THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT--PHILIPPINES
Of all the islands in the eastern seas, none are more interesting than
our own Philippines. Like the genuine pearl which is the result of a
bruise and the outcome of suffering, these pearls of the far east are
said by geologists to be the result of great volcanic forces that tore
them away from the continent and set them out six hundred miles as "gems
in the ocean." More than three thousand there are of these islands all
together, and their combined area is nearly equal to that of Japan or
California. I visited the Philippines a short time before the world war
broke out and at that time there were seven million acres of arable land
unoccupied and some of it could be entered and purchased for ten cents
per acre.
This is a land where the storms of winter never blow but where from
month to month and age to age there is good old summer time. Children
are born, grow to manhood, old age, and die without ever seeing fire to
keep them warm for they never need it. A range of twenty degrees is
about all that the spirits in the thermometer ever show, for the minimum
is seventy-two and the maximum ninety-two degrees. While the nights are
cool and the days warm, yet a case of sunstroke was never known and but
once in a generation has a hundred in the shade been recorded.
About the most unpleasant feature is the little tiny ants. They find
their way into everything. Table legs must be placed in jars of water
and yet they find their way to the top of the tables. Then there is
dampness everywhere. Books soon become mildewed or unglued and the
finest library will soon have the appearance of a secondhand bookshop.
Almost all kinds of tropical fruits can be raised in the Philippines. I
drove out from Manila to the home of Mr. Lyon, who is a regular Burbank.
He located on some of the worst soil to be found and undertook to
demonstrate that anything that will grow on any spot on the earth will
grow there and he practically succeeded. He has sent to India,
California, Egypt and nearly everywhere for the rarest orchids and most
delicate plants. To eat of the fruits of every kind of tree and hear him
tell the story of plants and shrubs and trees in his Garden of Eden is
an experience one cannot forget.
The story of how these islands came into our possession is still fresh
and vivid in the memory of thousands. Spanish cruelty had reached the
climax and Admiral Dewey was commanded to "find the Spanish fleet and
sink it to the bottom of the sea." As the great ship upon which I went
into and out of this harbor plowed the waves I lived over again that
marvelous May day in 1898. It was one of the great days in our history.
As the fleet entered the harbor word came to the flagship that they were
entering a territory covered with submarine mines, yet Admiral Dewey
signaled, "Steam ahead." A little later word came that they were in
direct range of the guns at the fort and once more the Admiral signaled
"Steam ahead." Still later word came that they were entering the most
dangerous mine-infested district of all and were liable any instant to
be blown to atoms, and once more the fearless Admiral signaled "Steam
ahead." The result was that the long dark night of Spanish rule was
ended and a new era was ushered in.
The transformation brought about since that memorable day is almost
unbelievable. The whole country has been revolutionized. Railroads and
macadamized roads have been built with steel and concrete bridges and
where it used to be almost impassable it is now a pleasure to travel.
Schools and colleges have been established. A bureau of labor has
averted many strikes. A constabulary force of nearly five thousand men
has done wonders in suppressing brigandage, bringing the savage tribes
into subjection and preserving the peace in general. This force is
somewhat similar to the mounted police system of Saskatchewan in Canada
and is a terror to evil doers.
A bureau of health has transformed the city of Manila from a
fever-infested hotbed of contagious diseases to one of the most
healthful cities on the globe. Six thousand lepers have been collected
and established in a colony on an island. The number of cases of
small-pox has been reduced from forty thousand to a few hundred per
year. Cholera, which used to sweep away tens of thousands is almost
unknown. With a dozen or more great hospitals and more than three
hundred boards of health, great things have been accomplished.
I was much interested in the report of Francis Burton Harrison who was a
recent governor general of the Philippines who said, "During the war
this race of people was intensely and devotedly loyal to the cause of
the United States. It raised a division of Filipino volunteers for
federal service and presented destroyers and a submarine to the United
States Navy; it oversubscribed its quota in Liberty bonds and gave
generously to Red Cross and other war work. America was criticised and
even ridiculed for her altruism in dealing with this problem. The idea
of training tropical people for independence was thought to be
idealistic and impracticable. The result was quite to the contrary. Once
more idealism has been shown to be the moving force in working out the
destinies of nations. That is what America has done to the Philippines."
"If the city of Manila could, by some genius of modern times, be laid
down in Europe and ticketed, labeled, bill-posted and guide-booked, it
would be famous," says one authority. The city contains an area of more
than fifteen square miles and is more densely populated per mile of
street than New York. When civil government was established in 1901 the
conditions were deplorable. The streets were narrow and filthy and there
was no sewer system to speak of. The river and dirty canals divided and
subdivided the city. There was practically no water system and disease
and death lurked in almost every shadow.
Now the city is fast becoming one of the world's great cities and one of
the most healthful cities on the globe. The streets have been widened,
many of them, and are kept clean. A water system brings pure water to
almost every household and a great sewer system takes away the filth.
The Manila Hotel is worth a million and a park or square on the water
front covers hundreds of acres of ground.
The great Y. M. C. A. buildings were thronged as in no other city the
writer ever visited. The fire department is up-to-date, the police
system well organized, and even in the great Bilibid prison the reforms
introduced are second to none in any prison. This prison covers
seventeen acres of ground, making it one of the largest in the world.
Many of its fifty buildings are built around a circle and in the tower
at the center, watchmen, who can see the entire prison, stand night and
day.
Through the kindness of the officials the writer was allowed to go into
this tower one afternoon as the five thousand prisoners came from the
shops, formed into companies and went through a thirty-minute drill. The
band played throughout and as the men were formed into companies we from
the tower could see each individual company although they were hidden
from each other. The great body of men moved like the wheels of a great
clock. They stood, knelt, touched hands, lay down, arose, walked and
exercised, keeping time with the music in a way that was wonderful to
behold. Cells for prisoners have long since been done away. They mingle
in companies in large sunny, clean, dormitories, where they visit, read
and sing.
In the heart of Manila there remains "all that is mortal" of one of the
most interesting spots in the eastern world. It is the old, old capital
city and its story is the story of the Philippines. The old walls of
this inner city were built some four hundred years ago and could they
speak, the whole world would listen with amazement and horror. There
were seven gates in this old wall and they were closed and opened by
means of gigantic windlasses.
Then, too, the story of the old Fort Santiago almost rivals that of the
Tower of London. Here were found, when we took it, mysterious
underground passages, store rooms and magazines, dark and hidden
chambers some of which were nearly half filled with skeletons. The
stories that center around this old fort make one shudder to hear them.
Possibly they are exaggerated, but there are many today who believe
them. As an example, we are told that a woman had been walled up in a
cell, with only a small opening through which food was shoved in, the
day her baby was born and when the Americans came they found her and her
sixteen-year-old child in this dark room. The child had never had even a
glimpse of the sunlight.
When I climbed upon this old fort and saw the stars and stripes waving
in the breeze, where for more than three hundred years the Spanish
emblem had terrorized the people, I thought of the mighty changes that
the American flag had brought. That memorable day in 1898 when our own
General Merritt met the Spanish governor-general and arranged for the
surrender of the city, was one of the greatest days in the history of
the orient.
People in Manila slept but little that eventful night for somehow they
had gotten the idea that the coming morning would be their day of doom.
When the sun arose they hardly breathed. For a whole week they were
afraid to venture from their homes. But there was no pillage, no plunder
and no bloodshed. When the amazed people found courage to venture out,
their astonishment knew no bounds. It was almost too good to be true
that American occupation meant the dawning of a new, and for them, a
glorious day, and it is not surprising that such a report could be given
as Governor General Harrison submitted in 1919.
Soon after he came from the Philippines I heard Rev. Homer C. Stuntz
recount many of his experiences there and will give a single one of
these as memory recalls it. As Bishop of the Methodist church he had
been there about six months when one day a fine looking young Filipino
came to his home and asked for a private interview. He insisted on
having doors and windows closed and blinds all down. Mr. Stuntz said he
had no idea what the man wanted. When they were alone with door locked
and with evidence of great agitation the young man said: "I have come
many miles to see you and ask you a question that means more to us
Filipinos than any other question that I could ask." Mr. Stuntz said
that as yet he had no idea what was troubling the man until he
continued: "I want to know, sir, if it is now safe--the soldiers say it
is, but I cannot believe it--to have a copy of the Protestant Bible in
my house and read it to my family?"
Mr. Stuntz said the whole thing seemed so strange to him that he was
silent for a moment, when the man continued: "Sir, this is a very
important question to us Filipinos. You know the law under which we have
lived here is this," and quoting from section 219 of the Penal Code of
Spain in the Philippines, said: "If any person or persons shall preach
or teach or otherwise maintain any doctrine or doctrines not established
by the state, he shall be deemed guilty of a crime and shall be punished
at the discretion of the judge." Then, to the amazement of Mr. Stuntz,
the man continued: "Under the operation of that law my own father was
dragged from our house and we never saw him alive again. That was when I
was eleven years old. I have supported my mother as best I could, and
now I have a wife and two children. I want to know if it is safe."
It was with a heart thrilling with pride that this great American took
the young man to the window and as he opened the blind and the window
itself and saw the stars and stripes proudly waving in the breeze and
with tears running down his face said to him: "My dear man, as long as
yonder flag waves over the city you may take the Bible and climb up on
the ridgeboard of your house at high noon each day, three hundred and
sixty-five days in the year and read it as loud as you can and no man
shall harm you." Three months later Mr. Stuntz went to that man's home
city, spoke from half past seven until midnight, announced that he would
speak in the same building at six o'clock the next morning, and an hour
before the appointed time five hundred people were in line waiting to
get in.