Evening star., 1924-09-21
hammedan Envoy From Philippines May Come to WASHINGTON
SD DL nP Government 9 s anRmdAm
Suans and Dattos Likely to Present Petition Government

| system and make it better suited to
| the needs and prejudices of the Mo-
hammedans.
| The petition claims the Moros are
being unfairly treated. that We
are not carrying out our promises
! made when they gave up their arms
| and that in the past their complaints
have been disregarded by the gov
ernor general and the Filipino au-
| thorities at Manila 1t states that the
| hands of the governor general are
| now tied by the Jones law and asks
| Congress to deal with the matter di-
rect. 1t complains that an effort is
| being made by the Christian Filipinos
| to submerge the Mohamm edan civil
| lizaton and culture, and states that
| the Moros will die rather than sub
nit to the domination of these peo-
pie of the north. The petition,
which is we'll worded, closes as fol-
| lows:
Therefore, we hereby solemnly and
respectfully petition the Congress of
| the United States for the redress and
| moderation of our present economic
and political situation; and. in the
| name Of your God, and our God who
| is one and the same God, ask you
| that you promptly grant our request
| in order that this the land of our
| forefathers may not be again drench
ed in the blood of Mohammedans and
Christians who should be dwelling to-
gether in peace and amity under the
| shelter of the American flag"
1t is to tell you something about
these Mohamme edanS that ] have come
to the Suiu Archipelago. For ages
the Moros were one of the great
forces of the East, and today, AL
though they have greatly degcnerat
ed and their power has long since
been destroyed, they are people who
must be taken into account regard
ing any change in the administration
of the Philippines.
The Sulu Archipelago contains
about 200 islands. which form Il
great fence between the Sulu Sea
and the Celebes Sea which lie be-
tween Borneo and Mindanao and the
other Dutch possessions to the south.
These islands were of great import
ance even before the MohammedanS
came, and more than hundred years
before Columbus found the New World
their inhabitants were pirates who
preyed upon the trade of the sur
rounding countries, making them pay
tribute just as the Christians around
the Mediterranean and even the Brit
ish in the early days Of our govern
ment paid tribute to the Mohamm edan
pirates of Barbary.
I According to an Arabic manuscript
in the possession Of Hadji Buta, the
| former prime minister of the pres
ent Sultan, the first Of the Suiu peo-
| pie, Tuan Mashaika, came out OF a
stalk of bamboo and started the race.
BY others he Isl supposed to have come
| here with Alexander the Great. who
they say Ance conquered the islands.
| The Sulus- seem to have been of Hin
! du Maylayan origin, but along about
1850 Abu Bakr, who claimed to be
descended from the prophet Moham-
med, came here and married a dauGh-
| ter Of Rajah Baginda- He established
| mosques. taught his religion, and
under him the conversion of the peo-
pie to Mohammedanism was accom-
| plished
! Even as far back as that the Sulus
were pirates, for it is known that the
| Rajah of Java sent the Rajah Bagin-
| da two elephants as part OF his
| tribute and it is said that at about
the same time, the Rajah of Manila
| included in his gifts slaves of six
! different colors which according to
the written records were red-eyed.
white-eyed. blue-eyed and black-eyed.
F, The red-eyed slaves were put on the
western end Of this island, the white
| eyed in the section just east OF Jolo,
the black-eye in the middle OF Jolo,
| and the blue-eyed at Luuk. in the
east. At that time not a single is
land in the Philippine Archipelago
was safe from these marauders, and