The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-08-14
America in the Philippines
XlIi-"THE LITTLE BROWN BROTHERS,"
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

Manlld.-OuT little DEOWl DIOtlcIs luS
Filipino, is the perplexing feature Of the
situation in the Philippines. Opinions
concerning him and the matter Of his
brotherhood" vary widely, while his
own opinions Of the Americans are
contradictory and not altogether COM
plimentary In Manila the great ma
jority Of Americans are willing at any
time to Join in the chorus Of shat
famous song written by an anonymous
soldier, declaring:
He may be a brother of William H.
Taft,
But he amt no brother O. mine"
However, there are other Americans
in the Philippines, the majority of those
connected with the civil government
and with the educational work, who
praise the Filipino unstintedly. one
who listens impartially to all sides Of
this much mooted question must IN
evitably arrive at the conclusion that
the difference is altogether in the point
Of view.
The soldier cannot forget, nor can lie
be expected to forget, the fact that the
Filipino insurrectO was a treacherous
and cruel foe. The nassaCres and am
bushes, the pitfalls and bolos, the afro
cious cruelty TO prisoners and the utter
disrespect for the rules of civilized war
fare which marked the military history
of the Filipino insurgents will never be
blotted out from the minds OF the
American soldiers who served in the in
sular campaigns. Nor viii the present
generation Of FilipinOs forget that the
American soldiers were sometimes
tempted to reprisals in kind, nor VIII
that generation forget that the war,
which they charge to American respOn-
sfbility. devastated their lands and re-
duced them to poverty.
Therefore one hears the soldiers in the
Philippines, especially the younger OF
ficers. complaining bitterly against the
civil government, declaring that the
military rule was ended two decades
too soon. swearing that the government
is spelling the Filipino by cOddling him,
and asserting that the Filipino will
never be good until he is dead This
radical view is reflected in the CONVEX
sation of many Manila business men,
some of whom were formerly in the
army. The same position is taken by
that type of man, familiar everywhere,
who believes that education of the lower
classes means ruin for the upper classes,
he esteeming himself as one of the chief
supports of the "tOp-side" crowd.
Very few of those who take the radi-
cal anti-Filipino view are actually ac-
uuainted with any Filipinos except in
the capacity Of servants or enemies in
battle. They complain that their serv-
ants will insist on going to night school
six times a week, and in the same
breath say that the Filipino doesn't
Sc Gin 70, sri
money on him. The gravamen Of their
complaint. however, is the statement
which one hears scores Of times every
dav in Manila: "The Filipino will not
work"
Undoubtedly that complaint may be
supported by tons of testimony, and yet
it is not altogether and absolutely justi-
fed by the facts. The Filipino viii not
work like a Chinese, or a japanese, or
a Hindu. He never has made of him
self a beast of burden. and he objects
to any effort to place him in that class.
For centuries, while the people Of China
and Japan and India have been tilling
the land with their own muscle, and
bearing their burdens on their own
backs, the FilipinOs have used cattle to
draw their plOws and carts to carry
them burdens. 1t does not occur to the
Filipino farmer to follow the example of
the Chinese and hitch his wife and
daughter to the plow
Furthermore. it isn't necessary for
the Filipino to work very hard. He
lives in a land where he can obtain
enough to eat from the law
ish hand of nature, and working one
day a week will supply all of his wishes
and desires If an American could OBJ
tain everything on earth he wished for
I'm return for fifty-twO days work in a
year. how many Americans would
work more than that2 But the American
is teaching the Filipinos to
want more things, and as their wants
increase they much work more to
satisfy them. FilipinOs did not
wear shoes in the old days
Dewey's guns in Manila bay were the
signals for the people of the islands to
clothe their feet. The increase in the
use of shoes is enormous, and Filipinos
must work to get money to buy them.
Again. the educated Filipino has been
absorbing Spanish ideas for, many gen
erations. From that source he OBJ
tanned the notion that manual labor
was disgraceful to an educated person.
Hence a Filipino who could read and
write would not soil his hands with any