time of trouble, and, when necessary or convenient, he will prevaricate freely and fluently without apparent consciousness of wrong-doing. In this respect he is like a normal child; he simply moves along the line of least resistance. The desire to please, to avoid offense, to give the answer he thinks you wish, leads to many departures from strict truth. The political class and the journalists pay little regard to the truth when dealing with their opponents and are greatly surprised when called on to prove their charges in court. The Anglo-Saxon theory of the sacredness of abstract truth is made workable by liberal mental reservations. The Oriental claims more individual liberty in determining when a lie is justifiable, and it must be conceded that he is less of a hypocrite than his Anglo-Saxon brother. He frankly recognizes exceptions to the general rule. Thus in the Mahabharata it is said: "There is nothing higher than to tell the truth, yet it is better to speak what is beneficial than to speak the truth." Also that it is permissible to lie "on an occasion of marriage, or of love, or when life is in danger, or when one's entire property is about to be taken away, or for the sake of a Brahman.”

In theory the Westerner makes no exceptions to the rule; in practise he is often quite liberal. The Filipino is an Oriental who professes the theory taught him by the Church while practising that of the Mahabharata with stress on the five exceptions, modifying the fourth by striking out the superfluous word entire.27

Competent observers agree that testimony offered in the Philippine courts must be carefully scrutinized. In parts of Burma there are said to be licensed practitioners of the gentle art of perjury, and in the Philippines, as in America, there are many experts who practise the art without a license.28

27 Lord Curzon brought the hornets about his ears by telling the students of the University of Calcutta that "the highest ideal of truth is to a large extent Western.' The statement was true enough, but all over India the cry went up that the Anglo-Saxon is a hypocrite who pays lip service only to a general principle. Speeches of Lord Curzon, I, p. 126.

28 The naivéte with which a Filipino witness sometimes testifies is very amusing. In one instance a witness, after describing an accident in great detail, and standing successfully a severe cross-examination, volunteered the information that he was not present. When asked for an explanation he

Dissimulation, deceit and servility in people, as in children, are founded in fear and hope. They are seldom inherent or permanent traits of character of any people and when they have been acquired they ordinarily disappear with the removal of the inducing causes.

It has often been said that the Filipinos are lazy, treacherous and cruel, as well as ignorant of the meaning of the word truth. The charge is grossly untrue. It must be remembered, however, that Anglo-Saxon-Puritan standards are not accepted by all the world as laws of nature and that the Filipinos are not of English or New England origin. As business men the Filipinos are probably less reliable than the Chinese, but more honest than the Japanese. The common people are like those of similar social and economic station in other countries,-simple-minded, goodhearted, and generally honest, with a sufficient number of exceptions to necessitate the maintenance of a police system.

Like all people who live in the tropics, the Filipinos are naturally indolent. Activity for its own sake has no charm for them. The restless energy of the Americans seems to them mere foolishness,-like jumping up and down for the sake of doing something. Their necessities are the exact measure of their energies, and the necessities of life in the tropics are few and easily supplied. With banana and papaia trees growing in the back yard, a Filipino who can borrow a ladder need not worry about the support of his family. The people subscribe cheerfully to the biblical doctrine that labor is a curse, to be avoided when possible. Energy and activity are unnatural in such a climate. The tendency is downward to the standard which nature has fixed for the tropics, and even American and European born residents can avoid the inevitable languor only by constant vigilance and active exercise.

Personal dignity, reserve and pride are common to all Filipinos as to all members of the Malay race. They are sensitive, courteous, hospitable and quick to take offense at any discourtesy,

replied: "I was not there. My friend saw the accident, but he had to work in the rice-fields to-day so, as an accommodation, I came to do the testifying for him."

slight, or lack of consideration. They are offended by the brusk directness of a certain type of American who regards courtesy as undemocratic. Their sense of what is due to an individual is shocked by disregard of the requirements of formal courtesy. They have little sense of humor and detest boisterousness and all sorts of horse play.

In speaking of the characteristics and habits of the Filipinos the reader must constantly bear in mind that no characterization applies to all individuals or even to all classes. It is possible to generalize only with reference to the great body of the common people. As we have seen, there is great diversity of opinion as to their merits and demerits.

CHAPTER IV

The Native Peoples

II

THE MOROS

A Special Problem-The Designation Moro-The Different Tribes-Their Warlike Character-Running Amok-Weapons-Moro Forts-The Language and Books-Varying Habits-Physical Characteristics-Dress and Ornaments-Temperate-The Betel Nut Habit-Houses-Polygamy-Tribal Government-Slavery-Schools-Their Religion-Burial Customs-Their Industries-Power of Datus-The Moro Laws and Courts-Penalties-Old Customs Slowly Being Abandoned.

The tribes which inhabit the island of Mindanao and the Sulu and lesser groups at the extreme southwest extremities of the Archipelago have attracted much attention because of their warlike character and their distinction as the only Mohammedan wards of the United States. As a governmental factor they are most embarrassing. The wild men are good raw material, and the Filipinos are easily influenced in favor of good government, but the Moros, encased in the armor of Islamism, present a much more difficult problem. After a decade of American control, although intertribal wars and the worse vices of slavery have disappeared, they remain in character substantially as the Spaniards left them. Nevertheless those most familiar with the situation, while not enthusiastic, are hopeful of the future. Their regeneration will be a matter of generations, not of decades. General John J. Pershing, who has had much experience with the Moros, in his last annual report as governor of the province, says: "Relatively there has been great progress, but in reality

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the people are yet in dense darkness and only the merest beginning has been made toward their enlightenment. The main thing to record is that we have a solid foundation for the future, in that the wild people and the Moros have come to look upon the Americans as their true friends. They have learned that they dare ask and that they will receive protection. They have found Americans just and unselfish, and they regard us as their defenders against their own countrymen who would keep them in ignorance for exploitation or seize upon them and sell them into slavery." However, unless "he can be induced to relinquish some of his most vicious customs, and unless he can be protected from exploitation at the hands of his datu, the Moro faces the future with very little of promise. He can not progress far while he is bound down by the chains of polygamy and female slavery. A code which recognizes plurality of wives and authorizes concubinage can not prevail against civilized standards of morality. Its baneful influence encourages sensuality and lust with all their degrading effect upon Moro character. Neither can the Moro advance under datu rule, the very foundation of which is laid in ignorance and strengthened by superstition. The moral sense is generally lacking in these datu leaders, and as a consequence even to a greater degree is the conscience of the common Moro befogged."

The Moro is not a subject for ordinary missionary work, but the medical missionary can reach him, and it is safe to predict that the work along that line recently commenced under the directions of Bishop Brent will be more effective than anything heretofore attempted.

The religion of Mohammed regulates the lives, government and customs as well as the beliefs of its followers. Hence a change of government, to some extent, necessarily interferes with their religion. With this in mind the difficulties in the way of imposing a new system of government will be appreciated.

To the Spaniards all the followers of Islamism were known as Moors or Moros, and the name has been perpetuated in the 1 Annual Report of Governor of the Moro Province, 1913.