The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-04
GIVEN BAD NAMES.
American Soldiers 6Iandered by 8 Re
turned Missionary.

turned Missionary.
New York, Oct. Army Secretary
Peyton of the Brotherhood of st. An
drew, who has just returned from
stay of six months in the Philippines,
declares that the United States has
A. 600 'tdrunkards, rakes and gamblers"
in and around Manila, and that relig-
ious progress is quite out of the queS-
tion while American soldiers are there.
He says the Roman Catholic priests
have made up with the Tagalos, and
are losing no time and sparing no
money to tell the EiipinoS that the
Americans now in Manila, who have
made that city what Mr.. Peyton calls q
hell hole" are fair specimens Of Pro
testant civilization.
Mr.. Peyton went to the Philippines
under commission from Bishop Doane
of Albany, chairman of the board of
domestic and foreign missions of the
Protestant Episcopal church, charging
him to examine the conditions and re-
turn in time to report at the mission
ary council, which will meet this month
in St Louis. Mr.. Peyton visited five of
the islands and enjoyed exceptional op-
portunities Of observation. He is an
ex-soldier, having seen service in the
Spanish American war, and having
served at Montauk while the GONZALES
cent camp was there. In the course of
an interview he said:
Without qualifying exceptions, the
Tagalos are the most moral and most
religious people I ever saw; but they
are mere children in ability to govern
themselves. 1t would never do, in my
judgment. for the United States to
abandon them. The Tagalos could not
hope to control the other principal
races Of the island and there would re-
suit a lot of petty states too weak to
take care of themselves and too ignOr-
ant and too prejudiced to join in one
united state. But the TagaIoS could
not even govern themselves. for, with
American power gone, the friars would
not let them do so.
A + + tT7ar sr-
for Protestant effort. 1t is practically
useless to undertake to do anything
there until the United States troops de-
part or reform. The United States has
in and around Manila at this moment
or had when I left, a few weeks ago,
AZ. 900 drunkards, rakes and gamblers.
OF course there are exceptions, but they
are not worth mentioning. The state
ment is sufficiently accurate. When the
American troops landed in Manila there
was only a saloon or two in the whole
place Today Manila is hell hole.
There are 430 or more saloons, typical
places of the western frontier, or worse,
and the saloons are more respecta BILE
than are many of the other places
within the city which Americans have
either planted or keep alive by their
support.
when the insurrection was at its
height many Spanish priests were
driven out and left the island With
the coming of the Americans common
danger has brought TagaIos and Span
fards together, and old sores have been
healed. Today not only Luzon, but the
islands in the west and south, are COW
cred with friars who are active as they
never were before. Everywhere they
are preaching to the people: Behold
these men. They are a sample of Amer
leans. America is an infidel, or what
is the same thing, a Protestant nation
See the danger of fighting mother
church. An infidel nation has sent the
flower of its men and behold them. Your
lots may be hard, you may have had
grievances in the past. We may have
sinned, but your state is certainly bet
ter than that of Americans. You are
moral You are religious Just as long
as these priests have AZ, 600 Americans
there, and such Americans, as exam
pies of what they are pleased to call
an fnddel civilization, so long it is use
less for Protestants to try to convert
Tagalos and other F'ilipinos. Let the
army do its work and get away. Then,
and not till then, will Methodists, Pres
byterians and EpiscopaIians stand any
chance