The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-06
The TYPICAL FILIPINO
He Is Not Confined Entirely TO the
Island Of Luz0n.
Several Races of People Inhabit the
Archipelago Half Civilized Men
whose Garb Consists of Bracelets
and Brcech CIouts-The Masses nnd
The Manner in Which They Live.


and mis- country, though not bearing the
same official character as the report of
the commission to the Islands appointed
by President Mckinley, is perhaps quite
as trustworthy. 1t is that of gentle
man who, though a citizen CT the United
States. has for long time identified him
self with the alien people that this coun-
try has adopted:
1.-The term Filipino, as applied ID
those who live in the Philippine Islands,
is the equivalent of the term american,
as applied to those who live in the United
States AS American, broadly used, III
cludes Indians negroes, Chinese, Italians,
Mexicans and many others who are ne
rightly to be ciassed as typical 'Ameri-
cans so does Filipino include lot only
those OF the higher tyve, tae 1agai, the
Visayan. the Iiocano and Tie Pampangaa,
but as we'll, the Moro, the Igorrote, the
Aeta, the Itavi and others who. though
native ard resident, are Het OF those VINO
are rightly included iii cur ordinary rel
erence to the 'Filipines- We nave bes
fighting the -Filipinos, but we have no.
as yet fought the Moros. the igorroteS
and the Negritos, or imG Gaddanes. fhi5
distinction Is quite necessary Tor 4 prop
er understanding of our relations with
the people of the Philippine Islands
Those who are properly called .flIlpi-
nos' would not in their own use OIL the
term, include in il either those compare
lively small and scattered hill tribes which
ara to be found in the interior OF all the
larger islands, or the so-cal!ed Moros or
the southern district. These, though tney
constitute an element have no established
footing in the economic organization OF tie
island life. Yet sharp lines OF ethnaloelcal
or economic demarcatiOn are not readily
to be drawn For a general consideration
I it may be said that the Filipino proper is
! represented by perhaps no more than a
hail dozen groups, though constituting, ap-
proxima tely probably three-Quarters OF
the entire population. Lack of adequate IN
formation, combined in some instances,
with a disregard of known facts. during
the earlier days of our special relations
with these people, led some OF those whose
words carry weight in the formation of
public opinion to underestimate both the
numbers and the intellectual qualities Of
those who may be called, in all correctness,
the real FilipinOs.
That class Includes our special oppo-
nenJs. the Tagals and those who are only
less antAgCnisk ie 10 American domination
the Visayans. IN the absence of any ac-
curate or even approximate census returns
concerning the population of the islands
Il is variously estimated at from seven and
a half to twelve millions. The best au-
thorities incline toward the lower figure
My personal Investigations lead me 10 q
classification of the islanders Into three
groups. The first would include those whom
We may call the real Filipinos a people
numbering between FIVE and six millions, to
whom the term civilized is as justly ap-
Plicable as it is TO the people of Mexico,
I the French Canadian peasantFy. or the
peasantry of Spain and Italy. In intellec-
| tual capacity l should rate them far above
our cOlOred citizens Of the United States.
| We are apt 10 be troubled by certain
obliquity of vision in our estimates of such
people. We DO not really attribute the
| qualities OF civiiizatio 10 those who go
barefooted habitGally, live in huts. and
! have no knowledge of Browning and the
Rubaiyat- Yet the bare feet are as suftab BILE
for their place as are shoes for Broadway:
(, the nipa hut of the Filipino corresponds TO
the log cabin of the mountaineer. the
/ shack of the sQuatter, and the city tene-
ment house; and many great and good men
have lived and died in ignorance of Pippa
Passes and Omar Knayyam
In a second group / should include an
intermediate class representing a lower
order, semi-civilized and emi-barbaric
living in a form Of tribal organization
and constituting that element which de-
Gays and dies in the face OF an adyanc-
ing civilization. This may be roughly
estimated as numbering million
though that figure probably exceeds the
I actual As they are of that class whose
garb consists mainly OF a breeeh- cfout
and bracelet, they might be called the
sans culottes. My third group is rep
resented by a different though not lower
type. It would include the Moros of the
( south. quite pronounced Malay type.
and some of the hill tribes of similar
| habit of life. but sturdier race stock
than those OF the second, OF intermedi-
ate, group In a way, this group should
be regarded as the intermediate in a de-
scending sequence of race civilization but
as those whom call the sans cuIottes
are SO much a racial mixture of the other
| two, and represent more pronounced po-
tential degeneracy, I class them in that
order.
The social organism of the first group.
the real Filipino, is not greatly unlike
that of any other of the worlds people.
Our present relations with them are chiefly
military. Some day those relations will
be, permanently or temporarily. political
II is therefore, we'll that we fully I'M
| derstand them. Like all other nations.
they are a mixture of mass and class
The mass is fairly intelligent, fairly edu-
td,Gu- not SiiSi S0lICGily INDUSTRIOUS,
pesceable under all normal conditions law
abiding, not given to intoXication, gener-
Gus, hospitabie, and goCd-natured These
are emineHtly desirable qualifications, and
l am aware that their enumeration as
! Filipino qualities contradicts a fairIy-es-
| tablished pre-corceiYed opinion. Yet this
is the testimony of those who know them
| best, who have studied them without thai
special animus which is so apt TO bias
our view of those whom We are for a
time, obliged TO regard as our enemies
The masses live in nipa huts, cultivate
their rice fields, live simply and cheaply,
and go to church on Sundays and holy
days. The masses in other parts of the
world build their houses, as do the Fill
| pinos, of the most suitable and most
readily available material, raise corn
maize, rice, or cotton, live as best they
may, and few of them are as faithful in
| their church attendance as are the little
brown people of the Philippines. The
Filipino homes grade, in their character.
| from the nipa hut, the cottage of the
| peasant up to dwellings of elaborate
structure with costly and artistic decora-
ton and furnishing. No Filipino would
| be foolish enough to erect Biltmore,
because the first earthquake which came
his way would be quite sure to push it
over. The wealthy Filipino builds and
equipS a house suited to the conditions of
his environment, and lives, after his
fashion, as does the American, the Eng
/ lishman, and the Frenchman OF CORE
spending social order