UNAPPRECIATED BLESSINGS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 207, 26 May 1908, Page 8

UNAPPRECIATED BLESSINGS.

THE FILIPINO AND CIVILISATION

A SIMPLE-MINDED FOLK.

So far as ono may judge from a short visit' (says ! a .writer in the Sydney.. "Morning Herald'"), tho Filipino does not, on the whole, apprcciato the blessings of modem civilisation. Metal roads, reinforced concrete bridges, electric trams, cocktail bars, land sales, new-fangled tools, and -methods, aro jostling him everywhere, and in tho cities ho is perhaps hurrying a little, but in tho country and in his' home he still maintains the slow pace of his ancestors, and thinks quietly and deliberately that ho was as well off under Spain. His children are not to be allowed to think so. Wo went into a! public school in one of tho cities. * The teachers were Filipinos trained in American methods, and on the blackboard we saw the familiar words calyx, corolla, etc., the old botany lesson of tho ■ book-trained teacher. Schools for practical agriculture, we were , told, would be established soon. Meantime, .the'present system is making clerks, but not. hand-workers; Tho language difficulty will for years hinder the Filipino child. Tho dialects of the islands aro many. A road engineer told us that in his the men- he employed spoko three, so, different, that to, ; know ono was of little use for. understanding tho others.Spanish was formerly the language of 'the towns. English is now supplanting it. We saw a blackboard in another ; schoolroom, whero three columns of words in English, Spanish, and dialect, mado tho young Filipino acquainted with his threefold task. -

Manila is a picturesque and interesting town. Three hundred years ago, when Charles and Philip of Spain dreamed of a world empire, high walls, strong gates, great towers, and bastions were built a city, and with great display of these,, the capital of tho Philippines .frowned defiance at her enemies. The old city, with narrow streets, and immense high-windowed hoases, might .still doze quietly behind the walls built for her protection! But who can sleep' within hearing of tho march of i modern progress ? The electric tram rushes with clanging bell past tho great gates, which once shut out the noisy world, and the stir and bustle of modiern life . has invaded the sheltered arches of her, patios, .and made hotels of her most stately palaces. 'It is a city of ; contrasts.' Among the simple nipa-roofed -houses of the natives, whero naked children play among tho palms, one reads /'Jones' subdivision.' .Buy, homes on the, instalment system," and near.' quaint bamboo .stalls, whero dark-eyed women sit.'to sell strango fruit and stranger ■sweetsj one sees- "American cocktail .bar. Try the real'thing." . The women in Manila rotairi'their. costume as yet untouched by. the changes', of modern fashion. Long may . they continuo to do so. It is graceful and'suitable. 'We were there, on a-Sunday, and .the gay-attire of'the. Filipino women gave the streets an interest which many beautifully-dressed residents failed to rouse.' A train is essential to'the dignity of tho Filipino woman. She walks, slowly, velvet' slippers with high heels do not. encourage speed. Her .skirt-is generally bright scarlet, and over, it she wears a black lace-trimmed upper skirt. Her jacket is of bright-coloured pina, very transparent, tho sleeves enormous, and the neck surrounded by a square of pina of a contrasting: colour, foldod So, as to make a very high, medici collar,, and so form a .curved setting .for her glossy head. . Her hair, long and black, is always raised over smooth. rolls, and ornamented with combs. She is generally a..serious, dignified little person, and even when poorly-dressed walks with the stateliness of a princess. ... . . But the dignity is often robbed of some of its-charm, to an Australian eye, by- a cigar. The. islands i have an immense tobacco industry, and .nearly . every woman sniokes., In tho streets in the 'early morning girls and women 1 , walk to. t'heir: work, ..with,immense cigars :in their mouths.' They/carry their bun- , die. or, basket upon the head, and walk 'in stately fashion, their hands on ' their hips, placidly ! smoking. Well-dressed - women stop to' v lay, aside, or. light a cigar.;. We isa'w a dainttfy'attired little lady carefully seeking a crcviffef in. the crumbling. balus.trado; before an. old stone church.' She found, one, and in it hid her half-smoked cigar. Then she took a square of delicate lace from her pocket, laid it, in pretty fashion, • upon her dusky hair, and entered. She knelt for a fow minutes, and then, her devotions finished, sho came,out, found her,cigar, and walked away, puffing vigorously. -, , j In every church we entered, men and women were kneeling reverently, though it was long past the hour for any . spocial service. Tho Christianity which Spain gave to the Filipinos seems to suit their simple minds; while the > ceremonies and processions of tho cliurch give thorn the colour and movement that they love. The building orice handsome, are failing to decay. Outside,." crumbling . stonework, or falling, balustrades, and . inside stained and faded ornament tell of a wealth that has departed, but it , will be long before tho Filipino will forsake'them for tho* simplicity of the American, churches, and the rough vigour of tho English tongue. "