The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-04
IMPRESSIONS OF MANILA
ID. r. BALDWIN VISITS THERE ON HIS
WAY AROUND THE WORLD.
Sees Great Possibilities In Islands
Thinks Natives Not Fit for Self.
Government Yet.
,rrespondence of the indianapolis Journal

| Correspondence of the indianapolis Journal
| MANILA, p. l., DEC. 10, 1S99.-The Phil
ippines are, upon the average, ten degrees
north of the equator. That Is their great
| est drawback. The heat is intense / am
| writing this letter at p. M, in my shirt
sleeves, sweating at every pore. 1t is as
uncomfortable as at home in August
This heat deteriorates the races which
dwell so near the equator. There is not on
record single nation thus located which
has had a history. The trouble is that
nature has done too much for the people
who dwell in the great Malay archipelago.
Life can be lived on too easy terms to
develop national qualities.
The F'ilipinos are a mixture Of good and
bad-with far more good than bad. They
are, as the history of the past five years
abundantly proves, a brave people. They
fight like tigers. but have no firearms
worth naming to fight with. They are a
kindly, well disposed people. very much
given to talk and lying-very primitive in
their ways and far behind their neighbors
in Japan or China. In fact, they are not
| to be named in the same breath with those
| two great races. In extenuation it is to be
said that for three centuries they have
been ground down by the ferocities of the
Spanish rule-a rule. namely, of priests and
friars, who own all the best lands and are
very corrupt. There are no schools to
speak Of, and the people are very ignorant
and totally unfit for self-government.
The Filipino lives in a bamboo house,
| matched with palm leaves rice straw.
and raised from four to six feet from the
ground upon stills so as to avoid the damp
ness of the wet season He is fairly clean
so much above the Chinese that we may
| say clean, so much inferior to the jap
anese that we may say dirty. Every Fill
ipino keeps fighting cock, and when his
house takes fire. as it often does, this is
the first thing to be rescued. The man
wears as few clothes as possible. He
wears his shirt outside Of his trousers, evil
IDENTIFY upon the principle that white linen
should be shown and not. as with us, con-
cealed. The Filipino women are very
"dressy" and wear a costume, the like of
which can be found nowhere on earth and
which, 1 am bound to say is very becom-
ing, indeed. 1t consists of a great wealth
of very gay colored skirt, which ''trem-
bles away into distance as If 1t were loath
to cease" Then their bodice is low in the
neck and extremely short While in front
it is all that modesty requires, often be-
hind there is strip of territory uncovered
mot Intentionally, perhaps, because the
female Filipino is self-respecting, modest
person. They all have beautiful heads of
coal-black hair, which they often allow to
fall behind as nature desired it. Invaria-
bly, around the neck is a cape Of some del
II icate fabric, often fine lace. So putting
all their clothes together, the effect is very
picturesque. The girls are all very pretty,
indeed, with innocent baby faces.
COMMERCIAL POSSIBILITIES.
Manila is an old, tumble-down Spanish
city, it's walls all grass-grown and it's
cathedral and schools decaying. The sur
rounding country is very low and marshy,
but the hills and the high lands are plainly
in sight. The Island of Luzon is as large
as the State of Illinois, and Mindanao
about the size of Indiana, besides score
of other islands averaging in size that of
the State of Connecticut. Here are the
hemp and tobacco landslide best In the
world. Sugar and a dozen other tropical
staples are raised in very great abund-
ance. There is no soft wood timber on
the islands, but the hard woods, which
|
ly sought after for furniture and will make
great fortunes for the owners.
Manila is full of soldiers and is under
martial law. The Mexican currency pre-
walls and makes the price of everything
ridiculously high-as much so as in Mexico.
Affairs are at present very much unset
tied. The United States government is,
as it seems to me, very unwisely apply
ing the Spanish system Of law and taxa
ton, to the great detriment of trade and
commerce. There is big money in Manila.
At present, owing to the soldiers, the
saloon business is very active. The news
papers and the street corners are loaded
down with vulgar advertisements of whisky
and beer, and the police have their hands
| FULL not with Filipinos, but with United
States troops, some of which are very
much given to disorder. Upon the surface
one wonders why, with 10000 men, General
Otis does not go to work and stamp out
at once all the rebels against United States
authority. And yet the history of the Fill
pinos has been so pathetic. their suffering
so great under Spanish ferocity and they
are so childlike that 1t seems very like
slaughtering sheep to exert the tremendous
power of 900 perfectly armed men against
them. But stern necessity may require it
in the very near future.
THE PHILIPPINE QUESTION.
What about the Philippine question?
| These islands came to us by a military ac-
| cident. We could not, as a civilized peo-
| pie, turn them back to the savage Spaniards
who would not have respect for promises
any more than they did toward Cuba. We
| do not want these islands. We have now
more land in the United States than peo-
| pie. whereas the exact reverse is the case
with England, Franco and Germany. To
withdraw our forces would probably invite
| anarchy and civil war. There seems to be
no other course than TO hold the country
until its people are able to care for them
selves. This will be many years. for they,
| as remarked. lack the intellectual ability OF
the japanese and even the Chinese. A
colonial policy seems to be forced upon US
as a part of the white mans burden"
We cannot treat these islands as United
States territory In the constitutional sense
of the term. for that would give this child
like people the full privileges Of American
citizenship.
If the Filipinos were ready for autonomy
and could sustain themselves in interna-
| II in1x- ha