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THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
•The^)<i^
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK ■ BOSTON • CHICAGO ■ DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON • BOMBAY ■ CALCUTTA MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
9 -3
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
BY
DEAN C. WORCESTER
SECBETABT OF THE INTERIOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
1901-1913 ; MEMBER OF THE PHILIPPINE
COMMISSION, 1900-1913
AUTHOR OF " THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS AND THEIR PEOPLE"
IN TWO VOLUMES — WITH 128 PLATES
VOLUME 11
MILLS & BOON, LIMITED
49 RUPERT STREET
LONDON. W.
COPTKISBT, 1914,
bt the macmillan company.
Set up and elcctrotyped. Published February, 1914.
Notbjiioti ]9rmi
J. 8. Cashing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
CONTENTS VOL. II
CHAPTER FASH
XIX. Education .501
XX. The Exploration of Non-Christian Territory 532 XXI. The Govern.ment of Non-Christian Tribes . 559 XXII. The Government of Non-Christian Tribes (Con- tinued) 591
XXIII. Corrigenda 637
XXIV. Non-Christian Tribe Problems . . . .660 XXV. Slavery and Peonage 676
XXVI. Murder as a Governmental Agency . . - 7.30
XXVII. The Philippine Legislature 768
XXVIII. The Picturesque Philippines 792
XXIX. Rod, Shotgun and Rifle 806
XXX. Philippine Lands 829
XXXI. Philippine Forests 846
XXXII. Improved Means of Communication . . . 861
XXXIII. Commercial Possibilities of the Philippines . 884
XXXIV. Peace and Prosperity 911
XXXV. Some Results of American Rule .... 921
XXXVI. Is Philippine Independence now Possible? . 933
XXXVIL What Then? 961
APPENDIX
Instructions to the First Philippine Commission . . 975
Proclamation of the First Philippine Commission . . 977
Instructions to the Second Philippine Commission . . 980 Past and Present Organization of the Courts of the
Philippine Islands 988
Present accepted Estimate of the Non- Christian Popula- tion OF THE Philippines 999
INDEX 1005
V
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOL. II The Metamorphosis of a Bontoc Igorot .... Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Head-hunters' Weapous 508
The Three Leading Men in the Funeral Procession of an Ifugao
who has lost his Head to the Enemy 516-
The Sacred Tree of the Ifugaos 524
Entrance to the Quiangau Schoolhouse 534
An Ifugao School 540
The Sub-provincial Building at Quiangan 546
Ifugao Constabulary Soldiers 554
Bontoc Igorot Head-huuters 562
Bontoc Igorot Women in Banana-leaf Costume .... 570
A Bontoc Igorot Tug-of-war 578
Bontoc Igorot Boys learning to make Furniture .... 586
A Conference with Ifugao Chiefs 594
Finished Trail built by Ifugaos 602
A Difficult Bit of Rock Work on the Mountain Trail in Benguet . 610
A Flying Ferry in Operation 618
A Wild Tingian of Apayao 626
Tingian Girls threshing Rice 634
Typical Manobos 640
An Old Bukidnon Chief 650
Typical Street in a Filipino Town 656
A Typical Bukidnon Village Street 656
A Typical Improved Bukidnon House 664
A Typical Neglected Filipino House 664
Making Friends with the Mandayas 670
A Mandayan Boy 678
A Group of Bagobos 686
Moro Boats coming out to meet the Philippine Commission at Jolo 692
Among the Moros 700
A Moro Chief with his Wives and Daughter 706
Lieutenant-Governor Manuel Fortich of Bukidnon .... 708
Governor Frederick Johnson of Agusan 714
A Typical Peon 722
vii
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FAOWO PAOK
The Penalty for Loyalty to the United States 728
The Philippine Assembly in Session 738
Senor Sergio Osmena, Speaker of the Philippine Assembly . . 742
The Manila Hotel 750
Mayon Volcano 756
The Crater of Taal Volcano 764
A Bit of the Pagsanjan Gorge 772
A Giant Tree Fern 780
Scene on a Bird Island 788
A Day's Catch 796
After the Hunt 804
Typical Scene at the Edge of a Hardwood Forest .... 812
A Typical Forest Scene 820
Old-style Road across Lowlands 826
New-style Road across Lowlands 826
Typical Old-style Country Road . 836
Typical New-style Country Road 836
A Canga, or Carabao Sledge 844
A New-style Cart, with Broad-tired Wheels, which does not injure
the Roads 844
Road Destroyers at Work 852
An Old-style Culvert 858
The Old Way of Crossing a River 868
The New Way of Crossing a River 868
A Typical Old-style Bridge 878
A Typical Reenforced Concrete Bridge 878
A Collapsible Bridge 886
Slap : Manila, the Future Distributing Centre for the Far East . 888
Preparing Rice Land for Planting 892
Planting Rice 892
A Three-year-old Coffee Bush 902
A Ceara Rubber Tree 906
A Typical Cocoanut Grove 918
A Typical Filipino Town 922
A Typical Group of Filipinos 930
A Typical Spanish Mestiza 938
A Strange Couple 946
A Member of the Cabaruan Trinity 954
A Typical Old-style Provincial Government Building . . . 962
A Modern Provincial Government Building 962
A Refuge from the Moros 968
A Possible Office-holder 972
THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
CHAPTER XIX
Education
No work accomplished since the American occupation is of more fundamental and far-reaching importance than that of the Bureau of Education. In order to appreciate it one must gain some familiarity with the conditions which prevailed in Spanish times.
The first evidence of the Spanish governmental attitude toward education in the Philippines is found in a royal edict of March 21, 1634,i in which Felipe IV orders all archbishops and bishops to take steps for the education of the Filipinos in the Spanish language and in Christian doctrine.
That this decree was more honoured in the breach than in the observance is evident from another royal decree of June 20, 1686,- in which the king reminds civil and religious authorities that the non-observance of the decree of 1634 will be charged against them.
Neither of these documents provided for financing the scheme of education ordained, but a decree of Decem- ber 22, 1792,^ did make financial provision for the estab- lishment of Spanish schools for natives. The salaries of teachers were to be paid from the royal treasury, and deficits were to be made up from the communal prop- erties and treasuries.
Although this was the first practical attempt to in- troduce general native education, there are evidences that individual opportunities were offered to, and em- braced by, Filipinos. It is probable, too, that in certain
• Blair and Robertson, Vol. 45, p. 184.
» Ibid., Vol. 45, p. 186. ' Ibid., Vol. 45, p. 222.
VOL. II — B 501
502 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
localities the most generous of the Spaniards opened private schools.
The College of San Jose was founded in 1601, the Uni- versity of Santo Tomas in 1619. Neither made provi- sion for educating natives. They were established for the children of Spaniards only, although both later ad- mitted Filipinos. But in the rules for the short-lived college of San Fehpe (1641-1645),^ Corcuera lays down the following: "The college servants shall be of influ- ential Pampango families, and they shall be taught to read and write in the Spanish language, and shall be given clerkships if they show aptitude therefor." We learn that when the charity school of San Juan de Letran passed under the control of the Dominicans in 1640, native boys were admitted, on payment of fees, to share the advan- tages offered charitably to Spanish orphans.^
Primary education for Filipinos secured no real foothold until 1863.^ In that year, by royal decree, a school system originally planned for Cuba was extended to the Philip- pines. It made provision for the beginnings of primary instruction in all municipalities of the islands. A sum- mary ^ called forth by a circular of March 1, 1866, gives information with regard to the progress actually made. This summary fixes the number of towns at nine hundred, the number of children attending school at one hundred thirty-five thousand boys and twelve thousand two hun- dred sixty girls, and the number of schools at sixteen hundred seventy-four, but it gives the number of build- ings actually in use for schools as only six hundred forty-one. Instruction in Spanish was not always, or even generally, given.
In 1863 provision was also made for the establishment of a normal school at Manila. In 1893,^ forty years later,
' Blair and Robertson, Vol. 45, p. 175.
2 Ibid., Vol. 45, pp. 213-265.
2 Census of the Philippines, Vol. Ill, pp. 578-590.
* Ibid., Vol. Ill, p. 591. ' Ibid., Vol. Ill, pp. 579-580.
EDUCATION 503
the actual appropriation for the Normal School was $5525. Fourteen years after the American occupation, the appropriation for the Normal School was $56, 476.42, in addition to $224,500 spent for new buildings and furniture.'
In 1892 there were two thousand one hundred seventy- three schools. The attendance of these schools was small and irregular. In 1896, at the outbreak of the insurrection, the Spanish had in operation a public school system which could call upon the Normal School for teachers and also upon such graduates of private schools as cared to undertake the work. Naturally the latter were few. Between 1863 and 1893, the Normal School had enrolled two thousand and one students.
This may be contrasted with the number of schools which, under the present regime, prepare the pupils for teaching, as well as for other occupations. Including the students of the Phihppine Normal School, the Philippine School of Arts and Trades, the Provincial High and Inter- mediate Schools, nearly thirty-seven thousand pupils are now following studies which fit them more or less to un- dertake the work of giving instruction to others.
In addition to the Normal School, the Spanish estab- lished a Nautical School in 1820, a School of Commercial Accounting and of the French and English Languages in 1839, and an Academy of Drawing and Painting. Their final system of public instruction was not badly planned, but it was never actually put into full operation.
From the beginning of the insurrection against Spain in 1896 until the beginning of the insurrection against the United States in 1899, most of the public schools were closed. The schooUiouses were used for barracks, prisons, or hospitals. No attempt was made to keep them in repair, and what scanty equipment they had once pos- sessed was for the most part destroyed or stolen.
Between 1899 and 1901, many of these buildings were ' Report of Director of Education, 1911-1912.
504 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
repaired in towns which were occupied by American soldiers, and the beginnings of a public school system were made by our victorious army. Wlierever our flag was raised a public school was soon established, soldiers often serving as teachers, and the moral effect of this upon the Filipinos was very great.
The city of Manila was natiu-ally the first place to receive attention. Three weeks after our army entered it on August 13, 1898, seven schools were opened under the supervision of Father W. D. McKinnon, chap- lain of the first Cahfornia Regiment. In June, 1899, Lieu- tenant George P. Anderson was detailed as city superin- tendent of schools for Manila, and during the following school year he had an average of forty-five hundred pupils enrolled in the primary schools. Captain Albert Todd was detailed to act as superintendent of schools for the islands, but on May 5, 1900, in anticipation of the transfer of the islands from mihtary to civil government, he gave way to Dr. Fred W. Atkinson, who had been chosen by the Philippine Commission as superintendent of pub- lic instruction. This title was changed later to that of director of education.
On January 21, 1901, the commission passed Act 74, the basis of the present school law. It provided for the appointment of one thousand American teachers to begin the work of establishing a school system carried on in English. Appointments were made as rapidly as possible. By the end of the year, seven hundred sixty-five Ameri- can teachers were at work.
When provision was made for the appointment of this large number of Americans, it was with the idea that they should act as teachers of Enghsh in schools over which there should be FiUpino principals, but there was, at that time, no body of Filipino teachers properly pre- pared to carry on school work, and by force of cu-cum- stances, this plan was soon altered.
Ten school divisions were established, covering the
EDUCATION 505
archipelago. Each was presided over by a division superintendent of schools. The teachers were theoreti- cally subject to his control, but the divisions were so large that it was impossible for him to exercise control very effectively. It is perhaps well that many of the teachers were left free to employ their o\\ti ingenuity in meeting local conditions.
The school system finally established represents a composite of the recommendations of hundreds of teachers scattered throughout the archipelago, and these recom- mendations were based on hard-earned experience.
One of the first duties of teachers was to begin the training of Filipino assistants. This took form in the organization of so-called aspirante classes, into which the best of the Filipino youth who were old enough to teach, and who had already received some education, were gathered. These aspirante classes were often held side by side with classes in the primarj^ schools first estabUshed by American teachers, and by the beginning of the year 1902 some of the brightest pupils were able to assist in primary school work. These classes made possible the establishment of organized primary schools under the control of American teachers with Filipino teachers in the lower grades. Their graduates formed the nuclei of the first secondary schools, which were estab- lished in 1903.
The difficulties which teachers had to overcome at the outset were numerous. In some of the older and richer towns there were stone or brick schoolhouses more or less fit for occupation. In such cases a small number of old wooden benches and a few square feet of blackboard were usually available. Sometimes there were books provided by the army : Baldwin's readers in English or in rudely translated vernacular ; Frye's geographies translated into Spanish ; and possibly Spanish editions of the history of the United States. This stock was greatly improved during the latter half of 1902, and
506 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
teachers were furnished books and supplies as rapidly as transportation facilities penrdtted.
In 1901 the number of school divisions was increased to eighteen, and in 1902 to thirty-six, making the school divisions identical with the thirty-six then existing poUt- ical subdivisions of the islands. The organization of the public school system gradually crystallized and assumed something of the form which it has to-day. Barrio ^ schools were opened, and the work of American teachers who were detailed to supervise them was thus greatly increased.
The school system took permanent shape in 1903 and 1904. As it now stands it is controlled by the director of education, who is responsible for its conduct. Serving with him, and subject to his control, are an assistant director and a second assistant director. The directors have immediate charge of the general office, which has the following divisions : records, accounting, buildings, property, academic, industrial and publications. Each has a chief who is directly responsible for its work.
The islands are now divided into thirty-four school divisions, corresponding, except in two cases, to provinces. Each has its superintendent of schools.
The divisions are subdivided into districts, over each of which there is a supervising teacher who is responsible for the conduct of its work. Certain of the intermediate schools are under supervising teachers, while others are directly under division superintendents.
The school system to-day extends to the remotest barrios. It is organized and equipped for effective work, and ready to carry out promptly and effectively the policies determined upon by the central office.
In each province there is a central provincial school
offering intermediate and secondary courses. Only twelve
of them now give a full four-year course. Others offer
three years, two years or one year of secondary work.
• Barrios are small outlying villages.
EDUCATION 507
There is also a manual training department attached to the provincial school, or a trade school. So much for the provincial school system.
At JVIanila we have the PhiUppine Normal School, with an attendance of six hundred sixty-nine, and the Phil- ippine School of Arts and Trades, with an attendance of six hundred fortj^-one. Also, there are the School of Commerce and the School for the Deaf and Blind, both supported directly from insular funds. The School of Household Industries has recently been established for the training of adult women in embroidery, lace- making and smiilar arts, so that they may return to their provinces to estabUsh little centres for the produc- tion of articles of this nature. This is most important work. The FiUpinos are endowed with great patience, and with extraordinary delicacy of touch and manual dexter- ity. If productive household industries based on these valuable characteristics are generalized, the prosperity of the common people will be very greatly increased.
Of the school system in general it can be said that Filipino teachers have been gradually employed for the lower grades, and Americans have thus been freed to take charge of the higher instruction. Priniary instruction is now in the hands of Filipinos, and intermediate in- struction is rapidly being tiu-ned over to them. In July, 1913, there were about eighty-five hundi-ed Filipino teachers, with an estimated total enrolment of five hundred thirty thousand pupils. The total enrolment in primary schools was approximately four hundred ninety thousand, in intermediate schools thirty thousand nine hundred, and in secondary schools sLx thousand. 'When we compare these figures with the hundred and seventy-seven thousand reported by the Spanish govern- ment in 1897, and when we consider the fact that attend- ance at that time was extremely irregular, it is e\ddent that noteworthy progress has been made. Mere figiu-es, however, come far short of telhng the whole story. There
508 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
has been very great improvement in the qiiaHty of the instruction given. In the old days children ' ' studied out loud," and the resulting uproar was audible at quite a distance.
On their arrival in these islands, Americans found that the educated Filipinos as a rule held honest manual labor in contempt, while many of those who had managed to secure professional educations did not practise their professions, but preferred to live a life of ease. There were doctors who made no pretence of treating the sick, and lawyers who had studied simply for the standing which the title would give them. The Bureau of Educa- tion has brought about a profound change in public sentiment ; a change of basic importance to the country. It was apparent at the outset that any educational sys- tem adhering closely to academic studies would simply serve to perpetuate this condition of affairs. Fortunately, those in charge of the situation were untrammelled by tradition, and were free to build up a sj'stem that would meet actual existing needs. The objection to manual labor offered much difficulty, but it has been largely overcome. There was, furthermore, a feeling against industrial work on the part of the people in many regions, based on the idea that teachers meant to supplement their salaries by the sale of the industrial i:)roducts of the schools. This prejudice, which seemed formidable at first, disappeared when the bureau took up in earnest the intro- duction of industrial education and vocational training.
Just as the academic organization grew out of local conditions, so did industrial education accommodate itself to existing circumstances. In the Spanish colegios, girls had been taught to do exquisite embroidery and to make pillow lace. In various parts of the islands, hat weaving was carried on by families or groups of famiUes. The making of petates,^ of rough but durable market bas- kets and of sugar bags constituted widespread local • Sleeping mats.
■i|Uti«irib«iHuiM
EDUCATION 509
industries. American teachers were quick to see how these vagrant arts could be organized and commercialized. An intense rivalry sprang up between supervising teachers, and as a result the arts of pillow lace-making, embroidery, Irish crochet, hat weaving, basketry and macrame work have been introduced and standardized throughout the primary and intermediate schools. The excellence of the output is truly astonishing.
Courses in housekeeping and household arts also re- ceived early attention. The social and economic condi- tions in the Philippines are such that the so-called "domestic science" course of .American schools is quite in- adequate to meet the needs of Filipina girls. Specialized instruction in hygiene, in the care of the sick, in house- hold sanitation and in the feeding and care of infants is included in this course of housekeeping and household arts, which was taken by fifteen thousand two hundred twenty-seven girls during 1912-1913.
School gardening was introduced at an early date. This course now includes the school garden, in which each pupil has his own indi\idual three and a fourth by thirteen foot plot, and home gardens which are not less than four times the size of the school plot. By this arrangement eighty per cent of the garden work is carried on at the homes of the pupils or on vacant lots under the direct supervision of teachers.
In the beginning much of the school agricultural work was not very practical. Teachers who themselves knew nothing about agriculture were wedded to the small "individual plot" idea, which I regret to say still continues to prevail in some of the schools. On a bit of ground about three feet by si.x the pupil might plant one tomato plant, one camote vine, one grain of rice, two or three eggplants and a flowering plant or two. This gave him helpful open-air exercise, but taught him nothing about agriculture. Weeks after the school year had opened I once visited a number of school
510 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
gardens in Mindoro and found that several of them con- sisted of rectangular plots marked off on soUd sod with shells picked up on the beach ! On my return I told the director of education that three active hens would have done far more toward preparing soil for cultivating than had all the childi-en in these towns.
These conditions have changed rapidly since the adop- tion, three years ago, of a definite policy of agricultural education consisting of standard school and home gar- dens and farm schools for Filipinos ; and large com- munal tracts of land cultivated at the Settlement Farm Schools for non-Christians.
Lieutenant-Governor Frederick Lewis of Bukidnon was as deeply disgusted with the former play agriculture as was I. Exercising, I fear, rather arbitrary authority over the local Filipino teachers, but with my connivance, he persuaded them to tm'n their active, strong school- boys loose on large tracts of the beautiful prairie land found near almost every school in the sub-province, and raise crops. As a result of this experiment, first carried out at Tankulan, each boy took home a bushel or two of unhulled rice. Parents were enthusiastic, and so were the boys. From this small beginnmg came the so-called farm- settlement schools, of which there are thirty-eight among the non-Christian tribes. On large, well-fenced, carefully cultivated tracts of ground the schoolboys grow camotes, upland rice, corn, bananas, cowpeas, beans, pineapples, egg plants, arrowroot, and in some cases, cacao and coffee. Instead of learning what incUiddual plants will do when grown quite by themselves under abnormal conditions, they learn to produce real crops. They become interested in the introduction of American sweet potatoes in place of the less nutritious camotes, in the selection of seed corn, in the generalization of the better varieties of bananas, and in other practical matters. Incidentally they largely furnish the school food supply.
It is of course true that in many of the Fihpino towns
EDUCATION 511
sufficiently extensive tracts of land cannot be had near the schools to make such a system possible, but, wherever it can be done, school children should be taught how to raise crops on a commercial scale, instead of spending their time on small individual plots of ground. Even the latter procedure has good results. It teaches them not to be ashamed to work. It also makes possible the introduction of home gardens, and through this means brings the practical production of vegetables into the home life of the people, with the result that imused yards and vacant lots are put under cultivation.
The system of establisMng home gardens is one which meets with my unquaUfied approval. In 1911-1912 there were no less than twenty-two thousand nine hun- dred fifty-eight of these. It is said to be true that a large percentage of them soon pass into family care, and thus not only help to educate parents, but become a per- manent additional soui'ce of food supply.
The schools have proved a useful medium through which to bring about the introduction of new and valu- able plants. There are many school nurseries in which grow thousands of seedUngs, and these are distributed at opportmie times.
Woodworking is one of the industrial branches which received first attention. As previously stated, every one of the thirty-eight provinces has either a trade school with first-class equipment, or a manual training department at- tached to the provincial school. Eighteen schools have al- ready been established as regularly equipped trade schools. The Phihppine Normal School and the Philippine School of Commerce offer special advantages to those studying for the profession of teaching, or for a business career.
Previous to 1909, industrial instruction was only par- tially organized. Experience had shown, by that time, that it was expedient to introduce a degree of specializa- tion into the courses of study at an early stage of the child's development. Special intermediate courses were
512 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
therefore organized to meet this need. After finishing the four-year primary course, the child may choose between a course in teaching, a course in farming, a trade course, a course in liousekeeping and household arts and a general intermediate course. Relatively few children are at present able to take up secondary courses, and it is therefore necessary to provide in the lower grades for instruction which will prepare them for some vocation. So important has become tliis hne of instruction that it has been found necessary to maintain, in the general office, an industrial information department, under a division chief, which employs a botanist, a designer, four native craftsmen and a force of travelling super- visors who inspect trade schools, machinery, school gar- dens, building sites and the general industrial work done throughout the public school system. This system of industrial instruction receives the fullest support from the Filipino people.
The following quotation from the twelfth annual report of the director of education serves to give some idea of the extent to which industrial instruction has been developed in the Philippines : —
"As is at once evident, with requirements so definitely fixed for industrial work in the schools, the great majority of the pupils who are enrolled must be engaged in some branch of this work. An examination of the figures included among the statistical tables of this report will show that of the total en- rolment of 235,740 boys and 138,842 girls during the month of February, 1912 (an average month), 216,290 boys and 125,203 girls — 91 per cent of the entire monthly enrolment — were doing some form of industrial work. More specifically, it will be found that 21,420 boys were taking manual training and trade work; 96,167 boys were engaged in school gardening and farming ; 15,463 girls were also engaged in garden work ; and 68,194 girls were taking up various lines which go under the general caption of minor industries. . . . Further in this connection it \\'ill be found that in the subject of lace-making alone 16,439 girls were receiving instruction; in embroidery, 12,339; and in cooking 4768. There were 22,965 boys and
EDUCATION 513
7709 girls making hats in the industrial classes, 40,264 pupils making mats, and 104,424 studying the art of basketry.
"... 1309 pupils were enrolled in the regular trade school classes ; 924 in regular trade courses in other schools ; and 7360 in the shops operated in connection with provincial and other intermediate schools. In 401 school shops having an enrolment of 19,949 boys, articles to the value of P142,189.74 were fabricated and from this product, sales to the amount of P131,418.13 were made during the school year 1911-12. In addition to the above, 10,3.56 pupils were doing work in 236 primary woodworking shops conducted in connection with municipal primary schools in all parts of the Islands. The figures for trade and manual training are taken from the March report."
This most important result is due in very large measure to the determination of the Honourable Newton W. Gil- bert, while secretary of public instruction, to give a practi- cal turn to the activities of the Bureau of Education. I must confess that at first I was profoundly dissatisfied with the work which this bureau was doing, for the reason that, in my opinion, it tended to produce a horde of graduates fitted to be clerks, in which event they would naturally desire to feed at the public crib, or be likely to become abogadillos,^ who would be constantly stirring up trouble in their owti tow^ls, in order to make business for themselves.
Much of the industrial work originally provided for was at the outset carried out in a haphazard and half- hearted way. Under Mr. Gilbert's administration it has been hammered into shape, and we now see in pros- pect, and in actual realization, practical results of vital importance to the country.
Personally, I feel especialh' indebted to Mr. Gilbert for his attitude relative to school work among the non- Christian tribes. The children of the hill people are naturally hard-working. In some places they were being actually taught idleness in the schools, and in most the
' Literally, "little lawyers." This designation is commonly applied to pettifoggers.
514 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
education given them was of little practical value. I found Igorot children in Lepanto studying geography. I asked a boy what the world was, and was told that it was a little yellow thing about the size of his hand ! This was a fairly accurate description of a map, the significance of which had utterly failed to penetrate his understanding. Filipino teachers who were not considered fit for appoint- ments in the lowlands were being foisted off on to the unfortunate hill people, as they were wilUng to accept very small salaries in lieu of none at all. Prior to Mr. Gilbert's assumption of office, my frequent complaints had produced no practical result. He was kind enough to say to me at the outset that he would give very serious consideration to my opinions in the matter of educational work among the people of the non-Christian tribes. To-day industrial work has taken its proper place in schools estabhshed for them, and considerable numbers of them are being fitted for lives of usefulness, although it is still ti'ue that school facilities among them are, as a rule, grossly inadequate. In Ifugao, for instance, with at least a hundred and twenty-five thousand inhabitants, there are but two schools. In Kalinga, with some seventy-six thousand inhabitants, the first school has just been opened. However, this condition will doubt- less be remedied in time.
The former tendency of FiUpinos to prepare themselves for trades or professions and then not follow them has been largely overcome. IVIost of the students graduating from the Philippine Normal School take up the profession of teaching, and practically all of the graduates of the Philippine School of Arts and Trades are following the lines of work which they have studied. And now I come to what I deem to be one of the most important ac- complishments of the Bureau of Education.
Before the American occupation of the Philippines the Filipinos had not learned to play. There were no athletics worthy of the name. Athletic sports had their begin-
EDUCATION 515
nings in the games played between soldiers. Gradually Filipinos became interested enough to attend contests of this nature. Later, through the influence of American teachers, they began to take part in them. As soon as athletic sports reached a point where competition be- tween towns and provinces was possible, they aroused the greatest enthusiasm among the people. To-day, the athletic policy of the Bureau of Education is heartily approved by all classes. At first, highly specialized sports were introduced, but the necessity for develop- ing some form of group athletics in which a large percent- age of the pupils would take part was soon niade manifest. For the past few years this programme has been pushed. Eighty per cent of the pupils now participate in some form of athletics, and the number steadily increases.
The results are justifying the hope of the original pro- moters of this athletic programme. The physical develop- ment of the participants has been wonderful. The spirit of fair play and sportsmanship, hitherto lacking, has sprung into being in every section of the islands. Base- ball not only strengthens the muscles of the players, it sharpens their wits. Furthermore it empties the cock- pits to such an extent that their beneficiaries have at- tempted to secure legislation restricting the time during which it may be played. It has done more toward abol- ishing cockfighting than have the laws of the conamission and the efforts of the Moral Progress League ' combined. It is indeed a startling sight to see two opposing teams of youthful savages in Bukidnon or Bontoc "playing the game" with obvious full knowledge of its refinements, while their ordinarily silent and reserved parents "root" with unbridled enthusiasm !
Annual meets between athletic teams from various groups of pro\'inces, and a general interscholastic meet held each year at the Philippine Carnival, offer advan-
' An organization wliich long vigorously combated the coek-pits, but failed to bring about their abolition.
^
516 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
tages of travel to boys who have seldom if ever left their homes, and promote a general understanding between the various FiUpino peoples. In the " Far Eastern Olympiad " held at Manila in 1913, in which China, Japan and the Philippines participated, the victorious teams representing the Phihppines were largely composed of schoolboys.
When the American school system was organized, it was found that adequate accommodations for school children were almost entirely lacking. In some of the towns there were long, low stone or brick buildings, small and poorly hghted. They were usually located in the larger centres of population, and had no grounds that could be used for play or garden purposes. In most of the barrios, there were no schooUiouses at all.
The American teachers at once set to work to put the old buildings into decent condition. Some private houses were rented, and others were donated, for school purposes. In a number of cases the teachers attempted, as best they could, to construct buildings for the thousands of pupils who wished to avail themselves of school priv- ileges. At that time the whole burden of such con- struction fell upon the municipalities. The insular government had given them no aid. Many mistakes were made during these early days, and many of the buildings then erected have long since fallen into ruin. The experience gained has demonstrated the folly of spending large sums of money on anything but strong, permanent construction. It will be necessary, for a long time, to depend to some extent upon temporary buildings ; and when these can be erected at low cost they are good provisional expedients, but destructive storms and the rav- ages of wood-eating insects quickly reduce them to ruins.
The demand upon local funds for the maintenance of schools was so pressing, and these funds were so limited, that it was found impossible to erect modern buildings without insular aid. Wlien the necessity for help was
s a z w
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EDUCATION 517
brought to the attention of the insular authorities, the commission responded by enacting a bill which ap- propriated $175,000 from the congressional reHef fund for the construction of school buildings. Two years later $150,000 were appropriated and, in August, 1907, an additional $175,000 were voted for this purpose. A total of $500,000 was thus made available by the Com- mission before the Philippine assembly came into existence. This amount was augmented by provincial and munic- ipal funds and voluntary contributions, and the erection of twenty-two buildings for provincial high schools, twenty-sLx for trade and manual training schools, and fifty-seven for intermediate schools other than provincial was thus made possible.
The first act of the Phihppine Assembly was to vote for an appropriation of $500,000, available in four equal annual instalments, to aid municipalities in constructing school buildings. The bill was duly approved by the commission and became a law. Under its terms, munici- paUties received $2 for every dollar furnished locally, the maximum insular allotment for one project being $2500. This bill was later supplemented by an act which appro- priated an additional $500,000 under similar conditions. Three subsequent acts have been passed, each appro- priating the sum of $175,000 for the aid of municipalities in constructing school buildings under such conditions as the secretary of public instruction may see fit to prescribe. The funds made available by the three appropriations last mentioned are being used chiefly for the erection of large central school buildings at provincial capitals.
The sums appropriated by the Philippine Legislature since the assembly was established have made possible the construction of five hundred twenty-nine school build- ings, of which two hundred seventy-thi'ee are finished and three hundred nineteen are being buUt.
There have been additional appropriations for the con- struction of a Philippine Normal School already com-
VOL. II — C
518 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
pleted at a cost of $225,000, a girls' dormitory now build- ing to cost $147,000 and a building for the Philippine School of Arts and Trades to cost approximately $250,000.
The bureau has required that school sites for central schools shall have a minimum of one hectare' of land, and the barrio schools a minimum of one-half hectare, for playgrounds and gardens. There have been secured to date three hundred eighty-nine school sites of ten thou- sand or more square metres, and six hundred forty-three sites of at least five thousand square metres. These rep- resent the results obtained during the past three years.
The Bureau has formulated a very definite construc- tion policy. Its programme may be outlined briefly as follows : —
1. The preparation of a set of standard plans for permanent buildings which provide for a unit system of construction whereby additions may be made ^vithout injury to the original structure, and which shall be within the limited means available.
2. The selection of suitable school sites.
3. A decent and creditable standard in temporary buildings.
4. The proper care and maintenance of schoolhouses and grounds.
5. The equipment of every school with the necessary furniture and appliances of simple but substantial character.
From the beginning, other branches of the government have clearly seen that no agency is so effective as the Bureau of Education in the dissemination of knowledge among the people. It has therefore been called upon frequently to spread information, either through class- room instruction or through the system of civico-ed- ucational lectures established by an act of the Philip- pine Legislature. The Bureau of Health has frequently requested it to instract the people in the means to be used for the prevention of diseases, particularly cholera, smallpox and dysentery, and has always met with a ready response. Great good has doubtless been accomplished
1 A hectare is equivalent to two and a half acres.
EDUCATION 519
in this way, but with regret I must call attention to the fact that in connection with a matter of fundamental importance the Bureau of Education has signally failed to practice what it preached, or at all events what it was re- quested to preach. The Philippines are constantly men- aced by epidemic diseases, such as cholera and bacillary dysentery, while amoebic dysentery occurs in every munic- ipality in the islands and is a very serious factor in the annual death-rate, hook-worm disease is common, and typhoid fever is gradually increasing in frequency. The question of the proper disposition of human feces is there- fore one of fundamental importance. It seems incredible, but is nevertheless true, that in connection with a large majority of the modern school buildings which have been erected there are no sanitary facilities of any sort whatso- ever. The condition of the ground in the rear of many of these buildings can better be imagined than described. This state of affairs not only sets an evil example to the children, but exposes them to actual danger of infection with the above-mentioned diseases. In many of the special provincial government towns where a great effort has been made to have the people clean up, I have found school grounds and the private premises of school teachers, including, I regret to say, those of American school teachers, to be in a more unsanitary state than were any others in town ; and finally, in despair of securing improve- ment in any other way, I have fallen back on the courts and caused teachers responsible for such conditions to be brought before justices of the peace and fined.
The Teachers' Camp at Baguio was long maintained in a shockingly unsanitary condition ; and as a result many persons who went there seeking health and recrea- tion became infected with intestinal diseases, and were incapacitated for work during more or less prolonged periods. In deahng with this situation I finally resorted to radical measures, but got results.
Such a state of affairs is wholly incomprehensible to
520 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
me. School-teachers should be the first to set the people practical examples in sane living, which means sanitary living, and should improve the great practical opportunity afforded by the public schools to bring home to their pupils certain homely but much-needed lessons in ordinary decency.
In another important particular the Bureau of Education has, in my opinion, fallen short of performing its manifest duty. Not only does beri-beri kill some five thousand Fili- pinos outright, annually, and cripple ten times as many, but it is believed to be a determining factor in the deaths of large numbers of infants through its untoward in- fluence upon their mothers. As previously stated, the fact that it is due to a diet made up too largely of polished rice has been demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt. Persons who eat unpoUshed rice do not contract it. Tiqui-tiqui, the substance removed from rice in the process of polishing, has proved to be a very effective remedy for it. The use of polished rice should therefore be discouraged, yet at the Phihppine Normal School, where the brightest and best youths of the land receive their final education before going out to teach their fellows, polished rice is fur- nished the students ; and the director of health, and I myself, have sought in vain to have the unpolished article substituted for it.
The secretary of public instruction has stated, with obvious truth, that it is only when polished rice forms a very large element in the diet that there is actual danger of its causing beri-beri, and so far as I am aware no case of beri-beri has occurred at this school ; but the practical result of the present practice will be that the graduates, while instructing their pupils in the dangers of the use of polished rice, will themselves continue to use it. There exists at the present time a foolish prejudice against unpolished rice, which, although far more nutritious and actually more palatable than the polished article, does not look so attractive and is commonly considered "poor man's food." So long as the instructors in the
EDUCATION 521
public schools continue to teach by precept that its use is dangerous, and by example that it is safe, the undis- criminating and ignorant Filipino public, which does not draw fine distinctions, will be encouraged to continue to eat it, will eat it in excess, and will pay the penalty.
The Bureau of Education has cooperated with the Bureau of Lands in instructing the people as to the right to acquire homesteads and free patents. It has also given the Bureau of Public Works assistance in promoting the campaign for good roads. Its system of civico- educational lectures has met with fair results. Thousands of people have secured information relative to the rights and duties of citizens, the prevention of human and animal diseases, and the growing of corn, coconuts and other useful crops. A corn-raising contest in 1912 was participated in by more than thirty thousand boys, and thousands of people attended the demonstrations which formed a part of the campaign. This is a most important matter. Corn is a far better food than rice.
At first the only books available for use in the schools were those prepared for American children. These were soon found to be unsuited to the needs of Filipino children, and teachers were set to work to prepare more suitable text-books. Book companies in the United States quickly interested themselves, and as a result there is now in general use a comprehensive series of text-books partic- ularly adapted to the needs of Filipinos.
In the secondary grades American text-books are quite generally used, although a few special texts deahng with literature, rhetoric, economic conditions and colonial history have been prepared in the islands.
In order to keep the teacher in the field well informed, the Bureau of Education has issued a large number of bulletins and circulars on matters of current interest. These bulletins have covered instruction in domestic science, drawing, manners and right conduct, school buildings and grounds, embroidery and athletics, and
522 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
have conveyed information as to the general and special courses of study followed in such schools as the School of Arts and Trades, the School of Commerce and the Normal School. They have received much commenda- tion from educators in the United States and the Orient.
When pubhc schools were first opened children crowded into them by thousands. With them came many adults who beheved that they could learn English in a period of a few weeks, or in a few months at the most. No doubt they entered the schools in many cases with the idea of thus conciliating the victorious American nation. It was not long until they realized that there was no royal road to learning. Then came a slump in attendance. Largely through the influence of the American teacher and his Filipino assistants, the attendance was again built up. This time the people clearly understood that education is not a matter of a few months or weeks. It is greatly to their credit that they have now settled down to a realiza- tion of what public education is, and are giving the public school system most loyal support.
The industrial programme has been accepted with enthusiasm, and without doubt there are in the islands to-day thousands of people who believe that it is a Filipino product.
There is an interest in athletic sports that can hardly be equalled in any other country. The crowds of en- thusiastic spectators that attend every meet of importance testify to the hold that such sports have taken upon the people, whose attitude toward all forms of education is such that it needs only adequate revenue to develop an effective school system along the broadest lines.
Manhood suffrage does not exist in the Philippines. The qualifications for an elector are as follows : he must be a male citizen at least twenty-three years of age, with a legal residence of six months previous to election in the municipality where his vote is cast, and must belong to at least one of the three following classes : —
EDUCATION 523
1. Those who, previous to August 13, 1898, held the office of municipal captain, gobernadorcillo, alcalde, lieutenant, cabeza de barangay, or member of any ayuntamiento.
2. Those who hold real property to the value of S250 or annually pay $15 or more of established taxes.
3. Those who speak, read or write English or Spanish.
With a population of approximately eight million people, there were, in 1912, two hundred forty-eight thousand qualified voters. Of these a large number had obtained the franchise because they belonged to class 1 or class 2. Death yearly claims its quota from both these classes, but the public schools more than make up the decrease by their yearly contribution. Any boy who finishes the primary course possesses the Uterary qualifications of an elector, and will become one on at- taining legal age.
In 1912 there were graduated from the primary schools 11,200 pupils, of whom approximately 7466 were males; from the intermediate schools 3062 pupils, of whom 2295 were males ; and from the secondary schools 221 pupils, of whom 175 were males. In that year alone the schools therefore contributed 9936 to the contingent of persons qualified by literary attainments to vote. Of these 175 are perhaps capable of intelligently holding municipal and provincial offices, and to this number may probably be added half of the 2295 intermediate male graduates, making an increase of 1362 in the possible leaders of the people.
The pubUc schools, however, do not limit their con- tributions to that part of the electoral body having lit- erary qualifications only. Vocational training, it is true, is limited in the primary grades to cottage indus- tries ; but no pupil is graduated from the primary schools with only literary quaUfications. In some form or other, he has had a vocational start. His own energy must determine the use he makes of it.
The intermediate schools add vocational training to
524 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
increased academic training. All their graduates have done three years' work in the general course, leading to a literary course in the high schools, the course in farming, the course in teaching, the business course, the course in housekeeping and household arts or the trade course.
Of the graduates of secondary schools a small part have highly specialized vocational training; but the great majority have followed the literary course and have undoubtedly done this with the idea of entering pohtical life. Rome was not built in a day, and in spite of her- culean American efforts, it will be a long time before Filipinos cease to regard a certain kind of literary culture as the proper basis for statesmanship. It has been said of them that they have "the fatal gift of oratory" ! The future leaders of the Filipino people, dependent or in- dependent, must be the output of the pubhc schools. The danger is that the number of would-be leaders will be disproportionately great in comparison with that of the useful but relatively inconspicuous rank and file.
There are in the Philippine Islands fully twelve hundred thousand children of school age. The present available resources are sufficient to educate less than one-half of that number.
The claim has been made that a due proportion of the very limited revenues of the insular government has not been expended for educational purposes. It is not justi- fied by the facts. It is certainly important to keep the Filipinos alive, and if this is not done, they can hardly be educated. The expenditure to date ^ from insular funds for health work, including cost of necessary new buildings, has been approximately S9,630,000 ; that for educational purposes, also including buildings, approximately $21,376,000.
As a simple matter of fact, the Bureau of Education has been treated not only with liberality but in one re- gard with very great leniency. Taking advantage of ' End of fiscal year 1913.
The Sacred Thee uf the Iflgai;*.
This great tree at Quiangan is considered sacred by the Ifugaos of that region.
They believe that when it dies they too will perish.
EDUCATION 525
the friendly attitude of the legislative body and of the people toward education, one of its earlier directors in- curred expense with utter disregard for appropriations. He repeatedly made deficits of $150,000 to $250,000 and then in effect calmly asked us what we were going to do about it. After stating that I, for one, would never vote to make good another deficit incurred by him while he was allowed to remain in the service, and at a time when I was threatening to hold the director of forestry per- sonally responsible for a deficit of S5000 resulting in his bureau from unforeseen expenditures by forest offi- cers in remote places, and therefore more or less excusable, I learned that the usual shortage in the Bureau of Edu- cation had again occurred and was being covered by the quiet transfer of a sum approximating $200,000.
The present director of education believes that the total number of children who would enter the pubhc schools without compulsion, if adequate facihties were provided, is approximately eight hundred thousand. Until revenues materially increase not many more than five hundred thousand of these can be educated, if due regard is had for other imperative necessities of the government and the people. If the people of the United States, or any political body composed of them, really desire to help the Filipinos toward the practical realization of their ideal of an independent, self-sustaining government, let them stop talking about the advisability of now conferring upon the present generation of adults additional rights and privileges, and provide the hard cash necessary to make mtelligent, well-trained citizens out of the three hundred thousand children who are now annually left without educational advantages which they earnestly desire, and greatly need.
Under the Spanish regime private education as dis- tinguished from that provided for by the government attained considerable importance. At the time of the American occupation, Santo Tomas, the oldest univer-
626 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
sity under the American flag, had colleges of medicine and surgery, theology, law, engineering and philosophy. There were also numerous private so-called "colleges" for boys and girls and very numerous smaller private institutions. At first the establishment of pubUc schools had no apparent effect on those conducted privately other than to induce them to introduce the study of EngUsh, but as years went by, the organization, modern methods and industrial development of the public schools forced the private institutions into activity. The law provides that the secretary of public instruction may give ap- proval and recognition to such private schools as meet certain requirements, and in 1910 a division superintend- ent of schools was detailed to assist him in carrying out this provision. His report for the period ending Septem- ber 1, 1912, is a very interesting document. It compares the Philippine private schools with those of South America, very much to the disadvantage of the former. It notes particidarly the lack of manual training in boys' schools and the lack of standardization in the manual training of girls' schools ; and speaks of the allegiance of the Filipino institution to the classical programme of mediae- val institutions of learning. It is a notable fact, however, that English is gaining. Thirty-four private schools are giving their entire primary and intermediate courses in that language ; nine are giving primary, intermediate and high school courses in it, and two are so giving all courses, including the college course.
These private institutions are employing pubhc and normal school graduates as teachers to a constantly in- creasing extent. They are bringing their courses of study into conformity and competition with those of the public schools ; are introducing athletics ; using stand- ard patterns and materials in their industrial work, and rapidly improving their buildings and equipment. Dur- ing the year 1911-1912 improvements to the value of $100,000 were made in four of the Manila private schools :
EDUCATION 527
the Jesuits are planning a new college to cost 81,000,000 ; the Dominicans an expenditure of 3500,000 on a new uni- versity, and the Liceo de Manila looks forward to becom- ing the most modern and best equipped school in the islands.
Twenty-five private schools have already received government recognition and approval.
No account of education would be complete without mention of the University of the Philippines. Higher education is the great conscious goal of Filipino desire ; and to meet the growing need for it, an act passed June IS, 1908, established this institution. Subsequent amend- ments authorized, when practicable, colleges of liberal arts, law, social and political science, medicine and siu-gery, phar- macy, dentistry, veterinary science, engineering, mines, agriculture and fine arts. At present there are in actual operation the colleges of hberal arts, veterinary science, engineering, medicine and surgery', law, agriculture and the school of fine arts. Instruction in pharmacy is given in the College of Liberal Arts, and instruction in forestry is given in the College of Agriculture. By special acts of the Philippine legislature, several scholarships have been provided, but for the most part the university is open only to those who can afford to live in Manila dur- ing their period of attendance.
The opening of some of these colleges has served sharply to call attention to one of the present weaknesses of the Filipino people. It is but a few years since agriculture was well-nigh prostrated as a result of the decimation of cattle and horses throughout the islands by contagious diseases. The need for well-trained veterinarians was, and is, imperative. Filipinos properly qualified to under- take veterinary work would be certain of profitable em- ployment. A good veterinary course was offered in 1909. At the same time the School of Fine Arts was opened. No one took the veterinary course the first year. Admissions to the School of Fine Arts were
528 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
closed when they reached seven hundred fourteen. At the end of the school year 1912-1913 the students in the Veterinary College numbered twenty-seven as compared with six hundred ninety-four in the School of Fine Arts. The grand total enrolment of this latter institution since its organization is thu'ty-two hundred twenty-nine, while that of the Veterinary College during the same period is forty-seven. It is necessary to restrict attendance at the School of Fine Arts. Until there is a livelier and more general interest in saving carabaos than in paint- ing them, the country will not attain to a high degree of material prosperity through the efforts of its own people.
I take genuine pleasure and pride in briefly describing the work of the Philippine Training School for Nurses. I have always beUeved that young Fihpina women would make excellent trained nurses, and I earnestly endeavoiu-ed to have a certain number of them included among the first government students sent to the United States for education soon after the establishment of civil government. In this effort I rather ignominiously failed. The prejudices of the Filipino people were then radically opposed to such a course, and my colleagues of the com- mission were not convinced that it would lead to useful practical results.
To the Bureau of Education must be given credit for inaugurating the movement which has resulted in the firm establishment of the profession of nursing in the Philippine Islands as an honourable avocation for women. At an early date it employed an American trained nurse to give instruction, and inaugurated a preparatory course at its Normal School dormitory. The work at the out- set could not be made of a very practical nature, but after a number of bright and well-trained young women had become interested in it arrangements were perfected for giving them actual training at the government in- stitution then known as the Civil Hospital. Here strong
EDUCATION 529
racial prejudices of the Filipinos were gradually over- come, and the student nurses soon showed themselves to be unexpectedly practical, faithful and efficient.
Later when the great Philippine General Hospital was estabUshed it became possible for the Bureau of Health to open a school under the immediate control of the chief nurse, and to take over all the work of training nurses. Students at this school are supported at government expense while in training. Its opportunities and advan- tages are open to young men, as well as to young women, and may be extended to a number not exceeding one hundred six of each sex at a given time.
The training of young women began sooner, and thus far has resulted more satisfactorily, than has that of young men, although many of the latter are now making good progress.
The work is popular, and as there are more candidates than places only the more promising are admitted. They have shown that they possessed common-sense bj^ avoid- ing the traps set for them by Filipino politicians and newspaper reporters. Their tact and self-respect have brought them safely through many embarrassing, and a few cruelly trjdng, situations forced upon them by the unkindness or brutality of those whom they have sought to serve. Their gentleness and kindness have endeared them to their patients, and it is now a common thing for Americans to request the services of Filipina nurses. Their faithfulness and efficiency have won the confidence of patients and physicians aUke. Their courage has enabled them to triumph over the prejudices of their own people, and to perform many hard, disagreeable tasks, and meet some very real dangers, -without faltering. The gratefulness which they have shown for the oppor- tunity to help their people, no less than for the interest taken in them by Americans, has won them many friends. The training of Filipina nurses has passed far beyond the experimental stage ; it is a great success.
530 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
Instruction in the Philippine Nurses' Training School is now largely given by members of the university faculty and the graduates of this school must certainly be num- bered among the most highly educated women of the Philip- pines. More of them are sadly needed, not only in gov- ernment institutions, but in private hospitals, and es- pecially in the provincial towns, where a few of them are already engaging in district nursing with unqualified success. The country might well get on for the present with fewer lawyers, and fewer artists, if the number of nurses could be increased.
Equally praiseworthy is the work of the students and graduates of the College of Medicine and Surgery, which is housed in a commodious and adequate building. Their theoretical instruction is of a very high character, and they have almost unrivalled facilities for practical clini- cal work in the Philippine General Hospital. Entrance requirements are high and the course of study is severe. A number of the best students do post-graduate work in the hospital, where they are employed as internes and assistants. As a result, the college is turning out grad- uates admirably qualified for the great work which awaits them among their own people.
The other colleges of the university are, for the most part, doing their work efficiently and well, and as a rule their students are showing appreciation of the opportu- nities afforded them, and are utilizing them to good advantage.
Important educational work is being carried on by various bureaus of the government. The Bureau of Lands has an excellent school for surveyors. The Bureau of Printing is in itself a great industrial school, and ninety-five per cent of its work is now done by Filipinos trained within its walls, while many others who have had practical instruction there have found profitable private employment.
An excellent school is conducted in Bilibid Prison with
EDUCATION 531
convicts as teachers. A very large proportion of the prisoners receive practical instruction in manual training and are fitted to earn honest livings when their sentences expire. Furthermore, they readily secure employment, as the men discharged from this institution have in many cases earned well-deserved reputations for honesty and industry.
All the women confined at Bilibid are taught to make pillow lace.
At the Bontoc Prison, the non-Christian tribe convicts of the islands are taught useful industries, and so satis- factoiy are the results that I have formed the habit of calling the institution my "university."
At the Iwahig agricultural penal colony convicts are taught modern agricultural methods under a system such that they gradually become owners of houses, land and agricultural implements and may in the end have their families with them so that they are well settled for life when their sentences expire, if they take advantage of the opportunities given them.
The educational policy which the United States has adopted in dealing with the Filipinos is without a parallel in history'. I am glad to have assisted in its inauguration, and I am proud of its results, which will make themselves felt more and more as the years go by. Even now Eng- lish is far more widely spoken in the Philippine Islands than Spanish ever was, and this is a boon the magnitude of which cannot be appreciated by those who have not had brought home to them by experience the disadvan- tages incident to the existence of very numerous dialects among the inhabitants of one country.
WTien it is remembered that in the present instance each of these dialects is very poor in hterature, and that its use is limited to a million or two of human beings at the most, the enormous value of instruction in English will be realized, to some extent at least.
CHAPTER XX
The Exploration of Non-Chkistian Territory
At the time of their discovery the Philippine Islands were inhabited by a very large number of distinct tribes the civilization of which was directly comparable with that of the Negritos, the Igorots and the Moros as they exist to-day. Do not understand me to imply that the Negritos, the Igorots and the Moros have attained to the same stage of civilization.
The Negritos belong to a distinct race. They are woolly-headed, nearly black, and of ahnost dwarfish stature. They seem to be incapable of any considerable progress and cannot be civilized. Intellectually they stand close to the bottom of the human series, being about on a par with the South African bushmen and the Austra- lian blacks.
The Igorots are of Malayan origin. They are un- doubtedly the descendants of the earlier, if not the ear- liest, of the Malay invaders of the Philippines, and up to the time of the .\merican occupation had retained their primitive characteristics.
The Moros, or Mohammedan Malays of the southern Philippines, exemplify what may be considered the highest stage of civilization to which Malaj's have ever attained unaided. They are the descendants of the latest Malay invaders and were, at the time of the discovery of the islands, rapidly prosecuting an effective campaign for their mohammedanization.
At the outset the Spaniards made extraordinary progress in subduing, with comparatively little bloodshed, many of these different peoples, but the Moros at first successfully
532
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 533
resisted them, were not brought under anything approach- ing control until the day of steam gun-boats and modem firearms, and were still causing serious trouble when Spanish sovereignty ended.
As time elapsed the political and military estabhsh- ments of Spam in the Philippines seem to have lost much of their virility. At all events the campaign for the control and advancement of even the non-j\Iohammedan wild peoples was never pushed to a successful termination, and there to-day remains a very extensive territory, amounting to about one-half of the total land area, which is populated by non-Christian peoples so far as it is populated at all. Such peoples make up ap- proximately an eighth of the entire population.
When civil government was established I was put in general executive control of matters pertaining to the non- Christian tribes. Incidentally, a word about that rather unsatisfactory term "non-Christian." It has been found excessively difficult to find a single word which would satisfactorily designate the peoples, other than the civilized and Christianized peoples commonly known as Filipinos, which inhabit the Philippines. They cannot be called pagan because some of them are ]VIohammedan, while others seem to have no form of religious worship. They cannot be called wild, for some of them are quite as gentle, and as highly civilized, as are their Christian neighbours. The one characteristic which they have in common is their refusal to accept the Christian faith, and their adherence to their ancient refigious beliefs, or their lack of such beliefs as the case may be. I am therefore forced to employ the term "non-Christian" in designating them, although I fully recognize its awkwardness.
While serving with the First Philippine Commission I was charged with the duty of writing up the non- Christian tribes for its report, and tried to exhaust all available sources of information. The result of my investi- gations was most unsatisfactory to me. I could neither
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534 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
find out how many wild tribes there were, nor could I learn with any degree of accuracy the territory which the kno\vn tribes occupied, much less obtain accurate information relative to their physical characteristics, their customs or their beliefs.
The most satisfactory source of information was the work of Blumentritt, an Austrian ethnological writer ; but Blumentritt had never set foot in the Philippines, and I suspected at the outset what later proved to be the case, that his statements were very inaccurate. He recognized more than eighty tribes of which thirty-six were said by him to be found in northern Luzon.
As it was obviously impossible to draft adequate legisla- tion for the control and civilization of numerous savage or barbarous peoples without reliable data on which to base it, and as such data were not available, I had to get them for myself, and undertook a series of explorations, carried out during the dry seasons so far as possible, in order to gather my information on the ground.
I first visited Benguet in July and August, 1900.
On my second northern trip I traversed the province of Benguet from south to north, arrived at Cervantes in Lepanto, and was about to leave for the territory of the Bontoc head-hunters when I received a telegraphic sum- mons to return to Manila for the inauguration of Governor Taft on July 4, 1901.
The following year such time as could be spared from my duties at Manila was necessarily devoted to the search for a suitable island for the site of a proposed leper colony ; but in 1903 I was able to make a somewhat extended ex- ploring trip, traversing the country of the Tingians in Abra, passing through the mountains which separate that province from Lepanto, visiting the numerous settlements of the Lepanto Igorots and continuing my journey to Cayan, Bagnin, Sagada and Bontoc; and thence through various settlements of the Bontoc Igorots to Banaue in the territory of the Ifugaos.
Entrance to the Quiangax 8cHOOL-HorsE. The Ifugao boys on either side of the stairway helped build this remarkable structure. Most of their companions in the work were older, but ail were of school age.
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 535
The latter portion of the trip was not unattended with excitement. A few weeks before a fairlj^ strong con- stabulary detachment, anned with carbines, had been driven to the top of a conical hill in the Ifugao country and besieged there until a runner made his way out at night and brought assistance. We felt that there was some uncertainty as to the reception which would be accorded us. The Bontoc Igorots who accompanied us did not feel that there was any uncertainty whatever as to what awaited them, but were more than anxious to go along with us, as they were spoiling for a fight with their ancient enemies.
We had to use them for carriers to transport our bag- gage, and each carrier insisted on having an armed com- panion to lug his lance and shield. As a precautionary measure we took with us twenty-five Bontoc Igorot constabulary soldiers armed with carbines, while each of the five American members of the party carried a heavy six-shooter. We also had with us a dog which was supposed to be especially clever at seasonably discovering ambushes and giving warning.
We were able to use horses more or less as far as the top of the Polis range, but the trail down its eastern slopes was impracticable for horses and dangerous for pedestrians.
We shivered for a night on a chilly mountain crest, and the next day continued our journey to Banaue. When still several miles from the town, we were met by an old Ifugao chief with two companions. They marched boldly up to us and inquired whether we were planning to visit Banaue. On receiving an affirmative reply, the chief asked if our visit was friendly or hostile. I assured him that we were friends who had come to get acquainted with the Ifugaos. He said he was glad to hear this, but that after all it did not really matter. If we wished to be friends, they were willing to be friendly ; but if we wanted to fight, they would be glad to give
536 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
US a chance. As he and his companions were facing a column of eighty-seven armed men I rather admired his courage.
He next presented me with what I now know to be an Ifugao gift of friendship, to wit, a white rooster and six eggs, after which" he took from one of his companions a bottle filled with bubud,^ and having first taken a drink to show me that it was not poisoned, handed it to me. I did my duty, and we were friends.
We then proceeded on our way to Banaue, being obliged to plunge down through the rice terraces to the bottom of a deep canon and then climb two almost perpendicular earthen walls before reaching the house of the chief.
I was completely exhausted when I began this climb, and did not feel comfortable clinging like a tree frog to the face of a clay bank with nothing to support me except rather shallow holes which could be better negotiated by Ifugaos, possessed of prehensile toes, than by men wearing shoes. Seeing my predicament, an Ifugao climbed down from above, pulled my coat-tails up over my head and hung on to them, while another came up behind me, put his hands on my heels and carefully placed my toes in the holes prepared for their reception. Thus aided, I finally reached the top.
The Ifugaos did not invite us to enter their houses, but allowed us to camp under them. I was assigned quarters under the house of the chief. It was tastefully ornamented, at the height of the floor, with a very striking frieze of alternating human skulls and carabao skulls.
One of my reasons for coming to Banaue at this time was that I had heard that the people of seven other towns had recently formed a confederation and attacked it, losing about a hundred and fifty heads before they were driven off. I therefore thought that there might be a favourable opportunity to learn something of head-hunting, and to secure some photographs illustrating customs
■ A fermented alcoholic beverage made from rice.
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 537
which I hoped would become rare in the near future, as indeed they did.
Trouble promptly arose between our Bontoc friends and the Ifugaos. The Bontocs wanted to purchase food. Some baskets of camotes were brought and thrown down before them and they were told that they were welcome to camotes, which were suitable food for Bontoc Igorots and pigs, but that if they wanted rice they would have to come out and get it. As twenty-five of them were armed with carbines and all the rest had lances, shields and head-axes, they were more than anxious to go, but this we could hardlj- permit ! So we put them in a stockade under guard, and subsisted them ourselves, a thing which neces- sarily rendered our stay brief, as provisions soon ran low.
The Ifugaos of Banaue showed themselves most friendly, but warned us that a large hostile party was waiting to attack us at Kababuyan, a short distance down the trail. ]My mission to the Ifugao country was to estabUsh kindly relations with the people rather than kill them, so I did my best to get on good terms with the inhabitants of the more friendly settlements.
The day before we left, people came in haste from a neighbouring village to advise us that one of their men had lost his head to the Ifugaos of Cambiilo, and begged us to join them in a punitive expedition, assuring us that there were numerous pigs and chickens at Cambiilo and that our combined forces would have no difficulty in whipping the people of that place, after wliich we could have a most enjoyable time plundering the town, while they would secure a goodly toll of heads wliich might be advantageously emploj-ed in further ornamenting their Banaue homes. They were greatly disgusted when we declined to join them, and said they would do the job anyhow, as no doubt they did.
First, however, they insisted that we come with them to see that the story they had told us was true. We soon overtook a procession carrying a very much beheaded
538 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
man who was being borne out for burial on his shield, and were readily granted permission to attend his funeral. It was an interesting and weird affair. After it was over we hastened back to Banaue, in constant fear of breaking our necks by falling down the high, nearly perpendicular, walls of the rice terraces, on the tops of v/hich we had to walk. Most of us discarded our shoes, in order to mini- mize the danger of a fall. One member of the party, who insisted on wearing his, glissaded down a steep wall and had to be pulled out of the mud and water at the bottom. Fortunately he was not injured.
Having succeeded beyond our expectations in establish- ing friendly relations with the Ifugaos of Banaue we took our departure, requesting them to tell their neighbours about us and promising to visit them again. I returned to Bontoc and made my way to Baguio in Benguet through the Agno River valley, stopping at numerous settlements of the Benguet Igorots on the way.
It was not possible for me to make further explorations in the territory of the Luzon wild people until 1905. In this year I set out, accompanied by Mr. Samuel E. Kane, an American who spoke Ilocano exceptionally well, and Colonel Bias Villamor, a former Insurgent officer, who was more familiar with the territory which I desired to visit than any one else of whom I could learn. He had established friendly relations with some of its inhabitants during the insurrection.
We visited several of the wilder settlements of the Tingians in Abra, then made a hard climb over Mount Pico de Loro and descended its eastern slopes to the Tingian village of Balbalasan in the Saltan River valley. Its people, while not really head-hunters, were often obUged to defend themselves against their Kalinga neighbours, and were consequently well armed.
After a brief rest we continued our journey down the Saltan River, visiting settlements on the high hills in its immediate vicinity.
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 539
At Salecsec we had an extended conference with an old chief named Atumpa, a very acute man of wide ex- perience and sound judgment, who exercised great in- fluence in the territory through which we had just passed.
Atumpa, satisfied as to our good intentions, consented to accompany us into the Kalinga countrJ^ A Kalinga chief named Saking, whom Villamor had known during the insurrection, met us here, and told us of a war trail into his territory which would greatly shorten our pro- posed journey, and make it possible for us to reach in one day the first of the previously unknown Kalinga settlements of the Mabaca River valley.
Saking, observing that the people in the Saltan valley had cleaned off their old trails, and in some cases had built new ones for our convenience, went ahead of us to his own country in order to tr}^ to j^ersuade his people to do some trail work, leaving us to follow him.
Our route lay over the top of a high peak called "Dead Man's Mountain" because a good many people who tried to climb it never came down, the true explanation of their failure to appear being no doubt that they perished from exposure during violent storms.
While ascending this mountain I suffered an attack of partial paralysis of the legs, due, as I now have reason to beheve, to heart strain, but was able to continue the journey after a brief rest and the use of stimulants.
A considerable part of our trip down the steep northern slopes of this mountain was made by utihzing a stream bed in lieu of a trail, and was in consequence very un- comfortable and somewhat dangerous, as the chance for broken bones was good. Fortunately, however, no one was badly hurt.
At the first Kalinga village we found about a hundred and twenty fighting men armed with shields and head- axes, but Saking and his brother Bakidan at once came forward to greet us and we did not suspect mischief.
I had brought with me from Manila a great bag of
540 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
newly coined pennies. They looked like gold, and we distributed them among the warriors, who were greatly dehghted and promptly proceeded to place them in the ends of the huge ear plugs which the men of this tribe are so fond of wearing. Every one seemed friendly enough at the outset, but soon a rather disturbing incident occurred.
There were eight chiefs present. I noticed that they suddenly withdrew a short distance and squatted all together in a circle as if by word of command. After a brief but very animated discussion they rose simulta- neously, and six of them started down the trail at a run, while Bakidan and Saking came to us and somewhat anxiously suggested that it was time to be moving on.
Our way lay through enormous runo grass which closed in over our heads, so that we were marching in a rather low tunnel through the vegetation. Bakidan went ahead of us, Saking brought up the rear, and both were evidently on the alert. Bakidan suggested that we keep our re- volvers handy, which we did.
A short march brought us to Saking's place. Here a still larger body of fighting men awaited us, and there were no women in evidence except Saking's wife, who, at the direction of her husband, came forward, and under his instructions sought to shake hands with us. This was a new ceremony to the Kahngas, and she gave us her left hand.
Standing in a conspicuous place in front of Saking's house were two baskets filled with flowers which were wet with blood. We surmised, rightlj^ as it later proved, that these baskets had contained human heads just before our arrival, and that we had interrupted a head-
' Canao is the word commonly used by the northern Luz6n wild men in designating a feast or ceremony. In Ahayao it is also used as an adjective to designate a place which may not be approached, being then equivalent to "taboo."
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THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 541
One did not need to be an expert in the moods of wild men to see that the people of this place were feeling ugly, and after shaking hands with Saking's wife we promptly marched on.
It was fortunate for us that we did so. We later learned that the conference of the eight chiefs which aroused our suspicion had been held to discuss our fate. Six of them were in favor of kilhng us immediatelj^, arguing that we were the first white men to penetrate their country ; that they might have to carry our baggage, which would be a lot of trouble ; and that if they allowed us to pass through others might follow us, whereas if they killed us they would have no further trouble with strangers. Saking was severely criticized for having told us the where- abouts of the war trail over which we had come, and was appointed a committee of one on extermination, with power to act. In fact, he was directed to take liis people and kill us, but he dechned to obey instructions, and the other chiefs had run down the trail ahead of us in order to gather a sufficient force to wipe our party out. Sak- ing's people were somewhat loath to act under the orders of any one else, and our sojourn among them was so brief that they did not have time definitely to make up their minds to attack us.
We now rapidly completed our journey to Bakidan's place, where we were to spend the night. Here again a crowd of armed fighting men awaited us. It was momen- tarily augmented by the arrival of recruits from the villages through which we had just passed.
Still unsuspicious of mischief, we turned our revolvers over to one of our Ilocano companions, a man named Lucio, who had served as Aguinaldo's mail-carrier during the latter days of the insurrection. We then walked into the middle of the crowd and sat down on pieces of our own luggage.
Bakidan immediately brought me a small wicker basket of very dirty looking bananas. I was nauseated as a
542 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
result of severe exertion in climbing Dead Man's Moun- tain, and the bananas did not look appetizing, so I thanked him and put the basket on my lap. Instantly I felt strong tension rising in the crowd. We had brought along chief Atumpa and several friendly Kalingas from the Saltan Eiver valley. They seized their head-axes and stepped in beliind us, facing out. Bakidan instantly with- drew into his own house, and from a point where hardly any one except myself could see him made emphatic gestures, indicating that I was to eat. Little suspecting the significance of the act, but desirous of placating his outraged feelings if he felt that his hospitality had not been appreciated, I hastily peeled a banana and took a bite. To my amazement, there was an instant and ob- vious relaxation of tension in the crowd. The Kalinga warriors loosened their grip on their head-axes and began to walk about and talk. My own old men also assumed an air of indifference.
Much puzzled, I made up my mind to look into this matter further, and later learned that when people from one Kalinga settlement visit those of another if the latter wish to be friendly it is customary for them to offer the visitors salt if they have it, bananas if salt is lacking, and water in the event that neither salt nor bananas are available. If the visitors wish to accept the friendship thus profTered, they promptly eat or drink, as the case may be ; otherwise it is understood that they have come looking for trouble.
Bakidan had ceremonially proffered the friendship of himself and his people, and in my ignorance I had practi- cally declared war on the whole outfit ! When I learned these facts I asked Bakidan why they did not kill us at once. He said they were afraid. I expressed my sur- prise that they should be afraid of three unarmed men, and he explained that it was very bad etiquette in the Kalinga country for a person with a head-axe to go behind another, and that we had amazed every one when we walked into
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 543
the midst of that gathering of armed men and sat down with our backs to half of them. They instantly concluded that we had, concealed about our persons, some new and strange device with which we could annihilate a crowd, hence they were afraid !
Here, as at Saking's place, we had interrupted a head- cahao. The head had been smuggled out of sight just before our arrival. The canao was now renewed and continued all night, although the head was not again put in evidence. It is needless to say that we attended. We witnessed one of the weirdest sights I have ever seen.
The following day was spent in distributing presents to the Kahnga head-men, in taking photographs, and in getting a Uttle much needed rest. As evening drew near Bakidan suggested that it was about time we formally made friends with each other. We were beginning to feel rather far away from home, and wanted all the friends we could get, so promptly acceded to his suggestion and repaired to his house at eight o'clock, the hom- he had in- dicated.
The ceremony proved very simple. His wife fried some boiled rice in fat — dog fat as we afterward learned, but fortunately we did not know this at the moment ! We all squatted on the floor, Bakidan facing us, and the dish of fried rice was placed between us. He squeezed a mass of it into a ball and gave it to me. I ate it, and then rendered him a similar service. He ate in turn, and we were friends ! The same procedure was followed with each of my companions.
In the midst of the ceremony there came a very unex- pected interruption. A KaUnga woman was standing near me holding a torch. She had been silent and had seemed timid. I chanced to stretch out my right hand palm up. To my surprise she uttered an exclamation which was almost a shriek, seized my wrist and began to point excitedly to the lines in my palm. The other Kahngas gathered about, evidently greatly interested.
544 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
Several of them showed the lines in the palms of their own hands, and an animated conversation ensued. I asked what it all meant, and was informed that I was going to become a man of great influence ! I had ah'eady modestly introduced myself as the ruler of all non-Christians, so found this reply unsatisfactory, but could get no other.
It was fortunate indeed for us that we made friends with Bakidan. On the following day we continued our journey down the valley. Our baggage was carried by women, children and a few old and more or less decrepit warriors who obviously felt deeply insulted at being required to render such a menial service, and were decidedly resent- ful toward Bakidan for having ordered them to do it.
Before we started Bakidan warned us that the KaUngas were queer people, and in consequence it would be well for us very quietly to go around certain of their settle- ments. Others we would visit. Their inhabitants would be sm'e to invite us to stay and enjoy their hospitaUty. He would second every such invitation. We were to pay no attention to his words, but were to note whether or not he sat down. If he did, we might accept the invi- tation. Otherwise we must plead an urgent engagement farther down the valley and move on.
Things came out exactly as he had foretold. In several villages we heard noises decidedly suggestive of head canaos, and discreetly circled these places. We declined all invitations seconded by Bakidan when he did not seat himself, and rested comfortably for a time in several ^'illages where he did.
Toward noon we walked straight into an ambush laid for us in the runo grass, discovering it only when Bakidan began to dehver a forceful oration in which he set forth the fact that he had a right to stroll down his own valley with a partj^ of friends without being annoyed by having his fellow tribesmen hide beside the trail and prepare to throw lances.
Bakidan, who was himself a famous warrior, told these
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 545
men that they might kill us if they saw fit to do so, but must kill him first. Apparently rather ashamed of themselves, they came out on to the trail and slunk off to their town. Bakidan, greatly disgusted, suggested that we follow ithem and lunch in their village just to show that we were not afraid of them, and we did this.
After lunch I photographed a number of our late opponents, and we then continued our journey, escorted by a Kahnga chief named Bogauit from Took-Took. This man had previously descended to the Cagayan valley, where he had seen white people, and hearing of our advent in the Kahnga country, and fearing that we might have trouble in getting carriers for our baggage, had come with his fighting men to help us out.
The people of his village received us in a most friendly spirit, and after attending a bit of a canao organized in our honour, and doing our best to entertain the crowd with a few simple experiments in physics, and some sleight-of- hand tricks, we retired, as we supposed, for a peaceful night's rest.
No such good fortune awaited us. We were aroused in the middle of the night by a fearful din only to find our hut surrounded by a great circle of armed men. The people who had attempted to ambush us earlier in the day had repented of their action in letting us pass through unharmed, had gathered a strong force of fighting men, had surrounded our house and were now vociferously demanding to be allowed to take our heads.
Old Bakidan was apparenth' fighting a duel with their chief in the midst of the circle. The two men were dancing around each other with cat-like steps, occasionally coming to close quarters and clashing shields, then leaping apart, swinging their head-axes and obviously watching for an opportunity to strike home. Had either of them gained any decided advantage of position he would doubtless have used his head-axe, and this would have started a fight which could have had but one ending.
546 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
Owing to a mistake made when the ammunition for our trip was purchased, we had just twenty-two revolver cartridges amongst us, and in the darkness they would have been worth about as much as so many firecrackers. The roof of the house was dry as tinder ; a blazing brand thrown on it would promptly have forced us into the open. We should have been met by a flight of head-axes and lances, and this book would not have been written !
The majority of the crowd were determined to take our heads. The Took-Took people, greatly outnumbered, were evidently on the fence, and Bakidan was our only advocate. He still insisted that any one who wished to kill us must kill him first. His reputation stood him in good stead, and no one tackled the job. The uproar continued until nearly morning. Bdsi, a strong native liquor, was constantly passed. Indeed, every one but Bakidan had been drunk when we were first awakened. Finally food was handed around, and when the excited warriors stopped yelling in order to eat it the liquor had a chance to work, and most of them went to sleep.
We might probably have then effected our escape for the time being, but it was utterly impossible for us to get out of the country without the assistance of the Kalingas, and we decided to see the thing out right there.
In the morning the crowd was uglier than ever. As we crossed the little plaza they suddenly closed in on us with the obvious intention of doing for us, and we thought the end had come. At this critical moment a diversion was created in our favour by the wholly unexpected arrival of a letter brought in by a Kalinga runner. It had fol- lowed us all the way from Abra, and contained information about two pieces of baggage which were missing when we started. Its arrival greatly alarmed the hostiles, who interrogated me as to whether soldiers were coming. They had heard of soldiers, but had never seen them. I assured them that the arrival or non-arrival of soldiers
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THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 547
would depend on the way they treated us, and to our
utter amazement, they presently faded away.
The Took-Took people again showed themselves friendly when their unwelcome visitors had departed, and made us bamboo rafts on which we descended the river.
Our voyage was a decidedly adventurous one. Our rafts were repeatedly smashed by the swift current. As we approached each Kalinga village we were met by a reception committee carrying a bunch of bananas, fol- lowed at a short interval by a crowd of fighting men fully armed, and were thus given an opportunity to decide whether there should be peace or war. Needless to say, we voted for peace every time. I ate bananas vmtil it was difficult to find room for more !
We spent the night at the rancheria of a friendly, white-haired old chief who had been to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan, and knew a few words of Spanish. The next day we reached the settlement of Chief Doget, who had a wonderful house of red narra, a wood which closely resembles mahogany. It was furnished with beds, chairs and tables obtained from the Spaniards. Here we were able to rest in peace.
After sleeping the clock twice around, we continued our journey, and at dusk reached the Filipino town of Tuao, glad enough to get back to civilization and feehng that the kindly Providence which watches over fools, drunken men and children had had its eye on us. Without es- cort, and armed only with six-shooters rendered almost useless by lack of ammunition, we had completed the first trip ever made through the Kalinga country, and had done it without firing a shot and without losing a man.
This trip marked for me the beginning of friendly re- lations with the Kalingas. They have never since been interrupted, and now, when I ride a fast American horse rapidly over the splendid trails which cross their country from south to north and from west to east, or meet at Lubuagan the fighting men who were once so anxious to
548 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
take my head but now make a long journey yearly in order to see me, I realize, as perhaps no one else does, how- very materially conditions in Kahnga have changed.
It had been our intention, after spending a brief period in recuperation at Tuao, to proceed to Malaueg and con- tinue our journey through the absolutely unknown coun- try of the Apayaos, but we found it impossible to secure guides. The leading men of Malaueg, who came to Tuao to meet us, assured us that there were no trails known to them, which was untrue, and added that they would not under any circumstances consider trying to enter the territory of the fierce Apayao head-hunters.
We accordingly proceeded to Tuguegarao, the capital of Cagayan, intending to descend the Cagayan River to Aparri, go overland to Abulug or Pamplona and there get guides and carriers.
At Tuguegarao, however, we found assembled the pres- identes of all the Cagayan towns. Those from Abulug and Pamplona positively assured me that there were no trails thence into the Apayao country, and that guides and carriers would be absolutely unobtainable. I in- sisted that I would visit their towns and ask them to ac- company me, whereupon they actually wrung their hands and wept, complaining that the people of Apayao used bows and poisoned arrows.
In disgust I told them that I would abandon the trip for that year, but the following year would go to Laoag in North Ilocos, cross the " Cordillera Central " and come out through the Apayao country, taking with me Ilocano guides and carriers, as the Ilocanos were real men.
I then proceeded up the river to Ilagan and went over- land through Nueva Vizcaya, ultimately crossing Ifugao from east to west and thoroughly exploring the territory from which I had been excluded on my previous trip ; proceeding thence to Bontoc and Cervantes over a route new to me, and finally returning through Benguet and Pangasinan to the railroad, where I took train for Manila.
THE EXPLORATION OP NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 549
The following year I carried out my promise, taking with me Colonel Villamor, who had rendered very valu- able and satisfactory assistance on my previous trip. I also had three white companions, Dr. Paul C. Freer, superintendent of government laboratories, Major Samuel Crawford and Lieutenant L. D. Atkins. These officers commanded a detachment of twenty-five Ilocano con- stabulary soldiers which I reluctantly took along, warned by my experience of the previous year and con- vinced by the arguments of my Ilocano carriers, who declined to accompany me unless I took an armed escort.
Prior to my departure from Manila I had received an urgent telegram from the governor of North Ilocos in- forming me that one Abaya, a wild Tingian from Apayao, had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment in Bilibid, the insular penitentiary, and urging me to arrange if possible to have him detained at Laoag until my ar- rival there, which I did.
On reaching Laoag, I was amazed to find a large delega- tion of fully armed Apayao men waiting for me at the river bank. They followed me to the house where my quarters were to be, and sat down on the stairway, with the obvious intention of seeing that I did not leave with- out their knowledge.
On asking the meaning of tliis occurrence, I was told that they were friends of Abaya and wished to talk with me. When given an opportunity to do so, they told me a singular tale, which admirably illustrates the relations prevailing in that region between the wild men and their Fihpino neighbours.
Abaya was one of a few men in Apayao who dared to descend to the lowlands. He came down occasionally, bringing tobacco and wax to barter for cloth, steel, salt and other necessaries not obtainable in Apayao. Being unable to speak Ilocano well, he obtained a Filipino agent known as his "commissioner," who transacted his busi-
550 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
ness for him, withholding for himself a hberal percentage of the proceeds.
On the occasion of his last visit to the lowlands, the "commissioner" had told Abaya that he had a Negrito slave who was planning to escape, and had directed him to take his head-axe and kill the Negrito, promising him half of a large pig in payment for this service.
Abaya, nothing loth, hastened to execute the order, hunting up the Negrito and aiming a terrific blow at him. Fortunately the Negrito saw it coming and jumped so that he received it on his shoulder instead of his neck. It inflicted a horrible wound, but he nevertheless ran away so fast that Abaya was unable to catch him and finish the job. He returned and regretfully reported his lack of success to his "conmiissioner." To his amaze- ment he was arrested, taken to Laoag and held for trial. Both he and his friends were convinced that the reason for this was his failure to kill the Negrito, and the friends assured me in the most positive terms that Abaya had done his very best and that it was through no fault of his that the Negrito had escaped ! They demanded his immediate release.
Meanwhile I had been informed by the governor of the province that Abaya's people had threatened to come and wipe out the village where his "commissioner" lived, and also to kill all of the Negritos in that vicinity in revenge for the arrest and imprisonment of their chief. It struck me that the "commissioner" was the man who ought to be in jail, but I did not care to allow the Apayao people to think that they could make such threats with impunity, so asked them whether it was true that they were planning to wipe out the village in question. They said yes. I then told them that they must not do it. They expressed a willingness to obey any instructions that I might give to them. I asked v/hether their promise to let the village alone was dependent upon Abaya's being set at liberty, and they answered no. We
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 551
then took up the question of killing the Negritos. They were greatly amazed that I should object to this, urging that they had always fought the Negritos, and that the latter were bad people who constantly made trouble with their poisoned arrows ; theretofore it had been considered commendable to kill as many as possible. However, they said that they would let the Negritos alone if I insisted upon it, irrespective of whether or not Abaya was released. Having duly impressed them with the fact that the matter of the release of Abaya must stand on its own merits, and could not be made to depend on their subsequent good or bad conduct, and having interviewed the Filipino judge who sentenced Abaya and learned that he had been puzzled to know what to do and was heartily in favour of having him pardoned, I telegraphed to the acting governor-general requesting that this be done, and continued my journey, leaving word that Abaya should follow me if set at liberty.
He was promptly pardoned. His people insisted that he join them and take to the moimtains, but he told his friends that since I had secured his release he would do what I had asked. He overtook me before I had finished my second day's march, and stayed with me until I gave him leave to go his way !
Our climb over the cordillera was by no means a pleas- ure trip. We were forced to use beds of streams and Tingian warpaths in lieu of trails. At one time our way lay over wet limestone rocks which were shppery as ice. Here our hobnailed shoes were a positive source of danger. The feet of our carriers were badly torn, and we ourselves suffered from occasional falls on the sharp rocks. We secured the help of some additional- Tmgians whom we met joumejdng to the coast, paying them liberally enough so that they were wilhng to abandon their pro- posed trip and accompany us.
We sent all of our Tingian companions ahead to give notice of our friendly intentions before reaching the first
552 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
village in Apayao, but its inhabitants nevertheless ran away. Thoroughly exliausted, we decided to spend a night there. In the course of the afternoon our men were able to bring in some of their fellow tribesmen who lived in the vicinity, and we made friends with them.
From this point a half day's march brought us to the head-waters of the Abulug River at a point where it was navigable for bamboo rafts. We delayed at a- little village until we could construct rafts enough to float our large party, and then started downstream, kno'wdng that we should meet plenty of people, for the Tingians of Apayao are fond of placing their villages on river banks.
Our trip was a wild and adventurous one. Fortunately I had purchased some twenty dollars' worth of beads and with these I made at least twenty-five hundred presents ! The friendship of the women at the first town which we met was thus secured, and thereafter the "grapevine telegraph ' ' worked ahead of us and we found waiting delegations of women and girls on the river bank at al- most every village. So long as they were about, it was reasonably certain that the men would not make any hostile demonstration.
The trip proved a great success in every way. Many of the numerous settlements which we visited were at war with each other. One had just been attacked, and a number of its people had lost their heads, literally. We were constantly warned that the residents of the next town down the river were "bad people" and that "five hundred" of them were waiting in the river bed to attack us, but only once were we in any real danger of being molested, and even then diplomacj^ prevailed.
We were careful to respect local customs. One town was reported to be canao, which is equivalent to "taboo," because of the death of the wife of the headman, and we religiously kept away from it. .\nother was canao because of a \arulent epidemic of smallpox, and we were more than willing to keep away from that one !
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 553
We bumped down rapids and shot over several low falls. Again and again our rafts were torn to pieces and we were precipitated into the rushing stream. At one time a constabulary soldier was under water for some ten minutes, and we thought him dead when he was first fished out, but finally succeeded in resuscitating him.
We had been told that the trip would take eight days and had made our plans accordingly. It took fifteen. Food ran short. Shoes and clothing gave out. Some of our soldiers were dressed in clouts before we reached civilization, and crawfishes on which our men could pounce along the edges of the river were out of luck !
I shall long remember the shout of delight which our Filipino companions set up when we finally passed through the last mountain gap and came out into the open country, but as a matter of fact the most disagreeable part of our journey lay before us. Up to that time our progress had been rapid and exciting. Now the current of the river grew sluggish, and we were largely dependent on it, as our rafts were too heavy to paddle and the stream was in many places so deep that we could not pole them.
We found ourselves in the country of very wild Negritos. Our Tingian friends had informed us that these people would certainly sneak up and shoot arrows into our camps at night, but nothing of the sort occurred. On the con- trary, through the liberal use of scarlet cotton cloth, we were able to establish very friendly relations with the Negritos encountered, some of whom gave us in exchange deer meat enough for a feast, which was highly appreciated by all concerned.
On arrival at Abuliig we were received with great sur- prise by the people, who had heard that we had been attacked and killed. There I developed malaria and con- tracted bronchitis.
We made our way up the Cagayan River to Ilagan and thence proceeded overland to the Kalinga villages in the vicinity of Sili. At the latter place we had an amusing
554 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
experience. ICnowing that we were going to Mayoyao, some Ifugaos from that town had joined our party for protection. A delegation of Sili Kahngas waited on us during the lunch hour and politely asked to be allowed to take the heads of these Ifugaos, saying that they needed some fresh heads, and that it would save a lot of trouble if they could have these, so providentially brought to them by their respective owners. I explained to them that we really needed the Ifugaos, and they pohtely waived their claim to them in our favour !
I had been assured that I could ride a horse to Mayoyao in two and a half days. The trip took five days. Much of the way horses were worse than useless. Before we reached our destination my bronchitis had developed into pneumonia and I was very ill. My white companions on the Apayao trip had long since left me, but at Ilagan I had been jomed by Seiior Claraval, who was later elected governor of Isabela, and by an American school- teacher. Colonel Villamor had stayed with me. Now all my companions turned back and I continued my journey accompanied only by Ifugaos and by a young lieutenant of constabulary named Gallman, who had then just come to the Ifugao country but was later des- tined to play a most remarkable part in bringing its war- like people imder control and starting them on the road toward ci\'ilization.
Our route from Mayoyao to Banaue of necessity fol- lowed the Ifugao war trails, which invariably run along the crests of mountains so as to command a \aew in both directions. The country through which we passed was frightfully broken, and I could hardly stand.
Wherever it was humanly possible to do so, the Ifugaos carried me in a blanket slung under a pole. They took me up almost perpendicular ascents in this way, but in some cases the ascents were quite perpendicular and the descents the same, so that I had to try to climb, con- stantly falUng as the result of weakness and exhaustion,
a s^
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: a
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THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 555
in spite of the efforts of the Ifugaos to keep me on my feet. We reached Dukligan at dusk and there we spent the night.
In the morning I found myself unable to rise, so took a stiff dose of whiskey. As this failed to produce the desired result, I took a second and fuially a third. Under the potent influence of the stimulant I managed to get up. The willing Ifugaos carried me clear to the rice terraces near Banaue, making a joke of the hard work involved. There were always a dozen men on the pole, and whenever one set of carriers grew weary there was a scramble, closely approaching a fight, to determine who should be allowed next to take their places.
These jolly people constantly gave a peculiar shout which was ridiculously like an American college cheer. Ill as I was, I almost enjoyed the trip, and conceived a great liking for the splendidly developed men who were seeing me through in such gallant style. Had it not been for their kindness, I should certainly have left my bones somewhere between Mayoyao and Banaue.
They were determined to lug me through the rice terraces, but as it took at least four men to carry me, and the weight of the five of us was sufficient to cause the tops of the high terrace walls to crumble so that I had several narrow escapes from falling down them, I climbed out of my extemporized hammock, took one more big drink of raw wliiskejr and on the strength of it managed to stagger along to the river, where I was amazed to find a horse awaiting me. Nothing ever looked better to me than did that somewhat decrepit animal !
I was absolutely unfit to travel, but ha\dng rested at Banaue for half a day, and realizing that it was impera- tively necessary that I should get to a doctor at once, I made what was then record time to Banaue, Bontoc, Cerv^antes and Baguio, and on arrival at the latter place proceeded to go to bed and be comfortably iU.
Tramping over the northern Luzon mountains with
556 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
my lungs partly solidified left my pumping machinery in such shape that I have never since been able to make a hard trip on foot, but that is no longer necessary. Splen- did horse trails now make travel through this region a pleasure.
When we crossed Apayao only one other white man had achieved the feat. This was a good missionary priest who in 1741 traversed the country between Abuliig and one of the North Ilocos towns.
Lieutenant Gilmore's ^ Filipino captors took him and his companions across a comer of Apayao, and instead of murdering them in the forest, as they had been or- dered to do, turned them loose. They made their way across a portion of the territory traversed by us, and had reached .the Abulug River and were attempting to build rafts when overtaken by a rescue party of American soldiers. All hands then descended the river to the town of Abulug, and proceeded overland to Aparri.
Colonel Hood, who was commanding the United States forces there, declined to let them enter the town until they had been provided with decent clothing, thinking that the sight of American soldiers clad in clouts might be too much of a shock to the inhabitants !
In 1907 I was able to land at various points along the then absolutely unknown Pacific coast of northeastern Luzon, but failed to get into touch with the Negritos, who constitute its sole inhabitants, until near Palanan, the northernmost settlement of Filipinos on the east coast.
With this trip my exploration work in northern Luzon ended, although I have ever since made extended annual trips through the non-Christian territory of the island.
During the years covered by this hasty narrative, I also made trips to the territory of the wild men in Min- doro, Palawan, and Mindanao, as opportunity offered. In Spanish days I had lived among the Moros and had
' Lieutenant Gilmore, U.S.N.. was captured at Baler in the summer of 1899, and held a prisoner for many months.
THE EXPLORATION OF NON-CHRISTIAN TERRITORY 557
visited the mountains of Negros and Panay and seen something of the wild men Hving there, so that I finally gained a fairly comprehensive knowledge of the non- Christian tribes of the Philippines, having seen represent- atives of nearly all of them,' and lived for longer or shorter periods among all except some of the more unim- portant peoples in the interior of Mindanao.
As a result of these personal investigations I was able to reduce to twenty-seven the eighty-two non-Christian tribes said by Blmnentritt to inhabit the Philippines ; to determine with reasonable accuracy the territory oc- cupied by each, and not only to become familiar with the manners and customs of the people of each important tribe, but to establish relations of personal friendship with many chiefs and headmen which have proved in- valuable to me in my subsequent work for the betterment of the non-Christian peoples which has so irritated cer- tain Filipino politicians who have wished to continue to oppress and exploit them, or, like Judge Blount, have sought to minimize their importance.
The latter individual seems to regard my past efforts to portray actual conditions among the wild men as a per- sonal grievance, and has devoted an entire chapter to the shortcomings of "Non-Christian Worcester." In it he says of me that I impressed him as "an overbearing bully of the beggar-on-horseback type" ; that I am "the P. T. Barnum of the 'non-Christian tribe' industry"; that "in the earh^ nineties he [Non-Christian Worcester] had made a trip to the Philippines, confining himself then mostly to creeping things and quadrupeds — liz- ards, alligators, pythons, unusual wild beasts, and other forms of animal life of the kind much coveted as specimens by museums and universities," and goes
' The only tribes of which I have not seen representatives inhabit the region of the gulf of Davao in Mindanao. It is doubtful whether they are really tribally distinct from the Bagobos, Bilanes and other tribes living near the coast.
558 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
on to tell how it was that "the reptile-finder ulti- mately became a statesman." The Honourable Judge summarizes his views concerning me by stating that he "considers Professor Worcester the direst calam- ity that has befallen the Filipinos since the American occupation, neither war, pestilence, famine, reconcen- tration nor tariff -wrought poverty excepted." He de- scribes the experience on which he bases these statements as follows: "During all my stay in the Philippines I never did have any official relations of any sort with the Professor, and only met him, casually, once, in 1901."
This latter statement is correct to the best of my recol- lection. "A man is known by the company he keeps." I feel that I have been fortunate in my friends and sin- gularly blessed in my enemies ! If I do not in turn attack the Philippine career of Judge Blount, it is not for lack of abundant anunmaition, but for the reason that I believe that the American public will be more interested in the truth or falsity of the allegations concerning more im- portant matters which we respectively make than in our opinions of each other.
The Judge seems to have overlooked the fact that in- vective is not argument. I leave to him the use of need- lessly abusive and insulting language. He has also appar- ently overlooked the further fact that disregard of the truth is apt, sooner or later, to bring its own peculiar reward. Later I call attention to certain of his misstate- ments concerning the wild peoples of the Philippines, and correct them.
CHAPTER XXI
The Government of the Non-Christian Tribes
When I visited Bengiiet in July and August of 1900, I found conditions there such that the early estabUshment of civil government seemed practicable and desirable. The people had taken no part in the insurrection and no- where in the province was there any resistance to American authorit3^ An act providing for the government of the province and its settlements was accordingly passed on November 23, 1900, Benguet being thus the first province to pass from the control of the militaiy.
In drafting this act I was fortunate in having the co- operation of Mr. Otto Scheerer, a German citizen who had lived for a number of years among the Benguet Igorots, understood them fully and was most kindly disposed toward them.
The Benguet law, in considerably ampUfied form, was applied to Nueva Vizcaya when that province was or- ganized on January' 28, 1902, and on April 7, 1902, a care- fully considered act entitled "An Act providing for the Establishment of Local Civil Governments in the Town- ships and Settlements of Nueva Vizcaya" was passed by the commission.
On May 28, 1902, the province of Lepanto-Bontoc was established. It had thi-ee sub-provinces, Amburayan, Lepanto and Bontoc. The two Nueva Vizcaya acts above mentioned were made applicable to it, and to its towns, respectively.
On June 23, 1902, an act was passed organizing the province of Palawan (Paragua) and extending to it, and to its towns, the more essential provisions of the two Nueva Vizcaya acts.
559
560 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
On the same day iMindoro was incorporated viith the province of ]Marinduque under the regular Pro^•incial Government Act, which was then being made applicable to all provmces populated chiefly by Filipinos. As might have been anticipated, it did not prove feasible properly to administer the affairs of ^Nlindoro under this act, and on November 10, 1902, a province of Alindoro, including the main island and numerous neighbouring small islands, was established under a law embodjing the essential provisions of the Nueva Vizcaya Act. Cer- tain provisions of the Nueva "\'izcaya to■w^lship and settle- ment act were made applicable to its municipalities, while on December 4, 1902, other provisions of the same act were made applicable to the settlements of the wild Mangyans, who occupy the whole interior of this great island so far as it is occupied at all.
The desirabihty of imiform legislation for the govern- ment of the non-Christian tribes, except those of the Moro Province, soon became evident, and after much experience in the practical working of the several acts above mentioned under the conditions presented in the five provinces, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Lepanto-Bontoc, Palawan and Mindoro, I drafted the so-called "Special Provincial Government Act," and "The Township Gov- ernment Act." The former was made applicable to the five provinces above mentioned, and the latter to all settlements of non-Christian tribes tlii-oughout the Philip- pines except those of the Moro Province.
On August 20, 1907, an act was passed carving the prov- ince of Agusan out of territor^^ wliich had previously be- longed to Surigao and Misamis, and organizmg it under the Special Provincial Government Act.
Finally, on August 18, 1908, the Mountain Province was established in northern Luzon.
At the same time that the Ifugao territory was separated from Nueva Vizcaj-a there was added to the latter prov- ince the Ilongot territory previously divided between Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva Ecija and Pangasindn.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 561
Before considering the details of the work accomplished in the several special government provinces and sub- provinces, I will state the general principles which have been found useful in bringing the non-Christian peoples under control and in establishing friendly relations with them, and will explain how these principles have been applied in actual practice.
I have always considered the opening up of adequate lines of communication an indispensable prerequisite to the control and development of any country, and this is especially true of the territory of the wild man. No matter how unruly he may be, he is apt to become good when one can call on him at 2. .30 a.m., since that is the hour when devils, anitos and asudng are abroad, and he therefore wants to stay peaceably in his own house ! Again and again we have built a trail to an ugly, fighting, head-hunting settlement whose people have at first thrown spears at our road labourers, but later, when they found that the trail was really going to arrive, have ended by building one out to meet it. Constabulary garrisons which we have expected to be forced to establish have often proved unnecessary when communication was opened up.
We have had scanty funds for public works in these regions. At the outset I had to get along with four or five thousand dollars a year in the territory now included in the Mountain Province and the task which confronted me seemed utterly hopeless. Nevertheless, I made a beginning and did the best I could. Now the Mountain Province has annual receipts of about $85,000, of which some $65,000 ai-e expended for public works and perma- nent improvements. This is made possible by the fact that the salaries and wages of the provincial officers, and certain contingent expenses as well, are met by direct appropriation of insular funds.
Another principle to which I have steadfastly adhered is never to impose taxes on a wild man until he can be
562 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
made to realize that direct good to him will result from their collection. One of several reasons why the Span- iards never could dominate the hill people of Luzon was that they insisted at the very outset upon exacting "trib- ute" from them. The hill people regarded the money thus contributed as a present to the man who collected it, and rebelled against making presents to people who did not treat them well and whom they did not like.
The most important tax in the special government provinces is the so-called "public improvement tax."
The law imposing it does not become operative on the non-Christians of any given territory without the prior approval of the secretaiy of the interior.
It provides for the collection from every able-bodied adult male between the ages of 18 and 55 of an annual contribution of two pesos.' The taxpayer is allowed to render ten days of service upon public works in lieu of cash payment if he prefers, and most non-Christians do prefer to settle the obligation in this way. All money derived from this source is expended on public works, going to pay for supervision, dynamite, powder, caps, fuse, steel, road tools and the hke, as it is seldom necessary to hire labourers.
We paid for all labour on the fii'st trails constructed, and it was only when the people themselves learned to comprehend the usefulness to them of improved means of communication that I made the pubhc improvement tax applicable to them.
Except under very special circumstances, I did not allow the construction of a trail with a grade higher than six per cent. There are two reasons for this rule. First, the torrential rain-storms of the tropics rapidly destroy high- grade trails in spite of all efforts to provide adequate drainage ; second, if trails are constructed on low grades, every shovelful of earth which is thrown is just so much accompUshed toward the eventual opening up of cart 1 Equivalent to one dollar.
J3
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 563
roads, carriage roads or automobile roads, the whole sub- sequent question involved being one of widening and surfacing.
In constructing a trail we first carefully stake what seems the best possible line between the two points to be connected ; then build on this line a path which is cut into the hill ' four feet, the dirt being thrown outward. No special effort is made to give the bank a proper slope ; the Almighty does this in the course of the first rainy season, when the earth sloughs off on to the trail in those places where it stands too steeply. It is then promptly thrown off the road-bed while still loose, and much hard pick and shovel work and many "pop shots" are thus saved. Only the most necessary drainage is provided before the first rainy season, for the reason that experi- ence has shown that what seem dry beds of streams and look as if they would be converted into raging torrents during the rainy season sometimes then hardly carry water enough to wash one's face in ; while, on the other hand, destructive torrents come charging down the crests of hogbacks in places where one would least expect them, and cut out the trail completely where they strike it. With the first rain the maintenance gangs get to work, noting where drainage is especially needed and providing it, throwing off loose earth and stones when sUdes occur, and widening the trail or cutting off sharp comers when not otherwise engaged.
American and Fihpino road foremen were at first used for trail construction, but the Igorots, Ifugaos and Ka- lingas, all of whom are very intelligent people, soon learned to serve as foremen. I had Ifugaos who ran about clad in clouts onlj^, but were nevertheless quite capable of carrv^mg a road or trail across the face of a precipice, doing all of the powder work.
The wild men soon learn to take gi'eat pride in their trails, and usually keep them in an excellent state of re- ' Nearly all our trails are on steep mountain sides.
564 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
pair. It is a remarkable fact that on the thousand miles of road and trail which have been constructed since the American occupation in the Mountain Province and Nueva Vizcaya no one has as yet been murdered. In the wildest regions there has been an understanding from the outset that people travelling over government roads were to be let alone !
The establishment of government, and of a decent state of pubhc order, have gone hand in hand with the opening up of hues of communication. Wherever practicable it is highly desirable to police the wild man's country with wild men, and this has proved far easier than was antici- pated. The Bontoc Igorots make good, and the Ifugaos most excellent, constabulary soldiers. They are faith- ful, efficient, absolutely loyal and imphcitly obedient. The Ifugaos are born riflemen, and then- carbine practice is little short of marvellous when one considers their very limited experience. Natural fighters as they are, the people of these two tribes make the best of soldiers. They are absolutely fearless, and fight much as do the Ghurkas of India. Benguet Igorots and Kalingas are now being en- listed as constabulary soldiers, and from the very outset the people of many of the non-Christian tribes of the islands have been used as policemen in their own territory.
The annual inspection trip which the secretary of the interior is required by law to make to every province organized under the special provincial government act has become very important in the control and advance- ment of the non-Christian tribes.
It is now customary to hold fiestas, or as they are locally designated, canaos, at central points, to which are invited great numbers of the wild people from the neigh- bouring country. At the outset these gatherings served to bring together men who had hardly seen each other ex- cept over the tops of their shields when lances were flying. They were all friendly with me, but they were by no means friendly with each other, and trouble threatened on vari-
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 565
ous occasions. Within the space of thirty seconds I have seen a couple of thousand men draw their war knives and snatch up their lances, and have feared that a record killing was about to occur, but in the end the excited warriors always quieted down.
We took advantage of these great gatherings to bring about the settlement of old difficulties between hostile towns and they have thus proved an important factor in the establishment of peace and order throughout the wild man's territory. Furthermore, they afford excellent opportunity to discuss past events and future plans under the most favourable conditions. I well remember the oc- casion on which the Ifugao headman of Quiangan re- quested that the public improvement tax be imposed upon them and their fellow tribesmen. There was at that time but one decent trail in this sub-province. It had been built by paid labour. Some of the headmen who had gone to Bontoc with me had seen excellent trails there and had asked why Ifugao could not have some just as good. I had replied that the Bontoc Igorots were more civilized then the Ifugaos and had come so to appreciate the benefit of trails that they were willing to build them without being paid for their labour. Vehement exception was taken to my contention that the Bontoc Igorots were further advanced than the Ifugaos. The latter insisted that they were much better men than the Igorots, and could and would build better trails. I explained to them in detail the practical working of the public improvement tax, and asked if they would be willing to have this contri- bution imposed on them. They insisted that they wanted it, and I finally gave it to them, although I doubted their ability to bring their people into line. On the following day there was a precisely similar occurrence at Banaue. I soon found that I had underrated the influence of the headmen. That year twenty thousand Ifugaos worked out their road tax. The following year twenty-four thousand men ren- dered the prescribed ten days' service ; and the number
566 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
has steadily increased year by year ever since, with the result that the sub-province is crisscrossed with trails, many of which are already wide enough for considerable distances to permit the passage of automobiles if they could be brought there, while the main line of communi- cation with Bontoc on the one hand and the capital of Nueva Vizcaya on the other is open for cart travel from the western to the eastern boundary of the sub-province.
At many of the canaos we have athletic contests, which the wild men, with their splendid physical development, greatly enjoy. It is much better for two hostile towns to settle their differences by a tug-of-war, or a wrestling match, than by fighting over them, and they are now often quite wilhng to adopt these more pacific means provided the audience is sufficiently large and enthusiastic, for the average wild man has a very human love of playing to the gallery. He takes to the athletic contests of the American like a duck to the water, and soon learns to excel in them. No sooner is a cafiao over than those who have taken part in it begin to look forward to the next one, and the small expense involved is repaid a thousand fold in the good feeling produced.
In the course of a year the people of each of the non- Christian tribes do many things for us simply because we want them to, and it seems only fair that we should give them at least one opportunity during the same period to have a good time in their own way.
The personal equation is of vital importance in dealing with wild men. They know nothing of laws or pohcies, but they understand individuals uncommonly well.
The men in immediate control of them must be abso- lutely fearless, must make good every promise or threat, must never punish except in case of deliberate wrong- doing committed in spite of warning duly given, and must, when punishment is thus made necessary, inflict it sternly but not in anger. The wild man thus dealt with is likely to call quits when he has had enough, and if
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 567
he promises to behave must be treated like a man of his word, which he usually is.
As a result of such just, firm and kindly treatment governors and lieutenant-governors soon find themselves endowed by their people mth powers far in excess of those conferred on them by law. They are ex officio justices of the peace, but are just as apt to be asked to settle a head-hunting feud between towns, which has caused a dozen bloody murders, as a quarrel growing out of the joint ownership of a pig. They are the law and the prophets, and no appeals are taken from any just decisions which they may make, nor is their authority questioned. On the contrar}^, their people usually object when sent to the courts, as is of course often necessary.
These officers are always on the watch for opportunities to get the people of hostile towns to swap head-axes, or dance together, and so become friends.
When one town has been in the very act of raiding another the timely appearance of an unarmed Apo ' has sufficed to shame the culprits into laying down their arms and going home without them.
No one who has not seen for himself can appreciate the courage, tact and patience of the handful of Americans who have not only brought under control the wildest tribes of the Phifippines, but have estabhshed the most friendly relations with them.
Having now outlined in a general way the pi-inciples which have been followed in the work for the non-Chris- tian tribes of the special government provinces, I will set forth some of the more important results which have been obtained.
In Benguet, which under the Spanish regime was or- ganized as a comandancia,^ there dwell a kindly, in-
' An untranslatable term of respect and affection given by the fighting men of northern Luzon to rulers whom they like.
- A designation applied to a political division of less importance than a province, governed by a military officer.
568 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
dustrious, self-respecting, silent tribe of agriculturists known as the Benguet Igorots. Governmental control was established over them by the Spaniards. They have never indulged in head-hunting nor caused any serious disturbance of public order, but have persistently refused to give up their ancient rehgious behefs, and for this reason were not allowed by the Spaniards to obtain ed- ucation, so that, with rare individual exceptions, they were completely illiterate. When I first visited their country I found the men clad in clouts, supplemented in the case of the more wealthy by cotton blankets. The women usually wore both skirts and upper garments, and bound towels around their heads for turbans.
The Benguet Igorots were formerly compelled to trade for the necessaries of life in the lowlands of the neighbour- ing province of Union, where they were shamelessly ex- ploited by the Fihpinos. They had been obhged by the Spaniards to pay taxes for which they received no ade- quate return. They had furthermore been roughly treated by the Insurgents during the war, and were ex- tremely fearful and timid. Men ran away at my ap- proach. Women overtaken unexpectedly on the trail leaped down the steep mountain sides, squatting where they first struck the ground and covering their faces with their hands.
It proved a simple matter to establish friendly and help- ful relations with these simple and gentle people. For- tunately for them Mr. Otto Scheerer, who had lived among them for years, helped organize their settlements. Some of them were still so wild that they ran away at his approach, sitting up on the high mountain sides and watching him from a distance, but declining to come down. Patience, perseverance and kindness soon overcame their fears, and local governments were established in the sev- eral settlements.
Travel through Benguet was then dangerous and difficult because of the condition of the trails, which were
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 569
mere footpaths. None of the streams were bridged. Work was promptly begun upon a trail system, and now one can ride a large horse rapidly to every settlement of importance.
At first the people had nothing to sell, and no money with which to buy what they needed. From time to time they packed coffee and Irish potatoes down to the low- lands and traded them for salt, cloth and steel, which they needed, and for vmo, which was poison to them.
We have protected them in their property rights and encouraged them to increase their agricultural holdings. As they were too ignorant to understand and exercise their right to obtain free patent to small tracts of land which they had long occupied and cultivated, I sent out a special survej' party to help them make out their appli- cations in due form.
The gradual development of Baguio, first as a health resort and later as the summer capital, afforded them an ever increasing market for their products ; while trail construction, the opening of the Benguet Road and the erection of buildings at Baguio made it possible for every one desiring it to secure remunerative employment. In the old Spanish days they had been forced to build trails without compensation, and to feed themselves while doing it. Wlien they realized that the new regime had come to stay, their gratitude knew no bounds.
For a time they could not be persuaded to tr>^ the white man's medicines, but ultimately the wife of the most important chief in the province, who was dying of dysen- tery, was persuaded to let Dr. J. B. Thomas, a verj' com- petent American government physician, treat her case. She recovered, and the news spread far and wide. After that Igorots came in constantly increasing numbers to the hospital which had meanwhile been established, and to-day their sick and injured are often carried to it from a distance of fifty miles or more.
Schools were soon established in several important
570 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
settlements. The boys proved apt pupils. At the outset parents would not allow their girls to attend. Gradu- ally the prejudice against sending them to school was overcome, and at three different places girls are now given instruction in English and in practical industrial work.
The children learn English readily and the old folks pick it up from them. Mrs. Ahce M. Kelly, who started the first Igorot school, taught her boys respectfully to salute her in the morning, and shortly thereafter Ameri- can travellers over the Benguet trails were addressed by Igorots with the cheerful greeting, "Good morning, Mrs. Kelly." Their feelings were doubtless identical with those of the traveller in Japan to whom a beginning student of book English said, "Good morning. Sir, or Madam, as the case may be !"
The Benguet Igorots have responded quickly to the opportunities afforded them, and several serious dangers which have threatened their progress have been met and overcome.
The Filipino peoples will never become victims of al- coholism. They drink in moderation, but seldom be- come intoxicated. The non-Christian peoples, on the contrary, never lose an opportunity to get boiling drunk. All of them make fermented alcoholic drinks of their own. Fortunately most of these beverages are compara- tively mild and harmless ; but if a hill man can get hold of bad vino or worse whiskey he will get so drunk that he thinks he has to hang on to the grass in order to lie on the ground.
The Filipinos had long taken advantage of this weak- ness of the Benguet-Lepanto Igorots to debauch them with vino and cheat them while they were intoxicated. I regret to say that since the American occupation some white men who wanted them as labourers have used liquor as a bait. Because of these conditions, and of more or less similar ones throughout the rest of the wild man's territory, I drafted and secured the passage of an act mak-
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 571
ing it a criminal offence to sell or give white man's liquor to a wild man, or for such a man to drink such liquor or have it in his possession. This law has been very success- fully enforced. Although Benguet-Lepanto Igorots have sometimes succeeded in purchasing hquor at Baguio or Cervantes, their use of strong alcohohc stimulants has steadily decreased, and throughout much of the wild man's territory strong drink is absolutely unobtainable.
The Benguet Igorots have an abiding love for gambling, and some of them learned new tricks, which did them no good, through contact with Fihpinos when working on the Benguet Road. Strict enforcement of the law against gambling has, however, prevented any considerable spread of this evil.
One of the most interesting results thus far obtained is the arousing of a strong commercial instinct among them. It was literally true at the outset that one could not buy from them an egg, a chicken or a basket of ca- niotes, much less a pig or a cow. Now special market buildings have been erected for them at Baguio, and they are thronged on Sundays. The Igorots have money and spend it wisely. They also have farm products to sell, know what they are worth, and insist on getting full value for them. Among other things there may be mentioned sleek cattle, the best fat hogs grown in the Philippines, chickens, eggs, cabbages, Irish potatoes, peas, beans, tomatoes, squashes, camotes and strawberries.
There have been some interesting episodes in connec- tion with the work for the Benguet Igorots. At one time it became necessary for the provhicial governor, Wm. F. Pack, to undergo a severe and dangerous surgical opera- tion. Word spread through Benguet that the doctors were going to cut him to pieces. Palasi, iin old Igorot chief of Atok, gathered his cohorts and came in hot haste to Baguio to stop it. He was assured by Governor Pack himself that the cutting was to be done with his consent, but still entertained some doubts about the matter and
572 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
asked to be allowed to be present. His request was granted. There was then no operating room in Baguio, so one was extemporized in the governor's house. He walked out to the operating table, and Palasi, who was standing by, once more asked hun if he was to be cut up with his own consent, offering to stop the performance even then if the governor so wished !
On March 30, 1913, 1 sat at a luncheon given at Trinidad, Benguet, in honour of former Lieutenant-Governor E. A. Eckman, who had just been promoted to the governor- ship of the Mountain Province. At the long tables were seated a representative gathering of decently clad Ben- guet Igorot head-men, the hosts of the occasion. They understood the use of knives, forks and spoons. At the close of the luncheon they presented Governor Eckman with a beautiful silver cup. The presentation speech was made by an Igorot named Juan Carino, who had been shot and badly wounded by American soldiers from whom he foolishly endeavoured to escape in 1900 !
Fortunately old Juan was not killed. Like every other Igorot in Benguet he is to-day a good friend of the Amer- icans. The people of his tribe are now sober, industrious, cheerful, contented and prosperous. As time passes they keep cleaner, wear more and better clothes and build better houses. In this case, at least, a primitive people has come in close contact with the white man and has profited by it.
Lepanto, like Benguet, was a comandancia in the Spanish days. Its Igorot inhabitants are fellow-tribes- men of their Benguet neighbours, and like them are, and have long been, peaceful agriculturists, raising camotes, rice, coffee and cattle. They also mine gold and copper. In the extreme southeastern and the extreme northern parts of Lepanto the people are wilder and less law- abiding than those of Benguet, and some of them are prone to indulge in cattle stealing.
This subprovince has one Ilocano town, Cervantes,
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 573
which was made the capital of the province of Lepanto- Bontoc. At the outset communication with the coast was maintained over a very bad horse-trail crossing the coast range at Tilad Pass. It zigzagged up one slope of the mountains and down the other on a grade such as to make travel over it very difficult. Furthermore, after reaching the lowlands on the west side of the range, it crossed a river some fourteen times. During the rainy season there were weeks at a time during which this stream could not be forded. In the early days of the American oc- cupation a good wagon road was built fiom the coast to the point where the trail began, and the trail itself was put in the best possible condition. It was subsequently well maintained, but after the estabUshment of a Filipino provincial government in South Ilocos the wagon road was allowed to fall into such a state of neglect that travel over it, even for persons on horseback, became impossible during wet weather. Mr. Kane, the supervisor of the Mountain Province, was nearly drowned in mud when trying to ride over it, being thrown from his horse into soft ooze so deep that his hands did not reach bottom, and had it not been for a timely rescue by FiHpinos who chanced to be passing, he would certainly have lost his life. Although forty or fifty thousand pesos' worth of supplies were annually sent into the mountain country by the people of South Ilocos over this trail, that province re- fused to spend a peso in keeping the connecting road up. The constantly growing trade of the mountain country made it, in my opinion, necessary that it should have a good outlet to the coast, and a route for a road was surveyed from Cervantes directly west over the Malaya range, traversing the subprovince of Amburayan from east to west and coming out at the municipahty of Tagu- din. In order to prevent the occurrence of a state of affairs such as had rendered the Tilad Pass trail practically useless during much of the rainy season, this Ilocano town was annexed to Lepanto-Bontoc, thus giving the
574 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
province a route to the coast within the limits of its own territory.
The people of Tagudin were at first incUned to protest against annexation to the country of the non-Christians, but soon discovered that the change was greatly to their advantage. Their town had long been threatened with destruction by the encroachment of the Amburayan River, and they had appealed in vain to South Ilocos for help. The Mountain Province gave them assistance in the construction of a protecting wall which held the river within bounds and adequately safeguarded the town. Their business rapidly increased when Tagudin became the western terminus of an important trade route. They soon began to take an active interest in improving local conditions, and their municipality was gradually changed from a dirty, down-at-the-heel place to a neat, clean, sanitary town in which its people could take justifiable pride. An old feud which had long separated the leading men into two parties so bitterly hostile to each other that the mere fact of advocacy of a given measure by one of them was sufficient to cause deterinined op- position to it by the other, died out, and Tagudin is to-day quite a model place in comparison with the gen- eral run of Filipino towns.
The opening up of transportation lines has placed the people of Lepanto within much easier reach of a market for their rice, coffee and cattle. The successful combating of cattle disease by the Bureau of Agricultm'e has been a great boon to them, as has the suppression of the hquor traffic. Schools have been estabhshed in a number of their settlements. Last, but by no means least, their lives are no longer endangered by the head-hunting Bontoc Igorots. They are now a peaceful, prosperous people, and are progressing steadily in civilization.
In Spanish days there was a comandancia known as Amburayan wedged in between the provinces of La Union and Ilocos Sur. After the American occupation this
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 575
territory was at first organized as a part of Ilocos Sur, but it soon became necessary to make of it a separate subprovince and add it to Lepanto-Bontoc, to the end that its people might be adequately protected. In con- tact on two sides with Christian FiUpinos, they were shamefully maltreated and oppressed, and they appealed to me for help.
Filipinos were graciously permitting them to cut fire- wood and lumber in the public forests, and taking the lion's share of the products in return for their consent ! They were debauching the Igorots with vino. I remember particularly the case of one unfortunate individual who owned five carabaos, two of which got to fighting. As usually happens with these animals, the one that was whipped ran away, and the victor blindly pursued it. Both charged over a precipice and broke their legs. The owner killed them, dressed them, and divided the meat among his family and friends. He was arrested, given a mock trial for killing carabaos without a Ucense, and fined three carabaos — all he had left — which of course went to his persecutors !
Instances of this sort of tiling could be indefinitely multiplied.
Amburayan was freed from the vino traflSc soon after it became a subpro^dnce of Lepanto-Bontoc. This alone was a great boon to its Igorot inhabitants, v.'ho Httle by Uttle were helped to assert their rights as they gained greater confidence in their American lieutenant-governor and learned to go to him freely with their troubles. They had so long been helpless and hopeless that it was some time before they could be convinced that a new day had dawned for them.
And now let us betake ourselves to the country' of the real wild man, and consider briefly past and present con- ditions in the subprovince of Ifugao.
The people of the tribe known as Ifugaos are a remark- able lot. Their country is almost entirely made up of
576 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
exceptionally steep mountain sides with hardly a naturally level piece of ground in it. On almost precipitous slopes they have built wonderful series of irrigated rice terraces held in position by stone retaining walls which have been laid without mortar or cementing material of any kind, and are so skilfully constructed that they withstand even the terrific rains which sometimes occur during typhoons. Accurate rainfall statistics for Ifugao are not obtainable, but, as we have seen, in the neighbouring subprovince of Benguet, there is of record a period of twenty-four hours during which forty-nine and nine tenths inches of rain fell ! Under such conditions as this, exceptionally good work is necessary to prevent structures of any sort built on mountain sides from sUding into the valleys below.
Up to the time of the American occupation the Ifugaos had always been inveterate head-hunters. Unlike the Bontoc Igorots, who depend on large numbers of fighting men for protection, they live in small villages usually placed in inaccessible spots which can be reached only by ascending the almost perpendicular rice-terrace walls.
Not only were the people of this tribe then constantly fighting among themselves, but they from time to time raided the Bontoc country or that of the Kalingas, and they persistently victimized the people of Nueva Vizcaya, making travel so unsafe on the main road between Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela that the Spaniards found it necessary to maintain several garrisons along it, and forbade private persons to pass over it without a iniHtary escort. Even so, parties of travellers were cut down from time to time, the savages making their attacks at the noon hour when Spanish soldiers had a way of going to sleep beside the road.
I have already narrated my earliest experiences in this subprovince, which occurred in 1903, and have called attention to the fact that when I returned in 1905 I was able to traverse it from east to west without the slightest danger. This condition of affairs was due to the efforts
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 577
of Governor Louis G. Knight, supplemented by those of Captain L. E. Case of the Philippine constabulary, who had established his headquarters at Banaue and had exercised a strong influence over his unrul}' constituents.
Perhaps I ought to change my statement and say that order was established by Captain Case, assisted by Governor Knight. Captain Case was very fortunate in his deaUngs with the Ifugaos. He was a kindly man, who won their friendship at the outset. He resorted to stern measures only when such measures were so imper- atively necessary that the Ifugaos themselves fully rec- ognized the justice of employing them.
On my trip through the Ifugao countrj^ in 1906 I was accompanied from Mayoyao to Banaue by Lieutenant Jeff D. Gallman, who had come to the former place to meet me. This young man had been especially selected by Colonel Rivers, of the Phihppine constabulary, to be trained for work among the Ifugaos. Never was a selec- tion more fortunate. When Captain Case injured him- self by over-exertion in cUmbing a steep, terraced moun- tain side in the hot sun, and had to return to the United States for recuperation, Gallman took up his work and devoted himself most effectively to the task of bringing the Ifugaos under control, protecting them, and improving their conditions. He was a dead shot with revolver and carbine ; was absolutely fearless ; was of a kindly, cheer- ful disposition, and soon not only won their respect but gained their love.
As the years went by, the Ifugaos came to regard him as but little less than a god. He had extraordinary success in training them for service as constabulary soldiers. On the occasion of the first general rifle competition between all the constabulary organizations in northern Luzon ten Ifugao soldiers were sent to the lowlands to participate. Gallman, who had trained them, was travel- ling with me at the time, so they were taken down by a comparatively inexperienced ofRcer who, instead of se-
578 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
lecting the best ten men from among the ninety possible candidates, took ten from the twenty who happened to be stationed at Mayoyao.
The hot climate of the lowlands troubled them. The Filipino constabulary soldiers made fun of them because they wore no trousers, and bedevilled them in various waj^s. The best shot among them lost his nerve in con- sequence. Nevertheless, when the competition was over they ranked Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, respectively, an Ilocano soldier from the lowlands being tied with the last man for tenth place !
Ifugao soldiers are submissive to discipline, obey orders implicitly, and are loyal and brave to a fault. When on duty they attend strictly to business. No prisoner ever yet escaped from one of them. This is more than can be said of the Bontoc Igorots. It is of record that on one occasion when a prisoner guarded by a raw recruit of the latter tribe made a break for hberty, the recruit followed him, firing as he ran. After missing the fleeing man five times, he threw his carbine at him, lance-fashion, and speared him with the bayonet ! So long as an Ifugao has a cartridge in his magazine he does not indulge in bayonet practice.
The same general policy was pursued in Ifugao which had been found so effective elsewhere. Lines of com- munication were opened up ; after a short time criminals were for the most part apprehended and turned in by the head-men themselves ; whenever possible, hostile towns were left to sulk until they had learned from the ex- perience of their neighbours that there was nothing to be afraid of or to complain about, and vohmtarily came into the fold ; head-hunting was suppressed with a heavy hand, but only after due warning as to what the fate of transgressors would be. It is now some six years since a head has been taken in this region. Travel not only in Nueva Vizcaya but in Ifugao itself is at present ab- solutely safe, and general conditions as to law and order
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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 579
are better than those which prevail in many American communities. The people have been assisted in the con- struction of irrigation ditches, and little by httle are being persuaded to come down from their steep and over- populated mountain sides to the neighbouring fertile, level vacant plains. They are loj^al and friendly to a marked degree, and I experience no greater pleasure than that which I derive from travelling through their country.
Credit for this happy result is chiefly due to the efforts of Jeff D. Gallman, who speedily rose to be a captain in the constabulary and at an early date was made lieu- tenant-governor of Ifugao. He has done a monumental work for civilization in the Philippines.
The Kalinga country was at the outset administered as a part of Bontoc. This made that subprovince so large that one lieutenant-governor could not hope satis- factorily to cover it, especially as there were no good lines of conmumication. .Although a constabulary garrison was early stationed at the town of Lubuagan, compara- tively httle progress was made in bringing the Kalingas under effective control until their territory was made a separate subprovince of the Mountain province and Lieutenant-Governor Walter F. Hale, of Amburayan, was transferred to it as its lieutenant-governor.
Lieutenant-Governor Hale has now been in the special government service longer than any other man who remains in it, and has an admirable record for quiet efficiency. Like Gallman, he is a man with chilled-steel nerve, and he needed it in the early days in KaUnga where the people, who had been allowed to run wild too long, did not take as kindly to the estabhshment of governmental control as had the Bontoc Igorots and the Ifugaos. The Kahngas are a fine lot of head-hunting savages, physically magnificently developed, mentally acute, but naturally very wild. Hale soon made friends with many of the local chiefs, and thereafter when he received invitations from outlying rancherias to come over and have his head
580 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
taken would quietly accept to the extent of setting out accompanied by a few soldiers, or none at all, and talking the matter over with the people who had made the threat ! In the end they always decided that he was too good a man to kill.
Here, as in Ifugao, we felt our way, avoiding trouble with hostile settlements as long as it was possible to do so. And here, as in Bontoc and Ifugao, head-hunting was abolished and law and order were estabhshed practically without IdUing. In a few instances settlements which absolutely refused to come into the fold, and persisted in raiding and killing in the territory of people who had already become friendly, were given severe lessons, which they invariably took in good part.
One of the pleasant things about dealing with people like the Kalingas and the Ifugaos is their manliness when they fight. They let one know, so plainly that there can be no mistake about it, whether they are friendly or hostile, and even if thoroughly whipped they bear no ill will provided they know that they deserve a whipping, but come calmly walking into camp to tell you that they have had enough and are going to be good. And they keep their promises.
In Kalinga, as elsewhere throughout the Mountain Province outside of Apayao, an admirable trail system has now been opened up and travel is not only safe but comfortable. The people are most friendly and loyal, and while head-hunting has not completely disappeared, cases of it are extremely rare and occur only in the most remote parts of the subprovince.
Apayao has proved a hard nut to crack. As previously stated, I made a trip across this subprovince from west to east in 1906, without encountering any hostility what- soever. Unfortunately, the officer who commanded my escort saw fit to go blundering back there with a con- stabulary command a few weeks later. He managed to get into a fight and was wliipped and chased out of the
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 581
countrj'. A so-called punitive expedition was then sent in, which came near meeting a similar fate, but finally withdrew in fairly good order after ha^^ng inflicted sUght damage on the town of Guenned, the people of which made the original attack.
Apayao was at first organized as a subprovince of Cagayan, and Colonel Bias Villamor, who had accompanied me on my two longest exploration trips through northern Luzon, was appointed its lieutenant-governor. The attitude of the pro\'incial officials of Cagayan toward the difficult task which confronted them in Apayao was most unsatisfactory. Indeed, the governor of that prov- ince informed me that in his opinion the best way to settle the Apayao problem was to kill all of the inhabitants. As Colonel Villamor reported that there were some fifty-three thousand of them ' tliis procedure would have presented practical, as well as moral, chfficulties ! I myself was of the opinion that the Apayao people, who proved to be wild Tingians, were altogether too good to kill.
Colonel \'illamor was a native of Abra, where ap- proximately half the population is made up of Tingians who have attained to a high degree of civihzation. He was already quite famihar with the dialect spoken by these people, and speedily learned the language of their wild brethren in Apayao, many of whom understood Ilocano, which was his native tongue.
At the outset he made excellent progress in bringing his people under control. The task was undoubtedly more difficult than that in any other subprovince of the Mountain Province, both because the Spaniards had failed to penetrate into this region, lea^ang the people untouched bj^ civilization up to the time of the American occupation, and for the further reason that their head- hunting is connected with religious behefs. Thej^ think that when a man dies his prospect for a good time in the
1 This statement proved to be untrue. They number about twenty- five thousand.
582 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
future world is bad unless the members of his family take a head within six months, and this idea has a ten- dency to keep society in a somewhat disturbed condition. For reasons which I have never been able fully to fathom, Villamor's progress in estabhshing governmental control grew steadily slower as time went by, and ulti- mately came to a standstill. During my absence from the islands it was deemed best to accept his resignation, for reasons not immediately connected with liis admin- istration of the affairs of his subprovince. Before sur- rendering his post he caused word to be spread among the Tingians that the kindly policy which had thus far been pursued in deaUng with them was to be superseded by one of severity, greatly alarming them, and seriously retarding work which he had quite auspiciously begun. There was absolutely no justification for his statements, as no one thought for a moment of dealing with the Apayao Tingians in a fashion differing at all from that invariably followed in our relations with non-Cliristians in the special government provinces.
Mr. Norman G. Connor was appointed to succeed Senor Villamor. Mr. Connor had been acting governor of Nueva Vizcaya and had rendered very satisfactory service. He has made material progress in estabhshing control over the people of Apayao, where the work of trail construction has now begun. At the outset com- munication was maintained by boats on the Abulug River and its branches, near which most of the wild Tingian villages are situated, but it is a dangerous stream to navigate, especially when in flood, and hues of land com- munication must therefore be opened up.
We found the subprovince of Bontoc peopled by a tribe of wild, warhke, head-hunting Igorots over whom the Spaniards had never been able to establish effective con- trol. At the time of the American occupation their numerous settlements were constantly at war with each other, and with the Kahngas and the Ifugaos as well.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 583
The Bontoc Igorots build large towns and depend on the numbers of their hardy fighting men for protection. Each town formerly kept a profit and loss account of heads with every town of its enemies. Physically these people are splendid men, and we soon found that they were usually both brave and fair in their fighting, formally making and breaking peace, and serving due notice on their enemies before attacking.
If a small town felt itself aggrieved by a big one, it would send a messenger to say, "You have more fighting men than we have, but they are no good ! Pick fifteen of the best from your thousand and send them to a certain place at a certain time to meet fifteen real fighting men selected from among our five hundred. ' ' At the appointed time the tliirty warriors would meet in deadly combat, while their fellow-townsmen looked on.
The Bontoc Igorots are naturally truthful and honest, and they soon became most friendly, gladly bringing many of their troubles to their lieutenant-governor for settlement. Fortunately, head-accounts between dif- ferent towns can be adjusted bj^ proper payments made by those who hold the highest scores. We took advantage of this fact to estabhsh peace between the towns, and when once established it was, as a rule, religiously kept.
Trail construction was promptly inaugurated and has been steadily pushed. Most of the towns have thus been made readily accessible.
When friendly relations had been established, and we were in a position to back orders with force if necessary, settlement after settlement was warned that head- hunting must cease and was further informed as to what would happen if the mandate was disobeyed. Certain dare-devils promptly broke over, partly, I fancy, to see what would happen, and partly, no doubt, because they found the influence of tribal customs too strong to resist. We made our warnings come true. One settlement re- quired three bitter lessons. For others a single mild one
584 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
sufficed. The majority of the towns were content to get their experience vicariouslj^ We were amazed at our own success in stopping this horrible practice. At the outset we burned towns if their people engaged in head- hunting.' The Igorots recognized the justice of this action because the whole town was invariably cognizant of, and party to, every head-hunting raid made by any of its people. Later, when head-hunting became com- paratively rare, we began to deal with the individuals con- cerned. They were arrested, brought before the coiu-ts, and tried like any other criminals. To-day head-hunting in Bontoc is almost unknown. When it does occiu* the people themselves usually captvue and turn over the culprits.
The respect of the Bontoc Igorots for the law is ex- traordinary. In 1910 a Constabulary soldier shot the presidente of Tinglayan without just cause. The people of the place rushed to arms, meaning to kill the soldier. Chief Agpad, assisted by the son of the murdered man, took station before the door of the house in which the assailant had sought refuge, and the two stood off then- fel- low-townsmen, sajdng that the government had pronaised to kill evil-doers and that this man must be tm'iied over to the government to be killed ! WTien I passed through their town a few weeks later, with Governor-General Forbes, they begged to have him killed promptly.
In the early days I myself had a rather stormy clash with some of the Bontoc Igorots. Dm'ing Aguinaldo's long flight he had passed tlu'ough half a dozen of their towns, as had the American soldiers who pursued him. The Igorots did not like this, so tore out the trail to Ifugao, between Bontoc and Samoqui, and built high- walled rice paddies where it had been, with the result that persons making the journey had to use the river bed for several miles. This was all very well if the river was low, but was no joke if it chanced to be in flood.
' Not so serious a matter as it may seem, when houses are made of grass and can be speedily rebuilt.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 585
I ordered that the trail be rebuilt, the Igorots to be paid for their work, and for the resulting damage to their rice fields, and this was done.
The lieutenant-governor was a weak man, and the Igorots, after getting their money, tore the trail out again and rebuilt their stone terrace walls across the place where it had been, just to see what he would do about it. He did nothing. I found things in this condition when I arrived, and was obliged to come down the river bed at dusk, with the result that inj^ horse and I took several impromptu baths.
The Samoqui warriors came dancing out to meet me, playing their gansas ' and making a grand hullabaloo. Summoning my sternest expression, I refused to shake hands with them, telling them to go home and to report at Bontoc at nine the following morning.
The fighting men of the town of Bontoc met me on the other side of the river, and I served them the same way. The official under w^hose nose they had destroyed the trail was greatly alarmed, and assured me that if I ordered it rebuilt, as I told him I would do, there would be a fight, and the Igorots would cut the heads off all the Americans in town, including the ladies. He added, "Think how the ladies would look without any heads !" While this was a disquieting reflection, I remained ob- durate.
At the appointed hour the Samoqui and Bontoc men appeared, armed with head-axes and lances. I asked them if they would rebuild that traO, and they said no ! I told them that if they did not I would cut their main irri- gating ditch and put a constabularj'' guard on it to see that it was not repaired until they changed their minds. This might have meant the loss of their rice crop. They knew me quite as well as they did their lieutenant-gov- ernor, and promptly rebuilt the trail for nothing, as I told them they must.
1 Bronze timbrels.
586 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
'V^^en the Mountain Province was established, the town of Bontoc was made the capital, as Cervantes, which had been the capital of Lepanto Bontoc, was hot, had proved unhealthful, and was not centrally situated. Bontoc has a cool, delightful climate, is near the geo- graphic center of the province, and from it radiates a road and trail system of constantly increasing importance. Things have moved rapidly there since the status of the place was changed.
To-day the town has modern pubhc buildings of brick and stone. The brick have been made, burned and laid by Igorots. Much of the stone has been cut and laid by Igorots. The mortar used has been mixed by Igorots with lime burned by Igorots. Some of the carpenter work has been done by Igorots. There is a modern hospital to which the Igorots flock. There are schools in which Igorot boj^s and girls learn the Enghsh language, and become adept in the practice of useful industries.
Perhaps the most unique of the Bontoc institutions is the provmcial jail. Years ago I discovered to my horror that a two-year sentence to Bihbid, the insular peniten- tiary, was a death sentence for a hill-man ! Not all who were sent there died, but the average term of life of men from the hiUs was two years only, while those who served out their sentences and returned to their mountain homes had invariably become adepts in crime as the result of pro- longed contact wdth vicious Filipinos. I promptly drafted an act providing for the establishment at Bontoc of a penitentiary where all prisoners from the highlands should be confined, and the commission passed it. The prison has been made a real educational institution. Most of its inmates have been guilty of crimes of violence, com- mitted in accordance with tribal customs, and are not vicious at heart. The jail building is perfectly sanitary. Its occupants are required to keep their persons clean and their quarters both clean and in perfect order. They live amid healthful surroundings and receive abundant and
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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 587
nourishing food. They are taught useful trades and are compelled to work hard, which they do not in the least mind, as industry is the rule in the mountain country. They usually leave the jail better men than when they entered it, and thereafter, instead of being a menace to law and order, assist in their enforcement and main- tenance.
We do odd things with some of these prisoners. Last year we paroled a man from Ifugao who had a score of heads to his credit. Learning that his people believed him to be dead and w^ere greatly troubled, we told him to go home, show himself to them, tell them how he was treated in jail, and come back. He did it !
Proof of the kindliness of the relations which have existed with the Bontoc Igorots is foimd in the fact that no member of this tribe has ever yet turned his hand against an American. On the contrary, there are not a few Americans who owe their Hves to Igorots. Agpad, of Tinglayan, has t^s-ice dived into rivers swollen by t>-phoons and rescued Americans who had sunk for the last time beneath the rushing, muddy waters, while their fellow- countrymen stood by paralyzed with fear.
Last year there occurred an event of profomid signifi- cance. In the past, American officials have often worked hard for days to get representatives of two hostile towns to dance together, for this would make friends of them. On the occasion in question there had gathered at Bontoc to meet me representatives from every settlement in the subprovince. Each town had brought its gansas and its dancers. On the second day of my visit the people of one of the towns started a dance on the plaza. They were promptly joined by representatives from another towTi which had long been hostile to them. People from yet other to-mis followed suit, until finally the plaza swarmed with a great crowd of dancers in which every settlement in the subpro%dnce was represented. Even at that late day I should not have dared to attempt to
588 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
bring about such a tiling. It happened of itself, and to the initiated told an eloquent tale of the results of our years of patient work !
The fii'st time I chmbed PoUs Mountain, on my way from the Bontoc country to the land of the Ifugaos, four Igorots went ahead of me, armed with head-axes and lances, carrying their shields in position. At each turn in the steep, worn-out trail, they drew back their lances ready to throw. I had eighty-six armed men with me, and knew that I might need them. To-day I travel through the length and breadth of the Mountain Province imescorted and unarmed. Furthermore, I usually take my wife with me.
Prior to 1 903, if an Ifugao showed himself on the north side of the Polls range he lost his head. Now people of this tribe stroll into the towTi of Bontoc almost daily. They travel north through the Bontoc Igorot country to Lubuagan, in KaUnga, and west to Cervantes, in Lepanto, or even to Tagudin on the coast, crossing three subprov- inces on the latter trip. They also go south to Baguio.
All freight was formerly packed in from the coast on men's backs a distance of eighty odd miles over steep, narrow, stony trails wliich were really foot-paths. Now it comes in carts over a good road which has a maximum grade of six per cent.
The people of the settlement had to get their water from the river. Now it is piped into town.
There was not a shop in the place, and every one had to go to the coast to make the smallest purchases. There are at present half a dozen good stores, beside the pro- vincial exchange, a store where the government sells the Igorots what they want at reasonable prices, thus preventing shopkeepers from overcharging them.
Commodious quarters for visiting Igorots and Ifugaos have been provided, and there is a fine market where they may display and sell their products. This market is a busy place.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 589
The population is rapidly increasing, now that head- hunting has practically ceased. The area of cultivated lands steadily grows larger, for ,the men are freed from the necessity of being constantly imder arms, and we are help- ing them to get more irrigation water, so that they can extend their rice fields.
There are a thousand or so Bontoc Igorots in Benguet to-day, contracting for railroad excavation work. Times have changed.
When Nueva Vizcaya was first organized, its non- Christian inhabitants greatly outnumbered its Filipino population, as there were at least one hundred fifteen thousand Ifugaos in addition to several thousand Ilongots and a few Benguet Igorots, locally known as Isinayes, who had strayed over the boundary line. With the transfer of the Ifugao territory to the Mountain Province, the Fili- pinos were left in the decided majority. Later all of the Ilongot territory which had previously belonged to the provinces of Isabela, Tayabas, Nueva Ecija and Panga- sinan was added to Nueva Vizcaya, in order that the members of this wild and prinritive tribe might be brought under one provincial administration.
The Ilongots are a strictly forest-inhabiting people. Many of them have a considerable admixture of Negrito blood and live a semi-nomadic hfe. Their settlements, which are small and more or less transient, are usually situated in remote and inaccessible places surrounded by the densest jungle. It is at present impracticable to open up horse trails through their country, for the num- ber of inhabitants is so small, in comparison with the area occupied, that such trails could not be built with Ilongot labour, nor indeed could they be maintained even if built. One main trail is, however, being constructed, and it is planned to build foot trails from this to the more important of the settlements which it does not reach.
A special assistant to the Provincial Governor of Nueva Vizcaya for work among the Ilongots has been appointed
590 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
and assigned to duty at Baler, on the Pacific coast of Luzon, from which place he can more conveniently reach the Ilongots east of the coast range. These people were very wild at the outset, and it proved difficult to establish friendly relations with them, but this has now been suc- cessfully accomplished, and their fear of the white man is largely a thing of the past.
There is a school for Ilongot children at Campote. They prove to be bright, capable pupils.
At the same place there has been established a gov- ernment exchange, where the Ilongots can sell such articles of their own manufacture as they wish to market, and can purchase what they need at moderate cost.
They still fight more or less with each other, but depredations by them upon Filipinos have ceased.
CHAPTER XXII
The Government of the Non-Christian Tribes {Continued)
The province of Mindoro includes numerous small islands, all peopled by Tagalogs, and the main island of Mindoro, which has a narrow broken fringe of Tagalog settlements along its coast. Its whole interior is popu- lated, so far as it is inhabited at all, by the Mangyans, a primitive semi-nomadic tribe which is of Malayan origin but has considerable Negrito blood. No one knows even approximately how many of them there are, for although the island has been crossed in several different places, much of it is still quite unexplored. In most of the interior regions thus far visited the popu- lation is very sparse, but one quite thickly settled dis- trict has been found. It is beheved that the Mangyans number something like 15,000.
The Filipino settlements were so disorderly, filthy, and unhealthy that the energies of the first governor. Captain R. G. OfHey, and those of his successor. Captain Louis G. Van Schaick, were to a large extent expended in efforts for the betterment of the Tagalogs. It is a pleasure to record the fact that these efforts met with a very large degree of success.
The condition of most of the Tagdiog towns is now good. Mangarin is the chief exception to this state- ment. Its surroundings are such as to make it im- possible successfully to combat malaria, from which every one of its inhabitants suffers. We are still en- deavouring to persuade its unfortunate people to move to a healthy site !
591
592 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
Governor Offley did some work for the Mangyans. They have advanced but sUghtly beyond the Negritos in civilization. Many of them live under shelters not worthy of the name of huts, and in the vicinity of Mt. Halcon even the women are clad only in clouts. Houses are placed singly in the dense forests, or at the most are gathered in very small groups. It proved a most diffi- cult undertaking to persuade any considerable number of Mangyans to gather together and construct decent dwellings. It had been their custom to abandon their forest homes whenever a death occurred, leaving behind all their belongings, and perhaps even changing their names on the theory that their old names were unlucky and new ones inight prove advantageous.
With admirable patience Governor Offley organized a little village called Lalauigan on the south coast of Min- doro. Lalauigan has prospered. It is very clean ; the houses of its Mangyan residents are quite presentable. The neighbouring fields are planted with corn and rice. It has a school, and the children prove to be apt pupils.
Another Mangyan village, organized near the west coast, was short-lived. The Tagalog Filipinos look with great disfavour on the gathering of the Mangyans into settlements where they can be protected, as this renders it difficult to hold them in a state of peonage. Wlienever Governor Offley got a little group together, they did their best to scatter it. In this instance they passed the word that smallpox had broken out in a neighbouring Tagdlog village. All Mangyans are deathly afraid of this disease, and this particular set built a great fire, jumped through the flames to purify themselves from contagion, took to the hills, and have not been seen since !
Wliile in hearty sympathy with the admirable work which was being done among the Tagalogs, I was dissatis- fied with the failure to push explorations in the interior more actively and to get more closely in touch with the wild inhabitants. When the Tagalog settlements had
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 593
at last been put in really good condition, I gave Governor Van Schaick, who had succeeded Governor Offley, posi- tive instructions that more attention must be paid to the Mangyans. He then began active explorations, and pushed them with considerable success up to the time when he was compelled to tender his resignation by the terms of the Army Appropriation Bill for 1913, which necessitated his return to his regiment. Prior to his departure he succeeded in establishing a new Mangyan village which has continued to prosper up to the present time. His successor, Governor R. E. Walters, was kept from actively pushing exploration work during the past "dry" season, by unprecedented rains.
Road and trail construction began several years ago and is going forward as rapidly as Umited funds will permit.
The great trouble with the Tagalogs of Mindoro is that nature has been too kind to them. They have only to plough a bit of ground at the beginning of the rainy season, scatter a little rice on it, and harvest the crop when ripe, to be able to live idly the rest of the year, and too many of them adopt this course. However, some good towns, like Pinamalayan, are waking up as the re- sult of iimnigration from Marinduque.
Two great services have been rendered to the more orderly of the inhabitants of Mindoro, which was, in Spanish days, a rendezvous for evil-doers from Luzon. Indeed, it was the most disorderly province north of Mindanao. An excellent state of public order has been es- tablished, and there has not been an anned ladrone ^ in the province for years. It was famous for its "bad climate." We have shown that its climate is good, making its towns really healthful by merely cleaning them up.
The establishment of a great modern sugar estate on the southwest coast has doubled the daily wage, and given
' The words ladrones and tulisanes are used indiscriminately in the Philippines to designate armed robbers and brigands.
594 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
profitable employment to all who wanted to work, and the people are beginning to bestir themselves. The public schools, of which every town has one, are materially assisting the awakening now in progress.
Palawan, like Mindoro, is made up of one large island, which bears the name of the province, and a number of smaller ones. Indeed, it includes more small islands than does any other provmce, with the possible exception of Moro.
The bulk of its Christian population are found on the smaller islands, several of which are very thickly settled.
The non-Christian inhabitants are divided between three tribes, — the Moros, Tagbanuas and Bataks. The latter are Negritos of very pure blood. Their number is quite limited. They extend across the island from the east coast to the west in the region north of Bahia Honda.
Until within a short time there have been Moro settle- ments scattered along both east and west coasts of the southern third of the main island. The Moro popula- tion of Palawan is largely composed of renegades who have been driven out of Jolo, Tawi Tawi, Cagayan de Jolo, British North Borneo and Banguey by their own people because of infractions of the laws of their tribe. When the province was organized, they were not cultivating a hectare of land amongst them. They lived in part by fishing, but chiefly on what they stole, or on the products of the labour of the hill people in the interior, many of whom they enslaved or held in a state of peonage, taking their rice and other agricultural products with or without giving compensation, as seemed to them good.
The hill people, who occupy the higher mountains in the interior of southern Palawan, and who in the central and northern portions of the island extend down to the very coast, are known as Paluanes in the south and as Tagbanuas elsewhere. Tagbanuas are also found on
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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 595
Dumaran and Linapacan, and quite generally throughout the Calamianes Islands, especially on Culion and Busu- anga. I have failed to discover any real tribal differ- ences between the Paluanes and the Tagbanuas and be- lieve that they should be classed as one people, although the Paluanes are more incUned to stand up for their rights than are the Tagbanuas, and by using blow guns and poisoned arrows have succeeded in keeping the Moros out of the interior highlands. They were, however, long forced to trade with the Moros in order to obtain cloth, steel, salt and other things not produced in their own country, and so were at their mercy.
The Tagbanuas are a rather timid and docile people, giving evidence of a considerable amount of Negrito blood. They are at times quite industrious, and raise considerable quantities of rice and camotes, but live, in part, on fish, game and forest products.
Communication in this province was very difficult. The main island of Palawan, which is some two hundred fifty miles in length and very narrow, extends in a northeast- erly and southwesterly direction, and as a result both of its coasts are swept by each monsoon so that there are only about two months of the year when travel by sea in small boats is comfortable and safe. At the outset there was not a mile of trail on the island. This latter condi- tion is being rapidly remedied.
The first governor appointed for the newly established province of Palawan was Lieutenant E. Y. Miller, U. S. A., a man of splendid physique, tireless energy, and indomi- table courage.
Governor Miller set to work very actively to better the condition of the Fihpinos and to establish friendly and helpful relations with the non-Christians.
The bulk of the Christians are unusually poor and ignorant and many of them were held in a miserable state of peonage by a few caciques. Vigorous efforts extending through a long term of years have weakened
596 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
the grip of the caciques, but have by no means broken it.
At an early date the new governor won the admiration of the Moros, who like courage, by a series of very brave acts. A number of constabulary soldiers who were coasting along the west shore of Palawan in a sail-boat went ashore, leaving their rifles on board guarded by two or three of their comrades. They also left several Moros on the boat, and the latter, watching their oppor- tunity, killed the guards and got away with the rifles, taking them to Dato Tumay, their chief, who armed his people with them.
Governor Miller, with Captain Louden, of the con- stabulary company concerned, promptly attacked Tu- may's place and drove him mto the hills. Tumay took refuge in a Tagbanua village, never dreaming that he would be pursued into the momitain fastnesses. Miller and his companions succeeded in getting mto the place before Tumay knew they were in the vicinity, and there followed a fight to the death at close quarters. Two soldiers, standing one to the right and one to the left of Governor INIiller, were shot dead, but he was not scratched.
On a number of other occasions he displayed a bravery approaching recklessness. Hearing that a fleet of some fifty Moro boats had put to sea on a piratical expedition, he embarked in a twenty-foot launch accompanied only by a captain of constabulary, and the two of them ran down and disarmed the pirates and sent them home. They nearly sank their tiny launch with the dead weight of the weapons which they took on board. The tiling seems preposterous, and only Miller's extraordinary moral influence over these unruly people made it humanly possible.
When I visited Palawan on my regular inspection trip in the year 1909, I found Mrs. Miller much worried about her husband, who was absent from the capital, having
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 597
gone to arrest some Moro murderers at Lara. As usual, he had taken with hmi only a constabulary captain and three or four soldiers, and Mrs. Miller feared that he might be killed.
I hastened down the coast of the island at the full speed of my steamer, keeping a close watch for his boat, and finally located it at Bonabona, where he had succeeded in arresting several of the criminals. On his way down he had stopped at Lara and had learned that a brother of the local chief, Dato Pula, was responsible for the murder, having ordered it and paid the assassins who committed it, one of whom was lurking in the vicinity, while others had gone to Bonabona. Governor Miller called upon Dato Pula to deliver both his brother and the murderer, who was then at Lara, and stated that he would be back on a certain day to receive them. As he insisted on returning at the appointed time and attempting to arrest these men, I took him on my steamer, together with his American companion and one constabulary soldier. The other soldiers remained on his boat to guard the prisoners he had already taken.
We returned to Lara, but were unable to land in front of the town as a heavy siu'f was thundering on the beach. A mile to the north we found a sheltered spot where we could safely disembark and our httle party, consisting of Governor Miller armed with a six-shooter, a constabu- lary captain armed with a Winchester shotgun and a six- shooter, a constabulary soldier armed with a carbine, ex-Insurgent Colonel Pablo Tecson armed with my double- barrelled shotgun. Governor Pack of the Mountain Prov- ince, my brother George S. Worcester, and my stenog- rapher, all of whom were without weapons, and myself carrying an automatic Winchester rifle, marched on the town. Governor Miller sent the soldier ahead to warn the Moros that they must meet us unarmed. A small reception committee did so.
On the very outskirts of Lara we waded a creek nearly
598 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
up to our necks in water, then marched up the street and entered Pula's house. Just as we did so I saw twenty or thirty fully armed Moros come in on the run and hastily conceal themselves in one of the numerous neighbouring houses. I further promptly discovered that two rooms partitioned off in the corners of the great living room of Pula's house were crowded full of men armed to the teeth, and that a second-story room, immediately under the roof and over our heads, was similarly occupied. I asked Governor Pack quietly to ascertain how many of the houses in the village were occupied by fully equipped fighting men, and he soon informed me that every one of them was packed. We estimated that there were several hundred warriors in town, which meant that Pula had raked the coast of the island north and south for miles and brought in every male Moro big enough to wield a weapon.
We seated ourselves on a table, back to back and facing out, with our own weapons very handy, and had a talk with Pula which lasted until late in the afternoon. Stand- ing within striking distance of us most of the day, were two stalwart Moros, each of whom had a kriss dagger firmly gripped in his right hand and concealed between his folded arms. When one remembers that the average Moro fighter does not seem to know when he is dead, but keeps on doing damage after he ought to be busily oc- cupied in passing to the other world, it will be seen that our situation left much to be desired.
Under the pretext of sending for a phonograph with which to entertain the crowd while our negotiations con- tinued, I communicated with the captain of our steamer, advising him of the facts. He got out anununition for his two one-pounder rapid-fire guns and took up a position immediately in front of the town. We did not ask him for reenforcements, believing that any attempt on his part to send them would precipitate an attack on us.
Never did I pass a more pecuhar, or a more unpleasant,
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 599
day. Miller steadfastly insisted that Pula's brother and the hired assassin be given up. Pula produced two thoroughly cowed Tagbanuas whom he had induced by threats to declare that they had committed the murders, and most emphatically dechned to turn over either his brother or the true murderer. Our discussions were punctuated by tunes played on the phonograph which created great excitement among the Moros, some of whom got up and danced to the music !
Finally, late in the afternoon, Pula gave in, turned the murderer over to us, and promised to turnover his brother, but said that the latter must first be allowed to go home to get some clothes, and that he would then send hun on board our ship.
We improved this our first opportunity to beat a re- treat wdthout losing face. Our Moro "friends" bid us good-b}^ on the beach, then armed themselves and fol- lowed us at a short distance as we marched back to the landing place where our launch was pounding in the surf, awaiting our return. Three strong fighting parties came out of the dense vegetation which bordered the beach im- mediately after we had passed the places where they were concealed. They had obviously been waiting there to cut off our retreat if trouble started, and could most certainly have done it. In fact, they could have shot us down from the brush without showing themselves.
It requu-ed all the self-control which I could muster to keep my back toward the strong and constantly grow- ing group of armed men who followed us, and to look unconcerned, yet I knew, as did every other member of the party, that our seeing the hght of another day prob- ably depended on our abihty to do both things. The slightest e\ddence of alarm would have precipitated a fight which could have had but one outcome for us.
When opposite the launch, we turned and faced the Moros and then the several members of the party went aboard, one at a time. Never did a widening strip of
600 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
water look better to me than did that which finally began to separate us from the shore.
To our great amazement Dato Pula kept his word and sent his brother on board !
No man ever laboured more diligently for the good of alien peoples than did Governor Miller. He evolved a wise plan for improving the condition of the Tagbanuas living in the vicinity of Puerto Princesa, many of whom, as is so often the case with the uncivilized peoples of the Philippines, were reduced to a state of peonage by their Filipino neighbours. A large reservation was set aside for their exclusive use, and they were persuaded to retire to it. At the cost of infinite labour and pains Governor Miller built there a fine set of school buildings, and the Bureau of Education started a school which gives in- struction in English, arithmetic and manual training to Tagbanua boys and girls.
Governor Miller's keen interest in this project led him to stop to inspect the progress of the work when return- ing from a long trip around the island. In the face of a coming storm he ascended the Aborlan River to the school site, where he remained until after dark, oblivious of the fact that a tremendous downpour of rain in the neighbour- ing mountains had produced a sudden flood in the river. Returning to his launch, he jumped on board and cast off before the engine was started. The current swept the launch away like a straw, carried it in close to the bank, and an overhanging branch, which ordinarily would have been high above the water, struck the governor a stunning blow on the head, knocking him overboard. He never came to the surface, and twenty-four hours elapsed before his body was recovered.
Mr. John H. Evans, then serving as heutenant-gov- ernor of Bontoc, in the Mountain Province, was appointed in his place, and I took him around the Palawan group of islands to introduce him to his unruly subjects. On arrival at Puerto Princesa we were told that the occupants
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 601
of a fleet of Moro boats were already raiding and killing along the southern coast of the island, and we accordingly took on board Captain Moynihan of the Philippine Scouts, with thirty of his soldiers. The report proved unfounded, but nevertheless the soldiers came in very handily.
I landed at Culasian Bay on the west coast, meaning to ascend a river to the settlement of Dato Tumay, the man whose people had on a former occasion fought Governor Miller with captured constabulary rifles and been soundly whipped. Finding no one on the beach, we walked up the river bank for a short distance to a group of half a dozen tightly closed houses which looked as if they might belong to fishermen. Here we were met by a splendidly dressed glad-hand delegation, who greeted us rather too effusively. My suspicion was further aroused by the fact that only three of them carried weapons, in sight at least. The weapons of a Moro chief are just as much a part of his full dress as are the garments he wears. I had a few moments' friendly conversation with these people, during which I noticed that several of them displayed a marked inclination to get behind me. This I did not hke, so took up a position with my back to the river. Presently I suggested that we had come to call on Dato Tumay. The following conversation ensued : —
"You cannot go to see him."
"Why not ? Are the trails in bad condition ?"
"There are no trails."
"Are you not Dato Tumay's people?"
"Yes."
"How did you come down if there are no trails?"
"We came down the river."
"Very well, we vn\\ go up the river. "-
"You cannot do that."
"Why not?"
"There are no boats to carry you."
"How did you come down?"
602 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
"In those boats. [Pointing out two tiny dugouts barely able to carry two men each.] You and one of your friends can go up in them if you like. Two of our men will paddle you."
This proposition did not seem attractive to me, so I suggested that I would take a little walk up the river. I had been positively assured that there was no other boat in the vicinity, but at the very first turn discovered a suspicious looking trail running up into the bushes and following it found a fully rigged war-canoe over which freshly cut brush had been hastily throAvn. I suggested to the Moros that this looked very much like a boat. They replied that it leaked. I asked them to put it into the water, stating that I Uked to see boats leak. Not a Moro stirred. We had brought twenty-five soldiers ashore with us, as Tumay's reputation was by no means of the best, and I now called to some of them to come and put the boat into the river. In passing back of the group of Moros, one of these men stubbed his toe on the shaft of a lance which was hidden in the grass, and fell on his nose. He raised the lance as he recovered his feet, then stooped and picked up a second one, trailed them behind him until he reached a position in front of me and dropped them on the ground. Both had the sheaths removed from their long steel heads. Another soldier kicked around in the grass a bit and produced a serpent kriss which had been drawn from its scabbard. Still another fished up a bar dug}
I asked the ranking Moro present what was the meaning of these weapons, concealed at our very feet. He said that they were afraid that we would steal them and had therefore hidden them. I asked him whether any white man had ever stolen anything from them, and also why they had hidden them there, where we were likely to cut our feet on them, instead of in the forest which was not fifty yards away. Obviously there was no satisfactory 1 A fighting knife of deadly effectiveness.
'■«.»,
THE GO\^RNMENT OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN TRIBES 603
answer to these questions and he had no time to attempt any, for one of the soldiers stooped down and pulled out of the grass from beside his very hand a forty-five caliber single-action revolver, cocked and with all six cylinders loaded. Fearmg to be taken at a disadvantage, I said to the soldiers, "Make these men sit down, and search the place for arms."
The soldiers repeatedly ordered the Moros to sit down and the order was translated to them in their own language by my mterpreter. Not a man obej^ed. On the con- trary, one of them turned his back and started off at a quick pace, disregarding repeated orders to halt. Theo- retically he should have been shot.
Practically, I had ordered the soldiers not to fire under any circumstances unless some Moro drew a weapon. Mr. Olney Bondm-ant, assistant to the provincial gov- ernor for work among the Moros, had been taking a hasty look back of the houses and was returning to tell me that they were full of armed men. The IMoro above men- tioned, just before meeting Bondurant, reached into a bush and drew out two of the cruel fighting knives known as barongs. They were in their flat sheaths, and lay one on top of the other. Snatching the upper one from its scabbard, he struck a wicked blow at Bondurant as the latter passed him on the trail. Bondurant, who was quick as a cat, dodged the blow, then whirled and shot his assailant. Instantly armed men with drawn weapons began to boil out of the houses on the side farthest from us, and those soldiers who were in a position to see them promptly opened fire. Other Moros also began to pop up at the edge of the forest, and we had a bit of a scrim- mage, lively enough while it lasted. I took no part in it, but with three soldiers helping me compelled eleven men of the group with whom we had been talking to sit down, and kept them sitting until the unpleasantness was over, as I wanted to talk with them. I then told the head man to stand up.
604 THE PHILIPPINES PAST AND PRESENT
He was very reluctant to do this, obviously expecting to be shot, but no such fate was in store for him. On the contrary, I gave hmi a lecture, told him where certain wounded and certain dead Moros were to be found, and instructed him and his people first to care for the wounded ; second, to bury the dead ; third, to go to Tumay's place and tell him that although I had come to make a friendly call on him, my party had been attacked bj^ his people, but that the only men who had been hurt were those who had endeavoured to use their weapons on us. I further- more directed him to tell Tumay that he must come across the island to the place where Mr. Bondurant lived, and explain this extraordinary occurrence. We then took our departure, marching down the