What would happen if the Islands fell into alien hands of course no one can tell.  But there is strong ground for believing that Japan would enter a mighty bid for the sovereignty of the Archipelago, if we ever contemplate parting with it.  Now, Japan in Formosa has for years been struggling, and without success, to control or subdue the aborigines of the mountains, a people of the same blood as the Igorots, of the same habits and traits, savage head-hunters, the terror of all the plainsmen of no matter what origin.  It is interesting to read [51] that “among other measures taken by the Japanese authorities to ‘control’ the aborigines was the erection of barbed wire entanglements charged with electricity,” the idea being, after surrounding a savage position by these entanglements, to have the troops drive the savages upon them.  Many people have refused to believe that this electrical process has ever been put into effect, but the Kobe newspaper goes on to quote the correspondent of the Times in confirmation.  And a correspondent from Shanghai, writing [52] to give the truth about the state of affairs in Formosa and to defend the Japanese against the charge of ill-treating the savages, nevertheless admits having been shown the entanglements, which, he says, are “as harmless as any ordinary fence wire during the day, except in cases of serious uprising on the part of the savages.  At night it is charged, but all the savages know this grave fact.”  According to the Times correspondent, some three hundred miles have already been set up, and the work will be pushed until the aborigines “are wholly caged.”  Lastly, the Chronicle reports the Governor-General of Formosa as fixing a term of three years for the suppression of the bravest and fiercest tribe of all, numbering 50,000, at a cost of 17,000,000 yen.  Now, we have no interest here or elsewhere in what is, after all, a municipal affair of Japan’s.  She must and will settle her own problems as seems best to her, and, if she is driven to “suppress” her Formosan aborigines, it is none of our business.  Moreover, before pronouncing upon the matter, we should in all fairness hear the other side, although it does look as though the electric wire fence must be admitted.  But there is enough in what is reported from Formosa to give us pause when we consider the possibility of parting with the control of the Philippine Islands, whether to Japan or to any other nation.

In so far as the wild tribes of the Archipelago are concerned, we have made a happy beginning; we owe it to our self-respect to carry on the work to a happy end.  This we can do by heeding the simplest of rules:  Leave well alone.

The Independence of the Philippines.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis iv. 9.

“If we lose sight of the welfare of the people in a creed or a phrase or a doctrine, we have taken leave of our intelligence, and we have proved ourselves unfit for leadership.”—­A Letter to Uncle Sam.