The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-24


Such a system costs now over SIS, 900 600 for
little less that $4,000 Indians. There are
30 times as many Fillpinos, of whom The
vast majority are less capable of civillza-
ton than our aborgines, who have yielded
less to the influence of the Roman Cath
lie church than ANY other barbarlans on
earth.
Here is where science testihes as to the
quality of the race the Malay, to which
most of these islanders belong
"Slow and deliberate of speech, neither
elated by good nor depressed by bad for
tune, normally impassive and indolent,
they are nevertheless capable of the great
est excuses when their passions are rous-
ed Under the influence of religious oX-
element, losses at gambling, jealousy or
other domestic trouble, they are often
seized by the so-called "amok' fever
when they will rush wildly through the
crowded streets, armed with their sharp
trsses, cutting down all who cross their
path with incredible fury and without
the least discrimination. Amongst the
practices and propeneities which connect
them with the Mongoloid inhabitants OF
Iudo-China the most striking are pile
building, cock fighting pronounced
taste for putrescent fish, with correspond
ing dislike of milk; head hunting, large ear
ornaments, greatly distendlng the lope'
The race, on the whole, OF slug
gish intellect, inferior in natural inteli-
eence even to the surrounding Papunn
populatio Unaided by foreign
Influences they never attain a higher cul-
lure than that of the Sea Gypsies.
(Col Yule in Journal of the Anthropolog-
ical Society for February, 1880, reported
In Encyclopedia Britannica
These are the new wards whose guard
ianship. in the proportion of 30 TO of our
r1f II ia nrOD0Se0 TO as
sumo. The cost would not stop at thirty
lines that Of the Indian establishment, Tor
all the materials of government would
have 70 be transported across 5000 miles OF
ocean.
There is no other way known to our
methods of governing these people. II IS
easy to talk of "ciVIlizing" them, but what
are the data for such an accompaniment
We tried all our methods on the North
American Indian before settling upon the
present expensive but apparently unavoid-
able means Shall we go back into the
Century of Dishonor' and efface these
tribes as we did at first those of our
plains? The administration that Is caught
at il by the American people would nave
a short shift. But what else can be done
except as we have Indicated to follow
our recent and fearfully costly Indian poll
lev? What has Great Britain, the expert
subiugator, often stern, but never wan
tonly cruel, done under like circumstances?
The Sierra Leone massacre Is the latest
result of her experiments with almost ex-
actly the same people. For the Negrito
Filipino is the West African bushman.
She sought TO recoup herself for the out
lay of government by imposing hut tax
The result was a bloody uprising which
would have sckened this whole country
the white victims being American mis-
sonaries-but for its preoccupation with
the war. But that affair was a mere re-
production in miniature and in part OF
what has been going on for years In South
Africa, where Cecil Rhodess machine
guns have worked the plains of Maiabele-
land like veritab,e reapers DO we want
to begin at this sort of thing, not for the
benefit Of white settlers who seek 10 oc-
cuDy the soil, but for the exploitation or
this far country by nonresident capital
lists, who may have all the good will In
the world 90 employ these savages, but
VINO would be Obliged TO wipe them out
with government assistance and supply
their places with Chinese or Japanese
coolies? DO we want to begin il without
Europe's excuse Of teeming home acres?
II we do, let us erase all our protective
Indian legislation from the statue books
and lei he "rusters" and the boomers"
have their way with the reservations. Let
us not pay $S.C00,0OO a year for the privi-
lege of proving our own cowardly incon-
sistency.
SO little Is known of these Islands that
the estimates of their number is generally
authoritative publications vary from 800
10 1000 IT Is known, however, that
though their area is al large as that OF
the six New England states with New
Jersey. Delaware and Maryland added,
they have little more than one-third OF
the arabic area Of these states, Of which
most are noted for their sterlity. We
borrow this information from Assistant
Secretary Vanderlip of the treasury de-
partment, himself an apparent advocate
OF annexation, according 10 the fcontest
Of his paper IN the current Century maya
Zine why possess ourselves Of this huge
uncutivable stretch Of volcanic reefs, pop
ulated by potential pirates. and take with
IL the obligation Of governing the ungov-
ernable? There are nine larger Islands In
the group from which selection can be
made sufficient not only for a naval but
commercial base The island OF Luzon
alone would be probably too much of
morsel for digestion. since its population
numbers over 100000 and IT'S interior Is
almost unknown the Spaniards having
settled on lts sea slopes. It's future port
"a said 90 be not Manila. but Aparry, OF
which the haTbOr is safer than that in |
which the Asi8tc squadron now lies !
There might be the foundation Of an east
ern empire for which 20 many seem TO
yearn But the lesser island NJ Mlndanno |
iH larger Than cuba, and spain has had "a |
Cuban insurrectiOn there for every year |