The Weston leader. [volume] (Weston, Umatilla County, Or.) 189?-1946, 1920-03-12
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am a Filipinu." he replied.
"fIow'a thatf' asked the lady. Il
thought they were all navagca living in
tho woods"
"weii. III tell you how came here"
he Ghid. - month before I left the
Philippines | was living Ia the woods.
but tho American Governor decided TO
catch a. many wild men 40 possible.
train them and send them over here.
40 hero am. Just as you see" And
tho ST. Louis lady actually believed
him.
That IL what you would call fnncies
about tho Philippines Tho fact Il,
however. that the 100000 Fillplnos
and their ancestors have been civilized
aud Christians for 800 years: that tho
mont 'ChrIs,inn population, according TO
the census Of 1918. In only 100000 and
even these are not oil unclyiliEed.
Another fancy IL that no, until the
coming Of the Americans were school
buildings seen In the Islands. roads
do you know that for hundreds Of
years tho F!lIplnoa have had colleges
aud schools and that the University Of
Santo Tomas II only twenty-five years
older than Harvard That as early AZ
1909. out OF population Of 100000
people. there were 81 schools for boys
and S53 f0r glrlsf That IN isD2, eight
years before tho coming OF tho Amerl.
cans, there wem 2.l3T Echoolsi
ITO grant self.goyernment to LuEon
under Agulnnidn would he likc grant.
In. Scit'government TO an Apache res.
ervAtlon under some local chief" Thua
spoke former President OF the United
states during tho Filipino. American
war. Exnggeration could bo an excuse
at imo when tho dignity OF the AM
crican people demanded tho extinction
of Filipino opposition. but do you know
that the Philippine Republic. before the
American occupation OF tho Islands.
had tho approval OF prominent Ameri-
cans who were OH the spot--llke John
Barrett. Director Of tho Pnn.Americnn
Union, who compared II favorubly with
tho Japanese government That Ad.
mlral Dewey considered tho Ftliplnos
better fltted for self.government than
the Cubans7 That they had drafted
at Malalos which ELECTED
tho approval OF distinguished Repub-
Leans like tho lato Senator George n.
1onr7 That before tho coming OF tho
Americans they had produced national
heroes like the martyred Jose RiEai.
pronounced by Republican congress-
nan. Representative Cooper as the
loblest victim that has ever fallen into
ho clutches Of tyranny
And 40 you know that the FilIpinos
,avo not had for hundreds OF years any
,asto system. blood distinction or royal
antilles, and that. unlike their oriental
listers, they are the only Christian peo-
,le In tho orientf
People have pictured an ignorant 1
mass OF Filiplnos. llllterate, poor, llv-
ng life of servitudo for few ,
Wealthy land owners and foreigners,
With no houses or farms or property =,
4 their own. Do you know that 10
'er cent. Of the people above ten years
u AbV Nah tNAN uhh WIN tuuk tLlib
ercentage OF literacy is almost as high (
s some OF the states of tho Unlon7 I
hat II Is higher. than In any country +
I South America, higher than tho lit- j,
racy OF the Spanish people. and un- i,
uestlonably above that OF any OF the
ew countries recognized In Europef
10 you know that there are a million z
nd half farms In the Philippines
nd that D6 per cent OF these farms
re owned by Flliplnos In other words, I
nat out OF the 100000 Christian
lllplnos, 100000 of them at least live %
D their own farms, with houses of !
lelr own, independent of any absentee g
Indlord or foreign master1 That 91 =
er cent. Of the urban property con.
sting OF houses and lands Is owned {
= the natives of the Philippines, and
ily 0 per cent Is In the hands OF for
gners1 Yet these are facts cnbled by u
citing Governor Charles Emmett Yea 9
II to the War Department from the 4