Evening star., 1899-11-07
LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES
Address Before Ohurohmen's League by MI.
John Henry Peyton.
Americans Providential1y in the Is
cate-Sentiment Applauded.


held last evening in the large hall of
Epiphany parish. There was very large
attendance of members. Mr.. Lewis ].
Davis, president of the league, occupied the
chair and Mr. Edward F. LOCKER was sec
retary.
The exercises were opened with devo-
tional services conducted by Bishop Satter-
lee, and after the transaction of some
routine business, which included the cleo
ton of a large number of new members,
Mr. John Henry Peyton of New York, army
secretary of the Brotherhood of st. An
drew, was introduced to make an address
relative to visit recently made by him to
the Philippines Mr.. Peyton is now, and
mas Tor some time past, been a member of
the National Council of the Brotherhood of
St Andrew, and his trip to the other side
or the world was made mainly because of
the desire of the bishop of Washington and
OF Bishop Doane of New York to get reli-
able information concerning the religious
affairs of the Philippine Islands.
Mr. Peyton began his address by telling
now he temporarily relinquished his busi
ness as civil engineer and enlisted as a
private in volunteer regiment. He was,
however, soon afterward promoted to a
Sergeantcy, and, after seven weeks spent
at Montauk, released by order of the
Secretary of War to serve as army gsecre-
tary of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew.
Arrival in Manila.
He arrived in Manila May % of this year,
and spent three months investigating the
condition of affairs there. In Luzon he
could go but a little distance beyond the
American lines, but in some of the other
islands he could travel freely and where he
pleased. He went about very quietly and
tried as much as possible to reach the low
est class. There are not many classes in
the Philippines. Mr.. Peyton said, nearly all
being very poor. He was in Manila and
other towns, and in the province of Negros
went twenty-five miles beyond the lines
unattended.
give any reliable statistics about the Phil
lpplnes. All the means heretofore used to
OBTAIN data We're such We're in vogue
200 years ago. The mans are unreliable
Some authorities say the group is composed
of from 200 to 400 islands, but there may
be nearly or quite 1000. They extend
through ten or twelve degrees of latitude
and the archipelago is about one thousand
miles long.
Mr. Peyton remarked that he had never
seen anything to compare with the fertility
OF the Philippine Islands. Sugar cane grows
20 an enormous size, and grows all
the time. The crop which is most lu-
cratiVe is hemp, and it is claimed that the
peculiar kind raised in these islands cannot
be produced anywhere else in the world
Rlce is the staple product, he said The
great mass OF the people live on rice. fruit
ana fsh. The two great crops of the islands
are, however, sugar and hemp. Coffee is
S''N u " SOHLc tAttllI, Dul because OF the
attacks of a certain kind OF worm on the
trees 1t will not for some time become a
lucrative crop.
Climatic Conditions
Some people call the climate delightful.
the speaker said, but he could not go that
far. The temperature rarely gets above 80
n the daytime and those who can remain
quiet, as do the English residents gener-
ally do not suffer much During the three
months he spent in the Philippines, Mr..
Peyton said, he was not afflicted with ma
laria. The soldiers, he said, suffer a great
-edi. but under the best of circumstances a
soldier $ life is one of suffering and be-
Ges they have to be in the trenches and
exposed to the rain.
There Is eVerythin in the Way of annli-
ances and nature to make those islands
appear as very fairy land, said the
speaker
The population hos been estimated at
Peytons opinion, no one knows what fig
ures are correct, and it will require with
all our modern methods twenty-five or thir-
ty years to get an accurate census If is
said by some that sixty different languages
are spoken, while others declare that there
are but thirty, and there is absolutely no
way to determine which of the two state
mentS is correct.
There is very little real Spanish spoken
n the islands except in Manila, Iloilo and
Cebu, and practically none whatever out
side of the towns named, and few small
er ones. The speaker ascribed this lack of
knowledge to the fact that it was not to the
interest of the Spanish officers wko we're
sent to rule over the various provinces in
the islands to let the people learn enough
of the language to be able 70 make known
their complaints of the way they were be-
ing treated. Besides this, Mr.. Peyton as
serted, it was the policy of the Spanish
government to be constantly changing the
officers lin order that they might not steal
too much at any one place"
Three Great Families.
There are really in the islands, said the
speaker, three great families of languages,
but there are no clear-cut lines between
them. Those who are at war with us num-
Der about 100000 al told. Without a
strong, good government to protect them
they could not carry on a government for
themselves, as they would be nterfered
with by the rest of the natives, and to say
that those now in insurrection could govern
the rest of the natives is absurd.
Mr. Peyton said he was greatly surprised
to find, upon examination of thematter
that although the peope of the Philippine
Islands are 300 years behind the times the
English have control of the finances, and
the British were there before the Ameri-
cans arrived. There are 2tD,UD Moham-
n edanS in the Islands and 100000 Chinese,
10000 of whom are in Manila. Previous to
the entrance of the American soldiers into
Manila the people, except the English and
nan Il dozen american 1dD1liS there, seemed
to have no energy. The Spanish always
thought it disgrace to work and the
chief employment of the Filipino is to do
only enough to pay his taxes and contribute
his share toward the support of the church
Mr.. Peyton tod of the history and dis
semnation of Catholicism in the Philip
pines, and, continuing, said the natives were
an exceedingly humble people He spoke
of the many immense churches he saw and
told of one in Cebu, where there are not
more than 1900 or 5000 people This edt-
flee was, he said. about 2S4 feet wide The
churches are very plainly furnished, ex-
cepting as to the altar and the chancel.
and are almost barn-like inside They have
few, If any, seats-never any except those
near the altar and perhaps a long bench
along the side of the church. The churches
are usua ly crowded with worshipers at
each service.
They have, the speaker said, been thor
oughly trained in the Catholic Church from
infancy and evidently never heard it even
intimated that there Is any other church
In existence.
The Filipinos are a remarkably moral
people in every way and intemperance
among the natives Is almost wholly un-
known. Mr.. Peyton said that during his
residence in the islands he never saw a
native intoxicated.
The average height of the men is five feet
one inch and weight 40 pounds. Some of
the Filipinos have achieved distinction as