that even the dato, or petty king, may be a famous forger of weapons and spend many hours each day beside his anvil and bellows. I have in mind a salip, or religious leader, on the island of Basilan, whose fame is widespread as a builder of boats. These facts should encourage us to hope for a change of attitude on the part of the people toward learning and practicing manual trades, even though at the present time such teaching has met little favor with the Filipinos, the young elegante of Manila disdaining to soil his fingers with the grip of a tool. For detailed report upon the present condition and success of the school work, I have the honor to refer to the report of the assistant to the general superintendent and to the reports of the division superintendents, which are appended hereto. Inasmuch as I have so recently returned again to educational work, I have preferred to let their accounts of progress and present conditions form the report upon these matters, and will here do no more than briefly summarize the situation as it stands to-day.

The latest reports obtainable from the provinces show that we have about 2,000 primary schools in operation. These employ the services of about 3,000 Filipino teachers. Instruction is given wholly in English. The only books used are English texts, and the teaching approximates American methods. The subjects taught are English language, primary arithmetic, and primary geography, with supplementary reading in Philippine and American history, and in elementary human physiology. About 150,000 children are to-day receiving instruction in these schools. Schoolhouses are crowded to the very limits of health and efficiency, and Filipino teachers are teaching on an average of 40 pupils.

Yet how far we are from attaining universal primary education may be seen by comparing the above enrollment with the probable school population of a million and a half in the Christianized provinces. The essentials for increasing the scope of our education are more school buildings, especially barrio schools, and a much larger force of Filipino teachers with some English training. The poverty of municipalities, due to the afflictions under which this country is still suffering, retards the building of new schoolhouses and necessarily limits the present extension of our work. School funds are made to go just as far as can be, but reports come in from every part of the islands stating that municipal resources are exhausted. I believe it will be advisable for the insular government to gradually take over the payment of the native teachers, relieving the municipality of this burden and allowing municipal funds to go exclusively toward the erection and the equipment of municipal school buildings.

The second condition which necessarily retards the extension of our educational system is the fact that, in spite of the emphasis which has been laid from the beginning upon the training of Filipino teachers and their instruction in English, the supply of young men and young women equipped for even the most primary work of instruction is far too small. This lack is being met in every possible way-by daily instruction on the part of the American teacher, not only of the Filipino teachers working under his supervision, but also of classes of candidates for teacher's appointment or aspirantes; by normal institutes held in all provinces last year, whose importance will be still further emphasized this coming spring; by the work of the Manila Normal School, which contains to-day an enrollment of over 400 well-advanced

pupils; and by special emphasis upon normal training in the 35 provincial high schools. To properly cover the field we need a force of about 10,000 Filipino primary teachers and at least four times the amount of schoolroom space that we at present possess. This would make possible the primary instruction of 600,000 Filipino children, and this would give to every child in the Christian population of the islands the advantage of four years of primary instruction, to be secured between the ages of 6 and 14. I should consider this the attainment of our large purpose, namely: Universal primary instruction for the Filipinos of all classes and every community.

During the last year high schools have been organized in every school division. The appended list shows their number, location, teaching force, and enrollment. These schools have met the warm support of the people, particularly the more wealthy and educated classes, who regard attendance at an esquela superiora or colegio as prima facie evidence of belonging to the ilustrada. The organization of these schools, while not actually called for by the completion on the part of large numbers of students of the primary course, was necessary and justifiable on the ground that the Filipino, in order to support the primary school, had to see before him the opportunity for higher education in the English language. The same consideration further urges us to complete the educational system in the Philippine Islands by the organization of undergraduate collegiate courses and the opening of schools of professional training, so that there may be presented to the Filipino a complete public school system, beginning with the primary schools and leading by successive courses to the completion of a profession.

The statistics upon the American teachers show that our present force is now reduced to 723-a number 200 less than was employed a year ago last spring, previous to the organization of the high schools which have this year drawn from the rural work at least 150 American teachers. Thus, every division feels at the present time a lack of American instructors. We should not, I believe, aim to raise the number to the maximum point of 1,000, but at least 850 are needed in order to adequately supply the demand and will be needed for several years longer, until the Filipino teacher becomes himself competent to guide the instruction and discipline of the schools of his municipality.

It is with great regret that I have to report the death of 14 American teachers within the last year. Their names appear in the brief necrology, which is appended hereto. Medical attendance, which was adequate two years ago, when the Army was occupying a great number of military posts and had a very large force of surgeons in the field, is now very much diminished. Action on the part of the civil government is necessary to supply the present dearth of hospitals, nurses, and physicians.

The assignment of these American teachers has been very unevenly made, as will appear by an examination of appendix. The city of Manila has the maximum number of teachers, 65, or one teacher for every 3,432 of the native population. Leyte and Samar, on the other hand, have no more than one teacher for 27,000 inhabitants; Bohol has only one teacher for 24,000, and Cebu one teacher for every 21,000. A successful basis would seem to be one American teacher for about 7,000 of the native population. More and more, however, the American teachers' duties will have to be those of a supervising teacher and

instructor of Filipino teachers. Some single American teachers have, at the present time, town or towns aggregating 30,000 people scattered in a score or more of hamlets and barrios. For further details of the work, attention is again invited to the appended reports of superintendents of divisions.

Very respectfully submitted.

DAVID P. BARROWS, General Superintendent of Education.

The SECRETARY OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION,

Manila, P. I.

EXHIBIT A.

STATEMENT UPON THE ATTITUDE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE TOWARD THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BY MR. FRANK R. WHITE, ASSISTANT TO THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.

ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE.

The annual reports of division superintendents recently submitted to the general superintendent of education are, with few exceptions, optimistic in tone, and apparently so with good reason. Without question, the development of the schools has been more satisfactory than could have been anticipated in any quarter at the time of the establishment of the bureau of education. In many districts they have won the enthusiastic favor of native officials, and are gaining in constantly greater degree the good will and appreciative support of all classes of the people. If there was originally serious question as to whether a system of education, which was to be at once secular and democratic and to provide instruction in a language wholly foreign to the country, could meet with popular approval in these islands, the reply rests in the present prosperous condition of the schools.

Note must be made of certain obstacles which have retarded, in some degree, the legitimate success of the educational system. Some of them are common to all parts of the islands, and some promise to enter vitally into the Philippine school problem for many years to come. Among these difficulties is the lack of sufficient funds to properly support an efficient system. Drought, locusts, the cholera scourge, the death of draft animals, and in some provinces the prevalence of ladronism, have interferred with agricultural development and have made impossible the prompt collection of the land tax upon which the schools depend very largely for support. If the municipal treasuries are empty native municipal teachers can not receive salary, schoolhouses can not be constructed or repaired, and school furniture can not be provided. Without these assistants and this equipment, the influence of the American teacher is seriously restricted. Industrial prosperity is here a most essential prerequisite to educational progress. Any action which looks to the betterment of industrial conditions in these islands is of prime educational importance.

The inefficiency of Filipino teachers from the first has been a very great hindrance to the accomplishing of the best results, and it is only fair to say that this inefficiency has been given permanency in some districts through the utter inadaptability of the American teachers in charge-they who must naturally be counted upon to organize and direct the work in their various pueblos.

In some communities the people have been hostile to the public schools; in many localities, even throughout entire provinces, they have been indifferent to them, and in very numerous cases municipal officials have been tardy and negligent in their attention to school interests.

In adapting itself to these conditions and in the amelioration of them has existed, of course, the special and peculiar problem of the bureau of education—a problem tremendously difficult of solution. Industrial prosperity may be essential to the highest educational development, but the requisite of very first importance is that the Filipinos be well disposed toward the schools. Education is not to be imposed upon an unwilling people.

In this connection it may be said that the past months have marked a very general change in the attitude of the people. It is true that when the army of American teachers first began work throughout the islands two years ago they were able to

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report, as a rule, that they were well received in the towns to which they were assigned. Later came reports of overflowing schoolhouses. The general office suffered a deluge of requests for American teachers and school supplies. It seemed that the people, young and old, were possessed of an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, a tremendous enthusiasm to learn English, and that they were altogether ready to avail themselves of the great educational opportunity afforded them.

It did not require a searching study of existing conditions or a keen insight into Filipino character to force the conclusion that this happy state of affairs could not be permanent. First, it became evident that a measure of the apparent interest in school affairs on the part of local native leaders was feigned, or, at least, not alto gether genuine. The strenuous days of the military régime were then not long past. In those days hundreds of schools had been established by the officers, and the people had been given to understand that if they would avoid the disfavor and suspicion of the authorities they must lend their unqualified support to these schools. A "principal" who was rash enough to express indifference to this American educational enterprise was a candidate for official investigation. A case in point, taken from records of the military, is noted here in certain excerpts from official correspondence:

The ADJUTANT FOURTH INFANTRY,

SANTA CRUZ, CAVITE, P. I., July 17, 1901.

San Francisco de Malabon.

SIR: I have the honor to report that Sergeant, Company H, now in command of detachment at Rosario, stated to me yesterday that some of the school children at Rosario had told the school-teacher there that they did not want to learn English, but did want to learn Spanish. Sergeant went to the presidente

of the town and told him that such talk was treasonable; that the United States had come here to stay and the people were to learn English; that he did not want to hear of any more of such defiant and treasonable talk. He asked me to report the matter to regimental headquarters.

Very respectfully,

First Lieutenant, Fourth Infantry.

[First indorsement.]

SAN FRANCISCO DE MALABON, CAVITE PROVINCE, P. I.,

July 18, 1901. Fourth Infantry, who will fully

Respectfully returned to First Lieut. investigate this matter and make report. By order Lieutenant

:

[Second indorsement.]

Acting Adjutant.

Respectfully returned to the adjutant Fourth Infantry. The present American school-teacher at Rosario has about 125 school children daily. Most of these children are of the town Rosario, and not from the barrios. In the largest two barrios there are also schools with Filipino teachers, who teach Spanish as well as Tagalog. It has been the custom to have these barrio schools, the barrios not sending their children into the town. However, there are a number of the barrio children at the school, where there is a Filipino maestro and maestra who assist the American schoolteacher. It seems two families of one of the barrios took their children away from the town school and sent them to the school in their barrio. There was some talk about not wishing their children to learn English, but to know Spanish. The reason of this was three-fold: First, the town was too far away; second, the parents thought it impossible to learn English without learning Spanish; third (which is the real reason), that the parents were fearful that if their children learned English they would be unable to worship God. I am unable to find that the municipal presidente is in any way at fault. In fact, he suggests American school-teachers for the largest two barrios, the arrest of the Filipinos now teaching Spanish, and has published notices that if the children do not go to school their parents will be arrested and fined.

First Lieutenant, Fourth Infantry.

The military authorities then gave very close attention to all activities of the Filipino population. If martial methods in the control of school affairs were not employed in all towns as indicated above, the people were at least impressed gener

ally with the fact that in supporting the schools they were advancing government interests. There were few Filipinos at that time who did not wish to assume a semblance of loyalty to the purposes of the government as expressed by its military representatives. Furthermore, the curiosity and temporary interest of the people were excited in the establishing of this new system, and in the equipping of the local schools with books and new and strange instruments of instruction.

So it came about not unnaturally that the American teachers were welcomed in most parts of the Archipelago; and the schools prospered.

But the influences here referred to were, of course, transient. As local civil government was extended to the various provinces, military discipline came to be regarded with little apprehension. Native municipal officials, no longer under the vigilant eye of the military, found that they might largely follow their own inclinations in the control of local affairs. The inevitable reaction, more or less apparent in nearly all communities, came about before teachers and superintendents had been able to establish an effective school system. The curiosity of the children had been satisfied; the illusion entertained by older Filipinos to the effect that English might be acquired with slight effort in a few weeks' time had been thoroughly dispelled; the enthusiasm with which the American teachers began their work had in many cases suffered complete collapse. School interests were at low ebb in the early months of the school year 1902-3.

Two features of the school work as undertaken throughout the Archipelago, namely, the vacation normal institute and the secondary school, have been chiefly instrumental in establishing the educational system in the favor of the Filipino people and in so remedying the most serious ills prevalent a year ago. Through these agencies the native teachers have in nearly every division been given unity of interest and ambition. They have been won over to almost universal loyalty to the existing school system, and their influence in their respective communities in all parts of the islands has been very noticeably active in winning popular sympathy not only for the educational work of the government, but for the American régime throughout. As a rule the poorer and more ignorant classes were first attracted permanently to the public schools-they who hitherto had no hope of educating their children because they were unable to bear the expense of sending them to the Manila "colegios."

The establishing of the secondary schools at the various provincial capitals gave assurance of permanency, and lent a certain dignity to the system that was previously lacking. Many of the wealthier Filipinos gave their influence to these institutions from the first, and have gradually been won to a cordial support of all phases of the educational work.

The attitude of the best class of the native population is indicated in the zealous effort of the provincial officials. There are few provinces in which these men are not earnestly and actively devoted to the furthering of school interests. Indeed, it is stated that in more than one division the Filipino members of the provincial boards have exerted a much more favorable influence in the developing of the schools than have the American members.

Note is here made of certain typical cases of very recent date, which fairly represent the attitude of local Filipino provincial officials throughout the Archipelago. Mr. Juan Pimentel, governor of the Camarines, in a letter to the executive secretary objects very vigorously to the decreasing of the number of American teachers in his province. He says:

"There are seven fewer primary teachers in the province than last year, due to the fact that some of last year's teachers returned to the United States, some were transferred to other provinces, and some were promoted to the secondary school. Thus school work that was well organized and successful has had to be abandoned in certain towns, greatly to the disappointment of the people and to the injury of the cause for which we labor-the civilization and education of people on American lines. "As is well known, the people of this province have been peaceful and friendly toward the government, and for the most part have supported the public schools well. There are no stronger Americanistas in the province than those school children who in the past two or three years have come within the sphere of the personal influence of the American teachers, and such converts to the American ways and ideas are seldom lost. For the present and future welfare of the people of this province, therefore, I trust that the former complement of American primary teachers may be made up."

The division superintendent of Bohol states that provincial and municipal officials have shown an interest in the system, and have done much by their sympathy and cooperation to promote the work and to lighten the labor of the American teachers.