THE STJTVJJAr .UKEGONIAN, PORTLAND. MAY 3. 190S.
MM
TEACHINGS
vSEMI-BARBARIAN
PEOPLES
THE A,B,CJ,
OF CIVILIZATION
AND-
POLITICAL
FREEDOM
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I have an abiding conviction that the
Filipino people are capable of being
taught self-government In the process
of their development, that In carrying
out the policy that we have laid down
they will be improved physically and
mentally, and that, as they acquire
more rights their power to exercise
moral restraint upon themselves will
be strengthened and Improved.
If the American Government can
only remain In the Islands long enough
to educate the entire people, to give
them a language which enables them
to come In contact with modern civi
lization, and to extend to them from
time to time additional political rights
so that by the exercise of them they
shall learn the use and responsibili
ties necessary to their proper exer
cise, independence can be granted
with entire safety to the people.
WILLIAM H. TAFT
Secretary of War.
BT WILLIAM ATHBRTOM DUPUT.
TEN years ago, on May 1. the Stars
and Stripes flung out over Manila
Bay waving a salutation and call to
better things to a group of fecund, far.
stretching tropical islands basked half
asleep In the sun, home of 7.000,000 souls,
nondescript, half-civilized natives steeped
In Ignorance for the most part, and
broken Into warring fragments by a dis
similarity of languages despot-ridden,
disease-wracked and hopeless.
Beneath the folds of that flag must
have rested the wand of, good fairy, for
certain it 1s that ..ie call to the :em
lngly Impossible has been answered, for,
presto, a change has been wrought that
is a marvel to the world. The hand of
the despot has been wrenched away. Lie
schisms of Internal strife have been quiet
ed, the light of education has been set to
shine for 3500 schools, unpolluted water
and air have been, provided for the
strengthening of feeble frames, industries
have been inaugurated that will bring a
permanent prosperity to replace the ever
present poverty df old. All things possi
ble In the best of Western civilization
have been brought or are being brought
to those who previously had nothing and
dully they are awakening and grasping
their opportunity though not without trep
idation, for as yet they see through a
glass -darkly.
THE NEW IDEA
IN the Working out of these changes the
United States has written an original
page in the annals of history. She has ap
peared in the role of disinterested benevo
lencea nation engaged in philanthropy
on a scale never before conceived. She
1ms presumed to dip into the control of
distant lands, not with the time-worn
Idea of profit, but solely for the benefit
of the people It has fallen to her lot to
rule.
So without precedent Is the perform
ance of the past ten years that the Amer
ican people themselves do not realize what
they have done and the -other nations of
the world, interpreting all colonial policy
through their own, seeing only trade pos
sibilities, money tribute to the governing
country or strategical military advantage,
look on without understanding. , The
United States,- having little demand for
additional market, having resources be
yond all necessity and being most unmill
tary. in her-tendencies, has no more need
for a waif of a tropical possession than
has one of her millionaires for a name
less babe on his doorstep. But as the rich
man might provide for his accidental
charge, making its life wholesome and
clean and opening It to the door of learn
ing and opportunity, so is America mak
ing provision for the waif among nations.
The statement of these things does not
seem, like the mere putting down of facts,
but upon second thought they will be
found to be the same kind of truths as
are being enacted for charity's sake in
the George Junior Republic In New York,
or Judge Lindsey's juvenile court in Den
ver. There is a great good being done
to a great mass of people who have hith
erto been touched but slightly by the on
ward march of civilization. They are
being given peace and. prosperity, and
with it the enlightenment of the world
through the acquisition of a modern,
world language.
The details are fascinating. The con
trasts between the old and the new are
remarkable considered in the light of
the lapse of but ten years, and much of
that time spent at war before the real
progress began to be made. When the
United States acquired the islands It was
known that they were a miscellaneous
group off the south of Asia,. 1000 miles
long by 500 wide, the map showed. A
Malay race dwelt upon them and the
Spaniards had been In possession of them'
for 250 years; but otherwise they had
no history. Unrest and lawlessness being
recognized as the current condition and
the portion of the population about Ma
nila that could be reckoned with as hav
ing any semblance of government, being
openly at war with the nation to which
they were newly transferred, it fell to
the men of the Army to make the ac
quaintance of the strange people of a
land new to Americans, diagnose lta ills
and administer a cure.
The man of the Army found that in the
mass of 7,000,000 people there were,' 16 sep
arate and distinct languages spoken. The
people of one section were unable to un
derstand the language of those on a near
by island. Each dialect was unknown
outside of the immediate neighborhood
in which it was spoken and no other lan
guage that might bring in ati idea of
the outside world was understood. The
whole of the archipelago was isolated
from the world with the exception of
one slender tie to Spain, and each tribe
was cut off from its neighbors. These
conditions eliminated the existence of
trade and precipitated continual discord.
The Spanish friar had brought the people
one long step toward civilization by con
verting them to Christianity, which la
the faith of the great majority, but other
wise they were little better off for the
touch of European civilization.
In the network of water channels that
wind in and out and about the islands
there has existed for hundreds of years
piratical boats that preyed upon each
other and towns of the immediate local
ity, making trade unsafe and piling up
swashbuckling material for stories of
buccaneering without end. In the high
lands lived tribes that were always at
war with those lower down. In the south
were the Mohamedan Moros who were
accustomed to attack the Christian and
unconverted peoples of the aorth, butcher
the men and bear away the women and
trade them to the pirates for cattle or
boats or what noL Even in the more civ
ilized sections where the Influence of the
Spanish friar was strong there were well
organized bands of Ladrones, brigands
that were wont to rob and pillage heir
own people and force tribute from large
interests, suoh as the church, which
owned property. These things were still
taking place when the United States as
sumed charge.
CONDITIONS OF
TODAY
TODAY there is peace throughout the
islands and the Zamboanga Moham
medans meet their ancient prey, the Su
banoa, and those who were cutting each
other's throats a decade ago are sitting
at the ame board and exchanging prod
ucts of peace at well-regulated country
fairs, where a prize is offered for the
largest pumpkin and the fattest hog, as
In the best-regulated gatherings In the
States.
Peace has been carried to every corner
of the islands and with It the greatest
influence upon their future, the Ameri
can public school. It is through the
public school that the United States
will mould the future of the Philippines,
and it is In this connection that she has
done a thing that has been studiously
avoided by any of the other nations of
the world in their operation of colonial
policies.
Other nations have always figureH that
through giving a subject race educa
tion it was made more difficult to con
trol, constantly more dangerous and
troublesome. . Likewise it was made
capable of grasping opportunities which
It had been the policy of the conquer
ors to retain for themselves. The United
States being indifferent to gain and
her people having ample opportunity at
home, has chosen to pursue this plan
and in the results that may come about
lies the novelty of the first trial of a
great experiment, the stake at issue be
ing the future of millions of fellow
creatures.
The American public school is the most
popular institution in the islands today.
There are 3500 of them, 1000 of which are
presided over by American teachers and
the others by Filipinos who understand
and teach English. Altogether, there are
enrolled at present in round numbers
600,000 children who are partaking of
the public school education. There are
already more people in the islands who
speak English than Spanish, despite the
long occupation by that country.
The native's desire for the new edu
cation amounts to a passion. The schools
are over-crowded by pupils who volun
tarily present themselves, and every en
ergy is being bent to increase them in
proportion to the demand, but In vain.
In the great rice-growing section the
poor and ignorant laborers in the fields
save out of their pittance and club to
gether that they may get funds to bring
an American teacher to their children.
In Manila the natives have assumed
a fondness for the private school in their
aping of the Spanish grandee, but this
tendency has been counteracted. , The
idea of the educated class has been to
make of their sons "escribanos" rather
than workers with the hands, but the
United States has forced in the trade
schools and insisted upon manual train
ing until the tide of popular approval
has turned in that direction and the
trade -schools are now full.
In the interior districts the children
crowd into the schoolrooms entirely in
nocent of any clothing, and those from
the mountain districts have little ac
quaintance with either soap or water.
These facts bring forth some humorous
phases of the teacher's life among the
natives. For example, one teacher in
troduced a good. American institution, the
shower bath. A new scholar Is initiated
Into the school by being given over to
some of the older and bigger boys armed
with a bai. of soap and a scrubbing brush
and these handle him with as much
vigor as glee as he takes his first step
toward civilization. The scrubbing brush
and the soap are the Instruments of tor
ture that maintain discipline in this
achool.
A woman teacher remonstrated with
the mothers of her pupils. Insisting on
something in the way of clothing. Noth
ing came of it, so she enlisted the as
sistance of some Army women, and a
number of the simplest possible gowns
were made and put upon the children.
The next morning, however, they ap
peared as usual unclad. They were
urged to wear the clothes, but Insisted
on keeping them for a feast day. It
was finally found necessary to put the
dresses upon them when they came in
the morning and take them off when
they left the school, and thus accustom
them to this unusual magnificence by
degrees.
THE PUBLIC
SCHOOLS
IT is believeed that within a generation
the whole of the Phlulppines will
have become, through the public school,
in English-speaking whole. There Is
as element of the pathetic in. thus tak
ing the native language from the peo
ple, for it is probable that in a few
generations they will not speak it at
all. But the value of giving them a
common language, which will bring
them together nationally as a homo
genous whole, and make Interchange
possible, is worth It. Further, through
English will be opened up to them the
knowledge of the world, and every pos
sibility will be theirs that is enjoyed
by any of the progressive nations. The
step from an unlettered collection of
tribes Bpeaklng a great number of un
written dialects, to a united whole
reading good English, will be an un
equaled step toward advancement.
The legends of the people may be
preserved, for there are Americans in
the islands who have come to under
stand the native to such an extent that
they may interpret them. Not long ago
a band of Igorrottes sat around a camp
fire and their chief crooned a song
which an Army scout Interpreted to me.
It being the native belief as to crea
tion. In the beginning of all things, ac
cording to the chant of the Igorrotte,
there was but the water and the sky.
Above the crystal waters and amid the
beauties of he cloudless sky, circled
a great bird, the only living creature in
the universe. Naught disturbed the
soaring of the beautiful bird save the
splashing of the waters from the sea
which thrust its spray high into the
air and dampened its brilliant plumage.
That the brilliant plumage might ever
be dry, the bird induced the ruler of
the seas and the skies to place islands
at the corner of the sea to hold the
water down, that the splashing might
no longer disturb him in his flights.
Then for ages he soared through
space undisturbed, until finally, in pass
ing one of the islands, the bird noticed
the rearing of a tall stalk of bamboo.
Through the aeons the birds had had
nothing upon which to alight, and the
tall bamboo offered the first haven of
refuge. Pleasant days he passed upon
the tall bamboo, and finally, from idle
ness, tried his hitherto unusued bill in
pecking its stalk. Finally the hard
shell was pierced, and a way opened to
the cavity within, when, lo! out stepped
a man and a woman, who had been
awaiting his coming for release, and
so was started tho peoples of the earta.
Aside from the' public schools, the
United States Is giving a course in po
litical education that is si still greater
novelty and accomplishing great prac
tical results. On May 8, 1899, General
Lawton captured the interior town of
Baliuag. On May 10, a municipal elec
tion was held, and the men chosen by
the people were put in charge of the
handling of Its affairs, but under the
guidance of a committee from the
Army. The elected officers were taught
and shown American methods of town
government, and the enforcement of
these methods were backed by the