The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-04-08
BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

the tttpttiO people tfidC 1 was anxious
to study them for myself, and [ feel
that I prepared to form an intelligent
opinion upon the subject. l have seen
representatives of all occupations in
all parts of the islands. in the cities
and in the country. 1 have conversed
with students and professional men,
! WISHED the markets where the rank
and file meet and exchange their pro-
ducts. watched the farmers at work
/ in the fields and the laborers i'm the
city and made inquiries of both Amer
leans and natives. The FiIipinos are
! a branch of the Malay race, but there
| is such strong resemblance between
some of the individual Filfpinos and
the japanese as to suggest the posi-
bility Of mixing of bloods. if not a.
common origin. At Hongkong I Wis
tied Filipino Of prominence and the
young lady who admitted me so re-
! sembled the Japanese that was sur
prised to learn that she was the
daughter Of my host. A few hours
! later noticed a young man attending
TO some business in a shipping Office
and supposed him to be a Japanese,
but found that he also was a full
blOOded Filipino. The FiIipinos are a
little darker than the Japanese and
may average a little taller, but I have
constantly been reminded of the land
or the Rising Sun during my stay
here.
1t is frequently said in disparage-
merit of the F'ilipinOs that they will
not work. but this is answered con-
clusfvefy by patent and ever-present
fact, viz. that they produce their own
| food, make their own clothes, build
their own homes, and in other ways
supply their needs They have not the
physical strength of the average
American, nor have they the expert
ence in machine labor or in the organ
1zatfon of work. but they will do more
physical labor than a white man can
perform in this climate, and they have
shown themselves capable of doing the
| finer kinds of work when Instructed
/ They are also capable of successful CO.
operative effort when under efficient
guidance One of the commission in
formed me that the street car system
lately inaugurated In Manila was put
IN at a labor cost 40 per cent below the
estimate, the work being done by Fill
ipfno laborers under an American con
tractor This is certainly an excel
lent showing. The opera ting force is
composed of FilipinOs anu the cars are
run very successfully
The superintendent Of the railroad
from Manila to Dagupan, an English
man. speaks very highly of the Fill
pinos employed on the road. He saws
that he uses natives entirely for the
train service and that he has not had
an accident on the road during the
thirteen years or Its operation
A large company OF men were m
loading stone and gravel from barges
near our hotel. and they were as in
dustrfous and as cheerful a lot of
Workmen as one could wish to see
They carried the material in baskets
and accomplished more. as TAR as \
CT Id Judge. than the coolies whom 7
Saw at similar work in China The
Filipino demands better treatment
than that accorded to the cooIie but
Wher employed by those who under
stand him and show him proper CON
sheraton, he is both competent and
faithful.
In the government printing office
nearly nine-tenthS Of the eunpIoves arc
natives Cand the proportion is In
creasinS), and Mr.. Leech. the puhIic
printer. Informed me that they readily
learned the work and were a Bile to RIM
the typesetting machines and presses
DO the book binding and stereotypfng
and other skilled work cOnnected with
the offlce- The newspaper offices of the
city also employ native labor and
need not remind my readers that the
members Of the various typOgra ntfca1
unions of the United States are anong
the most intelligent of our skilled la
bOrers. We visited the largest Tobacco
factory in Manila. the GerminaI ana
found between 1000 and 500 men ana
women making cigars and cigarettes
py hand and by machine. There are
several smaller factories and all are
operated by native labor.
One OF the leading furniture mann,
facturers of Manila is authority for
the statement that in wood carving
the Filipino son becomes the equal of |
the japanese artisan. The PhiIfpDine
islands are so near the equator that !
the heat of the sun during the middle
of the day and the almost twelve |
months
into consideration. When due allow |
ance is made for climatic conditions
and for the fact that the inha bitant of |
the tropics lacks the spur of necessity /
which ever urges on the dweller in |
higher ATTITUDES, one is inclined to ex-
cuse any seeming lack of industry. /
Sure it is that those who come here |
from America and Europe do not, as /
a rule, do enough manual labor to en- |
able comparison to be drawn be
tween them and the natives.
Besides those who work in the fields !
on the streets and in the factories /
there is an army of fishermen and |
boatmen. Fish forms a considerable !
part of the food supply of the island |
and these are brought from the ocean
from the rivers and from the lakes
by a hardy and active people. Much |
of the commerce is carried by water,
and the boats are manned by natives
Except where the Chinese have mono-
polized the mercantile business, the
stores are kept by Filipinos, the men
and the women sharing the labor az
they do in France.
And speaking Of the women. il
must be remembered that woman oc-
cupies a much higher place in the
Philippines than in any other part of
the orient. The Filipinos contend that
even before Spanish influence made It
self felt in the islands woman was
accorded an equal place with man and !
divided with him both the honors and
the responsibilities of the home. How
ever this may be. It cannot be doubted
that at present the rights Of woman
and her position in the family and i'm
society are respected fully as much
as in continental Europe. Her inhu-
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