| Show BOBURY UP1O Demand for Schools on American Amer-ican Plan inislancL 1 NATIVES QUICK TO LEARN Both Ycung and Old Learn Very Rapidly Rap-idly from American Text Books Even Without Spanish Text and Translations Gen Otis Pays a High Tribute to the Acquisitiveness Acquisitive-ness of the Islanders He Looks Upon Educational Movement as the Solution of Philippine Problem 0 Washington June 12 Durlrrg Gen Olfss afternoon nt the War department in conference with the heads of the various va-rious departments In regard to the condition con-dition and needs of their departments in the Philippines he had many questions ques-tions to answer In his Intercourse with tih hie friends respecting present and future fu-ture conditions In the Philippines and of these he talked qulto freely lie made one statement In particular which came as a distinct surprise In view of the fact that he has spent a year and a half in fighting Irma Filipinos Fili-pinos for he declared that these same Filipinos were without question the very best of any of the Asiatic races living on the Pacific coast and Islands He paid a high tribute to their acquisitiveness ac-quisitiveness saying that young and old were alike anxious to learn from the Americans and quick to do so If given an opportunity The demand for schools on the American plan wad Insatiable In-satiable It had not been possible to secure a sufllclent supply of Spanish American text books the market having hav-ing l been denuded of such When the bookhungry Filipinos were told this they begged for American school books and declared that their children could learn from them even without the Spanish text and translations transla-tions Gen Otis found to his astonishment astonish-ment that such was the case and says that In the course of a very few months the Filipino children pick up a fair knowledge of English Even the old natives scan the text books In the cf fort to fix English phrases in their minds There was a dearth of teachers too ion Otis often hod recourse to the soldiers sol-diers In his ranks who know a little Spanish and so were suitable for detail as teachers Gen Oils said he looked upon this educational movement ILK the only solution so-lution of time Philippine problem and was confident that the spread of American idea through tho I Filipino schools would In the end make good citizens of the Filipinos Gen Otis was positively of the opinion opin-ion that the American forces In the Philippines at present were sulllclent for all needs Of course he said Gen lUacArlhurs present army could not furnish a guard to protect every Filipino Fili-pino household from the ladrones to do that would require a force of no less than 00000 troops and even the task would occupy many years As a matter of fact he said Spain had spent several centuries In the effort to stamp out the ladrones in the Phlllp pine group and there was reason to be hove that those brigands are scarcely more numerous now than they were during the Spanish occupation when the Islands were nominally at peace with Spain Gen Otis was confident however that conditions would steadily improve and that little by little these robber bands would be driven away Meanwhile Mean-while he Admitted that It was often dangerous for Filipinos of the better class whose interests naturally lay In American sovereignty to admit then preferences for they were subject In that ease to assassination to the loss of property and lo persecution Instigated Insti-gated by various elements in the population popu-lation to whom American occupation was obnoxIous |
