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

IIOuIHS influence In thesr respective
communities. As in Mexico and in
Cuba, the cultured men and women OF
the Philippines are thoroughly refined
| and polished in manner.
/ The American government has had
no difficulty in finding men competent
! to fill the offices which have been as
signed to the natives, three of the sew
| en- members of the commission and
] three of the seven supreme court judges
/ being Filtpinos. The governors and
mayors are nearly all Filipinos, as are
| most of the lower courts.
As there is no satisfactory service
( by private boats. the commission fur
! nished us q cOaSt-guard steamer for a
| tour of the islands, the passen gers pay
! ing the cost OF subsistence, and we
| were thus enabled to visit the prin-
| cipal cities. AT all of these places We
| found a group of intellectual and pub
| lic-Spirited men. AT Ifolio. Bacolod,
/ Cebu and Santa Barbara there were
| addresses of welcome and public recep-
| tiOnS, and the views of the residents
were presented In clear and well chosen
| language. At Malolos, the first capital
| of the Aguinaldo government, which
| we visited as the guests of commit
| tee of prominent Filipinos, similar
| speeches were delivered which met
/ with the approval of the assembled
! crowd.
! At Manila a public dinner was given
! by a number of representative Filipinos
/ headed by Mayor RoXas, at which
| speeches were made by FiipinOs distiu-
/ guished in official and professional life.
/ The addresses delivered on these sew
! eral occasions would compare favor
ably with speeches delivered under sim
/ liar circumstances in the United States.
| While some of the persons who took
part in these meetings showed traces
! of Spanish blood. others were unmista-
| kably Filipino, but the racial differ
| ences could not be distinguished by the
| manner in which they performed their
| parts.
While at Manila L met General Agui-
naldO, first at the reception rendered
us by the Elks and. later, at his own
home in Cavite. Since his capture he
has been living in retirement and has
conducted himself in such a manner as
to win the appreciation of the Ameri-
can officials. He is small Of stature,
modest in department and manifests a
deep interest in the welfare of his peO-
pie. He has twice appealed TO tho gov
eminent to establish an agricultural
bank for the relief of the farmers, call
! ing attention to the scarcity of money
and to the high rate of interest (sOme-
times 40 or 30 per cent? charged the
farmers on short loans. The agricul-
tural bank was referred to by several
speakers during our stay on the islands
and it is certain that, from an indus
trial standpoint. the government could
do nothing which would be more bene-
fetal or acceptable to the people.
DR.. Apacible, the head of the Hong
kong junta during the insurreCtiOn,
now a practicing physician in Manila,
was selected by the Filipino reception
committee tc accompany us on our trip
and, being personally acquainted with
the leaders of thought, he was able to
bring us into contact with those who
reflected the opinion of the people,
while Captain Moss of General Cor
in
ter, representing the insular govern
ment, kept us in touch with the Amer
leans in military and civil life. We
found everywhere commentator of he
educational system established by the
Americans. 1t is the one department
of work instituted by our government
which seems to have avoided serious
criticism. / presented this universal
commentator as evidence Of the good
intentions of our people, pointing out
TO the FilipinOs that people are apt 30
assert their rights in proportion as
they increase in intelligence and that
our people would not be foolish enough
to encourage education if they really
intended to do injustice TO the Fill
pinos.
The large increase I'm the number of
students and the interest taken in the
establishment of schools must be taken
into consideration by anyone who at
tempts to forecast the future of the
islands. In many communities there
are more people speaking English to-
day than could ever speak Spanish, and
the multitude of dialects will soon be
dissolved into a common language. One
superintendent of schools told me that |
in his district the attendance was more
than so per cent above the school pop
ulatiOn, owing to the fact that grown !
men and women with children insisted
upon studying. Another superintendent |
reported that she could not find teach |
ers for all the villages which offered |
to erect schoolhouses. An incident was |
related by still another teacher which |
illustrates the ambition of the Filipino |
youth. A Filipino boy who was work !
ing in the home of an English woman |
notified his mistress that he wanted to |
go to school. Being anxious to keep !
him, she offered to raise his wages |
from 90 pesos per month to 40. but ne |
rejected the offer, saying that he loved !
wisdom more than he loved money.
Besides the public schools, primary, |
secondary, industrial and normal. there |
are a number of religious schools. The |
Jesuits had their schools and colleges |
under Spanish occupation, one of the /
boys schools which we visited at Cebu |
being older than Harvard university |
The Catholic sisters also have numer- |
Gus girls schools throughout the isl
ands. At Manila the Jesuits have an /
observatory and weather bureau which |
for equipment and scientific accuracy |
probably has no superior anywhere.
The Protestant churches are also es-
tablishing schools, some of them in
dustrial. Who will measure the effect /
upon coming generations of these null
tiplying agencies for the training Of |
the boys and girls of the Philippines?
The northern islands are Inhabited |
by a Christian population. Whatever
may be said Of the governmental
methods of Spain or of the political
corruption Of her colonial representa-
tives, she established the Christian
faith in the islands Prior to Ameri-
can occupation the higher officials of {
the church and many of the priests
were Spanish, but since 1900 American
and Filipino bishops and priests are
being substituted. Under the lead of
Archbishop Harry. the work Of the