Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-07
ness for education II stiil decidedly on the
Increase"
What is the political effectr' I asked.
It's Political Exact Good.

Ito 4VAAeA E&4SGL GBOu.
zone of the most Anpos liant effects of this
educational enterpr3e & its political as
pect 1t has servedzfo Impress the leaders
of Filipino people 9th The conviction that
the intentions Of the American government
are benevolent and sincere. Rightly or
wrongly a convictfon exists in the minds
of the average Filtpinoss that the Spanish
government did not desire his enighten-
ment. While this prejudlce in some cases
is without ground, The undoubted willing
ness of Americans to give the greatest pos
sible number of people the widest oppor-
tunity for educational advancement has
tended to convince the Ffiipinos that we do
not fear that progress and knowledge will
lessen their attachment to the political in
situations under which they live
THE opportunities afforded under the
civil service for educated FilipinOs serves
as an immense incentive to young men and
women who hitherto have had no honorable
and attractive career open to them. Large
numbers see in the public schools an avenue
to success in life before closed to them. The
result is that ambition, hopefulness and
an eager and aggressive spirit are rapidly
developing among thousands of young peo-
pie whose future under other circumstances
would have presented dark and dreary
outlook.
'will education spoil the native labor
ers?'
ut has been feared by many and often
said that 1t will. This argument, however
SO lar as II mas any truth, Is dDDlCdDte 10
education in all lands 1t has long been
known that a little knowledge is a danger
Gus thing but it has yet to be discovered
that it is more dangerous than total ig-
Eorance. The ignorance and fncredulity of
the uneducated Filipino has been in the
past a pregnant source Of revolution. 1t
has subjected him to the sway of unscru-
pulous, selfish and ambitious leaders. who
know how to avail themselves of his ig
norance and inflame him through his SUI
perstitions. He has underestimated the re-
sources and powers of civilization and the
government which ruled him simply be-
cause he Is ignorant of any world but the
little village in which he lived. The in
struction OF the public schools now gives
him an outlook upon life which his fathers
did not have. If it fills him with a tempo
rary conceit when he compares his own at
tainments with those of his fellows. it also
opens to him vision Of the power and
greatness of the American government and
the futility Of opposing the tide of progress
that Is reaching these islands.
How Manual Labor is Regarded.
"It is undoubtedly true that the Filipino
would like to escape from a life of manual
toll through education and the advance
ment that 1t brings him. That might be
expected of all of us. Common labor opens
no field for ambition in the Philippines any
more than elsewhere The situation is en-
tirely different from that in the states,
however where laboring men may hope,
as the result Of daily toll, to own their own
houses and clothe and educate their chill
dren according to dignified standard.
Most of the manual labor performed in
these islands is of the humblest sort and
poorly paid. Only in Manila and in very
few of the largest towns are there oppor-
tunities for skilled handicraftsmen who
may find reasonable reward for their skill
and industry. 1t is not strange nor repre-
hensible that in a country where labor has
so few rewards the Filipino should desire
to escape from it, nor that education should
increase their desire. It is for these reasons
more than from lack of industry that the
Filipinos have not thus far taken kindly
to attempts that have been made to give
them industrial training. Nor is IL with
out reason that labor has come to be de-
spised among a people where. until recent
times, most of the labor was performed
by poems. slaves or serfs,,
ut Is believed, however, that with in
dustry and the commercial development of
the country that Is rapidly going on, oppor-
tunities for usefulness and success In oc-
equations involving manual labor VIII so
increase that many natives will avail them
selves Of Industrial education. Until then,
the best Of those who are educated will sue
coed in obtaining government positions as
clerks and teachers and In other capacities,
and the others. although. they may have
distaste for labor, will by force of circum-
stances be forced to- resort to 1t.
This situation deserves careful examina-
ton before YOU reach al opinion upon 1t,
continued DR.. Barrows, tt'and ! hope You
will not be misled by the views Of Ameri-
can promoters and others who profess to
lack confidence In native labor and are
clamorous for the Introduction Of Chinese
coolies. They claim that the Filipino hates
and despises labor for itself: that he will
not keep g labOring contract, and cannot
be induced, on any reasonable terms, to
work for the various enterprises in which
Americans desire to invest money. When,
however. we look a little more closely into
H. a.. ~ q
parent that what they really want here Is
a great body of unskilled labor dependent
for its living upon its daily wage. willing
to work in great gangs. submissive to the
rough handling OF a boss, ready to leave
home and family and go anywhere in the
islands and to labor at day wages under
conditions and methods set by foreign en-
ployers. In other words, what they really
want Ia the proletariat, that social class,
the outcome Of recent economic changes in
Europe and America, which 1t Is the ideal
aim of political economists to elevate and
absorb until 1t shall disappear again In the
ranks OF Independent and self-respecttng
labor.
The Filipino's Attitude Toward Labor.
Now the Filipino certainly dislikes Ia
Dor under those conditions, and except
under extraordinary inducements 1t Is prob
ably true that he will not work in a gang.
under boss, subjected to conditions
WHICH appear 10 MIN naFSn ana OneTOuS,
but give him piece Of land to cultivate,
especially IL he can be assured that 1t is
his own. let him choose for his labor the
cool, dark hours of the early dawn and
evening. let him work in his own way
harrassed by an overseer, and he makes a
creditable showing. 1t is as an Independent
producer that he works best, and that, as
we'll every other consideration. should
impel US to develop here in the Philippines.
not the proletariat, but the peasant pro-
prietor. Unfortunately. conditions are I'M
favorable in many parts of the islands to
small holdings. Property exists in great
hacierdas or plantations belonging to the
religious orders, and the population are de-
pendent tenants. But 1t Is the intention of
the government to purchase these great
properties for the benefit Of the peasantry
who live upon them, and. in spite of the
delay in the settlement of this essential
matter. I believe we may look upon it as
one of those pressing necessities in which
the American government will eventually
have It's way.
whenever we find the Filipino the pos
SCISSOR of his own small holding there we
find him Industrious and contributing large
~ to the productive Industries of the is
lav,1 e h.ry to flAaV