other important point: we must have confidence in ourselves, must know that we are competent to meet any emergency which can come up, and this same confidence will beget its counterpart in our native associate. As we have said before, expect results from the native teacher, and if they are not obtained, find out why, and then show him why and prepare him to avoid this mistake in the future. Treat him always as a respected associate in the work, one whose place and value is just as assured as your own; consult with him on every essential point as it comes up, let him feel that his suggestions to you are valued, that if they are of value, they will not be thrown aside just because they come from a Filipino. If you wish to pursue any certain policy, talk it over with him, if possible so suggest it that it will seem to him that he is only following his own idea, tho in reality it will be your own suggestion. An idea thus inculcated will stick always, while one forced on him by only your own aggressiveness will always be to him a thing foreign and of himself something apart and to be thrown off if opportunity arise. The Filipino can reason and we should always try to appeal to this faculty; if he wants to know why you do a thing in a certain way, tell him, and be sure if you cannot give him any good reason you have none yourself, and it may be possible he has something to teach you. It is not always a final reason to state that a thing is done that way in America, he will want to be told why it is done that way, and he is entitled to know, and by getting so that he can understand the idea or method is made a part of him and will be of permanent value to the work long after we may have returned to the land from whence the idea or method in question came. Finally, the relation of the American teacher to the Filipino teacher should be that of an elder brother to a younger one, with that same lively interest in his welfare and progress. He should be made to feel that his successes give you pleasure, and that you are here only to help him up to the point where he can carry on the work alone. We should go hand in hand, the American and Filipino, associates in the same work, striving after the same results, with a common sympathy and a common pride in the work, and doing this, the relation we should bear to each other will adjust itself. Excite self-activity in the pupils and lead each to discover the truth. Show the class how to study. In each lesson let a halt be made and then have pupils fix points already made, the conclusion reached, and the premise upon which the conclusion is based. The teaching must touch the whole nature of the child and stimulate to higher action and more industrious habits of work, of silence, of obedience, honesty, and truthfulness. Three-fourths of education is a habit of work.. -J. M. Greenwood, in School and Fireside. The School Teacher in the W. H. LEEK. It is possible that at some period of the present century people of the United States will get a correct idea of conditions as they actually exist in our island possessions in this far off archipelago, providing that too many of us do not publicly express our views on the situation here too positively before we have been here long enough to reach rational conclusions in the premises. We read all sorts of reports from these beautiful islands, some condemning the policy of our government in so soon inaugurating civil service, and others lauding that action. One writer expresses himself very positively that the fighting force here should be increased, that the trouble is not over by any means; another asserts with equal certainty that the situation is "well in hand," that the war is over, and that the army should be reduced. One man gives it as his opinion that the Filipino is not yet born who can govern these islands, and others strenuously contend that our government should give this people absolute independence at once. It must seem strange to people living in the United States and reading these conflicting reports and counter views, that there should be such divergence of opinion in these matters, but one who is here can pretty nearly see where the trouble lies. Each one writes from his own view point, and no one statement can safely be taken as a criterion of conditions as they really are. For instance, we read in one of the eastern journals of education, a letter from the pen of one of our boys who came over on the good ship "Thomas" with the July importation. He speaks of the matter of living, and from his statements one would get the impression that the question of subsistence in these islands is a very small one, and that teachers were very fortunate to get appointments here and should not complain even tho they do have to sign receipts for gold and then receive "dobe dollars," which, if they wish to convert into the gold they have receipted for, they must do so at a loss of $8.00 (Mexican) on the hundred. He wrote from a point where living is cheap. Had he written from Manila, Iloilo, or from any one of several other cities in these islands, he would have had an entirely different story to tell. Board here is high and rents simply enormous. Houses which would rent in San Jose Cal., for $15 per month, rent in Iloilo for $50. Thus, each one gives the impression he has received from his personal environment, and surrounding conditions are just about as different here as can be imagined. This same thing was manifest in our very interesting teachers' institute for the American teachers of Panay, which has just closed its session. The impressions some of our teachers received of the natives, in certain instances, were greatly different. Of course this may be partly accounted for from the fact that the teachers themselves are differently tuned, and necessarily receive different impressions. One teacher sees no evil in her band of "brownies," but thinks them bright, courteous and innocent. Another, having learned some of the native dialect, gives it as his observation that they are profane, vulgar and insolent, and on the whole rather a stupid lot. Teachers who have been assigned to pueblos where all is prosperous, peaceful and healthful, have quite a different story to tell from others whose lines have fallen in places where the rienderpest had swept away the carabaos, where the people were starving for food and dying of fever, and where the "ladrone element" and a spirit of unrest abound. Thus it may be seen that the teachers are having all kinds of experiences, but they generally agree that the study of the Filipino child mind and the Filipino people is intensely interesting. This is a wonderful field to write from. There are so many things one feels might be of interest to friends at home that it is difficult to tell just which line to follow. The possibilities ahead here in the education of this people and the development of the resources of these beautiful islands is great indeed. Railroads for the islands; the sugar industry; telephone systems; sawmills and the lumber industry; mines and mining industries; agricultural experiments and possibilities, in each of which figures in no small degree the labor question, the currency question and the "ladrone element" problem, as they exist here now, would severally furnish topics for very interesting articles. My faith in the ultimate outcome of our educational movement here is unbounded, for I firmly believe that the hand of Almighty God is the moving power. As surely as Moses was chosen to lead the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt, as sure as Washington was created to lead the oppressed colonists to independence, where they could enjoy the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as certain as great Lincoln was made to bring freedom to three million slaves, just so certainly did the great God of nations direct a McKinley to send a Dewey into Manila Bay, that the Filipino people might rise to a higher and a better civilization. Of the fifty-eight American teachers of this division, which comprises the islands of Panay and Guimaras, fifty-five were present at our institute, and generally expressed themselves as being well pleased with their work. Mr. Gilbert N. Brink of Berkeley, Cal., is our very efficient superintendent of schools of this division, and the author has the honor to have been placed in charge of the schools of the city of Iloilo. It has been my good fortune to have an excellent corps of teachers. One of them, Miss Lucile Keyes, will be married before this reaches you, and another of our most progressive and competent teachers, Miss Marion Redfield of Cleveland, Ohio, will also desert the teachers' ranks before the opening of another term. I do not know what it is, but there is some kind of influence or power having its effect upon our dear sister "school ma'ams" who come to these islands, and one by one they drop from the line. Whether it be the result of serious contemplation while on a long sea voyage, the effect of climate, the beautiful mellow light of a tropical moon, the merry twinkle of the stars as they are reflected from the waters of a laughing sea, the pleasant hours of watching for the rising of the southern cross, together with the soft touch of a balmy breeze; whatever the cause, the fact stands, that many who for years stood bravely up against the attacks of Cupid with his darts at home, are quite susceptible to the little rascal with his bow and arrows here. So my |