I " I; i r i ~s - * - MO' 584123 f Facts About Filipinos From te, Eveg, April 2 From the Chicago Evening Post, April 28, m t ----- I' t Mr. Alleyne Ireland asserts'that the history of the last three centuries shows that "no tropical race is susceptIble to the political and administrative ideals of our so-calfed western civilization." I retort that, previous to the advent of the United States in the Philippines, no tropical race was given a fair opportunity to show. whether or ' not It was susceptible to those ideals, and I further assert that the Filipinos are already so well leavened with western ideals that we are warranted in believing that they will prove their adaptability. The census, just published, contains ' statistics gathered by 76~7 Filipinos and 125 American canvassers, It gives the following facts about the PhilipDines: 1. Population, 7,635,000; of whom 91 per cent are civilized- the, remalning S per cent being Moros, Igorots and other wild tribes.: 2. Density of population, 67 pe: square mile: almost three: times as great as in this country. 3. Literacy, 445 per cent can read; and of these about half can also write -that is, about the same as. in Puerto Ri. - co. 4 School enrollment 37.5 per cent of -f-l - - - - - - - - ___ n. tne cnlloren ul niuuI aige. l. Unrc 10l lack of money, teachers and school facilities to provide for more. 5. Wage-earners, 43.5 per cent, The proportion of females among the wage-earners is twice as great as with us and three times greater than in Cuba. 6. Of persons employed in gainful occupations, two-fifths. are engaged in farming; and a less proportion in manufacturing and mechanical pur- ' suits. The professional classes number 1326 doctors, 727 lawyers, 676 priestts and nearly 5000 teachers, besides artists, journalists, etc. In Manila 60 per cent of the inhabitants are engaged in gainful occupations-a higher ratio than among us. 7. Pauperism is almost unknown. In 1902 only 1668 paupers were a publie charge, of whom 478 were in: Manila. Here in Chicago we have 1186 paupers in Dunning. 8. In 1902 (which was a bad year on account of cholera, animal pest, rice failure, etc.), the agricultural exporns amounted to over $27,000,000. The above figures give a general idea of what I may call the raw materalthat we have to work on. Closer viw' brings into relief the following;pote.ts 1. The Filiplnos are the only Chrls_. _. K,,, 1* 1 I;,,,- "I, tian people in the Orient-and Christianity is a valuable national asset. 2. They are the only olental people who attempted to form-or even deanmed of forming-a mcdern republic. 3. As a nace their stock has been elevated above the level of other oriental and tropical races by marringe intermixture with the Spaniards and by three centuries of contact with European civilization. From the no thern confines of the Sulu subaichipelago to the uttermost tip, of Luzon, they are a single Filiplno people. They chum and fraternlze with one another as other peoples do. They recognize one another as Fli!pinos as freely as the Saxons an. TBavariana know each other to be (ermans. The only barrier between them is that of dialect: yet their seven dialects differ from one another not more than the Saxon dialect from the Bavarian. Their chief misfortune is that they have no common vernacular, and that is due to the fact that their country Is a congeries of islands and to the fact that, being chiefly an agricultural, they are necessarily a sedentary people. I am aware that Tilshop Prent h.ls naid that the Flliplnos have no nationnl spirit, no sense of race unity. This is positively not true. The bishop has limited his sphere of evangelical labor to the wild tribes. and he lacks. therefore, the perspective to enable him to speak ex cathedra on this point. 4. The Flllpinos are not hostile fo strangers, to foreign culture or t, foreign speech. Tn Manila there are 21 night schools, with 4000 adults studying. English. They have& everywhere welcomed the American school. It:s amusing to no:e that one of the earliest adaptations from our language into theirs is the verb mag besbol-that Is, to play baseball. 5. Most Filipinos own their own houses, whether great or small. Less than 6 per cent are "renters." There is but little if any serfdom, like the peonage of Mexico and Spanish America. Their social and industrial system is not based on tribe, clan, caste or family. Their conception of labor and property Is individualistic. 6. Their morale is of a high orde'. The death rate (which unfortunately is large) is much oveftopped by the hlith rate. There Is no "race suicide" among them. The ratio of marriage is a little higher than In our own country and much higher than In the West Indies. The ratio of "consensual" marriages ("querlda" unions) is only 3 per cent-much less than In Cub,. And marriage is another valuable national asset. 7. The Filipinos alteady have a considerable native press. I have copies of eight different daily and weekly papers printed in the na:ive language, and there are at least as many more printed in Spanish. 8. The status of the Fllipino woman Is distinctly western. She is not tho slave nor the toy of her husband, but she is his partner and helpmate. 9. On certain matters of public policy in recent years the Filipino has shown that he occupies a positively westPrn standpoint. He has opposed the licensing of the opium traffic. He has opposed the introduction of Chinese contract labor. He opposed and defeated the attempt to introduce Japanese rickshaws as public conveyances in Manila. 'Many Chicagoans met the Philippine hoiorary commissioners who were the city's guests last year. Those gentlemen, who were both of mixed and pure Fillpino blood, represented the wealthier classes. The scouts and constabulary, who were seen by thousands of Americans at the St. Louis exposition, are almost all of pure Filpino blood and represent the aver age run of Filipinos, selected without any special tests, except possibly medical ones. Surely all these Filipinos acted very much like western people. I freely grant that the Filipino is not perfect, that he has some serious defects, and that he has much to learn. But do not the above considerations warrant the belief that he will be an exception to Mr. Ireland's dictum? Just give him "a square deal's and a fair chance. That is the American way. DAVID J. DOHERTY, M. D. 0 The Anti-Imperialist League 20 Central Street, Boston 4 You are earnestly asked to hand this, after reading, to some other person, who will give it also careful consideration.