The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-14
Copyright. 1913. by f. G. Carpenter
washington. December 13.

tCopNfiSht, 1915 pA +, u. Carpenter
Washington, December 13.
T HE government is again having
trouble with our Mohammedan
i cousins The Moros in places
arc up in arms against the new laws,
and are openly and secretly fighting
the regulations as to slavery. There is
no doubt that slavery exists not only
in the Moro country, but also here and
there in other parts of the islands, and
it will be a long time before 1t can
be wiped out. ] do not mean peon-
age, or debt bondage. That is common
in all the farming localities. | mean
actual slavery, such as existed when
we took hold of the islands. [ trav-
eled through Mindanao and the Sull
archipelago when We were just be-
ginning to pacify that part of the Phi
ippines l then found slaves every
where and once had a chance to buy
four likely Mohammedan children for
$50. The owner was a Filipino woman
who lived several hundred miles west
Of Zamboanga, at Davao, under the
shadow of Mount Apo. She had the
little ones brought for me out into the
sunlight and / made a photograph OF
them. There We're three boys and
girl, ranging in ages from to Il
years. The girl was the oldest. and, as
is common in tropical countries, at
that age she was almost ready fer mar
riage She was half naked, her only
garment being a wide strip of dirty
cotton wrapped around her waist and
falling to her knees. AS | looked at her
her fat, old mistress seductively said.
'Mucha buena.' or very good She told
me such girl ought to be worth $25
Of any mans money and seemed sur
prised that l did not jump at the bar
gain.
Dean Worcester says he was offered
slave girls on the island of Tawi Tawi
for = bushels of rice, and that on many
OF the islands he could buy girls of
Is for So apiece. a captain of the
army told me how he had recently
bought a slave girl for $40 and given
her her freedom. This sale was made
out of pity. The captain, who was
engaged to very pretty girl in the
United States. sympathized with the
female slave, who although in love
with a young man of her village was
about to be sold into the harem of an
old Moro chieftain.. The girl said she
would rather die than submit, and the
captain bought her and gave her to the
man of her choice
Another man whom | know, an Off
Ger of our army, saved a slave girl
from death She had angered her mas
ter, who was one of the dattos and
had run off from the harem and thrown
herself at the foot of the officer say
ing the datto had threatened to kill
her. The officer made the datto
promise to spare her life, to agree 10
bring her once a week to his quarters
to show that she was still living. This
aa-ug Tf.ts raalYe tIara
the girl disappeared. Whether the
datto killed her or sold her to one of
her friends was never known.
A few years ago the Sultan of Sulu
got up a new code of laws which he
sent to Manila for approval Many of
them related to slavery and to the
treatment of the women of the harenl.
Our government does not like to be
mixed up in religious matters, and ac-
cording to the treaties we allow tie
Moros to worship practically as they
please. BY the Mohammedan religion
every follower of the prophet has the
right to four wives and all he has to
do, if he wishes to change, is to say
to such of his wives as he does not
like three times:
81 divorce you! I divorce you! l di-
vorce you!"
This means that they must go and
not return, and he can then fill up the
quota with a fresh assortment. AC-
cording to this code the relations be-
tween the Moros and the slaves were
plainly laid down. 1t was provided
that if slave laid his hand upon
free married woman with any improper
intention he should be the property OF
the wpman's husband. and also that If
a free man laid his hand upon a mar
ried slave woman he should be fined
500. If the slave woman informed as
to the outrage the fine was to be di-
vided between her and the state. but il