The times., 1901-03-10
TRUTH ABOUT THE PHILIPPINES
A Letter From an American Resident
Without Prejudice.
(From the Congressional Record.


months in the Philippines and made n
more careful investigation of conditions
there ana reported them with more in
dependence and accuracy than any writer
whose observations have been printed
That he is close observer and able
writer the letter itself bears proof; that
he is man of unimpeachable Neracity
and integrity / can testify from personal
knowledge. The whole letter is in my
possession and in the authors own hand
writing
His name is withheld because the letter
is written only as a personal letter from
one friend to another. and not for pub
Hcation. and his position, as well as the
privacy Of the communication. makes II
improper for me to make It pubic.
II is dated philippine Islands, Decen-
Der L, 1850. and after the Introductory
sentence is as follows:
Dear Judge: | notice by your
letter, even the intelligent man that you
are. that you are yet talking about our
looking after them (the FiliDinos) until
they are fitted either to be admitted into
the Union or given self government;
and, of course you are not to blame for
this condition of mind, you are entirely
dependent upon the papers and maga-
zines. etc, for material to form your
opinions. But let me say to you, Judge,
honestly and candidly, If you were de-
pendent on the same sources for your
knowledge of the people of the old circuit
you reside in you would say the same
about them. The class of people that are
coming out here and running hurr1edly
around among these people and writing
them up and passing judgment on them
would be dead sure to pass the same Klnd
of judgment on the people OF j, W,
L. and W counties if they were 10
find those counties, with the same people
they now have, situated IN some other
country of the world, and a large major
ity of them would declare that they are
incapable of self-goveTnment II they were
to go and visit them where they are ana
without ability to speak their language.
1rrac M m l.
savages here-seYeral millions of them
but even a large majority OF them are
much more capable of casting an lntelil-
gent vote than are more than that many
cotton-field negroes in the South today.
But the SaVageS and Semi-SaVages 1--we
to themselves away off in the forests, ana
in frontier regions and maintain their
own governments (as our Indians always
did. And besides them there are the peo-
pie over here-the people OF the country
the TagalOS and NiSayanS, and l ShOuId
say the Tagalos and Visayans include
people called. locally, by other names,
lust as some of our people are called
Alabamans and some VirginianS and
some Vermonters: and there is not any
more difference between those OF the dlT-
ferent names in the EiSayan class ana the
TagaIo class. respectively, here than there
is between those / have mentioned there
in the United States, either in language
or anything else. The Tagalos and Nisay-
ans have different languages, but they are
very similar; something like high Dutch
and low Dutch, for instance, | imagine.
All Tagalos coming in contact with Vi
sayans learn their language almost at
once. and vice versa. And you probably
think their languages are languages OF
saVages, or, at most. semi-civillzed people.
You probably do not know that each has
its history, literature, poetry, etc, and
hundreds. in fact thousands, of schools Cf
we include private schools and classes,
etc.).
At the Visayan College, at Cebu. over
nj q hRinp educated and
when 1 visited there last spring four OF
them were studying Spanish as one OF the
modern languages they thought it profit
able to learn. The rest, of course, were
studying in Visayan just as people in our
schools study in the English language.
CeDu Is the city in which the Spanish
Catholics established their first church
and school over herein about 15Zi, about
three hundred and seventy years
ago-and they have had churches and
schools there ever since. and still have
them. But the 'SaVageS still stick to
their own schools and language and lit
erature etc. that they had when the Span
ish found them here in 1921. And pract-
cally the same thing can be said of the
TagalOs, but probably a greater per cent
of the Tagalos learned Spanish
NOW, of the Tagalos and Nisayans
there are about 5000 900. and they are law
yers. doctors, druggists, merchants. art
lists. artisans farmers. bankers, tc., just
the same IS the people called Nirginians
are and they live at home in families
just the same as Virginians do.
Now. judge. l am not afraid that you
will misunderstood me, but casual read
er of the nOnthinking class would come 70
the conclusion from wilt / have written
above that / claim that these people are
Just like Nirginians, and the equal of
NiTginanS, and would pitch into me
at once and contradict me. up and down,
and call me a fool, and If l were to an
swer their assertions and contentious,
etc. l would have to admit that these
people are not white, and that they tat
least q great many of them) go bare
footed, and that they dress 50 as to look to
me and you and my critic like guys, and
that they can't talk so as to express an
intelligent thought TO an American OF
ordinary education, who does not know
their language and tnat their principal
diet is rice, and that il is very common
for them to sit on the floor in a circle
when eating their meals, instead of on
chairs al tables as we do; and that If
YOU meet one in the street riding in his
buggy or other vehicle he viii turn TO the
left instead of to the right, and if one
of them motions with his hand TO another
TO indicate to him that he wants him t.
come to him he will do it with the ends
of his fingers pointing down etc.
"' That is, they belong to differ
ent civilization, and thousands of years
OF character building and civilization,
construction on lines essentially different
from the lines of our civilization, have
made them a different people from us; :;
but that is not saying that they are bet
fools think that it is a conclusive proof
that they are not as good as we are and
that God has made us his agent humble
instrument they hypOCritically express It
to make them perfect by making them
just Ike US.
The long and short of the whole matter
is that they are today as capable of self
government as we are. l do not mean by
that that they have the capacity TO give
us a good government. tAnd if they We're
admitted to be a thousand times as capa-
BILE to govern us as we are to govern our
selves. we would say that they had no
right to give us a good government or
any other kiudD They could not give US
as good a government as we can make
and maintain ourselves, and quite likely
they could not give us aS good a gov
ernment as we could give them. and | do
not think that they can govern themselves
as well as we can govern ourselves; thdt
is. their government Gf they governed
themselVes) would probably not be equal
to what our government Of ourselves at
home is: at least it would not be as good
in our estimation according 10 our views
of such things. But none of these things
touch the matter of self-government.
There is no question at all in the mini
Of any intelligent person VINO has had an
opportunity to study Things mere on the
ground and has done 50, but that these
people are capable of government,
and a thousand times more capable to
govern themselves than we are to govern
them. We are simply not capable OF gov
erninC them at all We cannot under
stanu them nor they US We can govern
the people of Canada, or of England, or
Germany or Denmark, or ~, NorWay, ota or
Sweden. or we could cut OF the states OF
New York Kentucky ana CaHtornlA
and make provinces of them ana govern
them We could do these things because
II is p0ssible for us TO understand all
these ppOules They belong to the same
civilization with us We kno" that we
could cut off States this way and govern
them because we have done II. You re-
f,ay- 10 9tTIletlOQ GaNS. Inc