The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1904-09-03
WINNING THE FlLlPINos.
More Speedily Accomplished by Me ct
ing Them with Availability
Than in Any Other Way.

Following UP what we We're saElns
the other day as to the probable con-
sequences of the education of the la
boring classes upon the agricultural
interests and other industries OF the
islands, it should be borne in mind,
writes William E. Curtis, in speclFs
correspondence of the Chicago Record
Herald, that conditions here are very
different from those existing IN the
Malay peninsula, India, Java, Sunatra.
Borneo and other East India colonies.
from which our knowledge of the hab-
its and proclivities of the Malay race
is drawn. As / told you the other day,
DIR. BarroWs, superintendent Of educa~
ton, who has made the ethnology o.
the FilIpinos subject of special study.
and was at the head of the ethnolog-
ieal bureau before his promotion tc
his present position, declares that the
Filipino has more of the characters
tics of the japanese than OF the HIM
dus or Malays, but during my br1eI=
observation I have not been able TO
recognize many Of them.
He undoubtedly has the same love
of music and fighting, the same pow
ers of imitation and love of country,
but he certainly lacks the energy, en-
duranee, industry and sturdy persee
verance of the japanese You seldom
see a 1oafer in Japan; the people OF
that remarkable country are always
busy. You never see japanese sleep
ing on a doorstep or in carriage, and
the Filipinos are always asleep or
leaning up against something. The
japanese love work; they love to ae-
eomp1ish things, and with the limited
area and resources of their empNe
have a hard struggle to acquire wealth
or even to sustain life while the Fill
pino has never done anything to de-
velop the marvellous industries Of these
Islands, and is perfectly willing to i've
from hand to mouth and sIbsist upon
the bananas that ripen over the roof
of his cottage.
IT. BarroWs is something Of an
thetic response which the educational
plans of the government have met
with. Dr. Washburn, chairman of the
civil service commission, is equally
sanguine as to the future of the Fill
Pine and the effect of education upoa
him, because, like DR.. Barrows, he has
had gratifying experience with the
eagerness of the native to acquire edu-
cation enough to qualify himself for
an Office. But it certainly must be adj
mitted that the broad and generous
plans of the government for an educa-
tional system here would not have
been successful or even practicable
had they not been demanded by the
common people themselves.
The Filipino, as DR.. BarroWs says.
is essentially a radical. He is one of
the least conservative types of the. hui
man race, and in that he resembles
the Japanese. Thoroughly American
and advanced as the school system
here is, it is not too much SO to suit
the progressive desires of the Filipino
He demands free secular schools, open
on equal terms to all of the inhabit-
ants of the islands, and wants to
abandon the Spanish for the English
language. His experience with the
Spaniards convinced him that they
are governed in thought and action by
medieval ideas and prejudices that
are no longer useful In the world, and
his sympathies are entirely with prog
ress. But it seems to me that here, as
everywhere else, the consequence of
education must depend very largely
upon the personal qualities and char
acter Of the student, and quite as much
upon the personal qualities and char
acter Of the teachers. AS DIR. Barrows
said in the interview I sent you the
other day, the Filipino is phenomen-
ally keen in his perceptions and pow
ers Of imitation. He is ready to adopt
new ideas, loves novelties. and the in
fluence and example of his teacher will
go very far with him.
Fortunately the great majority OF
the teachers who have come over here
from the United States are men and
women of principle and sterling char
acter, and the government is to be con-
graduated upon the record they have
made under difficult and sometimes
embarrassing circumstances. They
came among distrustfuI and guspI-
cious people, who looked upon the
government of the United States as
an invader OF their rights and privi-
leges, too strong for them to resist.
Their homes had been destroyed; their
communities had been demoraIized by
years OF war, their fields were untitled.
their cattle had been killed or stolen.
and their material condition was at
very low stage. 1t was not favorable
time for Introducing new ideas, but
the American teacher succeeded In
overcoming the distrust OF the people.
in gaining their confidence and instill-
ing courage and ambition among them.
How successfully this was done is
shown by the demands that come in
every mail from every part OF the
archipelago for schools and American
teachers.