The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-04

~ nv mlllls Oh the ulhLa anu ASK MIN, " WIS
the plaza and he will ~furtiveiy avoid your eyes
ana hesitate and hem and haw When he doesn !
'1eIt Is becaiseol poverty OF invention. ~,
You can Judge Of the mental de~velopment OF
'nls race when | tell you that the principaI diversion
o. ths adult Filipino, next to, cock hghhhg, ~
Kite lying Try and picture all the adult Amer.
sans OF a good sihed town stopping worS ann ,
hhutlng up shop On a very breezy day 10 go OUT
on the common and NY kites
saw a native start in 10 kill a dozen chickens
the other day, The chickens were all tied together
IN a bunch by the legs and laid ~squawking on The
ground. Their heads and necks stuck out IN
all directions. The native, a iull grown man,
took a butchers knife and started in TO XII them
lie danced around those chickens and labbed NJ
them with the knife az II he were in a sparring
match. lie kept that up for fifteen minutes and
the chickens were all hacked NJ, but not one OF
!heIn lead, Then our cook ln'eriered and chopped
The other day | went TO town 10 get a dozen
bananas 4 native sat on the sidewalk. with q
basketful before him asked the price Of dozen
too much, However, ] took them and having no
change. gave him a hye-dolar gold piece lie
gave me two pesos anda pesetoi In change, poCketHd
AWAY, lie had given me 81 10 and tive W bananas
for my i've dollars In gold. He understood tho
making Of change Just as well ms dc. leXpostu-
my money back tie chances ara ID land in the
stocks. The native knew II and knew maj !
knew it lie kept on walking and told me that II
molested him he would inform the Lieutenant
~ lhbN Nh'ii w toii ISL ~ "eeA''
the Lieutenant | stated my case and the Lieu
tenant believed me.
Take back your gold piece" said he, give
him back his change. keep the bananas and
thrash the nisxer" Iobeyed orders,
The Filipino women are hight on q fyel with
men folk. am not talking about The wealthy
mestizps in Manila, but about the masses The
fact is that these people are the same old Malays
| read about In the schoolhooks when a boy, and
Of a low racial type, Admiral Dewey to ,hs con;
trary notwithstanding You see, the Admiral
mat the npStiyns and | tupst the natives There
are a few thousand mestizos on the islands, Agui-
naldo Is one OF thnm. there are millions OF natives
A Filipino woman liz about the homeliest specl-
men Of her sex that ever happened. When yau
stand and talk 10 her the n~ostrls Of her pug nose
point right at you. and you feel as II YOU were
looking into the muzzle OF a double barrelled shot
gun. Her hair Is black and long, but coarse az
bristles. Her teeth are god, but stained a dirty
red with betel. bonga and tobacco. Her mouth Is
wide, Her ewes are big and brown, but seldom
expressive. She seldom has a good voice. Her
carriage is erect and graceful. She dresses with
less taste than the American Indian squaw She
can't cook. her husband can. She dandles a baby
on one arm while she brings you the food her hls-
band has cooked, II you are a guest at her nlpa
hut she will caress your bare feet with her coarse
black hair while her husband goes out 10 notify
his friends the bolunien, 70 chop you up on your
pick your pocket with metropolitan skin, When
] add that grasshopp-rs, beetles and other Insects
are egular items on the Filipino bill OF fare you
can Judge how these Malays compare with the
American Indian. They hang around the back
door Of our cook house on beef days waiting for
what is left Just AS The Indians hang around me
hack do3r OF an army post slaaghter,nousTr oGs
are more II them because the climate Is kindlier.
Thit for the same reason they are a less stniwaIt
and sturdy race, with even fewer virtues.
II there is little good To say about the people
here the contrary is true OF the islands ms Is
The bigges, lunch Of raw, undeveloped wealth
hat Uncle Sam ever got his fist on, The man
with = few thousands who understands nee. sugar
oT ln al wood timber Is going tn get rCn as I FTSilS
here some day. Thersll be the biggest field for
American products here ever known. American
manufacturers should have their advance agents
here right now, learning the languages, country
and business customs The American manu-
~'acturer who isn't getting informed on Philippine
trade is a back number % soon viii be. These
islands are the richest chunks Of productive soil
ia the wide world.
Now, a word about religion. suppose some
ono will object TO my estimate o. these Flipinos
and say: That cannot be, lur these people are
Christians. the American Indians were not
Tha, is another popular misconceplion. about
10 per cent Of the population II these islands
are alleged Roman Catholics The mAs'iIos IN
Manila, are, I'll admit real Roman Catholics
You can Judge the religious state Of the balance
Of the Archipelago by that Of this island, Right
beside our quarters here, tleIe is a Catholic church
Mass hasn't been celebrated there for
years, Many years ago a so-called. Catholic
priest presided over he parish. though he had
never been ordained, He told the natives that
they should rise up and take the property OF tho
TCh SDAnldrds ana dlNne IL among themselves
Finally, he ~despoiled his own church. and with
q lawless band took W the mountains, He Is a
leader OF the Papiecios. He Is still In the noun
tains, I have spoken TO more than nifty OF the
natives Of Negros about the Pope and never met
one who did not think was talking about the
papa in the mountains, as this bandit ex' priest
IS called, There are some real Roman Catholics
in Manila and llollo, but outside u thoss cities
religion is but a veneer, The hombre who goes
TO mass in the morning. files mystic symbols on
a kite in the afternoon and p~ractises the rites Of
blood brotherhood III the evening
On Christmas night the FDipinos serenadel
our quarters. About 3 O'Clock in the evening
they showed up with a brass band and six women
singers. Everybody was In royal good humor
The band stood ont in front Of quarters and played
w~altzes. our men galhered round and applauded
Then the band played Marching Through Gcor.
gia," and "Therell BE q hot Time in the Old Town
Tonight, and our men cheered upIoariously
is the American national anthem. Then the six
native women, in rather husky voices. sang weird
native songs and were encored repehttdly, n.
nally, the band played After the Ball IL Over
and the women sang 1t in the native language.
Well, the men cheered themselves hoars. and
a few who were good singers repeated the song in
English, every one Joining in the chorus. Such
a glorious exhibition Of mutual good will you
never saw But through II oil, the American
guards never deserted their posts, a half dozen
extra guards watched the rifles and every man
wore his cartridge belt Why? Al taps the
serenaders fled away across III, plaza and dis
appeared and the lights In quarters went out
Two minutes later q Remington bullet sang past
the ears Of a pickle, and faitened itself against
the stone wall OF the Papiecio church next door
The second serenade was on. The detachment
piled out into the bitches in the plaza and there
was a lively half hour before we got them on the
run for the foothills. That's the yariegated
Christmas entertainment that the Filipinos pro
yided. And every man Of us, from the Lieutenant
down, knows but cannot prove that both acts
were furnished by the same natives,
LIFT 10 themselves, these people would star,
a new revolution every market day. These
Islands, the richest on earth. would grow up to
underbrush. The population would divide up
into petty bands n thieves and murderers. Prop
erty rights would cease 10 exist. The Papiecio
religion would soon lose all resemblance to the
Catholic faith or any other form Of Christianity.
The American who advocates anything but the
complete subiugation OF these savages is either
utterly ignorant Of the facts or mad Ask the
wealthy mestizo, Don Pedro, and he will tell you
the same. Every property owner in the island
will corroborate him. This letter was started
yesterday. Last night all the hacienda owners,
both Spaniards and mestizos, for twenty miles
around. slept in our quarters under the protection
~ our rifles, They keep their wives and children
In Manila and Iloilo under American protection,
where they will not he murdered il, ,",i u,uui.
GHOSTS FIGHTING JOR 7HE BOEES.
W. T. stead Publishes n Remarkable Letter