Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1920-02-27

- a. ooius
mo. | am not
l an a Filipino he replied.
flows that?" asked the lady. ~
thought they were all avaee living In
the woods"
well, I'll tell you how ! came here"
he said. "A month before | left the
Philippines | was living in the woods,
but the American Governor decided TO
catch as many wild men as possible,
train them and send them over mere.
So here ! am, just as you see" And
the st. Louis lady actually believed
him.
That is what you would call fancies
about the Philippines. The fact is,
however, that the II, 600 Filipinos
and their ancestors have been civilized
and Christians for 300 years that the
non Christian population, according 10
the census of 1918, is only 500 900, aud
even the Sc are not all uncivilized.
Another fancy is that not until the
coming Of the Americans were school
buildings seen In the Islands. roads
built, or substantial houses erected.
Do you know that for hundreds of
years the Filipinos have had colleges
and schools and that the University of
Ssnto Tomas is only twenty-five years
older than Harvard? That as early as
1866, out of a population OF 100000
people, there were S4l schools for boys
and 1913 for girls? That in 1892, eight
years before the coming of the Ameri.
cans, there were 2.137 schools?
ITO grant self-government to Luzon
under A%guinaldO would be like grant.
ing self-goverpment TO an Apache res.
'ervation under some local chief" Thus
spoke former President Of the United
States during the Filipino-American
war. EXaggeration could be an excuse
at a time when the dignity of the Am.
'erican people demanded the extinction
OF Filipino opposition. but do you know
that the Philippine Republic, before the
American occupation OF the Islands.
had the approval of prominent Amer.
cans who were on the spOt-like John
Barrett, Director of the Pan-AmeriCan
Union, who compared it favorahIy with
the Japanese government? That Ad
mtral Dewey considered the Filipinos
better fitted for self-government than
the Cubans2 That they had drafted a
constitution at Malalos which ELECTED
the approval OF distinguished Repub
Leans like the late Senator George f..
Hoar? That before the coming of the
Americans they had produced national
heroes like the martyred Jose Rial,
pronounced by a Republican congress.
man, Representative Cooper, as the
noblest victim that has ever fallen into
the clutches OF tyranny?
And do you know that the Filipinos
have not had for hundreds OF years any
caste system, blood distinction or royal
families, and that, unlike their oriental
sisters, they are the only Christian PEG.
pie In the orient7
People have pictured an ignorant
mass Of Flipinos, illiterate, poor, liv.
ing a life of servitude for a few
wealthy land owners and foreigners,
with no houses or farms or property
OF their own. Do you know that 70
per cent. of the people above ten years
OF age can read and write and that this
percentage of literacy is almost as high
as some of the states of the Union?
That 1t Is higher than In any country
or South Anne RIGA, higher than the lit.
eracy of the Spanish people, and un.
questlonably above that of any of the
new countries recognized In Europe?
DO you know n8.at there are a million
and a half farms In the Philippines
and that 90 per cent. Of these farms
are owned by Filipinos. In other words,
thai out Of the 100000 Christian
Ellipinos, 100000 of them at least live
on their own farms, with houses of
their own, independent OF any absentee
landlord or foreign master? That 81
per cent. Of the urban property con.
sisting Of houses and lands is owned
oy the natives of the Philippines, and
only 8 per cent. Is in the hands Of for,
eigners2 Yet these are facts cabled by
Acting Governor Charles Emmett Yea.
Ter to the War Department from the
recent census estimates.
Having solemnly promised the FIJI,
pl1os their independence and having
gone before the world as the champion
OF differentiation, the Filipino PEG.
pic cannot understand how America
can consistently refuse TO make good
these promises.