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The Commoner
16
tJy VOLUME 3, NUMBER
Social Conditions in Manila.
Two years ago the Atlanta Constitu
tion published from its special repre
sentative in fie Philippine islands a
number of letters showing that dis
graceful conditions figured prominent
ly in the "benevolent assimilation" of
tho Filipinos. The statements made
by tho Constitution's correspondent
were bitterly criticised by republican
newspapers, but Just now it is the
Constitution's time to laugh, if, in
dood, anything connected with the
conditions in tho Philippines may bo
said to bo properly productive- of
mirth.
T. Thomas Fortune, a negro lawyer
who was recently sent to the Philip
pines in" tho rolo of special commis
sioner, has written to the New York
Evening Post an interesting article In
which ho touches upon social condi
tions in Manila. Mr. Fortune says:
"There are rolativoly few American
whito womon An tho Philippine isl
ands. ThoBQ whe are there have to
go away once every two years to re
now their life. Tho climate eats them
up. Where white women cannot live
permanently, white men will not.
"This pregnant fact is tho parent of
many evils in tho social Hfe of the
Philippine islands, which are so glar
ing that thoy cannot escape the notice
of the most casual observer. Mar
riages between white American men
and Filipino women are regarded with
as much horror as marriages between
blacks and whites in Tennessee. A
white chief of bureau who 'married a
Filipino woman was shunned by his
associates and hounded by his super
iors so that ho was glad to find seclu
sion in a common clerkship in an
other department; but, being a com
petent man, he gradually recovered his
official position, but not his social po
sition. Just before I left Manila, in
May last, thq local press was full of
the story of a Filipino woman who
was deserted b her American hus
band. The storv was as- follows: A
Filipino woman in one of the pro
vinces married an American. They
lived together for some time. One day
the American told his wife he was
compelled to go to India on business.
After his departure his wife became
suspicious and followed him to Ma
' nila. She discovered that ho had
taken passage on an army transport,
then lying in tho harbor, bound for
the states. She appealed to the civil
authorities to prevent her husband
from deserting her, as thw Manila
newspapers phrase it, but she was
told that they had no authority. She
then appealed to tho military authori
ties, according to tho local newspa
pers, and got a like answer. Tho
poor woman, desorted and heart-broken,
was standing on the shore as the
transport swept out of tho glorious
hay.
"But this sort of agony is avoided
in the main by not marrying and giv
ing in marriage. I was seated in the
third-story room of a house in tho
Tondo district of Manila one after
noon In April last. The weather was
warm and sticks. All tho windows
and door" in sight wore wide open.
Across the way there was a row of
two-story tenement houses, eleven In
number." My friend suddenly said:
. 'There is a condition for you. Those
eleven houses are occupied by eleven
American men and eleven Filipino
women. The house on tho extreme
left Is occupied by a colored Ameri
can, who Is married to tho Filipino
i?rfVTfVHNMNffl W Vhf I 7l .'';. ' iWimr S
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woman. Tho other ten houses aro oc
cupied by ten white Americans, who
aro not married to the Filipino wo
mon You will find that all of these
men occupy subordinate positions in
the civil government. They are never
seen outside the house with these wo
men, and they leave them when they
tire of them. The condition is a com
mon one here and in the provinces.
and it is much to be regretted." And
as I rambled about Manila, as I did
all the time that I was not in the
provinces, I fourid that the statement
made by my friend was substantially
correct."
It is fortunate for Mr. Fortune that
he is not attache 1 to the regular
army, else he might be court-martialed
and dismissed in msgrace. But as it
la, tho Constitution says that "For
tune has written only what everybody
knows to be truo but as truth of this
kind is not popular with President
Roosevelt and his party, he is not
likely now to find thrust upon him
many Invitations to stretch his ' legs
I under the White house mahogany."
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I The First Battle
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BY-
Manitowoc (Wis.) Pilot: Postmaster
General iJayne, that notorious Wiscon
sin politician, is to give up his posi
tion and come bach homo. From the
day ho entered the cabinet the postal
trouble began and after being unable
to oven partially explain himself out
of his mix-up in Delaware it will lie
considered best for him to retire on
account of his health. That is a wav
ft
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W. J. Bryan.
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ggUgfMo or our J -jgmflw. WRITE
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A Story of the Campaign of 1896, Together with
a Collection of His Speeches and a Biographical
Sketch by His Wife.
ILLUSTRATED EDITION, PRICE, $1.50.
ONLY B50 COPIES
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remain unsold. Thcy,are still offered at the low price
of $1.5(5 per copy, sent postpaid on receipt of price.
These copies are handsomely bound in Half Mo
rocco, printed on heavy paper from clear type,
contain over 600 pages. Orders will be filled in
their turn until the supply is exhausted. When
these copies are sold the book will be out of
print. Address
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& G. H. WALTERS. 2245 Vine St., Lincoln, Neb. $
"? "fc. , ,. Nfc, ,.
we have In Wisconsin whenever a
student gets "fired" from the univer
sityhe leaves on account of his
health. The president, it is stated,
u
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is willing to accept the resign
and said that he beloved he . maae
mistahe in selecting. Mr. w
think so. 7iZ'
ignatioQ
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