VOL. 1 The Filipino Get Together Copyright 1995 by William Alexander Sutherland JANUARY, 1906 EDITORIAL No. 1 T would seem that there are already enough magazines published in this world, and in fact one sometimes thinks that we might lose a few and still be able to worry along for awhile. But there is a reason for all things, and among other reasons which we hope you will perceive and acknowledge if you remain with us, there is one great, paramount, imminent reason that overshadows them all. It is the reason for our existence; the reason without which it is doubtful whether we should have ventured upon the publication of THE FILIPINO at all. We wonder whether this reason looks as big to you as it does to us, whether it will seem to you sufficient to justify this modest intrusion upon your attention even though you are already so wrapped up in the affairs of your own country that you have scant time to devote to the affairs, the welfare, the future, yea, even the lives, in many ways, of the eight millions who people those beautiful islands away off there in the corner of the sea? Whatever may come as a result of the political development of the Philippines—and it is unnecessary even to state that the present status cannot always, nor even long, exist-there is great work to be done before the time will come when Filipinas is ready to ask, nay, demand, her great boon of the American people. Time, experience, evolution, education, all work their changes, slow but sure, and how soon or how late that great day will arrive is a purely academic question. The day will come, and we do not think that any American or Filipino, in his innermost conscience, disbelieves it. The Filipino students in the United States represent every portion, every civilized race, every language, of the Philippine Archipelago. They come from widely separated homes, their early lives and thought were widely different, they are now living in widely separate parts of the United States, and they will enter widely separated spheres of life when they go back to the Islands. The great purpose of THE FILIPINO is that the Filipino students shall get together; that the Filipino people shall get together; yea, even as far as regards Philippine matters, that the American people shall GET TOGETHER; and that all of these gettings together shall be first and last, in the truest, highest, noblest interests of the Filipino people, for their cause is the cause of THE FILIPINO. The Filipino A the subscription. S soon as possible it is our desire to make a monthly publication of THE FILIPINO, which, if done, will not increase the annual cost of The Surplus T has been unanimously decided by the editors of THE FILIPINO, that any surplus that may result in the enterprise of publishing this journal, will be dedicated to some plan, to be determined later, to further the cause of the education of the Filipino youth. By subscribing and supporting THE FILIPINO, therefore, you will not only be kept informed fully upon Philippine matters, but you will be assisting in the great work of the intellectual development of a race. Help! I' T is useless to suppose that any success worth mentioning can attend our efforts in publishing THE FILIPINO, the proposed organ of the Filipino people in the United States, without the help and support of three important elements. First, the Filipino students in America, who are at once our chief support, financial and moral. The excellence of the contents, in other words, will depend upon them as a whole, and upon them alone. THE FILIPINO will be what the Filipino students make it. Second, our fellow-countrymen at home, and they are the ones to whom our efforts to please will especially be directed. Third, our friends in America, whom we hope will prove generous with our faults and charitable, while free, with their criticism. We need and shall hope to merit the assistance of all of you. Our Contributors VINCENTE L. LEGARDA is the eldest nephew of Hon. Benito L. Legarda, a Filipino member of the Philippine Commission. Mr. V. Legarda, our contributor, when a boy, was sent to Scotland, to learn a trade or profession. He chose the shipbuilding trade, and during the ten years he resided in Glasgow, he served an apprenticeship and worked at some of the largest shipbuilding firms on the Clyde. Never having missed his work or been late, at the end of four years' apprenticeship, instead of taking the usual five years, he was made a journeyman. Mr. Legarda was graduated from the College of Naval Architecture in 1898, and in 1899, he took a trip through Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Siberia, Palestine, and Egypt. He came to the United States in 1900, and after visiting the principal cities of the country, located in San Francisco, where he has since been employed in the Union Iron Works as a naval architect. Mr. Legarda is a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, London; member of the American Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, New York; member of the Royal Society of Arts, London; and Instructor of Naval Architecture and Mathematics at the Institute of Practical Education, San Francisco. Señor Joaquin Pellicena Camacho, a writer on the editorial staff of El Mercantil, Manila, is a Spaniard of great accomplishments. He has made Philippine affairs a close study through the changing conditions of the past few years, and is considered to be what one rarely finds, a Spaniard of liberality toward both Filipinos and Americans. Mr. Camacho accompanied the Taft party upon its recent tour through the Archipelago, and his views being those of a trained writer and observer and one of long residence in the Islands, are interesting as such. Mr. William Ju Sabro Iwami is a Japanese student, at present residing in Chicago. He has lived in this country some seven years, and seems imbued with the spirit of industry and patriotism exemplified nationally by his race. Asterio Favis is a Filipino student, an Ilocano, appointed in 1903, with the first expedition of the students that came to this country. Professor Ferdinand Blumentritt was an intimate friend of Dr. José Rizal, and after Rizal's death, published an account of his life and studies, together with other matter. A translation of a portion of that paper is given, by special permission of the translator, Mr. Robert L. Packard, of Washington, D. C. Andres Aguilar is a Filipino student, a Visayan, appointed in 1903, coming over with the first students sent to America. Professor Wm. Alex Sutherland, was a resident in the Philippines acting as interpreter to then Governor-General Taft and the Philippine Commission. He is at present in charge, as superintendent, of the students being educated in this country by the Philippine Government. Mrs. L. J. Carlock is the widow of Judge Lyman J. Carlock, a judge of the Court of First Instance in the Philippines. Judge Carlock was one of the most successful Americans that ever held office in the Philippines, entering into his work with a profound regard for the people among whom he labored, and gaining their love and respect as perhaps no other American has gained them in the island of Cebu, in which he lived. Judge Carlock was stricken with cholera during the epidemic in 1902 and died within a few hours. His friends erected a monument to his honor in the city of Cebu. Mr. F. T. Garcia is a Cuban student at Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Article by Wm. H. Taft N the next issue of this magazine there will be published an article written expressly for THE FILIPINO, entitled "A Talk to the Filipinos," by William H. Taft. Secretary Taft upon numerous recent occasions has counseled the American people as to their duty toward the Filipino people. This article will treat upon the line of conduct the Filipino should follow to work out his own salvation, and it is therefore, particularly timely. Thanks! A T the outset we wish to express our grateful appreciation of the support of the government Filipino Students. We have already received the subscriptions of practically every one, and many, despite their occupations, have already sent in articles. We could not acknowledge personally all the communications received, but we believe this issue will be sufficient answer to the questions asked, in most instances. Lack of space prevented us from publishing several splendid articles received from Students, but we trust that the excellence of the contents as presented will make apology for us, and we shall try to publish these Students' articles, or many of them, in succeeding issues. Many other Filipinos in this country, not government students, have also given us assistance, and to these friends THE FILIPINO is specially grateful. We shall always strive to make this magazine truly the representative of the Filipino people before the American people. |