13 - Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines by Isabel Anderson

Join Isabel Anderson on a captivating journey through Hawaii and the Philippines, as she shares a fascinating travelogue that doubles as a rich history lesson. This book is a treasure trove for anyone intrigued by the South Pacific, offering a compelling glimpse into the transformations that have taken place since Mrs. Andersons travels. Prepare to be enthralled by her vivid storytelling and insightful observations.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section twelve of the Spell of the Hawaiian Islands and
the Philippines by Isabel Andersen. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain recording by William tom Coo. The Spell
of the Hawaiian Islands and the Philippines by Isabel Andersen,
Section twelve, chapter four, following the flag. They taught Filipinos

(00:26):
the right way to work, and they taught as if
teaching were fun. They taught them to spell, and to
build themselves roads and the best way to handle a gun.
Where their salaries so big that the task was worth while?
Did they save a centavo of pay? Have the average
men an account with the bank? Never a cent? Not they?

(00:48):
So we haven't a job, and we haven't a cent,
and nobody cares a damn. But we've done our work,
and we've done it well, to the glory of Uncle Sam.
And we've seen a lot, and we've lived a lot
in these islands over the sea. Would we changed with
our brothers grown rich at home, praised be to God?

(01:09):
Not we? From the Swan song in the Manila Bulletin.
It is strangely enough to the influence of that arch
anti imperialist William Jennings Bryan that we owe the ratification
of the Treaty of Paris, which not only ended the
war with Spain but expressly provided for the purchase of
the Philippine Islands. The Democrats were opposed to the treaty

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and were powerful enough in the Senate to have held
it up had not Brian used his authority to secure
the two thirds vote needed for its ratification. It is
amusing to note that a year later, after enabling us
to acquire the islands, he used all his power to
prevent our keeping them. He was at this time in
need of a popular plank in his third presidential platform,

(01:54):
and the sorrows of the Philippines suited his purpose admirably.
Soon after the Treaty of Paris, and long before the
end of the insurrection, McKinley appointed a commission of experts
to go out to the islands and report to him
on conditions. There they found a country whose civilization was
to put it, hopefully at a standstill. It was too

(02:15):
big a problem to be straightened out by a few
ambitious Filipinos. The commission returned to America convinced of the
necessity of our occupation. Congress soon passed a special Organic
Act for the organization of a civil government in the
Islands to succeed the military rule then in force. In
nineteen hundred, President mc kinley appointed the Second Commission, headed

(02:38):
by mister Taft, which was instructed to assume control of
the islands, gradually relieving the army wherever conditions allowed of
their doing so. This Commission had five members, three of
them lawyers, two of whom had been on the bench,
and to professors. Its functions were at first legislative and judicial,

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but in nineteen o one, when the President of the Commission,
mister Taft, became Governor General of the Islands, the other
members were given the portfolios of the different departments and
executive power in the pacified parts of the islands. Dean C. Worcester,
a member of the earlier Commission and already an authority
on the Philippines, became the first Minister of the Interior.

(03:21):
Luke E. Wright, the Vice Governor, had the Department of
Commerce and Police. H c. Ide, former Chief Justice of Samoa,
had charge of finance and Justice, while Professor Moses was
put at the head of public instruction. Governor Taft became
really the father of the Philippines, for when he left
the Islands in nineteen o four to become Secretary of War,

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he had even higher authority over them than he had
had as governor. While still later as President of the
United States, he was able to see that the same
high standard of appointments was maintained. Mckilley charged this commission
that their work was not to subjugate, but to emancipate.
We made many mistakes, for we were new to the

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business and dealing with the strange people. But until very lately,
even the selfishness which is supposed to be inherent in
party politics has been absent in our dealings with this people,
whom we considered our sacred charge. No one ever asked
an American official in the islands what his politics were.
Even the governorship itself was out of the reach of

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the spoilsman. Of the five governors who were appointed by
the Republican administrations, only one besides the first governor, belonged
to the dominant party, and he was in office. But
a few months since the Taft Commission first organized, several
changes have taken place. Filipino members have been added, and
it has acquired the character of an upper House rather

(04:51):
than a legislature. The work of a lower house is
done by the Assembly, made up of eighty one members
chosen by the people of the Christian tribes. They have
no authority over the morro and other non Christian tribes,
which are legislated for by the commission directly to day,
the Filipinos controlled their municipal and county governments, but their

(05:12):
finances are kept under supervision. The problems which the commissioners
had to solve were many and varied trade was at
a standstill. During the last normal year under Spain, the
exports from the islands had amounted to about sixteen million dollars.
By nineteen twelve, they had more than troubled. There was
also a currency problem. Coins from everywhere Mexico, China, America,

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India were in common circulation, with almost daily fluctuations and value.
The islands now have their own money on a gold basis. Then,
close on the heels of the insurrection came a famine.
Locusts swept over the land and destroyed what little grain
the war had left. The natives in some parts of
the archipelago ate the locusts, however, and liked them, making

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the work of the officials. More difficult, grain shipped from
America decayed in the storehouses before it could be distributed,
And as if that were not enough, Carabaos died by
the thousand from rinderpest. But the most difficult of all
was the problem of the Friar lands. Thousands of acres
of valuable land had been acquired during Spanish rule by

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the different orders of monks and held by them with
great profit. One of the chief causes of Aquinaldo's rebellion
was the exactions of these wealthy churchmen, which galled a
patient people into final revolt, and during the ascendancy of
the insurgent government, resulted in the confiscation of church property
and the flight of the friars. These men took refuge

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in Manila and petitioned the new government for a settlement
of their claims. Their legal rights were not to be disputed,
but to return them to their property and protect them
there would have brought on us the increased enmity of
a people whose friendship we were trying to win. The
friends of the Friars were no friends of the people.
It was decided to have the Philippine government by these

(07:09):
lands from the church, which was accordingly arranged. Even this
was not a popular solution, but seems to have been
the best that could be done under the circumstances. One
third of these lands are still vacant. Road building was
one of the most baffling of the problems. The people
had no appreciation of the necessity for good roads, and

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would not pay for them nor help keep them in
repair when they were built. For years, the commission toiled
at the seemingly hopeless task, and it was not until
Governor Forbes went out there from Boston that anything definite
was accomplished. His native city should be very proud of
his brilliantly successful administration, the proofs of which met us

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at every turn during our estate in the archipelago, and
convinced us of the fatal mistake it is to allow
such a position as Governor of the Philippines to become
the prize of post politicians. To the native mind. His
name became inseparably connected with Rhodes. Camillero means a roadman.
The Cameron Forbes is of course known to the Filipino

(08:12):
as Camiinero for Bays. He had been a commissioner five
years when made governor General, which office he held for
four more. When mister Wilson became president, Governor Forbes was
advised not to tender his resignation, for it was believed
the new administration would wish to keep the islands clear
of the spoil system. Suddenly, out of a clear sky,

(08:35):
the Governor General received this cablegram from the Insidoor Bureau.
Harrison confirmed, August twenty First, the President desires him to
sail September tenth. Will it be convenient to have your
resignation accepted September first? Harrison to accept and take the
oath of office September second. The President desires to meet

(08:55):
your convenience. Should Harrison take linen, silver, glass, china, and automobiles?
What else would you suggest? Wife and children will accompany him?
Please engage for him. Servants, you leave. Worst of all,
it was given out to the papers before the Governor
received it, so that certain anti American sheets in Manila

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had the pleasure of flaunting the news on their front
pages for him to read. Surely some more considerate and
courteous method of retiring a fine administrator might have been
devised than this abrupt and rude dismissal and it would
seem that petty household matters might have been kept separate.
Secretary Worcester, also a native of New England, who is

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the greatest living authority on the islands, and whose achievements
with the wild non Christian tribes had been marvelous, to
say nothing of his other excellent work, and also, of
course to reside. Forbes, by the way, is not a republican,
but neither is he a democrat, and independence are not
politically useful. The work of the administration, and immediately preceding

(10:01):
that of Governor Harrison, is worth at least a partial summary.
Besides building roads, establishing a good health resort at Baggaio,
systematizing the work of the government, reducing the number of bureaus,
cutting down expenses, and eliminating duplication of work, and numerous
other public services. Governor Forbes succeeded in accomplishing the following

(10:23):
the reorganization of the merchant Marine, the construction of aids
to navigation, buoys, lighthouses and beacons, wharves and harbors, the
removal of restrictions from shipping, the establishment of a policy
for the exclusive use of permanent materials in construction. Practically
all the construction in the islands being done of reinforced

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concrete and selected woods. The passage of a law providing
for proper development of irrigation, laying aside an annual sum
for that purpose. The establishment of a cadastral law for
registering law titles. Under this system it was possible to
get land titles settled, one of the most difficult and

(11:04):
important problems confronting any government, and one bearing directly on
the welfare of the people. In various ways. A general
system was adopted of loaning to provinces and municipalities to
encourage them in the construction of public works, particularly those
of a revenue bearing nature, most especially markets, which improved

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the sanitary condition of the food supply and proved both
popular with the people and profitable for the municipalities. These
markets usually paid for themselves in five years from the
increased revenues. The governor's influence was used throughout to make
the instruction in the schools practical in its nature. Children

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were taught to make things that would prove to be
saleable and which would give them a living. The dignity
of labor was emphasized. Encouragement was given to foster the
construction of railroads. The establishment of a postal savings bank
encouraged the children to invest. Prizes were given for that
child or school which showed the best record. Governor Forbes

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took an especial interest in the latter. The first general
election was held in the Islands on the third of
July nineteen o seven to choose delegates for the Assembly.
Before that, the Philippine Commission had been the sole legislative body.
The delegates were chosen from the thirty five Christian provinces.
At that time, only a minute percentage of the population,

(12:30):
even among the Filipinos, was qualified to meet the simple
conditions which would enable them to vote, and today the
percentages far from large. The electorate consists mainly of two classes,
the illstragos or educated natives and mestizos, and the taos
or peasants. The latter are not only ignorant, but indifferent,

(12:53):
with no vision beyond what their eyes can see, and
no interest in who governs them so long as crops
are good and taxes low. One of the tasks of
our representatives is to educate and awaken these people to
responsible citizenship. It is a task still far from accomplishment.
It must be admitted that the work of the Assembly

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to day, after eight years of fair trial, does not
encourage Philippinization of the service. It is fortunate at times
that the two legislative bodies have equal power not only
to initiate legislation, but to block the passage of each
other's bills. In this way, the Commission had been able
to hold up some of the freak legislation sent up

(13:36):
to it by the lower body. The Manila Times had
published a list of the laws which were wanted by
the Filipino assemblymen recently. They spent the valuable time of
the entire first session talking them over, and the Commission
refused to concur One was to increase their own salaries,
of course, Another was to erect monuments to all the

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illustrados who had cried bajo loss a mericanos most loudly.
Others wanted to fly the Filippine flag above the American
on all masts, to make a legal holiday of the
birthday of Rizol's grandmother, and to free all prisoners, no
matter what their crimes. As may be imagined, a body

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of men which can pass such bills is quite capable
of blocking the same legislation which comes to them for approval,
and unfortunately they have the power to do this. The
way in which the slavery question was handled illustrates their methods.
Slavery was known to exist in the Islands, and to
take two forms, actual slavery where one person was sold

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by another, and a sort of semi slavery or peonage,
where a man sold his services for debt. The peon
was given his keep, but the interest on his debt
was added faster than he could earn. He was really
a slave, except that he had sold himself rather than
been sold by another, but his debts might be bought
and sold so that it amounted to the the same thing.

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In the end, interest was sometimes as high as ten
percent a month, while fifty cents a month was allowed
for his services. Worcester, in his book tells of a
man who borrowed a dollar twenty five, which he and
his wife and children worked several years in the effort
to repay, but by that time the amount had become

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thirty seven dollars and fifty cents. Spain had nominally abolished
slavery long before, but it had continued in force in
both the Christian and non Christian provinces. The legislators themselves
held prions. The Law of Congress creating the Philippine government
prohibited slavery, but there are no penalties attached, so it

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could not be enforced. The Filipinos denied that slavery existed
in the islands. Worcester made a careful investigation and an
exhaustive report on both slavery and peonage. All but a
few copies of this report were burned by a Filipino official.
It was a subject which neither the Filipino politician nor
their self styled friends the anti imperialists wished to see

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discussed in print. The Manila papers had been absolutely silent
on the subject, and even the anti slavery legislation, which
was finally forced through after having been tabled again and
again without so much as the briefest formality of discussion,
passed unnoticed. It was a sore subject, and the Filipino
method of treating a source subject is not to heal it,

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but to refrain from discussing it. There is no question
but we have given the Filipinos too much power for
their own good. They now, under the Democratic administration, have
five members in the Commission two Americas four. They have
to day much power. Only colonies such as Canada and
Australia have more, while Egypt has been given less in

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a generation than the Filipinos have received in ten years.
The President, Governor Francis Burton Harrison, has been severely criticized.
His party was pledged to a rapid Philippinization, which has
proved disastrous, for it was devised by men wholly ignorant
of the situation. The destruction of the wonderful civil service

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system so carefully built up in the early days as
an object lesson to Spanish bread politicians is only one
of many changes which have been brought about. We have
certainly lost prestige in the islands under the Democratic administration.
Filipinos no longer remove their hats during the playing of
the Star Spangled Banner on the Lunetta. So Governor Harrison

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finally tried to discontinue the playing of the national anthem.
The American community would not stand this, however, so it
was resumed. In many other ways, the Filipinos have become cocky.
This of course does not apply to the Tao, who
plods along regardless of politics. A friend wrote me recently,
I don't think I could give you a more accurate

(17:55):
idea of what most Americans and British and even intelligent
natives think of this democratic administration than to repeat a
conversation I overheard in the Fort mc kinley cars one
morning between two colored American soldiers. They began by laughing
at Harrison's give them what they want speech and speaking
of the Filipidos has spoiled children, well, said one dusky brave.

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We have one more year of this rotten administration, then
thank god, we'll have a white man's government. Professor Thomas
Lindsey Blaney writes in one of the magazines, I talked
with business men, native and foreign educators, clergymen, army and
Navy officers, editors, American and British, and many Filipinos of

(18:41):
undoubted patriotism and intelligence. And I do not hesitate to
assure you that the demoralizing tendency of the policies of
the present American administration in the Islands is deserving of
the widest publicity. The situation, he says, is bidding fair
to become a national disgrace if we all politics and
sentiment to take the place of reason and justice. He

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goes on to say, there is no phenomenon of our
national life more passing strange than that which induces many
of our good people to accept the statements of paid
emissaries of the Filipido Junto, or some of our new
and inexperienced officials at Manila, rather than those of our
fellow countrymen of long administrative experience in the Islands. The

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loss of men like Governor Forbes, mister Worcester, doctor Heiser,
and others is looked upon as a distinct setback in
the development of better and more stable institutions in the
entire orient in the interest of humanity as a whole,
all of which only bears out what Lord Cromer told
mister Forbes. If your personnel employed in the administration of

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dependencies at a distance becomes subject to change with changing
political parties, you are doomed to failure in your effort
to govern countries overseas. There has recently been a great
financial depression in the Islands, due partly to hoarding against
threatened independence, and partly to the difficulty the new Filipino

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officials of the Bureau of Internal Revenue find in collecting
the usual amount. A slump in real estate followed quickly
upon the news that we might shortly leave the islands renderpest.
The cattle plague, which had worked such havoc, and which
had finally been conquered after tremendous expenditure of money and energy,
broke out again immediately upon the substitution of Filipinos for

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white men in the service. Sometimes the good people at
home will learn that giving a child candy because it
cries for candy is not always the best thing for
the child. The Filipinos are, in many ways children, delightful ones,
with charming manners, but needing a firm and even rule
till they come of age and take over their own affairs.

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Most Filipinos of intelligence realize this. In fact, they have
of late been rushing in petitions signed by their best
and most influential citizens, urging the retention of the islands
in their present standing. What the Filipino wishes for himself
depends upon the man. Only one in ten among the
civilized tribes knows anything about the discussion of independence. The

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Taos would like independents if they believed it to be
what their politicians have told them freedom to do as
they please, and exemption from taxes. Otherwise they are not interested.
When the Jones Bill was being discussed, a Moro elevator
boy at the War Department in Washington was asked, if
the Filipinos are given their independence, how will you feel?

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I am an American now, he answered, But if that happened,
I go back and with the Moros fight the Filipinos.
Most people fail to realize that the islands are no
financial burden to this country. They are and have always been,
wholly self supporting. Their venous pay their bills, and their taxes, incidentally,

(22:03):
are the lowest in the civilized world. We keep soldiers there,
but only the cost of their transportation is extra. Our
rule in the Philippines has been the greatest of all
paradoxes of benevolent despotism, working ardently for its own destruction.
This is very unusual and rather fine. We ought to
be proud of what we have done, and very anxious

(22:25):
to see the work well finished. Good men have given
their lives for it, and few of those who lived
have come out after years of thankless toil in a
tropical land, with as much as they had when they
went into the service. We owe it to them, add
to our helpless wards, as well as to our national honor,
to see the thing through. End of Section twelve, Recording

(22:50):
by William Tom Cowe,