New-York tribune., 1901-10-07
THE FILIPINO CHARACTER
AN ATTEMPT AT AN ANALYSIS OF ,rs
CHIEF TRAITS.

lFaoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT THE ra,sux.1
Manila, Philippine Islands. August Is
IL was Sir Robert Hart. believe. who having
oeen SIX months In China, thought himself fairly
competent to analyze the Chinese character. and
VINO subsequently. after forty years of continu
Gus association with Cinnamon OF every class
ana description. frankly revised his early Judg-
ment by saying that the average Chinaman wa,
then as much, and perhaps even more of a puz-
zle to him than Sir Roberts difidence In
reaching final estimate to the workings OF
the chinese mind may well be shared by any con-
scientious observer who attempts follow the
mysteries Of the Filipino character. and who
upon the conclusion of his labors finds himself
compelled to admit that the task of squaring
facts with theories is in this case at least.
wellnigh impossible one. All he can hope to
do is to record impressions which may, or NAV
not interest student of national traits and
race characteristics. and which at best coa-
vey only a feeble idea of the difficulties con-
fronting the administration Of these islands on
every hand. Lucky. indeed. the man who. in
endeavoring to discuss difficult and elusive
subject. is not in the end found by his critics
to be in the position of a former we'll known
Illinois statesman Of whom the whilom Gar of
the House of Representatives. in one Of his finest
outbursts of sarcastic wrath remarked that "he
never opened his mouth without subtracting
something from the sum total of human knowl-
edge"
AN ASIATIC AT HEART.
The Filipino is Asiatic, tempered by nearly
four hundred years Of contact with Spanish CIV
ilization. AS Asiatic he preserves all the
characteristics which differentiate the races of
that great continent from those of Europe. As
the product Of Spanish rule in Asia he has
quired merely veneer of civilization AS an
Asiatic he remains treacherous. cruel and vim
dictive. AS touched by Spanish civilization he
can be generous. hospitabe. truthful and even
unselfish. In short. he is bundle of contra
dictions. He has shown. while retaining al
most abjeet degree of superstitious fear. that he
can be. when occasion requires it. independent
in thought and even morally coura geous. Such
instances however. are extremely rare. He dis
plays passionate desire, when young. for the
acquisition of knowledge: but upon reaching
maturity is often content to relapse into sort
of mental barbarism. He is capable of at least
respectable efforts in the arts and sciences
There is, indeed. not single profession. whether
it be the law. the church. literature or medf-
cine, in which 1t would not be easy to show
that men of Filipino blood had attained distinc-
ton. And yet though the Filipino displays an
adaptability equalled by few other people and
surpassed only by the Japanese. the absorption
of this culture seems TO have had little or no
effect upon his character. He might almost be
said, so far moral makeup is concerned, TO
possess none be crippled and deformed.
Neither knowledge experience has rpened
his judgment. His sense of proportion under
goes change he advances in life His esti-
mate of men, things and events, either indie
pendent of in relation to each other. is that
of youth. and very green one at that A
certain childishness of character accompanies
the average Filipino from the cradle TO the
grave. and has given rise to the assertion that
the Filipino brain is incapable of development
after twenty-five.
His vices are frequently those which we are
accustomed TO outgrow leave behind with
intellectual measles. and which we recall in af-
ter life only when suddenly made TO
realize that another generation has grown up
around and we have entered upon what
Thackeray pleased to call the "square-toed
state" Close observers of the Filipino character
maintain that at no time Of his life does the
native quite succeed in resisting the temptation
of amputating flies legs, attaching tin cans
to dogs tails-hguratively speaking. From his
point of view his cruelty is no cruelty at all;
it is simply mirthful pastime And if the dog
and the fly are unable TO the joke or enter
into the fun. much the worse. of course. for
them I saw a prisoner. under sentence OF
DEATH parayzed by drug which friends had
administered to him surreptitiously in the hope
that he might thereby escape the halter. excite,
instead Of sympathy the dersion only of his
fellow prisoners. The fact that he posed as a
patriot and a martyr-he had been convicted
believe. of butchering in cold blood a score
or more of paciicos-did not help him in the
least with his associates His fellow prisoners.
less guilty than he only in degree, evidently
thought a friend and companion physically
paralyzed and mentally no longer responsible.
fit subject only for their jibes and laughter AS
for Filipinos notions Of revenge, who does not
recall the almost classic story OF the muchacho
who behind his masters back and before serv-
ing the SOUP spat in the plate in order to wipe
out as he thought. wrong suffered at the mas
ter's hand ten years before? In their vices.
repeat as well as In their virtues. there is an
element which is of chidishness. annoying rather
than dangerous. Such childishness is irritating.
no doubt in that IT indicates an indeeision or
character a lack of seriousness and tenacity or
purpose utter inability to reason logically or to
see things in their proper light, and disposition
to attach undue Importance to anything that
appeals to the eye rather than the mind; but II
also furnishes grounds for believing that under
proper and sympathetic treatment. 1t may be
changed to something better. That change can
not in the nature of things. be expected TO take
place over night in year. or even IN dec
ade 1t will require generations: and it is even
doubtful whether the present generation VIII
live to see the beginning of that change.
EASILY LED.
The chidishness of the Filipino character ex.
plains in a measure the phenomenal rapidity
with which the rebellion gained ground. and
also the suddenness which marked the collapse
of organized opposition. The Filipino is credu-
lous to a degree difficult to understand when
dealing with a fellow Filipino The suspicion
which instantly is aroused in him upon being