Books on the Philippines 



573 



author crossed the Pacific, and several 

 trips made about the Archipelago. The 

 characteristics of the people, their in- 

 dustries, institutions, health, etc., are 

 touched upon. Naturally, much space 

 is devoted to matters of religion, and 

 the Protestant missionary work receives 

 great attention. The author is opti- 

 mistic, and has written a very readable 

 book. 



Quite different is the character of Dr 

 Atkinson's book from that of Dr Devins. 

 Dr Atkinson was the first superintendent 

 of schools of the Archipelago under the 

 American civil government, and the 

 present admirable school system is 

 mainly his work. He was in the Archi- 

 pelago nearly two and a half years ; his 

 work took him everywhere and among 

 all classes of people, so that he has writ- 

 ten from a full knowledge of his sub- 

 ject, with authority and generally with 

 accuracy. 



His introduction is a most admirable 

 summary of the character of the people 

 and the necessities of the situation — the 

 several chapters treat of topography, 

 history, climate, health, industries, and 

 commerce, thecity of Manila, the people, 

 their superstitions and religion, govern- 

 ment and education. He is not clear 

 or definite in his account of temperature 

 at Manila (pp. 125 and 126), so that 

 the reader may easily be confused. On 

 pages 174 and 175 he contrasts the yield 

 of sugar in the Philippines with that in 

 Hawaii as follows: "A (Hawaiian) 

 planter usually obtains 75 tons of sugar 

 to the acre, whereas in the Philippines 

 he (the Filipino) considers half a ton 

 a fair amount." If he would substi- 

 tute 4 for 75, and 1 for ^, the contrast 

 would be correct and would still be suffi- 

 ciently startling. There are numerous 

 other slight errors scattered through 

 the book which leads one to regret that 

 the author had not awaited the appear- 

 ance of the Census report and thus h ive 

 avoided the slight blemishes on what is 

 otherwise a most valuable work. 



Mr Willis' book is of a still different 

 class. The author, a professor in Wash- 

 ington and Lee University, devoted sev- 

 eral months of 1904 to a study of the 

 conditionsof the Philippines. The book, 

 like many others, is a discussion of the 

 government and the political, social, and 

 economic conditions of the islands. 



It is not easy to take the writer seri- 

 ously. He says we are in the Philip- 

 pines to exploit them ; that the people 

 are antagonistic to us ; that the exist- 

 ence of ladronism shows that the insur- 

 rection is still going on ; that the press 

 is muzzled and that speakers are not 

 allowed to speak ; that the natives pre- 

 fer church schools to public schools ; 

 that the teaching of English is a mistake 

 and that the teaching should be in the 

 Malay tongues; that the Philippine civil 

 service is a farce ; that the native con- 

 stabulary is rotten, and that the Philip- 

 pine Commission favors the regular 

 Catholics rather than the Aglipayans. 

 Not one of these statements, it is un- 

 necessary to say, is correct. Mr Willis 

 was probably filled with tales of woe by 

 some American trader who had been dis- 

 appointed in his hopes of great profits 

 by the withdrawal of the army. There 

 are many such in the Philippines. 



H. G. 



Michigan. By Thomas Mclntyre Coo- 

 ley. With map. Pp.410. 5x7^ 

 inches. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin 

 & Co. 1905. $1.10 net. 

 This is one of the best of the " Amer- 

 ican Commonwealth" series, published 

 by Messrs Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 

 The author realizes, what some histo- 

 rians are apt to forget, the important in- 

 fluence of the natural resources of a 

 state. In his history he gives not merely 

 a record of Michigan's governors and 

 legislatures and their acts, but he de- 

 scribes the development of the material 

 wealth and prosperity of the state. The 

 census of 1900 shows Michigan ninth 

 among the states in population, in 



