Omaha daily bee., 1902-05-18

STEAMSHIP ZAFIRO, China Sea, April s,
1s02.-Hon. Joseph H.. Blair, Omaha-My
Dear Judge: Only yesterday did l receive
your kind favor OF February 10. 1t gives
me so much satisfaction that / improve this
opportunity to thank you for the informa-
tion you give me and more for sentiments
so cordial as to be unaffected by time or
distance.
To me It had seemed that the Philippines
were becoming more a matter OF homo poll
tics than OF colonial policy. But newspaper
impressions are much less satisfactory than
the judgment Of one in touch with public
opinion. The evolution of events has placed
the Filipino in a situation where he has nc
choice between being a peaceful man or a
dead one. II is a mistake, however, TO as
sumo that determination is likely to be his
fate. He appreciates the power Of our gov
eminent. With rare exceptions these peo-
plo are as law-abiding as our own. They
are by nature pacific. While in the widest
localities they are prone to form bands for
purposes of plumber, they are not warlike.
They like to steal, but not for proht. To
be sure SOM remote communities do not
realize the necessity of submission. But
military operations, l think, assume an un-
due Importance in the dispatches sent home.
The military here have a penchant for max
Eng the most of their deeds, however insig-
nihcant, and then it Is so much more pic
turesque to send cablegrams home about
rifles and bolos than about courts and
schools. / quite coincide, however, in think
ing that our people are here TO stay. His
tory does not abound In instances Of ma
lions Withdrawing from territory once ac-
qulred. While the dificulty of attempting
TO produce Anglo-Saxon fruit from Oriental
trees is not likely to diminish. our people
are not wont to abandon our undertaking
because Of Its difficulties.
where the Mistake Lies.
In dealing with these people / do not
think the authorities give sufhcient con-
sideration to the radical difference between
Oriental and European blood. We have
been SO accustomed to assimilate every sort
of foreigners that we had to deal with that
Il is assumed that Asiatics will also yield
70 the clvilizing influences of free institu-
tions. The Filipino Is q branch Of the
Malay race, the most degenerate stock In
Asia. The Malay race, whether in Java or
Sumatra or the Malachian peninsula or
the archipelago, is homogeneous In Its do
mestic customs, mental traits and char
acter. Heretofore no branch OF this race
has shown itself capable OF development
from within or Of a~vailing itself Of the
progress Of other races. Malays swarm and
multiply and that is all they ever have
accomplished. The climatic influences I'm
der which they live seem to have affected
their moral fiber so that they have not the
force essential to progress socially. in
dustrially or politically. Though in con-
tact with Europeans. their standards re-
main primitive and do not improve or vary.
In their every habitat they are satisfied
with the natural products Of the earth and
water as food, with cloth made OF nber
for their raiment and with a nfteen-foot
square nipa hut for their dwelling. Since
they want nc more, how are you going to
induce them to toll to get more2 Your
Filipino fellow citizen uniformly, from
peasant to priest, eats with his fingers.
sleeps on the floor, wears the same clothes
night and day and washes himself but once
. week. He provides himself with neither
bed nor ~lavatory facilities or cesspool. In
tellectusl Improvement Increases his want
for clothes, but for nothing else.
His Emotional Traits.
Religion with the Malay. whatever he be.
Christian, Mohammedan or Buddhist, Is a
superstition; love. a combination Of lust
and jealousy; knowledge, a weapon where
with to Cypress his fellows, and liberty a
license to practice such oppression. Unless
truth will serve him better than duplicity
he prefers duplicity. Nor has he any clear
idea Of the distinction between meum and
tuum. These characteristics are not only
racial. but inherited for ages, compared to
which the commercial usages of our COM
mon law" are a modern invention. I met
In Intelligent Chinco who assured me that
since the advent OF the Americans the cli-
mate of Manila is becoming like that OF
San Francisco. II the Chinco II right there
may be encouragement for us along the
lines that we are pursuing. but otherwise
the American Judge and the American
schoolmaster are simply painting the spots
of the leopard, but the spots remain
know, Judge. that such views as these
are neither cheerful nor acceptable. but