Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-01-11
C|V|L|ZING THE F|L|P|N0S.
SCHURMANS IDEA OF HOW 1T SHOULD
BE DONE-CONvER THE
CATHOLICS INTO PR0TESTANTS
Hu Does Not Mention that We Owe Then
Freedom Good Roads.

Christmas week contained an article
by Jacob G. Schurman, president of
Cornell University, chairman of the
United States commission to tn"
Philippines, entitled "Our duty to
the Philippines"
Following is an abstract: eve
have forty to fifty tribes to civilizr,
and seven or eight OF these tribes
have some 100000 members each.
On the island Of Luzon there is one
tribe Of q million and Il half of people,
who speak one language, rs 'otally
distinct from the other languages as
Spanish is from English. Another
tribe on the same island, numbering
abon, 100000, is as distinct from the
Other in language and characteristics
as they are from the Spaniards them
selves Then on the great island Of
Mndanao there arc many tribes that
are entirely different from each other.
In the %ulu Archipelago we come to
another class Of natives, about whose
custom of slavery so much has been
said recently. These arc Moham-
mcdans, while in Luzon the natives
are all Catholic Christians.
INFLUENCE OF THE PRIESTS.
"l'hc priests have ruled in Luzon
80 long that their influence is wide
spread and the natives know Of no
other form of Christianity. The
CONAN Catholic Church has been
established there for three hundred
years, and the archipelago was really
governed by the priests, and not by
the Spanish civil or military COM
manlcrs. OF the 81, 100000 raised
on the island annually, about 81 $780,
600 was used for the Church's sup
port. Each small church would re-
ccive about $500 for its support and
the priests an allowance of $500.
We must credit the Church with
having done great deal of good
work among the natives. We must
reckon with those facts when We
send missionaries to the Philippines.
DANGER or DIVIDED EFFORT.
"NIissionarics arc needed in the
island, 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 a complete
understanding of the situation, to
accomplish good. They must realize
that they are contcnding with a
Catholic educated population that
knows nothing about the fine differ
cnceS between Protestant Sccts and
denominations. Therefore, it would
be highly impolitic to send mission
aries of different denominations to
confuse the minds of the people. |
do hope that when We send the mis-
sionarcs we will decide beforehand
on one fo;m Of Protestant Christi
anity. Send only one ,ypc of mis-
sionary. The Filipimcs viii then
have Catholic Christianity and Pro-
testant Christianity presented to
them 80 they can make their choice.
We have no adequate idea how con-
fusng to the simple minds of an un-
civilized people the different forms
OF our Protestant faith appear. The
Chinese, who are, perhaps, more IL
tclligcnt than the Filipinos, regard
our different denominations as 80
many different religions.
MISSIONARIES FOR MINDANAo.
81 think the island Of Mindanao
is a more promising field for mission
aries 20 begin their work in than
Iuzon. The influence Of the Catho-
lie Church has not been extended to
Mindanao 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 ut
present, but as conditions become
more settled and the Americans are
looked upon with more friendly
feeling this place will be rich field
for the American missionary. We
owe it to the I'ilipinoS to give them
the best in our religion as well as in
our education.
AIrINA!DO An HONEST MAN.
81 believe the fighting III the Phil
ippincs is nearly over and our armies
now fighting in Northern Luzon will
be required only to keep down the
bandits. The organized army has
disappeared and with it we might
say the whole insurrrction. Most Of
the leaders Of the inSurrcctinn have
been dispersed or have been won
over to our side.
81 do not Say that all the insur-