Filipino Character and Self-Government
Albert Sonnichsen, a member of Lieutenant Gillmore’s band, who, it will be remembered, was for ten months a prisoner with the Filipinos, in giving his impressions of their character, says that he “found them quick and intelligent; and except when near the American lines, in the first of his captivity, most humane in the treatment of their prisoners.” He says further that he also found them “frank and sympathetic, and by no means ignorant, considering the limited opportunities they have had to obtain an education. From what he saw of their local government Mr. Sonnichsen believes the Filipinos have an aptitude for governing themselves. They had native courts at Bengued, where Spaniards with grievances secured redress, to his knowledge.” A similar story was told by two of Admiral Dewey’s officers. Is it not a sad blot on civilization that so many of such were killed?