The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-08-09

Manila-There is at present no Philip
pine nation, and there can be none until
the many tribes constituting the 100000
or 100000 inhabitants of the islands
amaIgamate. To amalgamate they must
have common language. That language
is being donated 10 them by the Amer
leans. As French is the 1ngua franco or
the courts Of Europe, so English IS the
language OF commerce in the SeapOTts OF
the orient, and it is rapidly becoming the
common tongue of trade IN interior ASA,
as we'll as Malaysia and Australasia. lt
Is therefore the most widely useful Ian
guag5 for the Filipino.
If nothing occurs TO interfere with the
work now In progress IN the Philippines
the various peoples of the Islands Will be
brought closer together within ten years
Of American occupation than they were
In three centuries of Spanish domination
This is true because no effort was made
to make the Spanish language the tongue
OF the tribes throughout the archipelago.
Intelligent Filpinos realize that the tlrst
step toward naturalization must be the
Improvement of relations between the va
riOus divisions of the islanders. and that
there is no more rapid manner or DONG
this than by acquiring vehicle OF inter
comm uncatiOn.
Ethnologists may speak of the eighty
four tribes ia the Philippines as being
racially homogeneous. but they are in re-
atty heterogeneous group OF peoples
speaking thirty or forty languages, eaCh
unintelligible TO those speaking anctner.
If one were to ask Manila Filipino who
the FilipinOs are. the reply would DE tnat
they are the TagalOgs. A Bicol, Ben
guet lgorot, Nisayan, an llocano,
Moro or a representative Of any one OF
a score Of other tribes might make an
entirely different answer.
Between the sO-Called IndOnesianS OF
the interior of Mindanao, who are sup
posed to be of mixed Caucasian blood.
nTar T~r faf
pure Negroid type, there is as wide
difference a S there is between the BedOulH
Arab of the North African deserts ana
the SudaneSe. The TagalOg, with a hertz
age of centuries of Spanish influence, has
nothing In common with the Wild tribes
that constitute a cOnsiderab bic part OF the
population of the islands. Because OF
physical stamina due to residence in the
hill country. these wild tribes would be
a source of military strength if they
should become a part of a nation devoted
to the cause of independence. Equally as
far apart as the Malayan mOuntaineers of
northern LuZOn and the civilized Taga-
logs are the peacefully inclined Nis8yans
killing of Christians is a Roman holiday
approximately One-tenth of the Fill
pinOs spoke Spanish when the Americans
took charge of the islands. The most
widely spoken tongue was the Visayan,
but TagalOg was the polite language of
the islands and that spoken by the DOM
inant race At present about 10000
school children are studying English. So
great a number of young Filipinos have
learned the language since the system of
instruction was inauguTated that in even
the remOtest provincial towns the trav-
eier may nearly always find a dtminutiVe
brown BROTHER" who can converse with
him. This young person is always an
"Americanista-" He has learned to love
his American teacher, and has discovered
the falsity of the fantastic tales of the
inhUman cruelty and rapacity of the
Americana" which were circulated a few
years ago.
The Filipino child who enters school en-
tirely ignorant of English is able within
a few days to understand the direction
of his teacher, and within a year he has
vocabulary sufficient to express Ordi-
nary wants and ideas. The second year
pupil who lives. perhaps, in the heart
of the Luzon highlands. and whose father
has but recently been persuaded that
head-hunting is open to objection on eth
ical grounds. is able to tell the American
visitor about the points of interest in his
baTTiO. After the third year of instruc-
ton he is found reading a New York
magazine or an island newspaper printed
in his adopted tongue. His letters in
English may be written in a style sug-
costing Wallace Twins Letters of a
Japanese SChOOlbOy,' but like that pre-
cocious fictional investigator of affairs,
he is CleveTer than his grasp of grammar
would indicate.
At the time of the beginning Of the
American occupation the masses of the
FilpinOs felt that Spanish had been
wrongly withheld from them. They asked
for English as political concession.
When it was proposed to bring 800 Amer
lean teachers to the islands the Filipinos
earnestly requested that the mum Der be
doubled. The request was granted. There
was, therefore, an agreement that Eng
fish was to become the common language
Of the FilipinOs under American rule, an
q agreement designed to illustrate the prin-