PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



4638 



PHILLIPS 



of the islands to the United States would re- 

 semble that of Canada to England. The Sen- 

 ate passed the Jones Bill in February, 1916, 

 with an amendment making 1921 the date for 

 complete independence; the House passed it 

 in April, promising independence after a stable 

 government has been established. The first 

 Filipino Congress under the new act met on 

 October 16, 1916. at Manila. 



The executive power in the islands is admin- 

 istered by a governor-general, named by the 

 President of the United States. 



The chief point of difference now is the an- 

 swer to the question: Are the Philippine peo- 

 ple capable of self-government, and if not, how 

 soon will they be? William H. Taft, who was 

 the first governor, says it will require two or 

 three generations. Other prominent men famil- 

 iar with the people say that Mr. Taft does not 

 realize the gains since his day. General Per- 

 shing, after his difficult task of disarming the 

 Moros, said that it would be some time before 

 they became peaceable, yet the civil govern- 

 ment instituted almost immediately afterward 

 appeared to be successful. One side points to 

 such facts as that in the primary election in 

 Manila in June, 1916, which was unofficial and 

 hence unsupervised by Americans, 2,000 votes 

 were polled in one precinct where scarcely more 

 than 100 voters resided. The other side an- 

 swers that stuffing the ballot box is not un- 

 known in the United States. 



Financial considerations plainly influence a 

 part of the opinion on both sides. The bank 

 which represents the largest financial interests 

 in the United States has published arguments 

 against giving up the islands. Americans who 

 have money invested in the islands hint at a 

 future Japanese conquest if the islands are left 

 to themselves, and the Roman Catholic Church 

 quite naturally fears Japan because it is non- 

 Christian. On the other hand many of the ad- 

 vocates of independence for the islands base 

 their chief opposition on the cost of guarding 

 them, which they claim amounts to forty mil- 

 lion dollars a year. They do not consider a Japa- 

 nese invasion probable, but even should one 

 take place, they maintain, Japanese civilization 

 is more suited to the natives than are American 

 standards. 



The Filipinos believe themselves capable of 

 self-government no race on earth lacks such a 

 belief regarding itself. Nevertheless, it is said 

 that when the Jones Bill passed the Senate 

 many of the native leaders suddenly realized 

 that complete independence meant helplessness 



against outside aggression, perhaps even power- 

 lessness to resist uprisings of the Moros, and 

 they seemed relieved when the House post- 

 poned action. The loyalty of the people to the 

 United States was attested in 1917, when the 

 islands offered the American government a mili- 

 tary force of 25,000 to help in the war against 

 Germany. E.B.H. 



Consult LeRoy's Philippine Life in Toicn and 

 Country; Jernegan's Short Histori/ of the J'hiH})- 

 ))in-fi ; Butterworth's Story of Mtujcllan <nul the, 

 Discovery of the Philippines; Crow's .!,,/<>/< nnd 

 the Philippines. 



Related Subjects. The following articles In 

 these volumes contain much information that will 

 be of interest in connection with a study of the 

 Philippines : 



CITIES 



Batangas Iloilo 



Cavite Manila 



Aguinaldo, Emilio 

 Dewey, George 



HISTORY 



Spanish-American War 

 Taft, William Howard 



LEADING PRODUCTS 



Rice 



Sugar 



Tobacco 



UNCLASSIFIED 



Negritos 



Cocoanut 



Copra 



Hemp 



Carabao 

 Igorrote 



PHILISTINES, filis' tim, or fil'istinz, per- 

 sistent foes of the Israelites in the period of 

 the conquest of Canaan, a mixed people occu- 

 pying the southern coast of Palestine. They 

 had five fortified cities, Ekron, Ashdod, Gath, 

 Ashkelon and Gaza. Delilah, the betrayer of 

 Samson, and Goliath, the giant whom David 

 slew, are well-known Bible characters who be- 

 longed to this people. Saul and Jonathan were 

 slain in the final triumph of the Philistines over 

 Israel, and the fear with which they were re- 

 garded is depicted in David's lament in II Sam- 

 uel I, 20: 



Tell it not in Gath, 



Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon ; 



Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 



Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 



The yoke of the Philistines was permanently 

 broken in the time of the united kingdom un- 

 der David. 



Consult McAlister's The Philistines: Their His- 

 tory and Civilization. 



PHILLIPS, fil'ips, DAVID GRAHAM (1867- 

 1911), an American novelist belonging to that 

 group of writers ^ho have treated in a broad 

 and earnest way the more serious problems of 

 American life. His art was still in process of de- 



