The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1900-01-09
THE PHILIPPINES.
Our Duty to Them, According to Mr.. schur-
man

Inc Now I Ork independent con
tains an article by Jacob G.. Schur
man, president of Cornell University,
and chairman of the United States
Commission to the Philippines, en-
titled "0ur Duty to the Philippines"
Following is an extract
4" We have forty to fifty tribes to
ciyilze, aud seven or eight OF these
tribes have some 300 600 members
each. Ga the Island of Luzon there
IS one tribe of a million and a half
people. who speak one language as
totally distinct from the other Ian
guages as Spanish is from English.
Another tribe on the same island,
mum bering about 600, 900, is as dis
tinct from the others in language and
character as they are from the Span
iards themselves. Then, on the great
Island of Mindsnao, there are many
tribes that are entirely different from
each other. In the Sulu archipelago
we come to another class of natives.
about whose custom of slavery so
much has been said recently. These
are all Mohammedsns, while in Luzon
the natives are all Catholic Chris
tlans
"Tue priests have rules in Luzon
so long that their influence is wide
spread, and the natives know Of no
other form of Christianity. The
Roman Catholic Church has been es
tabllshed there for 800 years, and the
archipelago was really governed by
the priests, and not by the Spanish
civil or military commanders. OF the
$l3 500 900 raised on the island an.
nually, about 81, 10000 was used for
the Chureh's support. Each small
church would receive about $500 for
its support and the priest an allow
auce of $500 We must credit the
Church with having done great
deal of good work among the natives.
We must reckon with these facts
when we send missionaries to the
Philippines.
MISSIONARIES NEEDED.
Missionaries are needed in the
islands, and hope they will be sent
there in large numbers. There is
plenty Of work for them to do, and !
hope they will 60 with complete
understanding Of the situation. to
accomplish good. They must realize
that they are contending with q
Catholic educated population, that
knows nothing about the 6ne differ
ences between Protestant sects and
denominations. Therefore, it would
be highly impolitic to send missiona.
ries Of different denominations to
confuse the minds of the people. |
do hope that when we send the mis-.
sionsries, we will decide beforehand
on one form of Protestant Christian
ity. Send one type OF missionary
only. The Filipinos will then have
Catholic Christianity and Protestant
Christianity presented to them, so
that they can make their choice. We
have no adequate idea how confusing
to an uncivilized people the different
forms of our Protestant faith appear.
The Chinese, who are perhaps more
intelligent than the Filipinos, regard
our different denominations as so
many different religions.
81 think the Island of Mindanao is
more promising field for missiona'
les to begin their work in than Lu.
zon. The influence of the Catholic
Church has not been extended to
Mindanso, and the simple natives
would more readily accept the type
of faith which the Americans would
teach them. 1t is possible that 1t
would be dangerous to send missiona-