he future. One hears it in speeches, and the native
press echoes it. Regularly the Assembly closes, or used to close,
its sessions by a resolution calling upon the United States to
grant immediate independence to the Philippine Islands. Apparently
the request has some volume; in any case, it is more or less loudly
made. Now, if the demand is widespread, if it conies from all ranks of
society, from the humblest peasant in the rice-paddies to the richest
merchant of Manila, from the tobacco-planter of the Cagayan Valley
to the hemp-stripper of Davao, if it is made in full recognition of
the responsibilities involved, then, whether we are disposed to grant
it or not. it is a serious matter. It becomes serious, objectively,
because so many people arc asking for it. Even if the demand come
but from a few, the matter is nevertheless, subjectively, one of
concern, because we are responsible, and no factor or element should
be overlooked in making up our minds.

Now, it is a fact that the chief demand for independence comes from
the Tagalogs, the subdivision or tribe of the Filipinos (we are using
the word here and elsewhere as a convenience merely) inhabiting Manila
and the adjacent provinces. We speak in all kindliness when we say that
they are distinguished by a certain restlessness of disposition, by a
considerable degree of vanity. They are not so given to labor as some
others--for example, the Ilokanos, to whom they are measurably inferior
in point of trustworthiness. More numerous than any other tribe except
the Visayans, they are also wealthier and better educated. Some of
them have therefore earned and achieved distinction, but these are
exceptions, for in general they are characterized by volatility and
superficiality. They are more mixed in blood than other tribes. It is
not without significance that it was these same Tagalogs who organized
in the past the chief insurrections against the domination of Spain,
principally, as is well known, because of the misrule of the friars. It
is also a fact that the farther one removes from Manila the feebler
becomes the cry for independence. If we consider the condition of the
loudest supporters of the movement, we find them all, or nearly all,
to be politicians, _politicos_. Some of these politicians are not
Tagalogs--for example, Senor Osmena, the Speaker of the Assembly,
is a Visayan; so that it would perhaps be more accurate to say
of the entire propaganda that it is an affai