REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. 139 the English language. Spanish still holds a place in private institutions and still continues to attract Filipino students as being the only language in which secondary or higher instruction is at present given. The development of the normal school and the secondary schools in English will open to the Filipino boy higher grades of education through English, which at present he sees no way of reaching except through the Spanish schools and the medium of the Spanish tongue. It is thus essential to the success of the system of public instruction here established that secondary and higher instruction in English should be very early organized. Here, as everywhere, a system of public instruction can be firmly established only by building solidly at the bottom. The abandonment of Spanish studies made necessary the formation of a new course of instruction at the opening of the present school year. A simple curriculum for the primary school, covering four years, has been established, and by the introduction of this curriculum it has been possible to systematize the work, to grade the pupils, and to give definiteness to the primary school course. Extraordinary efforts have been made and will be continued to prepare Filipino teachers for their task. Already they have so far mastered the English language that they are able to make use of it in teaching, and it is gradually coming to be the language of the schools. Efforts are being made to show them the necessity of breaking away from the mechanical and the routine methods which they have hitherto followed. The interested efforts of Filipino teachers to teach English to children after they themselves have had merely a year of instruction in that language are noteworthy, and their zeal and their success in this form of instruction will contribute greatly to the spread of the English language here and the success of popular education. The greatest need of instruction in Manila at the present time is suitable primary-school buildings. In this respect the city of Manila is behind many provincial towns, since many of these possess at least one substantial schoolhouse of stone or wood. The city of Manila, with its 11 districts and 247,000 inhabitants, has but three buildings erected by the Spanish Government for primary-school purposes, and one of these is so poorly constructed and is in such a dilapidated condition that it is unfit for use. The civil government lacks certain means of retaining possession of buildings that the military government enjoyed, consequently since the establishment of civil government in Manila certain dwelling houses that had been used as schoolhouses have been relinquished upon the demands of their owners, and it is difficult to find others to take their places. Undoubtedly the want of proper public-school buildings constitutes at present a check on further progressive movements in the work of the schools. There has been an increased demand for places in the night schools, and the instruction has been extended from three to six nights in the 140 REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. week. Applicants are now admitted on the basis of advanced qualifications, and hundreds have been turned away. There are now 8 such schools in operation in the city and 3 others in process of organization. The attendance in these night schools for the month of September was 1,800, and the number of principal and other teachers employed was 68. In some of the schools advanced classes have been organized, and among these a class in typewriting and stenography, a class which prepares students for civil-service examinations, and a teachers' class in history. At the present time Filipino teachers are incompetent to assist in the fourth year's primary instruction, which, therefore, if given at all, must be given entirely by American teachers. For this reason, and to inaugurate secondary instruction in Manila for Filipino children as soon as possible, and in order to show them that such instruction is to be furnished in English, children in the primary schools who are prepared to undertake the fourth year's instruction have been admitted to the English school in the escuela municipal, and are there being organized and trained for the work of the high school, which will be established in the next few weeks. The organization of Manila under civil government on August 7 separated from the municipality the schools of Pasay, Santa Ana, and Corregidor, with 18 teachers and about 800 pupils. This reduced the number of primary schools in the city to 36, with 4,242 pupils in attendance for the month of September. One hundred and thirty-four Filipino teachers are now employed in the city of Manila. Their salaries range from $20 to $50 gold a month, which last is paid to one principal. These salaries place the teachers' profession at least on the same level as Government clerkships, which is a great advance from the position they held under the Spanish Government, the salaries in most cases having been more than doubled. The attraction of this work seems to be sufficient to draw to it many of the brightest young men and women, who in it give evidence of a commendable professional spirit. As a sign of this may be noted a recently organized association of Filipino teachers, which has among its purposes the study of educational affairs in connection with their work. THE MANILA TRADE SCHOOL. By section 18, act No. 74, provision was made for the establishment and maintenance in the city of Manila of a trade school for the instruction of Filipinos in the useful trades, and in section 23 of the same act the sum of $15,000 was appropriated for the organization and maintenance of a trade school in Manila for the year 1901. By the transport Thomas the principal and teachers for this school arrived in Manila. Instruction in this school will cover a wide range of subjects, and it is expected that it will tend to meet the most REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. 141 important want of the people of these islands. This kind of education has made very little progress in the Philippines, and it is natural that this should be so, for the men who dominated the educational affairs of these islands under the Spanish régime were conspicuous for the theory of life that concerned itself chiefly with the affairs of another world. The work here proposed will supplement what has already been done. The trade school is opened in buildings on the exposition grounds. In connection with the instruction in printing, we shall have the government printing office as furnishing object lessons in all the departments there established, and, as through the instruction in telegraphy it is hoped that young men may be equipped for operating the telegraph lines, so through the instruction in printing it is expected that young men will be equipped to help carry on the work of the governernment printing office. From various parts of the archipelago requests were made for aid in the establishment of schools. These requests are for assistance in constructing school buildings, for teachers to give instruction in English, and for teachers to give instruction in manual training and the trades. It is significant that next to the demand for instruction in English there comes the demand for a kind of instruction to which in these islands little attention has hitherto been given, and it is thought to be highly desirable to satisfy this demand as far as possible. And in the future attempts will be made to secure as teachers persons who have had training or experience tending to fit them for this kind of work. The backwardness of these islands in almost all forms of industry and agriculture is due, not to lack of resources or physical conditions favorable to development in these lines, but in a large measure to the fact that little or no effort has been made to furnish the people proper tools, implements, and machinery or an effective knowledge of how to use them. Trade schools will, therefore, support the Filipinos at their weakest point, and, if established in sufficient numbers and properly organized and conducted, will do more than almost any other agency to put them in the possession of those qualities or powers which tend most directly o modernizing them and raising their standard of civilization. INSTRUCTION IN TELEGRAPHY. On August 15, 1901, Major-General Adna R. Chaffee informed the civil governor that, having in view the ultimate and gradual transfer of military telegraphic communications in the archipelago to the control of civil government of the islands, he would give to the chief signal officer all practical assistance in furnishing instruction in telegraphy to Filipinos, and that as the pupils became proficient and available he would have them assigned to positions in the service, provided the 142 REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. civil government would pay their wages. In the letter conveying this information, General Chaffee also indicated that "probably the best course to pursue would be to inaugurate the service under native operators by islands, as, for instance, Panay, Negros, gradually extending as operators are made available." In a personal interview with the Commission on August 10, 1901, and in a letter to Governor Taft of the same date, General Greeley set forth his views concerning the proposed transfer. In order [he said] that such transfer may be made with the least detriment to the public interests it would seem advisable to transfer the entire lines on some single island, say Panay, to be followed later by Negros, northern Luzon, and such other islands as may be mutually agreed upon by your excellency and the commanding general of the army in the Philippines. Appreciating the fact that the present operation of these lines by American civilian operators would be an onerous burden to the finances of the Philippines, the Chief Signal Officer of the Army offers to the civil government the services of the signal corps of the Philippines to meet such contingency by educating and training suitable intelligent Filipinos as telegraphers. To this end Lieut. Col. James Allen, chief signal officer Military Division of the Philippines, will cooperate fully and heartily with the civil government in this work of technical education. Colonel Allen further expresses his willingness to employ, temporarily, at suitable salaries, such Filipinos as may become operators, after affording them the advantages of careful training under experienced electricians and operators of the Signal Corps. This method appears to be the simplest and quickest, as it is the cheapest, method of forming a corps of native telegraphers and electricians for the maintenance of an insular system of telegraph lines and cables. Indeed, it may be said that it would be practically impossible to obtain a suitable and reliable civilian force, except at a great outlay of time and money, an opinion based on the experience of the signal corps in Cuba and Porto Rico, where civilian operators, induced by liberal salaries, entered the Government service only summarily to leave it at their own convenience, at times to the serious embarrassment of the Government. This plan is simply advanced by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army as a tentative one, subject to such modifications as in the opinion of your excellency and the major-general commanding the army in the Philippines may be necessary in the public interest. The Chief Signal Officer of the Army and his subordinates stand ready to assist in every way, and hope the civil government may be able to receive and operate by its own employees the present system of telegraphs on one or more islands at a very early day. Meanwhile, steps have been taken to throw open the telegraph lines to the commercial public on terms of the greatest possible liberality, the rate being 2 cents per word between stations on the same island and 4 cents per word between stations on separate islands. The project of establishing instruction in telegraphy was referred to the secretary of public instruction, and arrangements were made for REPORT OF THE PHILIPPINE COMMISSION. 143 carrying on the school as part of the trade school which was created by law January 21, 1901. It is installed in one of the buildings on the exposition grounds. MANILA NORMAL SCHOOL. The preliminary term of the Manila Normal School was opened on Wednesday, April 10, and was closed Friday, May 10, 1901. The expenses of this term were paid out of the appropriation for a normal school made by act No. 74. Dr. David P. Barrows, superintendent of city schools, had immediate charge as acting principal of the Manila Normal School. The school was held in the school building on Calle Victoria, in the Walled City, known as the Escuela Municipal. This building had been occupied by the Sisters of Charity, who, under the authority of the military governor, had conducted there a public school for girls. Having been used both as a school and a hospital for Spanish soldiers, it was, like most of the public buildings in Manila, greatly in need of repairs, but when properly repaired it was found to be the best school building under the control of the Government. An announcement of the proposed normal school was made in both English and Spanish, and American teachers throughout the islands cooperated in informing the Filipino teachers of the character of the work to be done. The commanding officers of the several posts where there were known to be schools, having been informed by letters and pamphlets, encouraged the teachers of their respective towns to attend. Attendance of the teachers from the provinces was greatly facilitated by the generosity of different transportation companies. Free transportation was granted the teachers from the provinces to Manila by the Compania Naviera, Mercantil Filipina, Luis Hidalgo, Philippine Lumber and Development Company, and Smith, Bell & Co. Half fare was granted by the Compania Maritima, The Philippine Trading Company, Gutierres Hermanos, and the Compania General de Tobacos de Filipinas. It was estimated in the beginning that there would not be more than 350 teachers in attendance, and it was thought that only this number could be accommodated in the building selected for the school.. On the opening day, however, it was found that 450 had been enrolled. Measures had to be taken, therefore, to limit the number to be allowed to matriculate, but as many left the provinces without being informed of any limitation as to the number who might attend, it was found advisable to open additional quarters. Accordingly, a portion of the building formerly occupied by the nautical school was brought into use. Furniture was moved in and nine classes were organized in that building. The same work was carried on as in the original building, and all pupils were admitted to the Escuela Municipal for the morning exercises and for the observation of special classes. In order to lighten the expenses of teachers coming from the provinces or from |