Evening star., 1924-10-12

Among these are rubber and the glycerin
used for munitions Tho British con-
troll the production Of rubber and also
a large part Of the cocoanuts. Since
We took hold Of them the Philippines
have jumped to third place among the
cocoanut lands Of the world. and there
are vast tracts yet to be planted. The
Philippines could also be made to supply
our rubber for ages to come, yet we
have just began to set out the planta-
tions.
The naval man refers also to our
wheat crop. which must have binding
twine. and says that Philippine hemp
is the golden rope which must tie the
islands to us He is concerned also
about fuel Oil for our Navy. eaying that
an oil field now being opened about a
hundred miles southeast Of Manila may
give US a supply On the ground He
does not see how the United States can
afford, consistently with military and
industrial safety, to give up the Philip-
pines and control of its products.
GO much for material things Now
- for the moral and spiritual ques-
tons involved A missionary friend OF
mine protests against turning loose the
islands, because the F'ilipinos are the
only Christian nation Of the Orient He
says they need our protection and guild
ance to make them an example to the
hundreds OF millions OF heathens sur
rounding. The Spanish brought the
cross here, and nine-tenths Of the peo-
pie now have, in the main, the same
faith that We have. They are Roman
Catholics, bu. Catholicism and Prot
estantism arc one IN that they both
acknowledge the same God and Savior.
Mission work on tho part OF the Cath
olics and Of all the Protestant churches
is going on throughout the islands, and
the Y. n. c. A. is doing wonders in the
education and upbuilding Of the young
men Of the nation.
other moral questions. My next
speaker is college professor. an
American ethnologist, who has taught
the pagans all over the islands,
studied their ways, and who knows
the Moros as you know your own
brother. He rightly claims that the
Christian Filipinos have been the he
reditary enemies of the Moros and
pagans and that they will rule them
despotically if independence should
come. He says they look down upon
the heather and Mohammedan ele-
ments as inferior to them and that
tho giving over Of the islands to
Fuipinos who arc trained and equip
ped for modern warfare will mean
the wiping out Of one-tenth to one
twelfth of the total population. He
says Uncle Sam has a moral obliga-
tion to the pagans because they gave
up fighting on our promise of
protection, justice and order, and
especially so to the Moros, who had
been almost always successful in
their fights with the Filipinos. and
who laid down their arms on the
assurance that the United States
would protect them.
have talked also with some OF
the pagans. One says that the
Americans have no right to leave
his people in the hands OF their enc
mics, and others are already object
ing to the Christian Filipinos COM
ing to act as their officials and gov
erenors. They want American school
teachers rather than Filipinos and
many are keeping their children from,
school since the American teachers
were discharged.
numbering altogether some 100000
souls.
have already written Of the Moro
plan to send mission of sultans and
dattos to Washington begging Uncle
Sam to retain a least their part OF
the islands. They want us to carry
out our contract with them and sup
ply the protection we promised. They
believe that independence means their
determination. To use the graphic
but picturesque expression or the
American officer of Mindanao. who
for two decades has aided to keep
the Mohammedans in order:
THE Moros will die before they
will submit, and If independence i.