We are giving humane care to a considerable number of insane persons who were previously chained to floors or posts.
The lepers of the islands have been isolated and are being well cared for. A few have apparently been permanently cured.
The scientific work of the insular government has been coördinated in such a way as to insure maximum efficiency at minimum cost. Not only has an immense amount of routine work been economically performed but there has been a large amount of original investigation, some of which has resulted in discoveries of far-reaching importance to mankind.
We have found the cause of beri-beri, have eliminated this disease from government institutions and from among persons subject to governmental control, and have shown the Filipinos how they may rid their country of it, and save money at the same time, by a slight change in their food.
We have found a specific for that horribly disfiguring disease “yaws,” and have cured large numbers of persons afflicted with it, thus earning their lasting gratitude.
We have made pure food and pure drugs purchasable throughout a country which was formerly a dumping ground for products not allowed to be sold elsewhere.
We have not only made long strides in the improvement of sanitary conditions in the provinces but have brought skilled medical and surgical service within the reach of very large numbers of persons who formerly had none at all, successfully overcoming the previous universal prejudice against hospitals, to such an extent that those of the government are now thronged with Filipinos seeking treatment.
In doing these things we have had to combat almost unbelievable ignorance and superstition, the remedy for which is to be found, we hope, in the generalization of education which is rapidly taking place. The hundred and seventy thousand children, who formerly took advantage of the meagre educational facilities provided under the previous régime, consisting chiefly of very defective primary instruction, usually given amidst most unsanitary surroundings, and without adequate facilities of any sort, have been replaced by a happy throng numbering no less than five hundred and thirty thousand, who receive from well-trained teachers excellent primary and secondary instruction, both academic and practical. Through the school system we are generalizing the use of the English language which is to-day, after a decade and a half of American rule, spoken far more generally than Spanish was after it had been the official language of the country for three and a half centuries. In this way we are overcoming the very grave obstacle in the way of welding the numerous peoples of the Philippines into one which is presented by their lack of a common medium of communication.
At the same time we are teaching boys and girls the elements of good sanitation and right living. Girls are also being taught to cook, to sew, to embroider and to make lace. Both boys and girls are receiving instruction in gardening, and boys may learn wood working, iron working and other useful trades. Opportunities for higher academic work have been provided in provincial high schools, and at Manila in the Philippine Normal School and the University of the Philippines, while the Manila Schools of Commerce and of Arts and Trades afford ample opportunity for advanced work on industrial and commercial lines, and the Manila School of Household Industries fits women to go out into the provinces and start new centres for the manufacture of laces and embroideries.
We are educating a constantly and rapidly increasing number of highly trained nurses, physicians and surgeons.