In closing his letter to me Mr. Anderson says: On June 1, 1899, when I was placed in charge of this work as the superintendent of public instruction in Manila, the insurrection was still uncrushed and but little attention could be given to the question of education for the rest of the islands; but as the army advanced and new territory became safe and peaceful, schools were started and advice and a source of supply sought in this office by the outside commanding officers, so that the work grew to be a great one, reaching from the north end of Luzon to the island of Mindanao. The schools have multiplied, but most of the work is in its merest infancy. Capt. Albert Todd has been placed in temporary charge as the superintendent of public instruction for the Philippine Islands, so that it now leaves me as superintendent for Manila only, which has been my technical position all the time. But I still have sufficient familiarity with the whole work to state that the people themselves are calling loudly for education and the best of it, with plenty of English, and that every effort is now being put forth to extend to all the towns and hamlets of the entire archipelago the same broad principles and measures of true American education that have already been in vogue in Manila for over a year. The last official letter I received from the outside districts told me that 180 schools would be in operation in the island of Mindanao alone. This is a fair sample of what is coming in the now well-nigh pacified Philippines. Dr. Frederick W. Atkinson, formerly principal of the Springfield (Mass.) High School, has been appointed superintendent of public instruction in the Philippines, and is now on his way to his post of duty. Before embarking he said to a reporter: In establishing a permanent educational system in the Philippines the industrial plan will probably be found the most effective at the beginning. He will find on his arrival in Manila that an excellent foundation has been laid by the efforts of Father McKinnon, formerly chaplain of a California regiment, who took the first steps toward the establishment of a public school system, and by Mr. George P. Anderson, who succeeded him and has ably and successfully carried on the work. It is to be hoped that a thorough pacification of the islands will soon enable Dr. Atkinson to extend an educational revivification to all the islands. No nobler work could be allotted to any man than to spend his life in dispelling the clouds of ignorance and conferring on these long-neglected people the civilizing influences of a generous education. |