The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-06-26

works all the WHLc' jim -,o
r. devote to her children nor ~ ash
accomplishments. She must COM
"a weave. The washing is lone al
L stream where she lays her CLOTH
unon a rack, and after wettins -
thoroughly beats it with d o'uo
clean. :,
The wearing apparel OF the man -
aifferent. He works all day III tne
fold with no clothing beyond d Ss
hond around his loins. He may "c
hat or may not; when ne ooeo' -"
ona he has manufactured from srao" an"
made rigid with small pieces ol
A. home he may have a SHIRT VI W."
nair of white trousers, put ne mas
shoes nor underclothing.
HE house. however, contains one olh-
:. fxture which we have not yet seeh'
This is the crucifix. However humole
mov no the institution it cannot exist
n-;tbout this necessity. Ask him some
+bino about it and he replies that II Is
occantial to his salvation. 1t is a GUS
tam handed down to him and he cannon
aiccard it. He knows nothing OF the d.
blo nothing of God and is ignOrant Oh
all things save the crucifixlon. he na9
. ralioion but he has no Christianity. he
vorships, but of what he Worshlps nc
,,novs nothing. He is not permitted 10
own a Bible. even though he can reao
and he has never heard a sermon. his
nriest never talks and never visits. Dur
inq the week he appears to be blesseo
.nd when his children get sick he taxes
them to the church for the same purpose.
Whom one dies the father takes 1t 10
the church on a bamboo bier. In front
of The church he sets it down and the
church bells ring. He cannot axe II
in the church unless he can pay $1,000.
The priest appears and after a thirty-sec-
ond ceremony the father, bamboo litter
and child are on their way to the grave
ward. Should the priest be away or IN
disposed the sexton performs a
which consists in sprinkling the remains
with holy water.
The graveyard in which he buries his
child is a horror to behold! Hundreds
of half tumbled down, staggering crosses,
made from bamboo or two sticks marx
the resting places of the dead. There are
no mounds and few inscriptions! Scat
tered over the ground are countless num-
bers of human bones; skulls that grin
and glare. which nave been aroused from
their shallow beds to make room for 9TH
ers. In just six months a graveyard is
filled and has to be gone over anew. There
are no lots and no paths. Every man
for himself and he buries his dead where
he likes. The new dirt of the last grave
is plainly to be seen and the next one is
begun Immediately beyond it. He knows
when he starts to digging he will unearth
the bones of some one that a few months
ago was as we'll and as happy as a Fill
pino could be. Down he digs; he finds
them but heeds them not, and with the
scoop which answers the purpose of a
shovel, he throws them out to make room
for another which he is about to bury.
The corpse, wrapped in mating, without
a coffin, is tumbled in and covered up.
No grave is more than two feet deep,
for it is too much trouble to dig them
deeper.
Those who have money are not buried.
They are put in inches and for these
inches an annual rent must be paid.
When this rent is no longer forthcoming
their contents are removed and another
occupant takes the place of the old one.
Most crudely made from rocks and sun
baked brick, these inches are placed
against the stone wall surrounding the
cemetery. When a body is placed in
them, the opening is roughly plastered
with mud and clay. and this in a month
or SO is so dry and brittle that it easily
falls away. Passing by these inches their
silent occupants are seen within, as if,
apparently, waiting for the day to come
when they too should be replaced by 9TH
ef bodies, as they had in turn replaced
those before them.
The question often arises "Can we civ
ilize the Filipino?' The answer to this
question is subject to criticism, whether
answered in the affirmative or negative.
That this, his present State, is
not one of civilization, no one
will deny, but it does not ap-
pear in%congruous to say that we
can ~civiliZe him eventually. 1t cannot
be lone in a month, a year or in ten
years; but ultimately he will be on the
same standing as other Eastern nations.
With a few years instruction I see no rea-
son why he should not establish a gov
ernment and become an intelligent. as
we'll as useful race. But, in his present
condition he knows nothing of how to
govern nor what it is to be governed.
Since the time Of Magellan Spain has
welded her rod of mastery from Luzon to
Jolo, and the people today know no more
eH"A when MdSellan 1Oun0 them. For
TINS unsophistication some one is re-
sponslble and poor, down-trodden Spain
must plead guilty. Ignorant and covering
at her feet Spain, has kept the Filipino
Tor three centuries. He has had no gov
rnmen no written law, no worthy exam
pie put before him which he could follow
and how then can we expect him to gov
ern himself.
Spain, rotten from within and under-
mined from without, was bad enough.
but the Filipino today is worse. But for
THIS we must not blame him. 1t is not his
fault. The iron hand which has ruled and
governed his footsteps is responsible for
MS shortcomings. He has had no oppor-
tunlty to educate himself, no chance to
broaden his mind and no means to hear
from the outside world. He thinks it is
all like the little shack of nipa leaves and
bamboo poles which he inhabits.
With education, enlightenment and civ
ilization he will grow better, broader and
wiser, but those to whom this duty falls
Will IND their task a hard one.
He has lived in ignorance and nrfmi
tlVeness Tor ages past and without know
ing the sound Of the white mans voice
We have no hope of bringing this man