The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-08-13
Catholic Teachers in Philippines.
CORRESPONDENCE CathoIic Lnivcrsl

| Correspondence OdtlOlC L NlNCfSC.)
Washington Aug. 1O-In my letter of Juao 20
No. 229, made the statement that $500 teacher,
in the Philippines were Catholics. In reply TO this
letter | received numerous communications Of
more or less encouraging character. Among them
Is one from a prominent priest and publisher in
which he says:
Il cannot help telling you that the mention Of
$500 Catholic teachers without specifying that
5000 of them, if not more arc Filipinos who were
either teaching there before American occupation
or who would be teaching there in any event. is
strangely misleading"
If this statement of mine was misleading it was
unintcntional [ WILL however, be more explicit. In
order that further misleading statement, may is
sue from this agency called at the war department
for facts. report received last month gives the
number of Filipino teachers at $500 and that Of
American teachers at 1000. Of the American teach
ers not less than 200 are Catholics The FilpiuO5
are all cassed as Catholics which would make the
entire list of Catholic teachers 300
When the American public school system was
about to be introduced the authorities looked about
them for suitable teachers. The public normal
schools and colleges OF the country Catholic and
Protestant schools and colleges, were called upon
to recommend teachers. All these institutions made
efforts to help the government in the emergency,
but all of them failed. at least in part The reason
was natural, for few of our young mon and women
who had passed first class examinations which en-
titled them to first class positions here showed an
inclination to go to the Philippines for smaller
salary than they could command here The result
was that the teachers that were sent were not sat-
lsfactory and many of them have returned Just as
soon as the native normal schools will furnish ma
tive teachers will the importation of American
teachers be discontinued. Even at this time the real
primary teaching is in the hands of the Filipinos
as the American teachers are chiefly engaged in
teaching English to the native teachers and with
so much success that in the five years of American
rule more English was taught than Spanish during
hundred years previous
1t may be added there would be far more Amcr-
can Catholics the teaching force in the Philip
pines if all who had been invited had accepted or
If many of those who had accepted had not after
wards declined to 60 Out of total of 80 selected
by some of our Catholic authorities II backed out
the last moment. The same thing. only in a greater
degree, held good in the case of selections made by
Protestant colleges All of which goes to show that
it is not considered holiday picnic to go to our
far-away possessions.
1t will thus be seen that my original statement
that there were $500 Catholic teachers appointed in
the Philippines was quite OH the side of conscrya-
tism.
1t Is generally conceded here that the presence
OF Cardinal Satolli at the dinner rendered to him
by Secretary Taft was in the nature of an endorse
ment OF the secretary and of his policy toward the
Church in the Philippines
E. L. SCHARF Phi. D.