The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1900-01-03
VOL. XXX.
sehusmaa and the Philippines.
Interesting Article on Americas
Large Responsibilities,

Interesting Article on America :
Large Responsibilities,
The Catholic Rule in Luzon-Mis-
sionaries Confuse the Heather.
Honesty Must be p iacticed-Urges
Establishment of Civil Government
New York, December 27.-The In
dependent for the current week will
contain an article by Jacob G. Schur-
man. President of Cornell University
and Chairman of the United States
Commission to the Philippines, en-
titled "Our Duty to the Philippines. !"
The following is an abstract: 1--WE
have 40 to so tribes to civilize, and
seven or eight of these tribes have
some 100000 members each. On the
Island of Luzon there is one tribe
of million and a half people who
speak one language as totally distinct
from the other languages as Spanish
is from English. Another tribe on
The same island, numbering about
100000, is as distinct from the others
in language and characteristics as
they are from the Spaniards them
selves. Then on the great island of
Mindanao there are many tribes that
are entirely different from each other.
In Sulu archipelago We come to an
other class of natives, about whose
custom of slavery so much has been
said recently. These are Mohamme-
dams, while in Luzon the natives are
all Catholic Christians.
The priests have ruled in Luzon
so long that their iIfuence is wide
spread, and the natives know. of no
other form of Christianity. The Ro-
man Catholic church has been estab-
lished three for SEQ years, and the
archipelago was really governed by
the priests and not by the Spanish
civil or military commanders. OF the
Sl3, 100000 raised on the island an
nually, about $1,5OO,COO was used
for the church's support. Each
small church would receive about
$500 for its support and the priest
an allowance of $500. We must
credit the church with having done
a great deal of good work among the
natives. We must reckon with those
facts when We send missionaries TO
tha Philippines.
missionaries are needed in the
islands, and I hope they will be sent
there in large numbers. There is
plenty of work for them to do, and
I hope they will 60, with complete
understanding of the situation, to
accomplish good. They must realize
that they are contending with a
Catholic educated population that
knows nothing about the fine differ
ences between Protestant sects ard
denominations. Therefore it would
be highly impolite to send. mission
aries Of different denominations to
confuse the minds of the people. I
do hope that when we do send the
missionaries We will decide before
hand on one form ct Protestant
Christianity Send only one type Of
missionary. The Fllipinos will then
have Catholic Christianity and Pro-
testant Christianity presented to
them so they can make their choice.
We have no adequate idea how con-
fusipg to the simple minds of an ur-
civilized people the different forms
of Protestant faith appear. The
Chinese, who perhaps are more intel
gent than the Fllipinos, regard our
different denominations as so many
different religions.
II think the Island of Mindanao
is MOI, prominent field for mission :
aries to began their work in than
Luzon. The il fuence of the Catl-
olic church has not been extended to
Mindanac, and the simple natives
would more readily accept the type
of faith which the Americans would
teach them. 1t is possible that it
would be dangerous to send mission
aries to the interior of this island at
present, but as conditions become
more settled and the Americans ale
looked upon with a more friendly
feeling, this place will be rich field
for the American missionary. We
owe it to the Fllipinos to give them
the best in our religion as we'll as in