to put in actual charge of the improvements in Benguet Province, including the construction of the Benguet Road, the erection of the buildings and the construction of a wagon road from Naguilian, be appointed a Committee to report plans and estimates to the Commission for the proposed improvements in the Province of Benguet and to submit same to the Commission for action and necessary appropriation, and

“Be it further resolved, That steps should be immediately taken looking to the increase of the capacity of the Sanitarium by at least twenty rooms, to the construction of seven more cottages on the grounds of the Sanitarium, to the construction of a Governor’s residence on the site overlooking the big spring which is the source of the Bued River immediately south of the Sanitarium proper, to the construction of an Administration building sufficient for the Commission, the Commission’s staff and the Executive Bureau, of at least twenty-five rooms, and to the making of a plan for a town site for the municipality of Baguio; but that the details of construction and improvements, with such variations from the indicated plan as may seem wise, shall be left to the committee appointed under the previous resolution.”

In his annual report dated November 15, 1903, Governor Taft said:—­