in the Philippines, like Captain Crawford, who are doing the best to solve the problems now before the American people, and are doing it well. "Do you know Henry T. McEwan, of Amsterdam, New York?" was Captain Crawford's parting question. "Yes; and no nobler American lives," was the reply. "Give Henry my love," added the captain as the gangplank was pulled in. CHAPTER IX FILIPINO CHARACTERISTICS Generalizing from Special Cases-Human Nature not WH HEN one goes to the Philippines to study the characteristics of the people who lived for more than three hundred years under Spanish rule, he is in danger of laying aside his knowledge of human nature and taking up the study of the little brown people as though there was no record to the effect that God had made of one blood all nations of men. If a Filipino is kind to him, he expresses surprise and notes in his memorandum book the remarkable fact that gentleness is a prevailing characteristic of the natives; he had expected dark-skinned men to be treacherous and lure him on to his death. If he is deceived by a Filipino, out comes the note-book and a memorandum is made to the effect that deceitfulness is prevalent throughout the island. As he walks through the corridors of the hotel the muchacho, as the servant is called, rises and bows. This entry is then made: "The Filipinos are exceedingly respectful." He goes out to ride in a carromata and his cochero nearly runs down a native woman carrying a huge bundle on her head. Immediately an impression for future guid ance is recorded to this effect: "The Filipinos are rude and lacking in the common elements of courtesy and respect." Before putting such impressions in a book, one needs to recall a few experiences and observations in his own land. It is true that Filipinos lie-some of them; but it must be admitted that truthfulness still needs to be inculcated in some American homes. A young Filipina attending a Normal school in Manila, and a resident of that city, wished an American friend to say that the girl lived in one of the provinces, as it would be to her advantage to be known as a student from out of town. This was wholly wrong, but it did not seem so to the native, because she would derive benefit from it. But there is in New York a clergyman who has been asked repeatedly, by members of his congregation, to sign certificates stating that Charlie or Mary was fourteen years old, when the minister and the mother and the child knew that only twelve birthdays had been celebrated. This was wholly wrong; but it did not seem so to the mother, because she needed the money which the child would earn if the New York Board of Health was assured that he was fourteen years old. A little boy tried to sell me a "swagger stick" for a dollar. Before he finished his plea he was willing to take half that price for it. It would not be difficult to recall an experience in America where the seller of an article was willing to take fifty per cent. less than the marked price in order to make a bargain. Much is said by those who have not been long in the Philippines about native superstition, and undoubtedly all that is said has more or less foundation. But in SOLEMNITY OF SLEEP 105 another part of the world, over which also the American flag floats, the Filipinos could learn something concerning moving on Friday or the thirteenth of the month, or seeing the new moon over the left shoulder. There are too many brick houses with glass windows in America and England and other countries far from the Philippines to warrant the injudicious flinging of cobblestones against the bamboo shacks along the Pasig River. Therefore, without instituting further comparison or implying that all the virtue in the world is on one side of the sea, it may be interesting to note some of the characteristics which are observed in the Philippines, with the explanation that many of them could doubtless be duplicated between the White Mountains and the Golden Gate. It is well to pay the cochero who drives you about the city the exact price for which his card calls. If the bill is fifty cents, and you hand him that amount, he will smile and drive away; but if in a burst of generosity, or in ignorance of the amount due, the passenger hands sixty cents to the driver, he will make a long face, and, with an expression that would break a heart of stone, he will ask for a "media peseta” more—an additional ten cents. Sleeping, with the natives, is a solemn matter. In the hottest nights they close their windows to keep out the night air or the evil spirits, whichever way one views it. When a person is sick, the windows are closed as tightly as possible for the same reason. It is said that the Filipino thinks that during sleep the soul is absent from the body, and that if slumber were suddenly ar rested, the soul might not have time to return. "If a question be suddenly put to a native,” it is said, "he apparently loses his presence of mind, and gives a reply most convenient to himself, to save himself from trouble, punishment or reproach. It is a matter of perfect indifference to him whether the reply be true or not. Then as the investigation proceeds, he will amend one statement after another, until finally he has practically admitted his first explanations to be false. As this is one of the most remarkable characteristics of the natives of both sexes in all spheres of life, I have repeatedly discussed it with the priests, several of whom have assured me that the habit prevailed even in the confessional.” Here one might substitute another nationality for that of the Filipinos without being unjust or untruthful. As a matter of fact, the European or American traveling in the Philippines must necessarily come into contact with Filipinos from the humbler walks of life. It would not be just to any other country to judge its better class of citizens by those who drive cabs, or black shoes, or, regardless of sex or age, bid you "step lively" as you leave the trolley car. The best point of view from which to see the Filipino should be that of the native himself. Dr. Ramon Lala, an educated Tagalo, has said: "The first thing that in the native character impresses the traveler is his impassive demeanor and imperturbable bearing. He is a born stoic, a fatalist by nature. Europeans often seem to notice in him what they deem a lack of sympathy for the misfortunes of others; but it is not this so much as resignation to the inevitable. Incomprehensible inconsistencies obtain in nearly every na tive. Students of character may, therefore, study the |