THE DUTY OF THE FILIPINOS TOWARDS THE

PHILIPPINES

By VINCENTE L. LEGARDA, N. A.

Having been asked by THE FILIPINO to write an article dealing with Philippine problems, and having noticed of late various articles on this subject by different authors who differ widely in their views and with some of whom I do not entirely agree, I cannot but consent to give my own views on this subject.

Perhaps my absence of upwards of fifteen years from the islands might put me to a disadvantage in dealing with this great and rather difficult problem; but, on the other hand, I think that I have watched the course of events in the islands closely enough and have followed up everything that has taken place there during these years sufficiently to enable me to form an opinion of what the Filipinos should do for the development of the Philippines.

First of all, every Filipino who takes an interest in the development of the Philippines (and all true Filipinos should), ought to rest content with the present form of government in the islands— at least for the present-and give up all his political struggles and aspirations. Of course, I do not mean by that that he should give up all hopes of getting independence; but I say that he should quit wasting his energies in this direction at present.

Secondly: Every intelligent Filipino, if he has the means, should turn his energies towards obtaining a first-class education in Europe or the United States along technical, industrial, commercial, or agricultural lines. This is of the utmost importance, especially if self-government is desired in the future. For, without education along the lines above suggested, the Filipinos could not develop their country, neither commercially nor industrially nor otherwise. One of the most deplorable results of the cursed rule-or misrule of Spain in the islands is the present lack of education among the Filipino people. And if the young men of the present generation in the Philippines are going to devote their precious time to political agitations and nonsense, then I say that the Philippines will never be developed in any way-at least, not by the hands of the Filipinos. And as for dear "independence," why, it will never go beyond the regions of a long cherished dream. Political agitations, in the Philippines anyway, only lead to uprisings among the ignorant natives. And so long as there are uprisings, there can be no progress made, either industrially or commercially.

Thirdly: As the future destiny of the Philippines depends largely on the young men of the present generation, it is imperative that these young men be given a thoroughly good education. I consider that the present system adopted by the Insular Government and by some private individuals of sending youths to this country to go through college in the short space of four years and afterwards compel them to return home, is a very poor system indeed. For, what can they expect any of these young men to learn in four years' time? If they acquire a thorough mastery of the English language within that time, they will be doing well. But that is not all they came to this country to learn.

Having had over fifteen years' experience in foreign countries, and knowing how much handicapped a youth feels when he is among strangers in à strange land, I have no hesitation in asserting that all Filipinos sent to this country should be allowed to remain for eight or ten years to complete their education. And they should not be allowed to spend all this time at school or in college, but should be made to work in some workshop for two or three years-especially those who wish to follow some of the engineering professions so they may acquire to some extent a practical knowledge of workshop life, which is sometimes very useful, if not absolutely necessary. A few months ago I had occasion to meet a young Filipino who had just come to the United States to study electrical engineering. After asking my advice as to what he should do, I made arrangements to have him enter the workshop of an electrical engineering establishment in San Francisco; but before entering I warned him that he must put on old clothes before going to work every day; he then asked me if he would not be allowed to wear a white shirt and collar and cuffs in the shop; for, he said, his father might not be very pleased if he knew that his son had to dirty his hands in doing his work and had to wear dirty clothes besides. The indignation I felt at this can be better imagined than described.

And, fourthly: When Filipinos who have been abroad getting their education for a reasonable length of time-say eight or ten years-return to the Philippines, their parents or the Insular Government should make it a point to secure for them the best possible positions either in the Civil Service or with private concerns where their knowledge and usefulness could be applied. They should also, as far as practicable, be given a chance of taking the places of the Americans who are now holding leading positions in the islands, so as to gradually train them, as it were, to be leaders of their own people. In this way, and in this way only, can the Filipinos hope to obtain "self-government"-not by agitation and cant, but by constant, earnest, solid, downright good work.

True, this will take long years to accomplish. Probably the children of the present generation will not see it. But one thing is sure no agitation of any kind will bring it about.

THE POLITICAL ASPIRATIONN OF THE

PHILIPPINES

By JOAQUIN PELLICENA CAMACHO

[Published in Spanish in El Mercantil of Manila.]

The congressional party who left the Philippines thoroughly informed as to the economic conditions and needs of the country, have not succeeded in acquainting themselves exactly with its political aspirations. It is an unquestionable fact, that no one can deny without falling into the sin of temerity, that the Philippine people aspire to independence in a more or less limited period of time. And it is another fact, undeniably true, that the Congressmen, in their flying trip through the Archipelago, have not taken away with them that impression of the country, but on the other hand have gone away convinced that the

Filipino people do not in reality desire their political independence at all, but are content with the immediate improvement of their economic condition. In other words, the Congressmen have been led to believe, and they have believed, that the question of independence does not in reality exist, that it is an imaginary problem advocated by a few professional agitators.

This erroneous impression concerning the most important of the political problems now presented for solution in the Philippines may be productive of great harm. I do not say, and I shall be very careful not to say, that the United States should concede immediate independence to the Philippines, but I do affirm that the American legislators, to fulfill their mission worthily, should know the true mental attitude of this people and their political aspirations.

Americans and Filipinos fell into a common error: that of casting a shadow upon our past and of painting in the blackest colors the Spanish domination in the Philippines. But now the light of truth illuminates all minds and disperses the cloud of ignorance, passion and prejudice. As Mr. Taft has reiterated upon various occasions, whatever may have been the errors committed by the Spanish administration—and no government is free from them— the Spanish nation has been the only nation of the world who has made of an oriental and a Malay race a Christian and a civilized people. It has proven a suicidal task upon the part of those Filipinos who have ever refused to acknowledge the admirable results of the civilizing mission of Spain in this country. And it is highly consoling and significant that Americans who are the only ones who could be benefited by such an unfounded prejudice, are hastening nobly to correct it.

(The writer proceeds with the statement that the desire for independence which he attributes to the Filipino people, is founded upon and justified by the representations made to the Filipinos by Americans in authority in the early days of the American intervention in the Philippines, and that just as other nations, no more favored with natural resources, and no stronger, than the Philippines, enjoy independence, so might the Philippines, under a recognized American protectorate, like Cuba and Panama, be granted independence. He continues :)

If the Filipino people in such an experiment with self-government should demonstrate that they were worthy of absolute independence, this might be granted at the proper time, when a proper political wisdom should have been sufficiently disseminated among the masses, and when the development of the country's sources of wealth should have reached a state of enabling it to support in a worthy manner the cares of state. If, on the contrary, which I do not believe, the Filipino people should demonstrate an unfitness for self-government and an unworthiness of independence, then the United States, with universal approval and with no difficulty whatsoever, might reassume all the responsibilities of the administration of the country.

But this manner of thinking does not permit nor much less justify useless agitations nor suicidal turmoil. The Filipino people should thank Providence for placing it under the liberal and democratic institutions of America after having been under the paternal and civilizing government of Spain. As Mr. Taft has

said, the United States can build a superb structure upon the magnificent foundations here laid by Spain.

The Filipinos should loyally support the government in order to complete the education of the people and to develop their vast resources, without for this reason renouncing their own personality, but rather to elevate and strengthen it. Praiseworthy is that noble aspiration for independence, but based it should be upon the aptitude and capacity of the people to enjoy it.

The general and constant principle should not be forgotten that every people should have that government which, according with the general purposes for which it is destined, is best adapted to the customs and character of the people. What may seem excellent in America may not be so in Asia. Even in the United States every section of the country legislates according to its own peculiar needs, within the national union.

It would be foolish to claim that only what is American is good. Let us admit, and it is going very far, that everything in the United States is good. Yet it is not the only good, for elsewhere may be found things worthy of appreciation and approval.

I do not believe that any one would pretend that the Philippines should be governed as the United States are governed. It is enough, both for Filipinos and foreigners, that it be governed well.

I would not proceed further without stating that the zeal of Americans in wishing that everybody be governed according to their way of thinking, is, up to a certain point, generous and laudable. Convinced, as they are, that their system of government and their laws are the best in the world, and satisfied, as they are, with the happiness and prosperity which they themselves enjoy, without egotism and forthwith they desire that all the human family participate in such great benefits. But those problems of government-and I again invoke the exact words of Mr. Taft, are not questions of theory but of practice. And practice teaches that the same laws and the same governmental procedure may be excellent in one country and at the same time inadequate in another.

Such is my opinion upon the present political aspirations of the country, aspirations which, in their entirety, have not reached the visiting Congressmen, for various reasons, among them the following:

First: Because the Filipino people, whose hospitality, as I have said before upon other occasions, is a spring which never fails, outdid themselves in entertaining their guests, and the latter took this display of personal respect and official courtesy for an acceptance of a foreign sovereignty as the end in view, whereas in reality it was but an incident thereto.

Second: Because the Congressmen, impressed with the political practices of certain leading Filipinos, called agitators, believed that the aspiration for independence did not real exist, but that it was solely the creation of fancy. I shall not deny that there are agitators, but I do deny that the fact that the desire of the people for a future independent personality, is an invention of those agitators. The desire exists and as a matter of fact all that those agitators have accomplished or shall accomplish is to take advantage of that undeniable current of opinion to work out their own selfish designs.

Third: Because the members of Congress, men of another race and of different social and political education, while they passed under the arches and over the crossings erected by the people in their honor, yet they failed to reach the Filipinos' soul, to them an enigma, or what may be worse, they misunderstood the soul of the people.

It is better not to know a thing than to know it wrongly.

A JAPANESE VIEW OF THE PHILIPPINE

QUESTION

By WM. JU SABRO IWAMI, a Japanese Student

There is nothing on earth that makes a man feel smaller than being without freedom. There is no nation in this world that could enjoy the true wisdom of enlightened civilization without political freedom-freedom which Heaven has taught every nation, whether yellow, brown, or white, lower or higher, in this impartially founded universe, to desire. Why should we needlessly suffer from tyranny and oppression? If the theory of "survival of the fittest" is merely the theory of "survival of the militant strongest," the weaker must remain trampled by the stronger, cowardly and tyrannous.

Our diminutive yet intelligent neighbors to the south-the Philippines have never experienced liberty, social and political. I am not given here to espouse the cause of the Filipinos because of purely groundless, narrow-minded notions of so-called raceaffinity, but I desire to join our beloved compatriots in the contemplation of the independence of their country.

The comment, "Japan is ambitious to acquire the Philippines, not unfrequently discussed by the press, is unworthy of a single phrase of refutation; these views having been prompted by no other motives than racial antipathy, religious biases and absurd grudges. Japan is not casting longing eyes upon the Philippines from the commercial and political points of view, while we have sufficient work in Korea and Manchuria to keep us busy at least for a generation. The English admit that Japan is not so well Americanized just yet. Nevertheless, Japan learned how to do justice, how to sympathize with crippled friends, how to praise and prize true patriotism, by which spirit Japan has achieved her present glory and welfare. If I am not mistaken and the most intelligent and cool-headed men of the world to-day are not falsifying, the Filipinos ought to deserve fully the uttermost compassion of every nation, rather than to be chastised for their boastfulness. By the name of Gospel, Buddha, and Confucius, I declare, the Filipinos never meant in asking for their independence and liberty that they love Uncle Sam less, but they do love freedom more; they do love their country more. Love, friendship, and ambition often yield to patriotism. Under Heaven, if there is any loftier ideal than that of the Filipinos, I would desire. to know. If the Filipinos were unpatriotic, pusillanimous, and uncouth, they would deserve little sympathy of the world, and be unworthy to share the burdens of our golden age.

If the fact that Japan has possessed the political and naval, military, and commercial interests in the extreme East, in con