There is a considerable body of intelligent, conservative Filipinos who believe, as do the vast majority of well-informed Americans, that independence at this time would be an unmitigated curse in that it would necessarily be temporary, would result in grave disturbances of public order, would bring foreign intervention and the occupation of the islands by some nation with purposes far less altruistic than ours, and would put the possibility of real, permanent independence off until a time so remote as to be far beyond the range of our present vision. These men will state their attitude freely in private conversation with those in whom they have confidence, but hardly one of them has the courage to go on record. Why should they? We have seen that in the old days those who opposed the views of Aguinaldo and his associates were given short shrift and that thousands of them were murdered in cold blood, while those who actively opposed the American military and civil governments were without exception freely pardoned when further opposition became impossible, unless guilty of crimes of the gravest character. Nay, more. Under the amnesty proclamation there were turned loose from Bilibid Prison hundreds of murderers, some of whom had taken the lives of scores of human beings. Little attention has been paid at any time to the violation, by Filipinos, of their oaths of allegiance to the United States, and now, when we discover one of the periodic incipient insurrections frequently organized by intelligent natives for the sole purpose of wringing hard-earned pesos from the peasant class, we seldom punish severely even the vicious leaders. It is idle to suppose that these facts are lost upon the conservative Filipinos. They know that if independence does not come no punishment will be meted out to them for remaining neutral, or even for actively advocating it, but that if it does come, and they have opposed it, vengeance swift, sure and dire will smite them. They are afraid, and they have the best of reasons to be afraid, because we have announced no definite policy. Let it be authoritatively stated that American sovereignty will be maintained in these islands for a long period and those who actually believe that there is not a strong element among the Filipinos who favour such a course will get a real surprise.
At present, however, our ears are deafened by the clamour of the noisy politicians, who claim to represent “the Filipino people.” In this connection Bishop Brent has pertinently observed:—
“If desire implied ability, the clamor for independence on the part of the Filipinos, which just now is more widespread then at any time in their history, would be the signal for our withdrawal, but only their achievements can determine their ability.”
Before we can safely declare the Filipinos ready to try the great experiment of self-government we must bring them to the place where they no longer regard bandit leaders as popular heroes but are able and determined to maintain a state of public order such that life and property will be safe. We must wean them from their present hostility toward legitimate foreign business interests. We must teach them that agriculture comes before art; that a public office is a public trust; that the enormous potential wealth of their forests is worth preserving; that the poor Filipino must be encouraged to own and till his own land, not held as a slave or peon. We must go on training physicians, surgeons and sanitarians so that the public health may be adequately protected and individual suffering relieved. We must be sure that our wards have developed the understanding and courage necessary successfully to oppose the great waves of epidemic disease which constantly threaten their country from without. We must train up Filipino engineers, to-day almost completely lacking, in sufficient numbers to make possible the construction of the public works needed in future and the maintenance of those which already exist.
There must be chemists and bacteriologists to do the routine work of the government, to make the investigations necessary to safeguard the lives of the people, and to facilitate the development of the resources of the country. Finally, there must be a sufficiency of just judges, of honourable lawyers, of able administrators, and of legislators unswayed by the childish motives which so often influence those of to-day.
Most important of all, we must bring the Filipino people to the place where they can go on properly teaching their children and their youths.
The day when all this will have been done of necessity lies far in the future, and if, when contemplating this fact, we sometimes grow weary, we should remember that the task, though a mighty and unprecedented one, is well worthy of the best energies of a great nation. It can never be accomplished through partisan politics.
In considering our duty to the Filipinos let us not forget the fate of him “who putteth his hand to the plough and turneth back.” The old, old rule applies to nations as well as to individuals.
We are giving the Filipinos a fair chance to develop every latent ability which they possess. In the very nature of the case, their future lies, and must lie, wholly with them. There is no royal road to real independence, much less is there any short cut. Our Filipino wards must tread the same long, weary path that has been trodden by every nation that has heretofore attained to good government.
