Bad as the outlook is, no remedy suggests itself. For, returning to the theme that agriculture is recognized as vital, much energy is spent in discussion, discourses, lectures, in writing articles, in discovering reasons why agriculture does not flourish, but nothing else and nothing more. [56]

The picture may be overdrawn; but it is a Filipino picture, drawn by a Filipino hand. Let us now permit, the native press to speak again on the subject engaging our attention. Thus Vanguardia [57] a bitter anti-American sheet, arraigns its wealthy fellow-countrymen for lack of initiative and fondness of routine. It accuses them of a willingness to invest in city property, to deposit money in banks, "to make loans at usurious rates, in which they take advantage of the urgent and pressing necessities of their countrymen," but of unwillingness "to engage in agriculture, marine or industrial enterprise"; and says they are "generally lacking in the spirit of progression." According to another native newspaper, the vice of gambling has infected all classes of society, men and women alike, rich and poor, young and old. Mere it is almost impossible to overdraw the picture, so widespread is the vice. Let us now couple these statements, drawn from native sources, with the fact that the Christianized tribes, all told, number some 7,000,000; that of these but one-tenth speak Spanish; and that of this tenth only a very few are educated in any accepted sense of the word. Repeating here a form of summation already employed in this discussion, let us bear in mind that, if we decide to make a grant of independence, we shall be deciding to grant it to a population, composed, first, of a very few educated persons; next, of a small fraction able, through the possession of Spanish, to communicate, with one another; and, lastly, of a remainder—the vast, the immense majority—not only unable so to communicate, but characterized by qualities that, however commendable in themselves, do not constitute a foundation on which popular self-government may safely rest. Further, we mean to grant it to a population which contains no middle class, to one in which the poor are peculiarly at the mercy of the rich, and in which nearly all the elements that make for economic independence are conspicuously lacking.

VI.

What would happen if we were to grant immediate independence to the Islands? Without having the gift of prophecy, one runs no risk in declaring that civil war would be almost unavoidable. At least this is the belief of some well-informed Filipinos, a belief that appears to have some ground when we take into account, the great probability of a Tagalog oligarchy. But, without going so far as to predict armed strife, it would seem that any government, not held together by some strong external power, would soon begin to break up. Its various elements, not only differentiated from one another by speech, but physically separated, in many cases, by the seas, would tend to fall apart. The Visayas, for example, would refuse sooner or later to acknowledge the Tagalog supremacy of Luzon. If we proceed farther south still, what practicable bond can be found to exist between Mindanao, peopled by Mohammedans and savages, and Luzon or Panay or Negros? The consequences of such a disruption as is here predicted must occur to everyone. The gravest of these, gravest in that it would defeat our purpose in granting independence, would be foreign intervention. Japan would most certainly insist on being heard. Now, the Filipinos, as a whole, prefer our sovereignty to that of the Japanese. England, too, would have a right to interfere for the protection of her commercial interests in the Archipelago. It exercised this sort of right, in 1882, by seizing Egypt in behalf of civilization in general. In the meantime, the Moros of Mindanao and Jolo would have resumed their piratical excursions to the northward, burning, killing, and carrying off slaves. If this be questioned, then let us recollect that as recently as 1897 they carried off slaves from the Visayas, a sporadic case, probably, but giving evidence that the disease of piracy is to-day merely latent. Given an opportunity, it will break out again. Under independence, the large, beautiful, and fertile island of Mindanao would be left to its own devices, would be lost to civilization. Upon this point we need have no doubt whatever. The issue of Filipino control of Mindanao was very clearly raised, when Mr. Dickinson, the late Secretary of War, visited Mindanao in August of 1910. Upon this occasion Mr. Dickinson, in response to a Filipino plea for immediate independence, with consequent control of the Moros, made a speech in which he declared the unwillingness of the Government to entrust to the 66,000 Filipinos living in Mindanao the government of the 350,000 Moros of this province. At the close of this speech, four datus (chiefs), present with 2,000 of their people, and controlling the destinies of 40,000 souls, swore allegiance to the United States; and, requesting that, if the Americans ever withdrew from Mindanao, the Moros should be placed in control, firmly announced, at the same time, their intention to fight if the Americans should ever take their departure. One of the datus, Mandi by name, was outspoken in praise of the present Government, and both he and the other chiefs declared that they were contented with things as they are. Such testimony as is afforded by the foregoing incident is not lightly to be brushed aside to make way for an abstraction. If disregarded, then the efforts that we have made to better the condition of Mindanao, to introduce some idea of law and order, some notion of the value of peace and of industry, will come to a sudden end; for the Christianized Filipinos can never hope to cope with the active, warlike pirates of Moroland. So far as this part of the Archipelago is concerned, a grant of independence means the re-establishment of slavery, the recrudescence of piracy, [58] the reincarnation of barbarism. How great a pity this would be may be inferred from the fact that Mindanao forms nearly one-third of the Archipelago in area, and exceeds Java in arable land. Now, Java supports a population of over 25,000,000.

If we turn our attention to the other non-Christian elements of the Islands, the case is no better. The Christianized Filipino fears and dreads the pagan mountaineers, the head-hunters who occupy so large a part of Luzon, the largest and most important island of the Archipelago. He grudges every centavo spent under our direction for the betterment of these truly admirable wild men The governor, the Christian governor, of a province bordering on the wild men's territory, had, indeed, no other idea of the way to treat his pagan neighbors, about 50,000 in number, than to kill them all. His argument was that they were worse than useless, why spend any money on them, when, by exterminating them, all questions affecting them would be forever answered? But, under our administration, some excellent work has been done, and is growing, to turn these as yet unspoiled peoples to account in the destinies of the Archipelago. Independence would mean the end of this work, the restoration of the old order of rapine, murder, and all injustice as between Christians and pagans, and of internecine strife and warfare as between the communities of the pagans themselves. That this result would follow is not even questioned by those who have acquired their knowledge at first hand. Are we willing to shoulder the responsibility of such a result?

We have at our very doors an example of the danger of independence to a people unfilled for the burdens and responsibilities of self-government. We have already since 1900 been compelled once to intervene in the affairs of Cuba: the possibility of a fresh intervention continually stares our statesmen in the face. But Cuba, let it be observed, in contrast with the Philippines, has but one language, one religion; it has no wild tribes, no Mohammedans; its provinces are not separated from one another by seas of difficult navigation, are bound together by suitable communications. The curse of Cuba is personal politics: have we any assurance that this same curse in a worse form would not come to blast the Philippines?

VII.

Some of the conclusions reached or hinted at in the course of this argument must have formed themselves in the minds of at least a few Filipinos of independent character. Otherwise how shall we account for the fact that some declare their disbelief in the possibility of independence? How else shall we explain what is far more significant, the silence under this head of the really first-rate men of the Archipelago? Is it not worthy of note that Rizal himself, the posthumous apostle of the Philippines, never advocated or contemplated independence? In yet other cases, the belief held finds expression in the assertion that the Islands must be declared independent, but only under the protection of the United States. What that would ultimately mean is so plain to those who know the country as to require no consideration here. It may even be asserted on the best of authority, so far as any authority is possible in such a case, that not even those who shout the loudest for independence arc sincere in their clamor the Assembly itself would be seriously disturbed if its resolution to this end should suddenly be honored by the United States.

We make bold to quote here, in full, a short editorial that appeared in the Weekly Times of Manila, December 30, 1910:

"Mr. Perry Robinson, whose articles on the Philippines are now being published by the London Times, makes one point that offers a valuable, suggestion to our ardent friends of the Nationalist party. [59] While here, Mr. Robinson interviewed a number of the leaders of the party and discovered that they were all afraid of immediate independence. They admitted that the country and people would not be ready for it for years, and, when pressed for an explanation, said they feared, if they did not press the question now, it would not avail them to do so later on. The inconsistency of the present position must strike every sensible person who examines it. Let us assume that the United States Government decides at this time to give ear to the plea of those who are politically active in the Philippines—what will happen? It will dispatch a commission or committee to the Islands to examine the representations of those who make the plea. It is admitted by even the Nationalist leaders, when speaking privately on this question, that the people are not ready to shift for themselves and can not be made ready for some years. Surely it is not believed that the investigators are going to be deceived about the real truth as to conditions in the Islands, and we are unable to see what good is to be accomplished by having this inquiry made.

"Would it not be infinitely better for the Nationalist and other leaders in this country to squarely face the facts and base all their future operations on the facing of those facts? One difficulty is that they have made a lot of promises and professions to the people that they are incapable of fulfilling, and another is that they have largely aided in deceiving the people themselves as to where they really stand and as to what they are really capable of under present conditions. But to go on means discredit and failure in the end, and a greater work could be done for the country at large by squarely facing the facts. It must be admitted that neither position is especially pleasant. There has been created among the people a vanity of ability and power that will make the blow a hard one; but unless there are Filipino leaders capable of making the people realize the truth about their position, there is really not much hope for them in the future.

"The truth is, that the race must be built up physically and its numbers be enormously increased before it may seriously assume the obligations of statehood; and, for our part, we await the statesman who is prepared to drive this and other important lessons home to the minds and hearts of the people.

"Assurance and pretense serve their purposes on many occasions, but they must be set aside when it comes to the test that will be applied to the plea that Filipino leaders now make with such persistency."

It is maintained that the matter of this short editorial deserves to be as deeply pondered by the people of the United States as by the Filipinos to whom it is specially addressed.

That all this talk of independence, the motions to that end occasionally made in Congress, the circulation of so-called anti-imperialistic literature, have so far endangered the real interests of the Philippines, there can be no reasonable doubt. The independence propaganda prevents, or tends to prevent, recognition of the fact that the Philippines will be greater with the United States than they can ever hope to be standing alone, if so be that they can stand alone at all. It has retarded the development of the Islands and has checked progress. It forces into the background the fact that with an infinitude of work lying before Americans and Filipinos alike, if the Islands are to have their full value in the world's economy, the best way to do this work is for Americans and Filipinos to labor together, each contributing his share to the common result. Upon this safe ground both may stand. "The law of life is labor; the joy of life is accomplishment." But we can not labor if the fruits of our toil may be torn from us; accomplishment is impossible in the face of uncertainty and dissension. If our people have the welfare of the Philippines genuinely at heart, it must thoroughly consider the question of permanent retention; for this course, on the one hand, would not only clear away all misunderstanding, but, on the other, it would meet the real responsibilities of the case. There is no disposition here to burke the fact that these responsibilities are serious, if not onerous; that they call for administrative statesmanship of a very high order. But we should also recognize the fact that these responsibilities are ours, created by us, and that our rejection of them is sure to be followed by consequences disastrous, not to us, but to the Filipinos themselves. If, on the other hand, we accept these responsibilities, then sooner or later Americans and Filipinos together could bend their energies to the development of a country in which they would now have the same interest. And if, under the prevailing uncertainty, so much has already been accomplished in preventing disease, abating epidemics, building roads and bridges, erecting telegraphs and telephones, lighting the coasts, establishing courts of law, equalizing taxation, conserving forests, founding schools and colleges, encouraging commerce and agriculture, what may not unreasonably be expected if all shall feel that the foundations of order, system, and justice are permanent, that life is secure, liberty assured, and the pursuit of happiness possible?

Surely there is significance in the effect at once produced in the sugar-raising islands by the passage of the Payne Bill: idle fields were planted to cane, and the elections took an unmistakable americanista trend. There is no better peacemaker than the pay-master. The Assembly, it is true, fulminated against the bill: success, prosperity, contentment under its operation might mean the dissolution of a dream. So they might; but the bill also categorically established the possibility, and more than the possibility, of permanently profitable relations under the aegis of the United States. It might even ultimately greatly reduce, if not entirely destroy, the racial issue. Here is already common ground, limited though it be, on which Americans and Filipinos may and do stand together. If any doubt should exist on this score, we have but to look at Porto Rico, whose total external commerce has grown, in round numbers, from 17 1/2 million dollars in 1901 to 79 millions in 1911. During this same interval that of the Philippines has risen from 53 million to 90 million dollars, nearly 20 millions of the increase being due to the Payne Bill. The population of Porto Rico (census of 1910) is 1,120,000; that of the Philippines, 8,200,000: the area of Porto Rico is 3,606 square miles; that of the Philippines, 128,000 square miles. This comparison is frankly commercial; but thriving commerce means prosperity, and prosperity spells content. After eliminating certain natural and social advantages enjoyed by Porto Rico, and not by the Philippines, the vast economic difference between the two can be accounted for only by the different relation they respectively bear to the United States, a conclusion confirmed by the effect of the Payne Bill. In the case of one, this relation is defined; in that of the other, undefined. We intend to remain in Porto Rico; we do not know what we shall do with the Philippines.

VIII.

To conclude, and in part to repeat: when we took over the Philippines, we unquestionally at the same time acquired a burden. Of this burden we can rid ourselves by setting the Islands adrift; or we can declare that we intend to keep the Islands, as we have kept Porto Rico. In the light of the argument hereinbefore submitted, which of these courses appeals to the people of the United States? May we, or may we not, without incurring an accusation of injustice to a dependent population, honestly ask ourselves if actual conditions should not sometimes limit or control the application of an abstract principle? Does our duty in the premises consist or not in merely satisfying such a principle? Is it or is it not possible that practical considerations—and what is practical is not always sordid—may outweigh an abstraction? Is it or is it not conceivably our duty to use our superior knowledge, power and experience to the best advantage of those chiefly concerned, even if these should apparently for a time not agree with us in the application we purpose to make of our knowledge, power, and experience?



NOTES

[1] See Retana's edition, p. 183, Madrid, 1909.

[2] It is interesting to note that as late as 1889 General Weyler, then Governor-General of the Archipelago, in establishing various comandancias, drew up regulations for the treatment of the natives, etc., as remarkable for lenity and good sense as his later measures in Cuba were, whether justly or not, distinguished for severity.

[3] For an account of the early missions of this order, see the Manila Libertas of May 23, 1910.

[4] Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Philippine Islands, 1910; Washington Government Printing Office, 1911.

[5] See "Census of the Philippine Islands," Vol. I., p. 453 et seq., for a discussion of the non-Christian tribes.

[6] Vol. I., p. 60 et seq.

[7] Mr. A.H. Savage Landor, in his "Gems of the East," protests against our practice of boiling water before drinking it, but the experience of others is against him. He was simply fortunate in not being made ill by the natural water.

[8] An attempt has been made to stock this river with trout, but it has proved a failure. The fish grew and throve, but did not breed.

[9] This happened on a large scale in the spring, of this year (1912). Landslides having occurred on both banks of the canon, and as luck would have it, at the same point, the waters rose behind the natural dam thus formed to a height of over one hundred feet, and breaking through, scoured the valley in their sweep, completely wiping out the road.

[10] For a fuller account of Padre Villaverde's labors, see the Manila Libertas of May 17, 1910. Villaverde remained at his post until his health broke completely; he set out for Spain, but never reached it, dying August 4, 1897, and being buried at sea a few hours only from Barcelona. The great trail he built reduced the cost of transportation by nine-tenths.

[11] According to the native legend, this mountain used to form part of the Zambales range. It became, however, by reason of its quarrelsome disposition, so objectionable to its neighbors of this range, that they finally resolved no longer to endure its cantankerousness and accordingly banished it to its present position in the plain of Central Luzon, where it would have no neighbors to annoy, and where it has stood ever since, rising solitary from the surrounding plain.

[12] Dr. Barrows, in the "Census of the Philippine Islands," Vol. I., p 471, says that the etymology of this word is unknown. As it seems to mean "people of the mountains," it is not unlikely to be a form of "Igolot," by metathesis, as it were.

[13] According to some accounts, the Highlanders, in throwing the spear, give it a rotation around its longest axis, twirling it rapidly in the hand as this is brought up before the throw. In other words, they have discovered that a rotating spear has greater accuracy than a non-rotating one. If this is true, this discovery is worthy to be bracketed with the use of the fire-syringe by the Tinguians of the North, and by certain other wild people of the Archipelago.

[14] These salt deposits are now (1912), to the great satisfaction of the people of the province, being worked by the Government, and salt has ceased to be a luxury within the reach of only the few rich.

[15] The Ilongots are so few in number and scattered over so vast and rough a country that trail-making can never be as successful in their territory as it has been farther north.

[16] Dampier's description of what he saw in Mindanao fits here: "This Distemper runs with a dry Scurf all over their Bodies, and causeth great itching in those that have it, making them frequently scratch and scrub themselves, which raiseth the outer skin in small whitish flakes, like the scales of little Fish, when they are raised on end with a Knife. This makes their skin extraordinary rough, and in some you shall see broad white spots in several parts of their Body. I judge such have had it, but are cured; for their skins were smooth, and I did not perceive them to scrub themselves: yet I have learnt from their own mouths that these spots were from this Distemper."—Dampier's "Voyages," Masefield's edition, p. 341; New York, E. P. Dutton & Co., 1906.

[17] On one of his first expeditions elsewhere, however, when the women realized that they were really to receive gifts of beads, etc., they rushed Mr. Worcester and his assistants, upsetting them all in their eagerness to get at the stuff.

[18] So Strong said, himself an accomplished violinist.

[19] The straw mat covering the "split bottom" of the native bed. There is no other mattress, and the "split bottom" constitutes the springs. Once accustomed to it, the bed is cool and comfortable.

[20] Dampier's "Voyages," p. 319, Masefield's edition.

[21] According to De Morga (p. 196, Retana's edition), the anito was a representation of the devil under horrible and frightful forms, to which fruits and fowl and perfumes were offered. Each house had and "made" (or performed) its anitos, there being no temples, without ceremony or any special solemnity. "This word," says Retana, "is ordinarily interpreted 'idol,' although it has other meanings. There were anitos of the mountains, of the fields, of the sea. The soul of an ancestor, according to some, became embodied as a new anito, hence the expression, 'to make anitos.' Even living beings, notably the crocodile, were regarded as anitos and worshiped. The anito-figura, generally shortened to anito, ... was usually a figurine of wood, though sometimes of gold." (Glossary to his edition of De Morga, pp. 486-487.)

"The anito of the Philippines is essentially a protecting spirit." (F. Jagor, "Travels in the Philippines," p. 298. English translation, London, Chapman & Hall, 1875; originally published in Berlin. 1873, "Reisen in den Philippinen," Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.)

"The religion of the islands, what may be called the true religion of Filipinos, consisted of the worship of the anitos. These were not gods, but the souls of departed ancestors, and each family worshipped its own, in order to obtain their favorable influence." (Pardo de Tavera, "Resena Historica de Filipinas," Manila, 1906.)

[22] Apo means "lord, master." In the mountains every American is called apo. "Sir" in Tagalo is po, and the highest mountain of the Archipelago is named Apo. The native word for fire in these parts is something like apo. To distinguish Mr. Forbes from other apos. he was called apo apo in communicating with the natives.

[23] Now frequently called ub-ub, i.e., "spring," in the Ifugao country; a change of name due to Gallman.

[24] See De Morga, "Sucesos," etc., p. 184, Retana's edition, and Retana's note on the passage; see also Jagor, "Travels," etc., p. 162 et seq.

[25] Runo is a stiff reed grass growing to several feet, the mountain cousin of the cogon of the plains.

[26] The Princesa was the only fat person we saw in the mountains: apparently these Highlanders all grow thin with age, and wrinkled from head to foot.

[27] See Philippine Journal of Science, July, 1909, for Villaverde's account of the Ifugaos of Kiangan, translated and edited by Worcester, with notes and an addendum by Major Case, of the Constabulary.

[28] Gallman says they also carry their spears point down to cause the enemy's spears to miss.—C. De W.W.

[29] As a matter of fact, they were "the terror of the Spaniards"; they "annihilated an entire garrison at Payoan," "exacted a heavy annual toll of heads from the people of Ragabag, and ... made the main trail from Nueva Vizcaya to Isabela so dangerous that three strong garrisons were constantly maintained on it, and ... people were not allowed to travel over it: except under military escort, and even so were often attacked and killed." (Worcester, The National Geographic Magazine, March, 1911.) Gallman's mere name now suffices to do what three strong Spanish garrisons failed to do.

[30] This danger still exists in the case of the savages of the Southern Islands of the Archipelago, but Mr. Worcester, if undisturbed, will bring these in too, all in time. In the fall of this very year, 1910, his party was attacked in Palawan.

[31] Many years ago some Moros were brought to Mayoyao to work tobacco. The Ifugaos deeply resenting this invasion, at the first opportunity attacked and killed them all. Only one woman escaped, covered with wounds, to Echaguee, where she was in 1910, still alive. The fight was most desperate, three Ifugaos biting the dust for every Moro killed.

[32] See a native account of the part played by the Igorots in this battle, in Seidenadel's "The First Grammar of the Language Spoken by the Bontoc Igorot"; Chicago, Open Court Publishing Company, 1909.

[33] Sometimes also called the Caicayan.

[34] Samoki is celebrated for its pottery, sold all through this region, and of such quality that the Igorots use vessels made here to reduce copper ore. The potter's wheel is unknown. In regard to the skill of the highlanders in metallurgy, see Jagor, "Travels," p. 181.

[35] So do their cousins of Formosa. Pickering, "Pioneering in Formosa," p. 150; London, Hurst & Blackett, 1898.

[36] For a full account of the way in which the Igorots have taken to our sports, see Mr. Worcester's article in the March, 1911, number of the National Geographic Magazine.

[37] A similiar institution exists among the aborigines of Formosa. "... the unmarried men and boys slept in a shed raised from the ground. This building was regarded as a kind of temple, in which the vanquished heads were hung." (Pickering, "Pioneering in Formosa," p. 148.)

[38] For a more or less complete account of the Bontok Igorot, see Jenks's "The Bontoc Igorot"; Manila, Bureau of Public Printing, 1905. For the language, consult "The First Grammar of the Language Spoken by the Bontoc Igorot," by Doctor Carl Wilhelm Seidenadel; Chicago, Open Court Publishing Company, 1909.

[39] Dampier mentions this drink in his "New Voyage Around the World." He calls it bashee, and found it in the Batanes Islands, just north of Luzon: "And indeed, from the plenty of this Liquor, and their plentiful use of it, our Men call'd all these Islands, the Bashee Islands." (Masefield's edition, p. 425.)

[40] De La Gironiere, in his "Aventures d'un Gentilhomme Breton aux Iles Philippines," describes (Chapter V.) a feast, at which he had, while on a visit to the Tinguianes, to drink human brains mixed with basi. Whatever De La Gironiere says must be received with considerable caution; but Pickering, a prosaic and matter-of-fact Britisher, speaking of the Formosan savages, says that "they mixed the brains of their enemies with wine." ("Pioneering in Formosa," p. 153).

[41] For example, this year (1912) more people "came in" to meet Mr. Worcester then ever before. In Bontok every valley of the sub-province was represented, and there was a time when representatives of all the villages danced together on the plaza, an event of importance in the history of these people as marking the passing of old feuds and a determination to live at piece with one another. A moving picture machine was taken along in a four-wheeled wagon (showing incidentally that the main trails have become roads since 1910), and created both enthusiasm and alarm: enthusiasm when some familiar scene with known living persons was thrown upon the screen, and alarm when a railway train, for example, was shown advancing upon the spectators, causing many of them to flee for safety to the neighboring hills and woods.

[42] For an account of what this Government monopoly really meant, see Jagor, "Travels," etc., p. 324. A Spaniard of my acquaintance told me that if a native's attention to his crop did not please the inspectors, they would cause him to be publicly flogged on Sunday before the church after mass; and if this course brought no amendment, they would then cut his stand down. Jagor, who travelled in the Philippines as long ago as 1859-60, could see no future for them save under American control, and he predicted that this control would come, an astonishing prophecy. "In proportion as the navigation of the west coast of America extends the influence of the American element over the South Sea, the captivating, magic power which the great Republic exercises over the Spanish colonies will not fail to make itself felt also in the Philippines. The Americans are evidently destined to bring to a full development the germs originated by the Spaniards." ("Travels in the Philippines," p. 369.) Jagor's work, it may be remarked, will always remain an authority on the Philippines.

[43] The cable and popular name of the "Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas"; it owns plantations up the Grande in Isabela Province.

[44] So do the aborigines of Formosa. "These aborigines of the hills live in villages. Their houses are built, of stone, roofed with slate, and have a remarkably clean, home-like appearance." (Pickering, "Pioneering in Formosa," p. 69.)

[45] The word "Filipino" is taken to mean the civilized, Christianized inhabitant of Malay origin of the Philippine Islands. As such, it is convenient and useful. It should be recollected, however, that there is no such thing as a Filipino people. There are Tagalogs, Visayans, Bicols, Pampangans, Ilokanos, Cagayanes, etc., etc., to say nothing of the wild people themselves, all speaking different languages; but these can not be said to form one people.

[46] Retana, in his edition (1909) of De Morga remarks (p. 502): "To-day there would not be many to dare go from Manila to Aparri by the road taken by the Spaniards in 1591."

[47] Some Igorots brought down to the Manila carnival of 1912 were forced, at the request of Filipino authorities, to put on trousers. This was not for comfort's sake, nor yet for decency's, for the bare human skin is no uncommon sight in Manila. Apparently, the Filipinos of Manila were unwilling to let the world note that their cousins of the mountains were still in the naked state.

[48] For a full discussion of this entire matter, see the Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Philippine Islands, for 1910, Washington Government Printing Office, 1911, from which the quotations given above are taken.

[49] E.g. the Mountain Province.—C. De W.W.

[50] It is interesting to note, that since the foregoing report was published, Captain Harris, Philippine Constabulary, has persuaded the Kalingas to turn in one hundred and eighty-seven firearms in their possession, and this without firing a shot himself. What this means may be inferred from the fact that all over the Islands, whether among Christians or non-Christians, the desire to have firearms is of the keenest. The great ambition of the Ifugao is to be a policeman, and so be authorized to carry a gun. The Moros will give $400.00 for an Army rifle and a belt of ammunition worth, say, $18.00.—C. De W.W.

[51] Japan Chronicle, weekly edition, Kobe, January 5, 1911.

[52] Ibid., same date.

[53] See the weekly Manila Times, October 21, 1910.

[54] According to a story current some years ago, a distinguished officer of our Army serving in the Philippines once remarked to a justly celebrated native judge of the highest character, that he had no opinion of the native justice, and added, that for a thousand pesos he could procure witnesses to prove that the judge had committed a murder in such a place, although the judge had never been in the place in his life. "Absurd," remarked the judge. "How absurd?" "You misunderstand me," answered the judge; "it would be absurd to spend a thousand pesos on such a purpose when two hundred would suffice."

[55] This worthy, Ruperto Rios by name, in succession promoted himself to brigadier and major general, and then announced himself as generalissimo. As though this were not enough, he next proclaimed himself pope, "Papa Rios," and then crowned his earthly glories by calling himself Jesus Christ, and as such was hanged. Our pity for such sell-delusion is tempered by the fact that the purpose in view was crime.

[56] It is only fair to remark that the Government is doing every thing in its power to develop native interest in agriculture. Of course it is too early as yet to say whether its efforts will be rewarded.

[57] Quoted in the weekly Manila Times of October 21, 1910.

[58] That piracy, even under our strong control is not dead is shown by the following:

"Manila, April 15. A pirate raid is reported from Jolo, where a Japanese pearl-fishing bout was found adrift and looted. The crew of the pearler are missing, and are believed to be murdered. The Mataja Lighthouse has also been attacked and robbed, presumably by the same band. Gunboats have been sent to investigate." New York Times, April 15, 1912.

[59] The party of immediate independence.

THE END