Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-04-08

l. iouua
Between the Raees-tIaim. H..
Can Never AssimiIate.
An old Filipino's views on tie dFs,
ences between his cOuntryueu an,
Americans are thus described by O,.-,
King Davis In The Last Aur..,l :.
Don Felipe" published la the Ceuu-r
Magazine for April:
"Senor," answered the old man .rs
ten. | am an old man. know mr.
people. but | know something Of otl.,
peoples also. | have not lived here MI
my time. | have Travelled ANA bavs
seen the world. have been in yo1r
own land. have seen your cite. and
your country. have been much ,gora
in America than you Americans have
been here, yet l do not know the
Americans. But they who have been
here only so few weeks or months tall
assuredly Of the Filipinos. As If they
know a people in such time! Truly
the Americans are a wonderful peope
but they cannot do that. | tell Won
senior. that they can never know rs
Just as we can never know them For
they are west and we are east. and We
cannot meet.
Between us there is a line which
neither you nor can denne. Nor can
we tell when we have crossed il. We
make a mathematical calculation and
say: Here we are over. That was
west; this is east That calculation
serves as mark OF Longitude fixed
and absolute, but can you 20 ont there
on the ocean and show me the line that
divides the east from the west: Can
you see ii can you touch it, can you
feel 1t? The difference between the
peoples is just as great as that, yet
Just as subtle and as intangible. Till
you can mark that line and fix it upon
the face of the unstable sea you cannot
determine the line of difference be.
tween your people and mine. How
then will you understand us or We you!
1t cannot be.
Il tell you that between us there is
more than what you know as race diff.
ference in your country. There race
difference is still difference between
western races. Here it is a world diff.
ference. Between you and he there is
more than difference of color. of stat.
ure or even of civilization. There is a
ipy al
ence of thought, of understanding. Of
Interpretation of the same acts and
events; difference of mental process
which neither you nor | will ever be
able to comprehend fully of the other.
We see that it exists. Why or how We
can never know. We cannot fathOm
the ways or the wisdom of God who
made us both.
Yet there are some things we can
know. The civilization of the west is
not for the east. The two can never
assimilate or ama4gamate Your race
and mine will never join. Why, look
you, in my country, in this island there
are peoples who have lived side by
side for thousand years. and yet the
line of demarcation is as distinct today
as it was in the beginning Do you
think these people will assimilate with
newcomers from the west whom they
have known less than a thousand
days?
who can trace the course Of a mans
thoughts? There are certain facts.
You and know them. You draw your
conclusions, and draw mine. They
coincide. For that reason shall We
say that you and think alike? Per-
haps it is so for that time: but, senior,
the ways of the east are not those of
the west. This time and next time we
reach the same conclusion, then we
differ, and you do not know why, nor
do l. We have worked through sep
sarate channels even when we arrived
at the same end"