Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-09-14
sCHURMAN ON FlLIPINOS.
Says There ore a 10, Of Tribes, ba, They Do
No, Constitute a Nation.


philippine Commissioner schurman.
president Of Cornell university. has re-
sumed his educational duties at ithaca
Sew York. In regard TO the Philippine
islands. Prof sohurman, on WcdncH-
day evening. gave out the following
statement to the Associated Press, de-
scribing his visit. and making suggca-
tons "a TO what shall be done la the
future!
1T Is very important that the public
should know tho actual facts " the
situation. Things are what they are.
and the American public should un-
dcrstand them, whether they agrco
with or run counter TO the public'H
wishes.
First. Il requires some EFFORT 10
realize the vastncas of the archipelago.
which extends IN triangular form from
Formosa 10 Bornco and Ccleboa,
through sixteen degrees u latitude.
Never golng out into the Pacific ocean
on the east. or the china sen on the
west. I made "a circuit of 1900 miles all
south OF Manila. This gives some idea
Of the difficulty of maintaining an ~.
feCtiNc blockade. uH the coast line uf
the islands embraced In the urchipvla-
40 II many more thousands of miles.
second. the multiplicity aud hvtcru-
Ecncuus nature Of the tribes n some
thing astonishing. over sixty different
languages are spoken Ia the ufchipolH-
go. and though the majority of tho
tribes are small. thorc are half a dozen
each having over "a quarter 81 mill
a. a.. o..
people nrv na distinct from each other us
French and Spanish or Italian r1 that
the speech Of any one tribe IH unIu-
telliEiblc to ita neiEhburs. These tribes
arr all civilized ana ChriHtianizod. but
small, unclyilized tribes. among whom
the igorutcH seem best known In Amcr-
lea, lnhubit the mountains In Luzon
and form a large part OF the populu-
ton. which N independent Of the Mo-
hnmmcdanH In the ncighborinE sulu
archipelago.
Third. It l. the Tagulos lnhabtinr
some OF the provinces about Manila
who are resisting the authorities OF tho
United States. other civilized l'ill-
pinoH are neutral. except whore thcy
are coerccd by armed bands of TnFnl1s,
who seized upon their governments
during the making and the ratification
of our treaty Of peace with spain, II
would be Incorrect to assume however.
that these tribes are allies OF ours.
They are not. Indeed. they are not
without suspicion Of the white mcc. of
which they have had experience only
through Spain. liut there are men OF
Intelligence and property. and the
masses. whom not stirred up by the
them NJ American sovereignty, aud 30
many remain neutral
Fourth, the insurrcction, though
serious enough, ~ experience has prov,
IN, ~ not "A national uprising. Indeed
there ~ no Philippine nation. A. /
Gus collection Of tribes having only this
10 common, that they belong to the
/ Malay race. The Inhabitants VI the
Archipelago no more constitute ma
! uon than the Inhabitants OF the contl-
! mont Of Europe do,
Fifth, the United States having as.
Humcd, by treaty Of peace with Spain,
sovereignty over the archipelago. be-
came responsible FOR the maintenance
/ % peace ana order the administration
/ 81 Justice, the security of life and prop
| crty among an the tribes of the archi-
/ pelago. This ~ an obligation which In
/ tclliEcnt Filipinoa. no less than foreign
| nations, expect M to fulnll, Nor will
/ the national honor permit Us TO turn
/ back, Ia taking the Philippine Islands
/ We annexed great responsibility The
| fact that the responsibility h heavier
/ than most people supposed Il would be,
| II no excuse for failure 10 discharge N.
/ repeat that the Philippine question IL
! essentially question Of national
| obligation"
In reply 10 n question az to whether
| anything was now left but to fight II
out President schurman said: I'm my
| opinion, much good would be done hy
"a declaration on the part of Congress
| Tor the form Of government 60 be oa-
! tabliHhod In the Islands. or better atill.
| let Congress establish government
FOR the Philippines and have II put IN
force In all parts and among all tribes
hostile 10 tho United States. This would
serve several purposes II would dis
| tinRuish between our friends and our
enemies, and treat the former accord
| Ing TO their deserts"
Asked about the'cnpacity of the Fiji
| Pine people TO govern themselves, Pres.
| ident Schurmnn replied that they had
had no experience IN self government
except In municipal AFFAIRS and even
these were subject 10 control OF the
! Spanish authorities, lie thought, how,
ever. that each tribe might. subject u
| the supervision OF n wise general gov.
eminent. manage In the main It's own
| municipal and provincial nnuirH, Su.
| pervislon from Manila would vary with
the position which the different tribes
l frpnrloN Ia the noul0 ~ pINllivuftnu