Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-01-17

three distinct races-the Negrito, with
twenty-one tribes; the I~ndonesian, with
sixteen tribes, and the Malayan, with
foFtg-seven tribes, making a total Of
p~igbty.four different tribes. OF these
the Neglitos. who Mt one time peopled
the whole archipelago, are slowly dis
appearing. and probably fewer than
$4,000 remain They are physically
weak, and intellectually stand very low
IL the human scale.
Tie ~Indonesian. with a tribal popu-
iation of some 251,200, live almost TX
clusively On the great island Of Min
danao. They are not only physically
superior to the Negritos, but to the
people OF the Malayan race as well,
and are. rs a rule, quite intelligent.
The Malayan race, however, with its
admlxtures, is the dominant one, and
Is found IN all parts Of the archipelago
In greater or less numbers. The Visa
vans. with a population Of 100000,
occupy the Islands south Of Luzon; the
Tagaloes. with 10000, the central
| part Of Luzon. the Bicols, with 100000.
southern Luz0H. the Ilocanos and Ca
gayans. northern Luzon; the Pampan-
gas and Pangasinans, northern cen
trail Luzou. the Moros, the Jolo (Sulu)
archipelago and Mlndanao.
Thus It win be seen that the problem
of educating the peoples of three dis
tinct tribes. made up Of many tribes
which, even in the same race, differ
very greatly not only In the degree of
civilization. but in language, manners,
customs and laws Is not small. The
needs and conditions of the different
provinces and in some cases the differ
ent parts of a province have to be stud
led carefully in order that the greatest
amount Of good may be given to those
whom we have been set the task OF
educating.
Transportation, too, is an important
factor. There are only 100 miles of
railroad. Small, unclean steamers
make irregular trips to harbors where
landing is a difficult manner. There
are but few good roads, and in the
provinces a good bridge is unknown.
These are the facilities for getting
about this archipelago, made up of
several hundreds of islands, equal to
the combined areas of the New Eng
land states and New York, extending
from north to south over about fifteen
degrees of latitude.
The church and religious affiliations,
the seasons of harvesting, the customs
and notions that have been handed
down for centuries, and last, but not
least, the natural inertia of these peo-
pie are all conditions which must be
reckoned with and most carefully con
sidered, necessitating different meth
DDS, different work and different SEES
slons in the school year in order TO OBJ
tain the best results.
Extracts taken from reports of Givi-
sion superintendent give an insight
into school conditions in various parts
of the archipelago such as can be OBJ
tanned in no other way.
William e. W. MacKinlay, Iloeos,
writes: The schools are only travesties
of American ideas with the exception
of Laoag. There are many teachers
who are trying to do their best. but they
are as children cropping in the dark and
can only advance when led along the
road by an American teacher. On my
landing at IloCos Norte | found two
bamboo sheds in which the Spanish al
phabet and q little Ilocano was being
taught to some 100 children by two ma
tive teachers, who get 8 cents (Ameri-
cam monthly for each child. Paoay
has a good stone school for both sexes,
which. however, is almost bare Of school
furniture. and the $50 children who at
tend are compelled to sit perched on
crazy benches"
+. T. Clark. Rial and Laguna, says:
"Schoolhouses are being built every
where, and English education is pros
pering. Everybody tries to speak Eng
fish, even if 1t is only 'Hello!' am con-
stautly meeting children who are able
to take part in ql5tA. a sustained CON
versation, ana young men and women
have everywhere become eager stu
dents. Many towns are clamoring for
American teachers. In this town Of
P%agsanjan the American teachers tell
me they might have more men and wO-
men thar they could teach every night
in the week ON II o'clock if their own
health would stand the strain. | not
only feel encouraged over the state Of
things, | feel jubilaut, / know these
people are capable of fine things. ! be
lieye they are capable of tie best things
And I fu'lv believe that it, hHd Amer
lean tcach,rs eaough 10 place ono in CIV
cry town that has sent IN q petition thu