The evening times., 1899-02-11
The Development of the philippines.

The Development of the Philippines.
The problem of our relations with the
Philippines will have to be worked out
more or less slowly, and it will save time
if certain fundamental principles are un-
derstood at the beginning One is that
there is no use in trying to make the ma
tives over into thoroughgoing Americans
all at once. The fate of the man who tried
TO hustle the East was death from ner-
vous prostration. In spite of their adapta-
bility. which is great, the Filipinos are not
Anglo Saxons; they never will be, and it
is not at all desirable that they should be-
1t is much better that they should be good
Filipinos than make believe Saxons. One
reason why England has been so successful
in the government of her colonies is that
up to a certain point she has respected ma
tive prejudices and traditions. Gurkha and
Sikh regiments have been organized under
colonels who knew something about the
men. and not infrequently the command
has descended from father to son. The
mutiny taught England one terrible lesson
to respect religious prejudices.
One of the few mistakes which England
mas AllaAS ili IiiNA1 10 III iAlS ~ D"e
of native industries The beautiful, artis-
tic fabrics which used to come to us in In
dian ships have almost disappeared. Per-
haps this was inevitable. For time there
was no market for such things, and their
cost, before the days of steam and tele-
graph. was SO great that only the rich
could afford them. But there are certain
forms of art which grow out of the life
of nation, and are beautiful because true
TO some unconsciously formed ideal. 1t has
| been often said that we, nation. have
no art. This is true, because our nation
is not old enough to have developed es-
| thetic traditions of its own. Some of the
old houses in the South were built after an
ideal which grew out of the life and needs
of the people and they were artistic. be-
cause there was thought and life in them.
/ The same is true of houses and furniture
in other old settlements.
When an alien nation undertakes TO de-
stroy race ideals and TO graft its own
upon an unwilling subject, it takes the risk
OF creating utter ugliness, moral and phys
! ical. The moral effect of such an act is
/ TO break up the sympathy between this
| generation and the one before, and 10 set
/ the people adrift without any aim in life
! except that of personal gain. The :urni-
] lure maker who creates beautiful hing.
/ putting thought into every detail, has
pleasure in his work; he is an artist in his
/ way; he is thinking of something besides
( the money which he will get for the work
If his son be taught that the beauty of the
( &c hot prlr ba &c IN
be considered. he is robbed of an ideal
which his father had, and that is bad. If
the Indian receive the impression that
il is better TO work in factory at max
ing boots and shoes than 10 make beautiful
blankets or pottery as his ancestors made
them, he gets wrong idea of the real
nature of civilization. Real civilization is
not matter of machine made furniture
and houses with plastered walls; it is
something entirely different. The Filipino
need not give up his own music and learr
our popular songs, or build his house with
glass instead OF shell window panes, in
order TO be civilized. Some modern i'm
provements there must be if we are 10 de-
velop the resources of the Philippines
improved means of communication, facto-
ries. and soon American capital and
inventive genius will make ii possible tc
produce many things on a larger scale
than has hitherto been possible in the
islands. II the man who makes two blades
OF grass grow where one grew before is a
public benefactor, the same is true of him
who makes two pounds of coffee or sugar
in place OF one, or introduces labor-savin
contrivances by which man may do two
days work in a day. But il was never
said that the public good required men Il
manufacture Brussels carpet instead OF In.
dian mating or substitute a cutaway coat
and modern trousers for the picturesau,
! Japanese kimono. The British govern
ment prevents Burmese dacoits from raid
ing villages and crucifying people, but il
does not require the natives of Indo- China
TO put on European dress. Civilization is
not matter of clothes, or railroad trains
or telegraphs, or even public school sys
tens. 1t is matter of kindly. just, ant
stable government, of general intelligence
and gentle customs, and national useful
ness.
Inspection of Ocean Baggage.