The Portland daily press., 1898-09-27
CONCERNING BOOKS.

have not, in many day, known OF
a beck more universally approved, or one
better fitted to give an accurate and vivid
picture of the, Philippine Islands, our
new and inconvenient possession, than
Mr.. Joseph Earle Steyens's interesting
and entertaining volume. Thsre Is no
attempt at fine writing, but the author in
terse and vigorous colloquial English tells
us just what we want to know. and ap-
parently all that it is necessary for US to
know about Manila and its attributes, In
order to form an opinion as to the desira-
bility of holding it as an American
Colony. AS to that question Mr.. Stevens
has very decided views, having spent two
years in Manila as representative of one
of the large business houses of Boston.
In the Introduction to his book MIR.
Stevens asks:"Now that the Philippines
are ours, do we want them? Can we run
tEem2 Are they the long -looked-for Ell
Dorado which those who have never been
there suppose? 10 all of which questions
--even at the risk of being called unpa-
triotic-I am inclined to answer No.
''Do we want group of l., 400 islands
nealry 5000 miles from our western
shores, sweltering in the tropics, swept
by typhoons, and shaken with earth
quakes2 Do we want to undertake the
responsibility of protecting those islands
from the powers of. Europe or the East
and of standing sponsor for the nearly
100000 native inhabitants who speak
score of different tongues and live on any
thing from rice TO stewed grasshoppersP
Do we want the task of civilizing this
race, of opening up the jungle, of setting
I'D officials in frontier, out-of -the-way
towns who will not have been there a
month before they will wish to return P''
''The Philippines are hard material
with which to make our first colonial ex-
pertinent, and seem to demand different
SORT of treatment from that which our
national policy favors and has had ex-
perience in giving. Besides the peaceable
natives occupying the accessible towns,
the interiors of many Of the islands are
filled with aboriginal sayages who have
never recognized the rule of Spain, who
have never even heard of Spain, and
who still think they are possessors of the
soil. Even on the coast itself are tribes
of savages who are almost as ignorant as
their brethren in the interior, and only
thirty miles from Manila are races of
dwarfs who go without clothes, wear
knee bracelets of horsehair, and respect
nothing save the jungle in which they
live"
One must read the whole of Mr.
Stevens's preface to fully understand his
position in the premises, and his argu-
ments seem to one very convincing, since
he speaks from his own experience, and
with acute intelligence and discernment.
Aside from all its special interest and
timely value, Yesterdays in the Philip
pines is bright and charming, and the
author has such a picturesque way of put
ting people, things and events before MS,
TINT under any circumstances the book
would be attractive and entertaining to
readers of all ages and classes The ex-
cellent illustrations from photographs
taken on the spot by Mr.. Stevens, whose
camera seems TO nave Deen Always Wltn
him. " add greatly to the value and
beauty of one of the successes of the season
in book making. There is SO much ofsthe
authors personality in his work that after
perusing it one feels that one has not only
read an interesting book. but made an
r. 2reeable acquaintance.
The autumn publications are beginning
to pour in upon us, and / have before me
a number of volumes pleasant to read and
we'll worth what the Nation calls "a
passing notice" And, by the way, am
glad to see that this clever and erudite