The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-14
MARTIAL SPIRITS of TAGALoGs.
4 Polite People Who May Be Vince
died. hut Not BOssed.


Capt. P. r. Strong in Leslie's Weekly.
That a martial spirit has grown among
the Tagalogs and is continuing to grow,
can be seen by the most unobserving. Dur
ing the last moonlight the older boys of
about Z or Is got all the smaller children
of the Indian settlements together, and,
forming them in sets of tours, with
Philippine and American flag side by side.
have marched them around the streets.
suppose there have been fifty of these lit
tie bands of little folks playing soldier,
and when some one would cry, viva los
Philippines" the response that would
come back from their lusty little threats
very forcibly demonstrated that the pent-
up enthusiasm of several generations back
was about 70 let itself out in this age.
They would always finish their cheer with
Viva los Americanos," and thereby show
ed trait Of diplomacy rarely found in
people quite as young as they are.
IL IS said of these people that they are
not fit to govern themselves and their
lack of education is brought up as a case
in point, yet l have not come in contact
with one who cannot write. The boy TO
whom you pay IS (Mexican) a month
writes and reads Spanish. He has learned
to do so at the different schools through
o0N lilt lS4dilNi, Albi Ill AdA44d at all. j Wis
tied, the other day, native school where
80 boy pupils are taught reading, writ
ing, geography and arithmetic. The school
was in session when 1 got there, and
never have l seen more orderly or bet
ter-regulated system of teaching.
Pass through one of their lanes in the
early morning, and you will find a whole
family performing the ablutions of the
day in large tubs, which later on you will
see fun of corn or some other product
They dress very simply, most of them
using no underelothes, simply a white cot
! ton coat and trousers, and generally no
shoes. At the entrance to their own
| houses is always found a bowl of water
! and a bunch of hemp. If they enter they
| first battle and dry their feet What can
be cleaner or healthier than chat?
Their pOliteness is extreme. / have often
noticed a native stopping at some kiosk
| by the roadway, behind the counter an
/ Old woman sitting knitting between sales;
| to her the wanderer would always, before
! he asked even the price of what he de-
sired, lift his cap. Meeting each other on
! the public highways is always the occa-
| sion for lifting the hat if there are women
| in either party; if men, simply a greet
| ing, but always given with bow
| While dining with a native family, soon
| after my arrival, l was struck with the
! quiet and dignihed manners of the serv-
| ants, and 1 naturally attributed 1t to
| the training of the housewife whose guest
| 1 was, but since / have kept house my
| self 1 find that it is ground into them.
! When you reach home in the evening, al
| ways one of them is standing in the gate
| way to take whatever packages one may
have; a bow and "Buenos Noches" greets
you, and after that until you have reach
ed your seat at dinner they dance in at
| tendance without sound, as they go about
| barefoot, that being the universal Gus
! tom. They make perfect servants, rarely
! forgetting what they have once been
| taught.
To sum up, the Tagalog is in the stage
| of initiate the people who get him now
will either make him a success or a dire
| failure. If the United States takes him
| quietly, instructs him as it wishes him
! to go, and does il kindly he will obey
| implicitly, and within a generation will
| reach the inventive state. But woe to the
| government who under takes to boss him
with cuffs and force The story of Spain
! will be repeated-rebellion after rebellion
! in the interior country, bad blood and
| clashing of arms with no commercial
success; for the FL Dorado riches, the
| mines the hard woods, every source of
try that these fellows hold and always
will, unless extermnated by an over
| whelming force which would, on its own
| side, lose many as the country is a very
| blind one. So let us hope Uncle Sam will
decide to be lenient, but firm. and he Will
have the most proficient pupils of any
| colonial instructor in the world, say the
best authorities on the far Eastern cues
| tons.