ix
islands that really matter, are in size mere little Connecticuts and
Rhode Islands, and in population mere Arizonas or New Mexicos." [321]

This paragraph is no exception to the general rule that the statements
of this author will not bear analysis. One of the other six islands
that he says really matters is Samar. Its area is 5031 square
miles. The area of Rhode Island is 1250 square miles. The smallest of
the six islands named is Bohol, with an area of 1411 square miles. It
cannot be called a little Rhode Island.

As regards population, Arizona has 122,931. It is hardly proper to
call either Panay with a population of 743,646, Cebu with 592,247,
Negros with 460,776, Leyte with 357,641, Bohol with 243,148 or even
Samar with only 222,690, a mere Arizona, and New Mexico with 195,310
is also a bit behind.

Luzon really has an area of 40,969 square miles and a population
of 3,798,507. [322] What Blount is pleased to call "the tail to the
Luzon kite," is made up as follows:--

Island Area (Square Miles) Population
Samar 5,031 222,690
Negros 4,881 460,776
Panay 4,611 743,646
Leyte 2,722 357,641
Cebu 1,762 592,247
Bohol 1,411 243,148
Totals 20,419 2,620,148

Even so, the tail is a trifle long and heavy for the kite, but if we
are going to compare Luzon with "the Southern Islands," by which Blount
can presumably only mean the rest of the archipelago, why not really do
it? The process involves nothing more complicated than the subtraction
of its area and population from those of the archipelago as a whole.

Area (Square Miles) Population
Philippines 115,026 7,635,426
Luzon 40,969 3,798,507
Difference 74,057 3,836,919

Performing this operation, we discover that the tail would fly away
with the kite, as Luzon has less than half of the total population
and only a little more than a third of the total area.

To compare the area or the population of one large island with those of
individual small ones, in determining the relative importance of the
former in the country of which it makes up a part, is like comparing
the area and population of a great state with those of the individual
counties going to make