The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1902-02-20
TEACHING THEFILTPINOS
HARDsHlPs ENCOUNTERED BY THE
AMERICAN PEoAoocuEs.

SleuHtiOu-NUtlNe NuuIAvltItbAfS"f
Reports received at the War Depart
ment indicate that the sending OF
American school-teachers to the Phil
ipplnes will prove very interesting
experiment, writes the Washington
correspondent Of the New York Post
Many of them knew little Of what
they were going to; but, on the whole,
they seem TO tnke the discomforts and
hardships incident to the life there
cheerfully. One woman now In the
archipelago says that she was swim
died" with the Philippines-that they
are not what they were said to be.
She expresses herself as disappointed
that she is not able to have the COM
forts that she had last year In q coll
lege dormitory.
One very sad thing in the teaching
force has been the death from the
effects Of an operation of w. S. Davis,
Of Colville, Wash. He leaves wife
and five children. He went out at
salary of $500. Another man went
out for $1,000, carrying a wife and
four children; another wife and
three children. When it is remem-
bered that living expenses there are
fifty per cent. higher than here, it will
be seen how much missionary zeal the
teachers need to show.
1t is remarkable, all accounts agree,
how quickly the Filipino children
learn English. There are perhaps
500 Filipino teachers who are having
one hour of English a day. A normal
school has been opened with an at
tendance of about $50 Fllipinos. A
trade school and an agricultural col
lege also have been started. All these
movements have gone on with very lit
tie noise 1t would have been much
easier for our educators to establish
high schools and colleges, since the cry
for education from the so.called lead
ing Filipinos" is understood at the
War Department to mean q demand
for high schools, so that they will not
be obliged to send their children into
Manila. In the past higher education
has been obtainable only at great eX-
pense, and the so-called educated
class" has been an exclusive one. The
American plan has been, rejecting the
theories of n democratic government,
to look out that every pueblo and bar
rio has Its English elementary school.
This starting at the bottom and build.
ing up is n much harder thing than
the reverse process would be, since
there is a question always as to wheth-
er the upper classes are particularly
anxious that the lower classes should
be instructed. The Filipino Presl-
dent, returning travellers say, always
promises to do just as he is asked, but
fails usually to do what he promises.
Still there is much, according to de-
partmental advices, that is hopeful in
the situation. The chief difficulties
seem to be insufficient municipal funds
and a hesitancy on the part of our
Philippine ofilcialdom to take the mi
tiative, aud way down at the bottom
perhaps, an Indifference and a feeling
that the General Government ought
to do everything The American Gov
eminent has done great service in
giving these people the one thing, in
the shape Of English instruction, which
will Of itself, be unifying influence.
About rs much English is now spoken
as there was Spanish in the Spanish
times
Many persons believe that the Amer
lean physician may yet become as
great n factor in Philippine develop.
ment as the American teacher. The
trained physician OF this country
ought to contribute something impor-
tant ON tropical disease, especially
amoeDic dysentery, which now seems
to be so fatal there. Americans say
that It is surprising to see the ignor-
apee prevailing among the foreign doc
tors In the tropics; that the average
Filipino physician never opens book
or makes any special study after grad
uaticn. At the age of about ten the
Filipino begins a so-called medical
course, which is nothing more than ele.
mentary in character, but because he
stu4ies something for seven years he
believes he is superior to the American
doctor, who, has a course OF only four
years.
The Fllp!nos, rs class, the return.
ing War Department officers say, are
In certain sense clearly; they battle
frequently, bit they are not very se-
leet in their bathing place, Their
housekeeping and hoTe sanitation are
wretched, although the women are as
rule more businesslike than the men.
The ordinary Filipino has not enough
enterprise to run a business success
fully. Whether the children are inven.
tive or merely initiative remains to be
A IL L.