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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1906)
ksw&m- wf y yy vsf ft is r " r-"I c f 1 1, 2 The Commoner. VOLUME 6, NUMBER M - r"ri- T VlSfWy'WIVTr3r7rf- -Jgff --13fW -rr --wr Tft-?- nil purposo farm animal. Carabous arc some thing like the Amorlcan ox, but aro moro heavily built; thoy arc uniform in colora dark drab and have heavy, flat horns which grow back in stead of forward. The agricultural situation in the islands is at present most distressing. Tho flolds wero de vastated by war and boforo labor could restore what tho soldiers had destroyed, rinderpest at- " tacked tho enrnbous and in some places carried away as many as 00 per cent of tho animals. We visitod a sugar plantation which had lost moro than half of its carabous during the two weeks procoding. Everywhere one sees fields over grown with gniBS which can not bo cultivated for lack of plow animals. Ono can -understand some thing of tho rinderpest calamity when it is re membered that these patient beasts do all tho plowing and all of thohaullng in the Philippine Islands. "Wo often saw them ridden, sometimes bearing two porsons. In addition to the ravages of disease and the ruin wrought by arms, tho Filipino farmer has suffered from tho closing of his market. When United States authority was substituted for Spanish rule, tho Filipinos lost tho advantage which thoy had previously had in tho Spanish market, whilo they were shut ont of the United States by a tariff wall. And to make matters worse, they now bear the brunt of tho Chinese boycott aimed at American goods. Evory speaker who has attempted to voice the sontimonts of tho peoplo during our stay in tho islands has laid especial emphasis upon the in justice done to the islands by our tariff laws. This subject was also brought to the attention of Secretary Taft and his party, and all of the American officials here urge the importance of relief in this direction. The well-to-do Filipinos live in houses mod elled after those built by the Spaniards, but the great majority of the people live in what are called nipa huts- light structures made with bam boo frames and with sides and roofs of nipa palm loavos. Tho houses are sevoral feet above the ground and are reached by a ladder or steps. As tho tomperaturo at mid-day does not change much tho year round, the main objects in building aro to secure protection from rain and an abundance of air, and the nipa hut meets these requirements. Tho Filipino house is not only light and airy, but it is inexpensive; we saw a school house at Santa Barbara build for fivo hundred pupils at an ex pense of fivo hundred pesos, or $250 in gold. At some of the military camps, which we visited, the Filipino style of building has been adopted. The Filipino dress is quite like that worn in Europe and America; among tho educated, men it is identical. Thb men of tho middle class wear a shirt of a gauz'Vnaterial outside the trousers. Tho women wear a-dress skirt with a long nar- row train and a low-necked, wide-sleeved waist, jusl (pronounced hooso), or pina (ponva) cloth A kerchief of the same material folded about tho neck completes the toilet. All the thin fabrics worn by tho women are manufactured on hand looms kept in the homes. Iliolio is the center of the jusl cloth manu facture, of which we saw many beautiful sam ples during our tour of the islands. The pina 1 P,1? !5 ma(le from tbe fibrG of leaf resembling that of the pineapple. In the province of Bal acan a fine quality of silk is made on hand-looms . the weaving of fabrics being an accomplishment in which the women take pride. There is a coarser cloth made of hemp which is used for ordinary wear, and this is also produced In the -home and sold on market days. TTifc,ac?nflIctins ,rGpiortB have reached the Tn- i GS yarding the Filipino people that L W n a?XTi0US t0 sUuly tnem for myself, and I feel that I am -prepared to form an intelligent niT i al pupations In all parts of the isl ands, in the cities and In the country. I have conversed with students and professional men vis ted the markets where the rank and file Sect " and exchange their products, watched the farmers at work in the fields and the laborers in the d y SSi??i?0iinqu,PleB ,f both Atnertcans and natives. The F lipinos are a branch of the Malay race, but 5 LiinJiChMa S,tron,s reseml)lco between some ; of tho Individual Filipinos and the Japanese as ?,T3t lhe Pss,iblty of a mixing TbiooSs J ? conmon origin- At Hng Kong I visited a Pi pino of prominence and the young lady who admitted me so resembled the Japanese that I was surprised to learn that she was thelaughter of my host. A few hours later I noticed a young man attending to some business in a shipping office and supposed him to be a Japanese bS ' ST hG also wns a f WoodSd Filipino . The, Filipinos aro a little darker than the Japa nese and may average little taller, but I have constantly been reminded of the land of 'the rising sun during my stay here. It is frequently said in disparagement of the Filipinos that thoy will not work, but this is an swered conclusively by a patent and ever present fact, viz., that they produce their own food, make their own clothes, build their own homes and in other ways supply their needs. They have not tho physical strength of the average American, nor havo they the experience in machine labor or in the organization of work, but they will do more physical labor than a white man can per form in this climate and they have shown them selves capable of doing the finer kinds of work when instructed. They are also capable Of suc cessful co-operativo effort when under efficient guidance. One of the commission informed me that tho street car system lately inaugurated in Manila was put in at a labor cost of 40 per cent below the estimate, tho work being done by Fili pino laborers under an American contractor. This is certainly an excellent showing. The operating force is composed of Filipinos and the cars are run very ssuccessfully. Tho superintendent of the railroad from Ma nila to Dagupan, an Englishman, speaks very highly of the Filipinos employed on the road. He says that he uses natives entirely for the train service and that he has not- had an accident on the -road during the thirteen years of its oper ation. A large company of men were unloading stone and gravel from barges near our hotel, and they were as industrious and as cheerful a lot of work men as one could wish to see. They carried the material in baskets and accomplished more, so far as I could judge, than the coolies whom I saw at similar work in China. The Filipino demands better treatment than that accorded to the coolie, but when employed by those who understand him and show him proper consideration, he is both competent and faithful. In the government printing office nearly nine tenths of the employes are natives (and the pro portion is increasing), and Mr. Leach, the public printer, informed me that they readily learned the work and were able to run the type-setting machines and presses, do the book binding and stereotyping and other skilled work connected with the office. The newspaper offices of the city also employ native labor, and I need not remind my readers that the members of the various typo graphical unions of the United States are among tho most intelligent of our skilled laborers. Wo visited the largest tobacco factory in Manila, the Germinal, and found between twelve and fifteen hundred men and women making cigars and cig arettes by hand and by machine. There are sev eral smaller factories, and all are s'operated by native labor. One of tho leading furniture manufacturers of Manila is authority for the statement that in wood carving the Filipino soon becomes the equal of the Japanese artisan. The Philippine Islands are so near the Equator that the heat of the sun during the middle of the day and the almost twelve months of summer must be taken into consideration. When due allowance is made for climatic conditions and for the fact that the inhabitant of the tropics lacks the spur of neces sity which ever urges on the dweller in higher latitudes, one is inclined to excuse any seeming lack of industry. Sure it is that those who come here from America and Europe do not as a rule do enough manual labor to enable a comparison to bo drawn between them and the natives. Besides those who work in the fields, on the streets arid in tho factories, there is an army of fishermen and boatmen. Fish forms a 'consider able part of the food supply of the island, and these are brought from the ocean, from the rivers and from the lakes by a hardy and active people. Much of the commerce is carried by water, and the boats are manned by natives. Except where the Chinese have monopolized the mercantile business, the stores are kept by Filipinos, tho men and the women sharing tho labor as they do in Franc And speaking of the women, it must be re membered that -woman occupies a much higher place in the Philippines than in any other part of the Orient. The Filipinos contend that even before Spanish influence made itself felt in the islands woman was accorded an equal place with man and divided with him both the honors and the responsibilities of the homo. However this may be it can not be doubted that at present the rights of woman and her position in the family and in society are respected fully as much as in continental Europe. Her influence' is felt in industrial and political life as well as in tho church. At ono reception a lady law student de livered an excellent address. Under Snonish rule education was confined. to a few. In fact, one of the inducements brought' against the Friars by the natives was that edu cational facilities were denied to the masses This,- too, brought the Jesuits, the friends of edu cation, into conflict with the friars. But com paratively few of the people enjoyed the ad vantages of higher education, and these were a controlling influence in their respective commu nities. As in Mexico and in Cuba, the cultured men and women of the Philippines are thoroughly refined and polished in manner.. The American government has had no diffi culty in finding men competent to fill the offices ' which have been assigned to the natives, three of the seven members of the commission and three of the seven supreme court judges being Filipinos. The governors and mayors are nearly all Fili pinos, as are most of the judges of the lower ' courts. As there is no satisfactory service by private boats, the commission furnished us a coast guard steamer for a tour of the islands, the passengers paying the cost of subsistence, and we were thus enabled to visit the principle cities. At all of these places We found a group of intellectual and public spirited men. At Iliolio, Bacolod, Cebu and Santa Barbara there were ad dresses of welcome and public receptions, and the views of the residents were presented in clear and well chosen language. At Malolos, the first capital of the Aguinaldo government, which. we visited as the guests of a committee of promi nent Filipinos, similar speeches were delivered, which met with tho approval of the assembled crowd. At Manila a public dinner was given by a number of representative Filipinos, headed by Mayor Roxas, at which speeches were made by Filipinos distinguished in official and profes sional life. The addresses delivered on these sev eral occasions would compare favorably with speeches delivered under similar circumstances in the United States. While some of the persons who took part in these meetings showed traces -of Spanish blood, others were unmistakably Fili pino, but the racial differences could not be dis tinguished by the manner in which they per formed their parts. While at Manila I met General Aguinaldo, first at the reception tendered us by the Elks,., and later at his own home in Cavite. Since his ' capture he has been living In retirement and- has conducted himself in such a manner as to win the approbation of the American officials. He is small of stature, modest in deportment and mani fests a deep interest in the welfare of his peo ple. He has twice appealed to the government to establish an agricultural bank for the relief of the farmers, calling attention to the scarcity of n.oney and to the high rate of interest (some times 40 or 50 per cent) charged the farmers on short loans. The agricultural bank was referred to by several speakers during our stay in the islands, and it is certain that, from an industrial standpoint, the government could do nothing which would be more beneficial or acceptable to the people. Dr. Apacible, the head of the Hong Kong junta during the insurrection, now a practicing physician in Manila, was selected by the Filipino reception committee to accompany us on our trip and being personally acquainted with the leaders of thought, he was able to bring us Into contact with those who reflected the opinion of the peo ple, while Captain Moss, of General Corbin's per sonal staff, and .Collector Shuster, representing the insular government, kept us in touch with the Americans in military and civil life. We found everywhere commendation of the educational sys tem established by the Americans. It is the one department of work Instituted by our government which seems to have avoided serious criticism. I presented this universal commendation as evi dence of the good intentions of our people, point- ing out to the Filipinos thatpeople are apt to assert their rights in proportion as they increase In ntelligence and that our people would not be foolish enough to encourage education if they really intended to do injustice to the Filipinos The large increase in the number or students and the interest taken in the establishment .of schools must be -taken into consideration by any one who attempts to-forecast the future of the " islands. In many communities there are more people speaking English today than could ever speak Spanish, and the multitude of dialects will soon be dissolved into a common language. One superintendent of schools told me that in his dis trict the attendance was more than 50 per cent above the school population, owing to the fact that grown men and women with children insisted up on studying. Another superintendent reported that she could not find teachers for all the vil lages which offered to erect school houses An incident was related by still another teabtfer whib illustrates the ambition of the Filipino 3f i i ' ! 1 V ,'J 3 1 V - N.